I Endured Her Affairs for Half Her Empire

When Meghan Gregory struts home with a young male model and announces that she is pregnant with his child, I do not smash things or cause a scene as I did on previous occasions. I even personally cook chicken soup for her to help keep her healthy and give up the master bedroom to that man. From that day on, I become the laughingstock of Halston's high society. Those men who want to climb the social ladder all see me as an easy target. They all want to walk all over me. Meghan's close friends make fun of me, saying I am a useless man who cannot live without the Gregory family. Later, Meghan's baby bump grows bigger. She looks at me with a smug smile as I iron the baby's clothes. "Sweetheart, no matter how exciting the other men are, they're only for fun. "Don't worry. As long as you behave and do not cause trouble, no matter how many other men I have, you will always be my husband." Everyone thinks I put up with all of this because I cannot live without Meghan's money. Only I know the real reason—that I have signed a prenuptial agreement with the Gregory family. The agreement states, "Regardless of the wife's faults, as long as the husband maintains the marriage for five years, he will be entitled to 10% of Gregory Group's original shares." Now, the five-year term is over. Half of Meghan's fortune, worth tens of billions of dollars, now belongs to me. Chapter 1 I kept ironing the baby's clothes, completely unfazed by Meghan Gregory's declaration of loyalty. "I know," I said. Seeing how indifferent I was, irritation spread across Meghan's face. She wasn't used to me being so compliant. After all, six months earlier, when photos of her passionately kissing a famous actor on a yacht had leaked, I had smashed an entire set of expensive antique porcelain and caused a citywide scandal. She froze for a moment, then suppressed her inexplicable frustration and reached out to touch my face. "Ashton, you've finally grown up. I knew you were someone who understood the bigger picture." I quietly stepped back, avoiding her outstretched hand. "I'll go to the kitchen to see if the chicken soup is ready." Meghan's hand froze in midair, but she quickly withdrew it, her attention soon pulled away by Hector Manning. In the kitchen, the pot bubbled steadily as steam rose from it. The hot steam hit my face, making my eyes misty. I stared blankly at the chicken soup, and the composure I had managed to maintain in the living room completely fell apart. There had been a time when Meghan protected me the same way. Back then, we still lived in Calder, and Meghan was an illegitimate daughter whose existence had been kept hidden from the public. To escape the pursuit of her dad's legal wife, her mom, Lucie Porter, had entrusted her to my family. That winter had been especially cold. I had come down with a high fever and wanted some roasted peanuts from the south side of the town. With no cars on the street, Meghan ran through the heavy snow for over ten miles. When she came back, her hands were bright red from the cold, but the peanuts she held against her chest were still warm. Later, my parents died in a car accident. Holding me as I cried until I passed out, she swore, her eyes red, "Ashton, from now on, I'll be your family. I'll never leave you." Now, we had a home. We lived in a mansion halfway up the hillside overlooking the entire Crescent Harbor. It was worth a fortune. Yet, the young woman who once had eyes only for me had disappeared into a world of Halston's luxury and excess. When I walked out carrying the chicken soup, Hector was sitting at my desk, playing with the antique gold pendant my mom had left me. "Meghan, this pendant is so beautiful. Does it suit me?" he asked. Meghan looked at him fondly. "If you like it, it's yours. Ashton has a large collection anyway. He won't miss this one." I stopped in my tracks, my fingertips turning pale. That pendant was Mom's keepsake. I walked over, my eyes turning cold. "This pendant is an old family heirloom. People say old pieces like that bring bad luck, so I'm worried it might bring misfortune to the baby Meghan is carrying. "Mr. Manning, if you like jewelry, have Meghan take you to an auction another day and pick out something new." Hector's expression stiffened. As if he had touched something cursed, he quickly set the pendant down. Meghan frowned slightly and pushed it further away, as though she found it distasteful. In that instant, I caught the disgust flashing in her eyes. That pendant carried all of Mom's love and gentleness, and it had also witnessed Meghan's most difficult years. When my parents were alive, they had never once treated Meghan poorly. But now that they were gone, even the keepsake they had left behind was treated like worthless junk. My heart twisted with pain. I counted the days silently in my head. Only three days remained. I just had to endure three more days. Chapter 2 As I watched Meghan drink the chicken soup, I drifted into thought. No matter how wild Meghan used to be, she had always known where to draw the line. She had never let those men appear in front of me. But this time, she had crossed every line for the sake of the child in her womb. She had once despised illegitimate children, yet now that she was carrying Hector's baby, she cherished it above all else. When I didn't react, she cautiously tested the waters. "Ashton, once the baby is born, I'll have him call you 'Dad' and make him the rightful heir to the Gregory family. Is that alright?" She didn't want her child to experience what she had, so she chose to sacrifice my dignity instead. I smiled. "Sure." Seeing the stunned look on her face when I agreed so readily, I felt nothing at all. After all, everything would be over in three days. Why would I care about being tricked into raising someone else's kid? After Hector learned that his child would become the Gregory family's heir, he grew even more arrogant. Pointing at the flowering dogwood tree in the garden, he said, his smile sly, "Meghan, I don't like dogwoods. They look too old-fashioned. Roses are much prettier." After hearing that, Meghan immediately ordered someone to cut down the dogwood tree and replace it with roses. We had planted that tree together the year my parents passed away. At the time, she had said, "Ashton, the dogwoods will witness my love for you. I'll protect you from now on. You'll never be alone again." As the harsh sound of the chainsaw rang out, the dogwood tree crashed to the ground. I stood by the second-floor window, staring at the broken branches and scattered leaves below. The last trace of feeling inside me faded away. When Meghan came upstairs, she happened to see me standing by the window. She felt a rare pang of guilt, perhaps because my back looked too lonely. She walked over and hugged me from behind. "Ashton, it's only a tree. If you like it, I'll have someone buy an estate someday and fill it with dogwoods for you," she said. Her embrace still felt warm, but she smelled of the cologne Hector always wore. I gently pulled away and turned to look at her. "Meghan, do you remember when that tree was planted?" Her gaze flickered for a moment. It was obvious that she had forgotten long ago. "Why bring up the past? I'm so busy now. I don't have the time to remember little things like that." She changed the subject with a hint of impatience. "By the way, there's a charity gala tonight. You don't need to go. I'll bring Hector instead." Seeing how self-righteous she looked, I suddenly found it funny. "You're taking a kept man with no status to an event like that. Aren't you worried people will call the baby you're carrying a bastard?" Meghan's face darkened, and her voice turned cold. "The baby I'm carrying is the Gregory family's eldest son. He's not a bastard!" At the mention of the word "bastard", she became visibly agitated. Lucie was Mom's best friend. Back then, Meghan's dad, Raymond Gregory, had taken advantage of her. She became his mistress in secret and ultimately died in sorrow. Meghan loathed the Gregory family for causing her mom to die in misery, and she despised being known as an illegitimate daughter just as much. Yet, she was now following in her father's footsteps. I looked at her calmly. "So? Just to keep your child from being born out of wedlock, you're going to bring the baby's real father in front of me and flaunt him? Meghan, you keep saying you hate your dad, but look at yourself now. How are you any different from him?" A sharp slap echoed through the room. Meghan pulled her hand back. Her chest heaved, and her eyes were filled with shock. She seemed unable to believe she had actually hit me, but her anger had gotten the better of her. "Shut up! Don't you dare compare me to that old man!" She shouted hysterically, "I'm protecting my child! I'll never let my child go through what I went through!" I covered my numb cheek, tasting a hint of blood in my mouth. Meghan didn't look at me again. She slammed the door and left. Before long, I heard Hector softly comforting her downstairs, and she gradually calmed down. I walked to the mirror, looked at the red mark on my face, and pressed an ice pack against it. The mark slowly faded, while the coldness in my eyes deepened. Chapter 3 That night, photos of Meghan attending the charity gala with Hector made headlines across Halston. The media was eager to stir up drama. The headline read, "Pregnant Ms. Gregory Appears with Her New Lover. Has Mr. Nicholson Been Dumped?" In the photo, Hector was helping Meghan walk, his wrist adorned with a watch I knew all too well. Meghan had bought that watch at an auction to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. She had said that it represented every second we spent together and her everlasting love for me. How ridiculous. … The next day, I went to the private club to work out as usual. As soon as I entered the lounge area, I heard a group of wealthy young heirs gossiping. "Hey, did you guys see the news? Looks like that guy from the Gregory family is really going down this time." "Tell me about it. Even the watch they used to show off their love is on that pretty boy's wrist now. Isn't that a blatant insult to Ashton?" "If you ask me, Ashton brought this on himself. Back when Meghan was still the illegitimate daughter everyone looked down on, he devoted himself to her and even spent the entire Nicholson family fortune to help her reach where she is today. This is karma." "I heard he's still making chicken soup for his pregnant wife. What a pathetic cuckold. He's a disgrace to every man. If I were him, I would've killed myself already." I strode into the lounge, and the entire room immediately went quiet. The young heirs looked embarrassed for a split second when they saw me, but their expressions quickly gave way to amusement. "Well, if it isn't Mr. Nicholson. How did you manage to find time to come out today? Aren't you supposed to be making soup for your wife at home?" It was Philip Mercer who spoke. His family owned a construction materials business. He had always wanted to curry favor with Meghan, and he'd held a grudge against me ever since I refused to introduce him to her. I walked to my usual seat with an unbothered expression, accepted the glass of water the attendant handed to me, and took a small sip. "Making soup once in a while is romantic, but doing it every day turns you into a housekeeper. I'm not like you, Mr. Mercer. I heard you even signed up for cooking classes just to win back your wife after she kept a college student on the side." Philip's expression changed. "What nonsense are you talking about?" "Whether it's nonsense or not, you know best, Mr. Mercer," I said. I set my glass down and looked at everyone in the room. "As for who Meghan chooses to give the watch to, that's her business. After all, to the Gregory family, a watch is just a drop in the bucket. But what's mine is mine. Even if I threw it to a beggar, it's nobody else's place to tell me what to do." With that, I paid them no further attention and closed my eyes to rest. Even though I had won the argument, I knew they still saw me as a joke. After I finished my workout, I got a call from Meghan. "Ashton, I have a gathering tonight. It'll just be a few old friends. Come join us." She sounded like she was in a good mood, as if she had already forgotten that she'd slapped me yesterday. "Isn't Hector coming?" I asked flatly. She replied, "He's tired after accompanying me to my prenatal checkup today, so he's resting at home. Besides… you know Mr. Owen and the others. It wouldn't be appropriate to bring him." I sneered. Meghan had always been practical. Whenever she needed someone to keep up appearances, she still thought of me, her respectable husband from a good family. As for Hector, he was merely a plaything in her decadent life. Chapter 4 The evening gathering took place at a private club. When I pushed open the door of the private room, the smell of cigarettes and alcohol hit me at once. Everyone there was either one of Meghan's business partners or her close friend. When they saw me enter, the noisy room fell silent for a brief moment. "Oh, Ashton is here! Come on. Have a seat!" Someone eagerly offered me a seat, but I noticed the barely concealed mockery in their eyes. Meghan sat at the head of the table. When she saw me, she patted the seat beside her and said, "Ashton, sit here." I sat down obediently. "Meghan, I heard you're really living the dream. That young male model is staying at your house, yet Ashton is still being so understanding. We're honestly impressed." Mr. Brennan was the one who spoke. He had drunk too much and was thoughtlessly expressing himself. Meghan laughed and cursed at him. "Screw you. Just drink your wine." Yet, she didn't deny Mr. Brennan's words. Instead, she reached over and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, acting like we were a loving couple. "No matter how interesting other men are, they're only for fun. Ashton is the only one who'll ever be my husband." As she said that, her eyes filled with pity, as though allowing me to keep that title was an extraordinary act of kindness on her part. After several rounds of drinks, someone brought up my family, the Nicholsons. "Come to think of it, Meghan, if the Nicholson family hadn't helped you with everything they had back then, you never would've taken control of Gregory Group so quickly. It's a shame Mr. and Mrs. Nicholson passed away so early. If they could see how well things have turned out, they'd be so proud." Meghan's expression stiffened slightly, and a flicker of unease crossed her eyes. Back then, my parents' car accident had been ruled an accident by the police, but the timing had been far too convenient. It had happened when Meghan was in the middle of her fiercest conflict with Raymond's legal wife and desperately in need of a large amount of money. After my parents died, I inherited everything from the Nicholson family and invested it all in Meghan's projects without hesitation. That was what helped her completely turn everything around. For all those years, I had never doubted Meghan. It wasn't until recently, while sorting through my parents' belongings, that I found an encrypted email. Although I hadn't fully decrypted it yet, it seemed to point toward a terrifying truth. In the present, Meghan said, "That's true. I'll never forget everything my father-in-law and mother-in-law did for me." She sighed and took my hand. "Ashton, don't worry. From now on, I'll treat you twice as well, making up for everything they would have done for you." Her palm was warm, yet it sent a deep chill through me. Just then, the private room door was suddenly pushed open. Meghan's assistant rushed in, panic written across her face. She stammered, "M-Ms. Gregory… Mr. Manning… Something happened to him!"