One Hundred Betrayals, One Final No

I had been married to Lucius Martin for three years, and in all that time, there was never a shortage of women around him. Each time he brought another woman home, he would give me a necklace worth a fortune. In just three short years, I had accumulated ninety-nine necklaces. When Lucius fastened the hundredth necklace around my neck, I no longer cried or made a scene. Because this time, the woman he cheated with was my own older sister, the one who had beaten and scolded me since we were children. The man I loved most joined hands with the person I hated most to torment me together. At that moment, my heart finally died. This time, I took the initiative and walked up to Lucius, placing a house purchase contract into his hands. "As long as you sign this," I said, "you can do whatever you want with her." A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, but in the end, he signed without hesitation. For the first time ever, he even leaned down and gently kissed my cheek. "Good girl," he murmured. "You've finally learned to behave." I personally opened the car door for him and watched as he hurried off toward my sister. When the car disappeared completely from sight, I let out a long breath. Then I reached beneath the documents and pulled out the paper hidden there—a divorce agreement. Chapter 1 Adele's POV This was the first time Lucius Martin had ever accompanied me out to dinner. From time to time, he lifted his head to glance at the clock across from him, his fingers tapping impatiently against the tabletop. It wasn't until I slid a house purchase contract toward him that he finally stopped. He didn't even finish reading it. He signed his name at lightning speed, stood up, and prepared to leave. "It's already midnight," he said coolly. "Our wedding anniversary is over. I should go." Before leaving, he handed me a gift box. Inside lay a sapphire necklace. I glanced at it and pushed it back to him. "You've already given me a house," I said. "There's no need for the necklace." Lucius looked as though he'd just heard the biggest joke in the world. "Adele, do you think I care for a little money? Keep it," he said casually. "In case there's a next time—consider it an advance payment." With that, he turned and left without a backward glance. A next time. Yes. After all, there had already been one hundred times. The first time, I caught him kissing a young model in his car. He gave me a set of globally limited-edition jewelry. The second time, he brought his new lover directly into our home. I cried and screamed until the whole ordeal ended with a pearl necklace. He never cared about my emotions, because to him, this marriage was nothing more than a business alliance. But I fell in love with him at first sight. From that very moment, this relationship was doomed to be unequal. It wasn't that I liked the jewelry he used to compensate me. It was simply that every time I saw them, I was reminded that what bound us together was nothing but money. The ninety-ninth time I received jewelry, I finally broke down and demanded a divorce. That was when Lucius unexpectedly softened his tone. "Don't worry," he said. "I don't have feelings for any of them. It's just for fun." "I'll play around one last time," he promised, "then I'll behave and come home." So I waited. And waited. What I ended up waiting for was him, in my bedroom… sleeping with my older sister, Maisie. She even left a used condom under the pillow along with a note that said, "Adele, your husband is pretty good in bed." When I saw those words, I suddenly didn't feel like storming over to confront them in a rage, the way I always had before. Because Maisie had bullied me for as long as I could remember, beating and scolding me whenever she pleased. Lucius knew this very well. I had even shown him the scars she'd left on my body. And yet he still slept with her. On my bed. At that moment, I knew I was done waiting. That day, I pushed open the door to his study and tossed the note and the condom onto his desk. "Lucius," I said, "this is the ‘last time' you were talking about." His brows knitted tightly, as if he were searching for an explanation. But I only laughed softly, crumpled the note, and threw it into the trash. "No jewelry this time," I said. "I'll take a villa instead." A flash of surprise crossed his eyes. Then he curved his lips into a smile and stepped toward me. He gently rubbed my head. "Adele," he said, "you've finally satisfied me—for once." Yes. In the past, I'd always cried and screamed like a madwoman, embarrassing him terribly. In public, he was the flawless, perfect husband everyone admired. That day, Lucius asked me, "So does this mean I can keep playing around in the future?" I smiled and nodded. "I have to accept reality." For example, the reality that a playboy never truly reforms. Or the reality that Lucius never loved me at all. He looked at me for a long moment, then let out a soft scoff. "Sounds pretty pitiful. Fine," he said. "Our wedding anniversary is coming up again. This time, we'll celebrate it together—your reward for being obedient." I nodded meekly. And so today, on our wedding anniversary, I placed a divorce agreement beneath the house purchase contract. At last, I got the ending I wanted. When the final signature was written, this marriage finally came to a close. Ten days from now, Lucius and I will have nothing to do with each other anymore. Chapter 2 Midnight in Mayrelle City. Snow filled the sky. I clutched the divorce agreement in my palm and didn't feel cold at all. A message popped up on my phone—from my sister. Just as expected. He had rushed off again to be with her. Maisie: [Adele, your husband and I have run out of condoms. Can you bring some over for us?] Maisie: [Carthorpe Hotel, Room 1206. Make sure they're ultra-thin.] I stared at the photo she sent. Lucius's eyes were heavy with desire. My heart felt as though a thorn had been driven straight into it. I went back home and listed every piece of jewelry he'd given me over the years on an auction site. While sorting through them, I realized that the sapphire necklace from today—he had given me an identical one before. How perfunctory, Lucius. After everything was listed, Lucius called. "Come to the hotel," he said. "There are a lot of reporters downstairs. I don't want to get photographed." After all these years of marriage, he had always been extremely cautious with his affairs—for the sake of appearances. So cautious that most of his mistresses even resembled me a little. The last time he was nearly exposed, he'd dragged me in to clean up the mess. It seemed my compliance today had pleased him—pleased him enough to push his luck. Lost in thought, I heard him add, "Oh, and pick up some food on the way. Maisie's hungry." Before I could respond, he hung up. I laughed bitterly. The faint trace of expectation I'd felt when I answered the call now seemed utterly ridiculous. After some hesitation, I still headed for the hotel. There was no other reason—the legal process wasn't finished yet. If public opinion spiraled out of control, his losses would become my losses. Besides, what I wanted went far beyond this. When I knocked on the hotel room door, Lucius yanked it open and pulled me inside. In the luxurious presidential suite, my sister sat naked at the edge of the bed, her body covered in countless kiss marks. She displayed herself openly, looking at me with blatant provocation. Lucius glanced at my empty hands and frowned. "Where's the food?" "I forgot," I said coldly. The temperature in the room dropped instantly. It wasn't until my sister spoke that the silence broke. "Lucius, don't bully my precious little sister. Just making her come all this way is enough to make her cry for three days." Lucius raised a brow and lightly pinched her nose. "You're right, sweetheart." They showed affection openly, right in front of me. My heart, already numb, still ached fiercely at that moment. "How much longer?" My voice was icy. "If you keep flirting, the reporters will be gone." Maisie suddenly burst out laughing. "They've already left. Oh, no—actually, they were never here to begin with." I froze, my voice trembling. "What… what do you mean?" Only then did Lucius look at me, sounding almost helpless. "Maisie wanted something exciting, so she teased you a bit. What, are you mad?" Anger surged wildly in my chest, but I forced myself to suppress it. "Lucius, don't you think you've gone too far?" He curled his lips. "Too far? I thought after a hundred times, you'd be used to it by now." He said it so lightly, as if it were nothing at all. Yet it had been a nightmare that wrapped around me for three full years. I let out a self-mocking laugh. Then I slammed the door and left. At some point, the blizzard outside had already stopped. I looked up at the hotel windows above. Lucius stood there smoking, watching me as I stood by the roadside. I must have looked like a stray dog. I wandered across the crosswalk, hollow and dazed. Suddenly, a car sped straight toward me. "Adele!" As my consciousness blurred, I seemed to see him sprinting downstairs like a madman. Chapter 3 When I woke up again, Lucius was sitting beside me. There was none of the smug satisfaction he'd worn when he toyed with me before. He looked weighed down by worry. "Why…" His voice was unsteady. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant? If you'd told me earlier, I wouldn't have done this… I'm sorry…" For a moment, I thought I'd misheard him. I lowered my gaze to my flat stomach. Pregnant? I had once tried to use pregnancy to make Lucius come back to me. No matter how many times I clung to him, no matter how many doctors I saw, it never worked. Now, when I had finally decided to leave, it came. Lucius was just as stunned. He gripped my hand tightly. For the first time, I saw unmistakable guilt on his face. "The doctor said the baby almost didn't make it," he said hoarsely. "I'm sorry… this is all my fault… Don't worry. I swear I'll never do this again." "Do what?" I looked at him calmly. "Stop cheating, or stop toying with me?" A flash of conflict crossed his face. In the end, it seemed to take all his strength to force out two words. "The latter." Before I could speak, he continued, "Maisie is very fragile. If I suddenly break up with her, she'll collapse. She is your sister, after all. You wouldn't want her to get hurt, would you? And if she makes a scene, it'll damage both our families' reputations." I had countless ways to argue back. But seeing how anxious he looked, I suddenly lost all desire to speak. "You should leave," I said quietly. "I'm tired." Lucius looked at me deeply. Then, as he passed a doctor in the hallway, he issued a cold warning. "Take good care of her. If anything happens to her or the child, I'll shut this hospital down." This child seemed to have changed how Lucius looked at me. But it couldn't change how he felt. And it couldn't change my decision to leave. Nine days left… then everything would end. Chapter 4 Over the next five days, Lucius came to the hospital to see me from time to time. To my surprise, I even saw in him a sense of responsibility—as a husband, and as a father. In three years of marriage, those five days were the only time we resembled a normal couple. That illusion lasted until the night before my discharge, when he walked into the ward with Maisie's hand looped through his arm. "Adele, I heard you're pregnant. Congratulations," she said. Her tone was light, but her pupils flickered sharply. I knew that look. Every time she planned to hurt me, she wore that same expression. Instinctively, I covered my stomach and spoke in an icy voice. "What are you doing here?" Hearing the hostility in my tone, Lucius sighed. "Maisie is just worried about you. Adele, why are you being so aggressive?" "Shouldn't I be?" I let out a cold laugh. "She's bullied me since we were children. And now, she's even stolen my husband." "Adele!" Lucius raised his voice. "Stop talking nonsense. Maisie already told me everything. She never tried to bully you. You've been jealous all along—jealous that she's prettier and more popular—so you made up these lies!" I stared at him in disbelief. "You… what did you just say?" The next second, I yanked up my sleeve, exposing the ugly scar on my arm. "Then what about this? Is this fake too?!" Lucius froze. Maisie let out a soft laugh. "I remember that scar. You got it back in school when you went out fighting with some street thugs. And now you want to pin it on me?" It was as if Lucius had finally found something to cling to. "Adele! Stop treating Maisie so badly. I'll let the previous rumors slide for the baby's sake," he said, "but from now on, you'd better—" "Get out! Get out of here!" I screamed until my throat tore, hurling a vase at Lucius. Shards slashed his forehead. He covered his bleeding face and muttered under his breath, "Crazy." That single word struck my heart like a blunt weapon. After they left, I curled into myself, my abdomen wracked with pain. When the medical staff rushed in and saw the blood-soaked bed, they turned pale. "What on earth did Mr. Martin do? He warned us to take good care of his wife, yet he tortured her like this himself." "Honestly… I even envied her before…" Amid their murmurs, I was wheeled into the operating room once again. In that moment, I suddenly wished the baby wouldn't survive. That way, it would never have to know it had such a terrible father. When I opened my eyes again, I was met with the radiant smiles of the medical staff. They excitedly told me the baby was still alive and strong. But I couldn't bring myself to smile. Chapter 5 After learning that I had been rushed into emergency care, Lucius returned to the hospital. At that point, there were only three days left before I would leave. He brought a huge bouquet of flowers, along with a gift box. To my surprise, it no longer contained expensive jewelry. Inside was a pair of tiny baby shoes. "I didn't realize those words hurt you so deeply," he said quietly. "Adele, can we stop fighting? The baby wouldn't want its parents tearing into each other every day." I let out a cold laugh. "The baby wouldn't want to see its father bringing different women home every day either." Lucius faltered. He gently held my hand, the one bristling with needles. "Give me some time," he said. "I'll find the right moment to break up with Maisie. After that, we'll live properly—together." To be honest, I never expected Lucius to truly leave Maisie. He had many lovers, but she was different. He remembered her birthday, and even went out of his way to prepare surprises for her. It seemed the rumors were true—Lucius harbored an almost obsessive longing for family. His father was ruthless, while Lucius, as a child, had been painfully soft-hearted. In order to mold him into a qualified heir, his father sacrificed his own wife, forcing seven-year-old Lucius to watch his mother fall from a building. Her blood had splattered across his face. That was why Lucius desperately craved a "normal" family. Unfortunately, it was too late. I no longer wanted a family with him. "I understand," I said calmly. "You can go." Hearing my even tone, Lucius assumed I had calmed down. He left with a smile, never seeing that the moment he turned away, I contacted my secretary to organize all the litigation documents and evidence. At the same time, most of the jewelry had already been sold. There was enough money for me to never worry about expenses again in this lifetime. I immediately used the funds to purchase a luxury home overseas. Three days later, I would leave this place for good. What I didn't expect was that on the night before my departure, Lucius kicked open my door. He hurled a medical report at my face. "Adele, you really stop at nothing to keep me, don't you?" he snarled. "Faking a pregnancy now, are you?" I froze in place and picked up the report. It was an infertility diagnosis issued by a hospital. I explained at once, "This was from an earlier test. It was a misdiagnosis!" "A misdiagnosis?" Lucius scoffed. "Then why did you run all over the world seeing doctors for that rotten uterus of yours?!" "Because I wanted to get pregnant!" I shouted, my eyes burning red. "Because I wanted you to stop cheating!" He laughed even harder. "So you couldn't get pregnant, and that's why you colluded with the hospital to fake one? The doctors already confessed—you bribed them with the money I gave you to put on this little performance. It seems Maisie was right after all," he sneered. "I pity Maisie for having a sister who'll do anything to get what she wants." At that moment, I suddenly lost all strength to explain. And any remaining hope I had for him vanished completely. I turned my head away, unwilling to look at him. But he grabbed my chin and forced my face back, his eyes icy with hostility. "Adele, I used to feel sorry for your past. Turns out it was all a lie—and now you've played me like a fool. If I were Maisie, I'd make your life worse than death. A vicious woman like you deserves the worst." Looking into his bloodshot eyes, I choked out, "Lucius… what if I really am pregnant? We can go to another hospital right now and check." "There's no need," he said firmly. He glanced at my flat stomach and sneered. "Even if you were pregnant, I wouldn't want it. Maisie is already expecting. Compared to someone as scheming as you, she's far more qualified to give birth to my child." At that instant, it felt as though a thousand needles pierced my throat. I couldn't say a single word. So that was it. So that was the truth. He already had another child. I lifted my head stiffly and looked at him with reddened eyes. "Then what do you plan to do? Divorce me? Make me step aside for Maisie and her child?" "I won't divorce you." Lucius gave his answer almost instantly. Of course, having a child with his wife's sister would destroy his reputation. He looked at me coldly. "Behave yourself from now on. If you dare try to hurt Maisie or her child, I won't show you any mercy." I looked at the face filled with nothing but wariness and disgust toward me. I smiled as I nodded. 'Lucius, you no longer have any control over me. All that lavish jewelry… I had already sold every last piece. The money is enough to buy my freedom. As for you? You might not remain free much longer,' I thought. After he left, I pulled a recording pen out from beneath my pillow. Then I handed it to a well-known journalist. … The next day, I dragged my suitcase and headed alone for the airport. Cars streamed past outside the window when a breaking entertainment headline suddenly flashed across the city's largest billboard. At the same time, taxis all over the city began broadcasting the news. "Prominent corporate president Lucius exposed for cheating on his wife with one hundred mistresses—impregnating even his wife's sister…" Before the report could finish, my phone began vibrating nonstop inside my bag. I let out a long breath. Then I tossed the phone straight into the river.