Suddenly, I Had The Chance To Replace My Husband

2028 - Seattle, USA

Rachel stared blankly at the repulsive scene before her. She had deliberately gone to her husband's office without telling him, intending to surprise him on his birthday, but it was she who ended up hitting the jackpot.

"Oohh... Andrew... aahh..."

"Errrmhh..."

"Faster, please... aahhh... Andrew"

Inside the room-specifically, in the room her husband usually used to rest-the man and a woman she knew to be one of the employees there were passionately making out.

It seemed their lust had completely consumed them, so much so that they didn't notice Rachel, who had been watching that disgusting spectacle for some time.

Calmly, Rachel reached for her phone and began recording the scene, frame by frame. Evidence-that was what she needed right now. Even in such a chaotic situation, Rachel felt almost numb, letting her logic take over.

Amazingly, even when she felt she'd gathered enough evidence and decided to leave, those two immoral creatures were still engrossed in their makeout session-enough to make Rachel shake her head and smile cynically.

She then pressed the intercom button in the room, connected it to the loudspeaker, and left the door open so everyone on that floor could hear the disgusting sounds coming from that crazy couple.

"Crazy bastards," Rachel cursed silently as she calmly stepped into the elevator heading to the parking lot.

"Rachel?" a woman greeted her just as she stepped out of the elevator.

"Oh, Lisa. What are you doing here?" Rachel asked.

"I have a meeting scheduled with your husband. Are you about to leave? How about we have lunch together afterward?" Lisa asked with a friendly smile.

Rachel gave a faint smile, silently praising the acting skills of the woman standing before her-the woman who, ever since she'd married Andrew, had turned against her for marrying the man who had been Lisa's first love.

"I'm afraid I have to turn you down. I'm sorry. I already have other plans. If you want to see Andrew, he's in his office. He's probably finished with his business by now," Rachel said meaningfully.

"Oh, I see. That's too bad. Well then, see you later, Rachel," Lisa said as she stepped into the open elevator.

As the elevator doors closed, a sardonic smile once again played across Rachel's beautiful face. "Have fun, Lisa."

She was certain Lisa would be Andrew's next fling, judging by the skimpy outfit the woman was wearing-it made no sense at all to discuss business in such a provocative outfit.

"Should I go back up and record them?" Rachel muttered, tapping her shoe against the floor.

"Hmm, I don't think so. I might throw up if I keep doing this," she decided, before continuing toward her parked car and leaving the building.

On the way home, Rachel-who had been driving calmly at first-gradually began to feel tears falling and wetting her face. She knew she wasn't that strong; after all, she had once loved Andrew deeply.

She then pulled her car over to the side of the road in a fairly secluded spot and wept uncontrollably there. Her sobs might even have been heard from outside, but she didn't care anymore. Rachel just wanted to let out all the tightness in her chest.

After a while, Rachel began to regulate her breathing to calm herself down. She glanced in the rearview mirror and noticed her makeup was a mess.

"I have to fix my makeup before I go home," she thought.

Murray Mansion – Seattle,

"Mom!" a 5-year-old boy greeted Rachel with a wide smile on his handsome face.

Rachel greeted her son with a wide smile of her own, "Were you waiting for me, mommy?"

"Yes! Didn't mommy promise to take me out with daddy today?" the boy said cheerfully.

"Mommy just came from daddy's office. I'm sorry, Max. It looks like daddy can't come with us. Is it okay if it's just mommy?" Rachel asked, filled with regret-partly because she had to lie, and partly because this might cause her son to drift away from his biological father.

Maximillian Murray-that was the boy's name. A handsome little boy who was so smart and seemed to always understand his mother nodded in understanding at the question Rachel had just asked.

"It's okay, mom. Just with mommy is fine too," he replied cheerfully, making Rachel break into a relieved yet proud smile at her son.

"All right, let's go," Rachel said as she took Max by the hand.

Andrew parked his car and walked into the mansion with a weary expression on his face. And no wonder-after spending the morning busy with meetings, he'd spent the afternoon making passionate love to his girlfriend, and just as they'd finished, Lisa's arrival gave him yet another surprise.

Lisa, who arrived dressed in a way that stirred his desires, ultimately forced him to surrender to passion once more, and they made love in his room until nightfall.

Without a shred of guilt-and without even remembering what day it was or the tradition he shared with his wife every time this day came around-Andrew continued toward the master bedroom.

Click...

As he opened the bedroom door, he was startled by the sight of Rachel sitting on the edge of the bed in her favorite nightgown, a glass of wine in her hand. She was casually sipping her wine, completely oblivious to Andrew's arrival.

"Honey," Andrew swallowed hard as he watched the sensual way Rachel sipped her wine.

That call made Rachel turn to him. "So you're here, then."

Andrew furrowed his brow in surprise when he noticed the cold tone in his wife's voice just now. It was unusual for Rachel to ignore him like this; normally, she would greet him enthusiastically and help him freshen up.

"Did I do something wrong?" Andrew asked as Rachel remained motionless where she was, showing no intention whatsoever of approaching him.

"Do you feel like you did something wrong?" Rachel fired the question back at him.

"No. I didn't do anything. I was busy working all day," Andrew retorted, prompting a cynical laugh from Rachel.

"Working? You call entertaining your two sluts 'working'? Amazing," Rachel said sarcastically.

"What do you mean?!" Andrew snapped, offended.

Rachel merely responded with a wry smile, then grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. Instantly, footage of the lewd scene starring Andrew from earlier that afternoon at the office appeared on the screen.

"Aaa- What? How did you-?" Andrew, taken aback, couldn't finish his sentence.

"Oh, I just happened to catch those two immoral creatures this afternoon, so I figured I'd record it while I was at it. Pretty impressive, isn't it?" Rachel replied nonchalantly.

His wife then stood up, "Well, Mr. Murray. Do you remember the terms of our prenuptial agreement? If you cheat on me, I'll kick you out and you'll lose all your assets."

Andrew's eyes widened at that; he had just remembered the prenuptial agreement they'd both signed. It was Rachel who had asked for it at her father's suggestion, and Andrew-who at the time desperately needed Rachel's father's support to grow his company-had no choice but to agree to the terms of the prenup.

"You can't do that!" Andrew snapped.

"Why not? The evidence is clear," Rachel retorted coldly.

"Don't you care about Max? Do you want to separate a child from his father?!" Andrew tried to hide behind his son's name.

Rachel laughed loudly at that. "Now you're pretending to care about a son you've ignored ever since he was in my womb? You weren't even there when I risked my life giving birth to him, Andrew."

"Now I'm wondering where you were back then? No, more precisely, which slut were you with at the time? Lisa or this woman?" Rachel asked sharply.

Andrew gasped; he couldn't retort to Rachel's words because, in fact, while his wife was risking her life giving birth to their son, he had been busy making out with Lisa at a luxury hotel.

"So I was right, huh?" Rachel said again with a mocking smile; even without him answering, she already knew the answer.

"Ricardo!" Rachel shouted, calling her personal bodyguard.

"Yes, ma'am," Ricardo-who had been waiting outside the room at Rachel's request to be there when Andrew arrived-entered and approached her.

"Drag this bastard out!" Rachel ordered.

"What! No! You can't kick me out! This is my house, Rachel!" Andrew tried to struggle free from Ricardo's tight grip on his arm.

"Wrong! This mansion belongs to me. My father gave it to me as a gift, not to you!" Rachel snapped just as harshly.

"Get him out of here!" Rachel repeated her command, which Ricardo carried out immediately.

Andrew's screams and curses could still be heard clearly even after he had been forcibly dragged out of the mansion by Ricardo and several of his men.

Rachel, standing frozen in the room, finally let a single tear fall down her beautiful face. No matter how hard she tried to harden her heart, that heartache still crushed her.

She then grabbed her cell phone and called her family's lawyer. "Uncle Harry, I'm sorry to call so late at night."

"Ah, Rachel. It's okay. What brings you to call so late?" Harry asked.

"I want to file for divorce."

"Divorced?! What happened, Rachel?" Harry said in surprise, because as far as he knew, Rachel and Andrew's marriage had seemed harmonious and problem-free all this time.

"It's a long story, Uncle. Can I come visit you tomorrow? I'll bring all the evidence," Rachel asked.

"All right, I'll wait for you at my office tomorrow, Rachel," Harry replied.

"See you tomorrow, Uncle," Rachel said as she ended the call.

Reno, Nevada – US

Rachel drove at a moderate speed. Since Max didn't want them to use his family's private plane, Rachel decided to drive all the way to Reno herself. After stopping a few times to rest and spending one night staying overnight, they finally arrived in Rachel and Max's hometown.

"Mom, how long are we going to be here?" Max asked.

"Probably about two weeks. Do you want to go anywhere?" Rachel asked.

"No, Mom. It's just that we haven't visited Grandpa and Grandma in a long time," Max said.

"Do you miss them?" Rachel asked her son again, and he immediately nodded.

"Um," Max replied.

"Well then, if after two weeks you still want to stay here, we'll stay until you're satisfied," Rachel said.

"Really? What about daddy and mom?" Max's innocent question left Rachel speechless for a moment; she couldn't possibly answer honestly-Max was still too young to understand his parents' problems.

"Maybe he'll catch up with us later," Rachel finally answered after taking a long time to think of the safest response.

Maximillian stared at his mother for quite a while; he was a smart kid and could tell she was uncomfortable with his previous question. He finally nodded and didn't bring up his father again.

"Max! Rachel!"

"Grandma!" Max ran to greet his grandmother, who had already been running toward them the moment she saw Rachel's car pull into the driveway.

"Oh, my darling. Grandma missed you, Max," Mrs. Griffin said, gently stroking her only grandson's hair with love.

"Rachel! You naughty girl! It's been ages since you last visited!" Mrs. Griffin scolded her daughter, who merely grimaced at the remark.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Rachel said regretfully.

Mrs. Griffin was momentarily taken aback by this; her gut told her something must have happened to her daughter for Rachel to decide to come home after such a long time.

"Never mind, let's go inside. Your father must be waiting," Mrs. Griffin said, taking Max by the hand.

"Grandpa!" Max ran toward his grandfather, who had his arms spread wide.

Mr. Griffin laughed as he lifted Max into his arms and hugged his grandson tightly. Max laughed along, wrapping his arms around his grandfather's neck.

"Dad," Rachel greeted her father, who looked at her with a gentle gaze.

"You must be tired after such a long trip, get some rest first," Mr. Griffin said.

"Okay, Dad. I'll go upstairs," Rachel said as she headed to her old room on the second floor.

*********

"I don't want to divorce her!" Andrew roughly shoved Harry away as he handed him the divorce papers.

That afternoon, Harry went to Andrew's office with the documents for the divorce Rachel had requested. Harry didn't waste a moment and immediately took care of everything after Rachel left his office.

"It's up to you, Andrew. With or without your consent, this divorce can still go through because there's a prenuptial agreement that serves as strong evidence, plus all the videos and other evidence proving your infidelity," Harry retorted sharply.

Andrew glared at him, his fists clenched tightly. He truly hadn't expected Rachel to have prepared everything just to divorce him.

"I don't think there's anything left for us to discuss. I'm leaving," said Harry, who then walked out without looking back.

CRASH...

"Son of a bitch!"

Andrew slammed his fist on the desk and cursed loudly right after Harry left. "I won't let you go, Rachel!"

"Leonard!" he called out to his assistant.

His assistant, hearing Andrew call him, hurried into the room and looked at Andrew, ready to await his orders.

"Call the lawyer. I have to fight Harry Stanford, who wants to separate me from my wife," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," said Leonard, nodding in understanding.

"Ah, sir. Miss Lisa is asking to see you," Leonard said, just remembering that Lisa had just arrived, and relaying the woman's message.

"Have her come in, and don't let anyone else come in here after her," Andrew ordered.

Leonard nodded in understanding, then stepped out and invited Lisa into the room.

"Honey," Lisa said in a coquettish tone as she approached Andrew and sat on his lap.

"Are you in a bad mood?" Lisa asked, running her hand seductively along Andrew's jawline.

"That woman wants to divorce me," Andrew said.

Lisa's eyes widened. "Isn't that great? You'll be free of her, honey."

"Great? You're crazy! Do you want me to end up penniless, huh?!" Andrew snapped, startling Lisa.

"Penniless?" Lisa asked, confused.

"We have a prenuptial agreement stating that if I ever cheat on Rachel, she can divorce me and all my assets will go to her," Andrew explained.

Lisa fell silent upon hearing this. "In that case, you just need to get rid of the source of the problem."

"What do you mean?" Andrew asked, confused.

"Come on, honey. You're a smart guy-how could you not get it?" Lisa said in a playful tone.

Instantly, Andrew understood what his girlfriend meant. "But that would destroy me even more if I got caught."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of the rest," Lisa said.

"Really? You're amazing, my love," Andrew remarked as he buried his face in Lisa's chest.

"Ahhh... Andrew"-that disgusting sound finally echoed back and forth in the room afterward.

*********

Three days later,

Rachel didn't waste any time; as soon as she arrived to Seattle again, she went straight to Harry's office the very next day to discuss her divorce. Max, who had insisted on coming along, listened intently to his mother's conversation.

Harry glanced at Max, who seemed very obedient and understood what was happening between his mother and father. He then whispered to Rachel.

"Does your son already know?"

"Yes, Uncle. I had to tell him one way or another. Max's reaction wasn't what I feared-he actually seemed relieved. Max said he doesn't like his father," Rachel said.

Harry sighed, "Your son is very smart for his age; he must have witnessed Andrew's behavior toward you many times."

"That's what I regret, Uncle," Rachel said softly.

Harry immediately patted Rachel on the shoulder, "We'll settle everything today."

After saying that, Harry stood up, followed by Rachel, who then reached out her hand to Max. The three of them left the office and set out to begin the divorce proceedings.

They were there for nearly four hours until the day's proceedings were finally over. Rachel hugged Harry while murmuring her thanks, to which the middle-aged man responded with a pat on her back.

"Come on, Max. Let's go back to Grandma and Grandpa's house," Rachel said.

Max nodded enthusiastically; he was already eager to return to Reno. The city had made the boy feel right at home there. The two of them walked toward Rachel's parked car.

The streets were quiet that day, and Rachel drove at a moderate speed toward the airport. They would be heading straight back to Reno that very day. When she reached an intersection, Rachel slowed down as she should have.

CRASH....