Chapter 3

"Get out of my sight!" Colby screamed through her tears. This was her home, filled with cherished childhood memories.

She grabbed a cushion from the sofa and hurled it at the two intruders, but the man swiftly snatched it away. "Colby, don't make a scene. Lesly is just here to help check the house," Ruben said.

"My house doesn't need a caretaker. Get out, both of you!" Colby shouted, ignoring her eight-month-pregnant belly as she pushed against them.

Ruben, tall and strong, barely moved, but Lesly was no match for Colby's height. She stumbled back, crashing into the dining table, knocking everything onto the floor.

Despite the pain, Lesly remained silent, her frail yet resilient demeanor piercing Ruben's heart. He grabbed Colby's wrist and said coldly, "Lesly has already paid her dues. Must you be so unforgiving?"

Colby froze for a moment, quickly realizing the truth.

The punishment Lesly received that day wasn't to avenge Colby, but to pave the way for Lesly. Could there be a harsher punishment than having everyone watching Lesly naked?

There was none, and there never would be.

Colby's eyes turned from despair to cold resolve as she looked straight at Ruben, her voice unwavering. "Let's divorce, Ruben. Let your beloved be your wife."

Ruben frowned. "That's impossible! In my world, marriage is for life, not to be ended by divorce."

After hearing Ruben's words, tears rolled down Colby's cheeks. Ruben felt a pang of guilt, wanting to console her, but thinking that she, who was always gentle and generous, had disturbed him all the time because of such a small matter, he could only harden his heart.

"Think it over. I'll have the driver take you home later. And remember, the house is in my name. I make decisions about this house." With that, he turned and left with Lesly.

Once the hallway fell silent again, Colby dared to look at the changed house. The old mementos from her parents were gone, replaced by modern decor. Ruben had allowed Lesly to destroy her home.

Tears streamed down Colby's face.

Years ago, when her parents died suddenly, they left behind this house with an unpaid mortgage. When the bank came to repossess it, she pleaded desperately with them to let her keep it. It was then that she met Ruben.

Ruben fell for her at first sight, but respected her youth and did not act. He paid off the mortgage and pretended to buy the house himself so she wouldn't feel indebted. For two years, she lived there rent-free until the night she grew up, when Ruben declared his love, and she fell for him completely and had sex with him. They moved into Ruben's house after solidifying their relationship.

Ruben once offered to transfer the house to her name, but she refused.

"I'll always remember how you protected this house for me. It's a tangible sign of your love." She never imagined that five years later, Ruben would use the house deed, in his name, to let another woman move in.

Colby couldn't understand how Ruben's heart had changed. She noticed a photo of her parents under the sofa and painfully tried to pick it up, but her pregnant belly wouldn't allow her to bend down.

Overwhelmed by her grievances, she broke down in sobs again.

Her husband was gone, her home was falling apart, and she couldn't lose the only photo her parents left behind.

Unable to bend down, she knelt, and as her knees hit the floor, shards of broken glass pierced her skin, turning her face pale with pain. Her belly hurt, and she struggled to breathe, dialing 911 for emergency help.

While waiting for the doctors, she called Brenda. "Brenda, does our bet to test his loyalty still stand?"

A silent chuckle echoed from the other end. "Of course. But you're carrying his child. Once you give birth, I'll ensure you leave."

After hanging up, Colby recalled how, before the wedding, Brenda had approached her with a challenge to test Ruben's loyalty.

Naively, Colby had believed he never would change his heart.

Brenda had smiled, shaking her head, saying men were inherently fickle. If Ruben remained faithful for three years, she would persuade the family to accept Colby.

But if not, Colby would have to leave, and they'd find Ruben a wife of equal status to maximize the interests of both families.

Colby had agreed without hesitation.

Now, it seemed ironic. They were a month away from their third anniversary, and their child was due around then too.

But Ruben had an affair.

When the doctors arrived, Colby was barely conscious from the pain. After a quick examination, they found the baby was already on its way.

The conditions were less than ideal, but Colby couldn't last until reaching the hospital. After some basic sanitation, she followed the doctor's lead, and half an hour later, the room was filled with the cries of a newborn.

Looking at the wrinkled little one in her arms, Colby smiled through her tears. "Dad, Mom, I was born in this house, and 23 years later, my child is too. Mom and Dad, up there, please bless me to achieve my wishes." she whispered, cherishing the legacy of her parents, hoping they'd help her leave the Gibson family with her child.

When Brenda received the news, she quickly rushed over with a more professional medical team. By then, the baby was already nursing at Colby's chest.

Brenda cast a stern and authoritative glance at Colby. "On the baby's one-month celebration, I'll arrange for you to leave and give you another card with 10 million in it, and you won't come back."