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He Wanted a Mistress, So I Gave Him a Funeral
Novelix
Completed
When photos of her billionaire husband Ethan Grant and his assistant Lily Hart go viral, Emma Reed is forced to defend him. Instead, she records a statement so sharp it ruins him. Trapped in a fake marriage, betrayed, threatened, and stripped of her parents’ remains, Emma chooses disappearance over forgiveness. A fire leaves the world convinced she is dead, while Ethan spirals into guilt and revenge. Years later, after reclaiming the life she abandoned for love, Emma returns to Harbor City under a new identity—only to find the man who destroyed her still waiting there for a ghost.
Chapters (4)
第1章
My husband, Ethan Grant, was photographed looking far too intimate with his young assistant, Lily Hart, during a business trip.
The photos went viral the moment they dropped, rocketing straight to the top of every trending list.
The image Ethan had spent years cultivating—the devoted husband, the perfect CEO—collapsed overnight. Grant Group's stock price tanked for days straight, and the board members and the Grant family couldn't sit still any longer.
They came to me in shifts. They said the company couldn't afford a scandal. I was Ethan's wife. I needed to think about the bigger picture.
So I recorded a statement, exactly the way they asked.
In the video, I smiled and spoke clearly, word by word:
"There is no third party in my marriage with Ethan Grant. The relationship between Ethan and his assistant, Ms. Lily Hart, as circulated online, is simply that they furnished a cozy apartment together at Lakeview Tower."
"My three miscarriages over the past five years were all accidents. They were in no way caused by Ethan losing bets with Ms. Lily and, to amuse her, arranging for them to happen."
"On our wedding anniversary, Ethan traveled with his assistant to a hot spring resort in Japan purely for work purposes. Ethan's monthly jewelry purchases for Ms. Lily are standard business gifts."
"I gave my grandmother's heirloom jade pendant to Ms. Lily entirely of my own free will."
"As for the intimate photographs now circulating online, I maliciously edited and fabricated them."
"I hereby offer my sincere apology to Ms. Lily Hart."
Less than a minute after the video went live, Ethan—who'd been unreachable for days—sent me a message.
"Emma Reed. Delete it. Now. Or when I get back, you know what happens."
I looked at the screen and let out a short laugh.
Then I replied: "Then I won't wait for you to get back."
I'd barely set the phone down when the staff member beside me spoke in a low voice:
"Ms. Reed, your reinstatement application has been approved. Due to the nature of the position, please confirm that you are not legally married and not pregnant before departure."
I nodded.
"Thank you."
After they left, I sat alone in the walk-in closet.
An open suitcase lay in front of me. Inside were a few changes of clothes and an old photo album.
The phone screen kept lighting up.
The "statement" had been live for barely forty minutes, and the comments had already broken a million.
Seven of the top ten trending topics were about me.
#EthanGrantBetCausedEmmasMiscarriage
#EmmaReedApologizesToLilyHart
#EthanGrantPerfectHusbandImageCollapsed
I scrolled through them one by one.
"Isn't Ethan Grant supposed to be the famously devoted husband? What kind of horror story is this?"
"Standard business gifts of jewelry? Is Grant Group a charity?"
"Grant Group doesn't even have a branch in Japan. What business trip?"
"Someone dug it up—the hot spring resort they went to is a couples-themed hotel."
"Voluntarily gave her grandmother's heirloom jade pendant to the other woman? Emma Reed, were you threatened?"
"I've been in entertainment journalism for ten years, and I've never seen anyone write 'my husband is scum' inside a statement that's supposed to be clearing his name. Emma, are you calling for help?"
I stared for a moment, then smiled faintly.
They weren't wrong. I was calling for help. Just not to them.
Every sentence in that statement—outsiders couldn't decode it. But Ethan could.
From the moment it went live, there was no going back for us.
The phone buzzed again. A private message from an anonymous account.
Just one line:
"Ms. Reed, upon verification, the marriage registration documents held by you and Mr. Ethan Grant have been confirmed as forged."
I froze.
When I first noticed the signs, I thought I'd already braced myself.
But the moment I saw it confirmed, my eyes still burned.
So for all five of those years, even the title "Mrs. Grant" had been a lie.
第2章
The next morning at six, the housekeeper Maria knocked on my door.
"Ma'am, sir is home."
I blinked.
According to his original itinerary, Ethan wasn't supposed to be back today.
Before I could react, he was standing in the bedroom doorway.
Behind him were Lily Hart and Grant Group's PR manager, Mark Lane.
Lily wore a tailored suit, her eyes rimmed red.
"Emma, how could you put out a statement like that? Do you have any idea what people are saying about me online? I can't even leave my house..."
I looked at her pitiful little act and let out a soft laugh.
"Oh, that statement. I just threw it together. I had no idea you'd take it so personally."
"Emma Reed!"
Ethan's voice was tight with anger.
"Delete that statement immediately. Then post a new one saying your account was hacked. That the video wasn't your doing."
I said nothing.
Mark pulled a document from his briefcase and placed it in front of me.
"Ma'am, this is a new statement drafted by the PR department. You just need to sign."
I picked it up and glanced at it.
Professional wording. All blame shifted to a "hacked account."
Ethan said coldly, "Get ready. The company is holding a press conference at two this afternoon. You'll attend with me. You don't need to say a word. Just stand next to me, and the rumors die on their own."
I looked up at him.
"Ethan, you want me to pretend none of this ever happened?"
His expression darkened. "I'm not asking."
"I know." I dropped the smile. "But I'm done performing for you."
At that point, I thought he'd at least flinch. Feel some guilt.
But he just stood there, looking down at me. There was even a flicker of impatience in his eyes.
As if I were the one being unreasonable.
This was how he'd led me here, step by step, over all these years.
In the beginning, he told me Lily was "just a fresh graduate—don't overthink it."
Later, it was "she's good at her job—it's normal for me to look after her a bit."
After that, Lily had a key to the Lakeview Tower apartment.
My grandmother's jade pendant—the one she'd worn for sixty years—showed up around Lily's neck.
And then there were my three miscarriages.
He managed both sides so seamlessly that I couldn't find a single crack.
Until the night before his trip. The company's anniversary gala.
I went to the lounge to find him.
The door wasn't fully closed. I heard him inside, drinking with a few friends.
Someone asked, "Ethan, you lost to Lily again? What was the bet this time?"
His tone was careless.
"Bet on how long it'd take Emma to forgive me for not coming home on her birthday."
"I bet one day. Lily bet one hour. I lost."
He took a drag of his cigarette, his voice lazy with alcohol.
"Emma's great. Just too boring. A couple of sweet words and she buys every one of my overtime excuses. I even took her most treasured heirloom pendant—told her some business partner was superstitious, thought the jade could ward off bad luck—and she believed that too."
The room erupted in laughter.
Someone said, "Good thing that marriage certificate was never actually registered, or you'd be kicking yourself right now. But seriously, Lily's way more fun—you're not going to marry her?"
Ethan said lightly, "We'll see. The Mrs. Grant seat is better suited for someone like Emma—the type who doesn't make waves."
The laughter died down.
He suddenly lowered his voice.
"But I can't mess with her body over this latest bet I lost. She's already had three 'accidental' miscarriages because of bets I lost. One more and her health will really give out."
I stood outside the door. The cold seeped into my bones inch by inch.
In that moment, everything suddenly made sense.
My thoughts snapped back to the present.
Ethan walked slowly toward me.
Then he smiled. "Emma, if I remember correctly, your parents' ashes are kept at St. Anne Memorial Hall. Right?"
第3章
He leaned down, his lips close to my ear.
"If you don't show up at that press conference, the next time you visit them, there'll be nothing there."
He straightened up and adjusted his cuffs, slow and deliberate.
"Some prices you can't afford to pay."
I clenched my fists.
"Ethan." I stood up and met his eyes. "I'll step aside."
His hands went still.
I took a deep breath. "I'm leaving. The Mrs. Grant seat—give it to her. Is that enough?"
The room went quiet.
I waited for his reaction.
Rage, a sneer, crueler words—I didn't care. Any of it.
After all, this outcome should have made everyone happy.
He'd get what he wanted. Lily would get what she wanted.
And I'd finally stop acting.
But Ethan just fell silent for a few seconds, then laughed.
"Leave? You have no friends, no family, no job. Where exactly would you go?"
He reached out and gripped my chin.
"Isn't this good enough? There are things you just need to turn a blind eye to. Then we're even."
Even. He and I would never be even.
There had been only one month left before the classified report from that year could be unsealed.
I could have laid the truth in front of him. Told him I had never betrayed him.
But now, I didn't want to anymore.
Nothing. That was how five years ended for me.
Lily sniffled softly, her voice thin and delicate.
"Ethan, don't be like this..."
She tilted her face up toward me.
"Emma, I really never meant to come between you two. Could you please take that statement down? The comments online are so awful—my parents are terrified..."
"Take it down?"
I looked at her.
"Without that statement, you'd have stayed 'Ethan Grant's assistant' forever. Now the whole world knows who you are. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"
Lily was instantly speechless.
Ethan pulled her behind him.
That posture—the "I will not let anyone hurt her" stance—was more real than anything he'd done for me in five years.
"Emma Reed."
His voice was like distant thunder before a storm.
"I'll say this one last time. I'm not asking. Figure it out."
He wrapped his arm around Lily's shoulder and turned to leave.
I watched the door close and suddenly felt so tired.
When I married him, I thought he was my safe harbor.
In the end, even my dead parents were dragged from their rest and turned into leverage against me.
Turns out the storm itself was the harbor all along.
第4章
Before the press conference, I was forbidden from leaving the villa.
I didn't make a scene. I didn't argue.
I just told myself, over and over, to get through today.
At two in the afternoon, I sat beside Ethan and read the PR script word for word.
Camera flashes fired nonstop from the audience. Ethan smiled and held my hand the entire time.
To everyone watching, he was still the picture of devotion. But my palm was slick with cold sweat.
The moment the conference ended, Ethan stood and walked toward Lily, who was waiting at the side of the stage.
I didn't watch them.
I left the venue alone, stopped at a flower shop, bought a bunch of white chamomile, and drove to St. Anne Memorial Hall.
It had been so long since I'd visited Mom and Dad. I kept telling myself I'd go once things settled down, and we'd have a proper talk.
I waited and waited, and almost waited until it was too late forever.
When I reached Section F, Row 3, Compartment 7, I froze.
The two white jade urns were gone.
In their place sat a pot of brilliantly blooming red roses.
I thought I'd gone to the wrong spot, so I checked the number again and again.
No mistake. My parents' ashes had been here for a full ten years.
I knew every compartment number by heart.
I stood there for a long time, then turned to find a staff member.
"Sir, what happened to the ashes in Section F, Row 3, Compartment 7?"
The middle-aged man in the duty office didn't even look up.
"Oh, that spot. The boss's wife reserved it for growing flowers. The ashes? Probably got moved somewhere. I don't know."
"Moved?" My voice went cold. "I pay the maintenance fee every year. Don't you need to notify me before moving anything? Get your supervisor out here. Now."
He finally looked up, a mocking smile on his face.
"Our boss's wife is Mrs. Ethan Grant of Grant Group. Who do you think you are?"
Mrs. Grant?
But when had I ever...
The chamomile slipped from my hand and hit the floor.
I rushed back to Row 3, Compartment 7, searching frantically.
There was nothing.
As I turned to leave, I tripped over the flowerpot. Soil scattered across the ground.
Poking out from the dirt was a small shard of white jade.
I crouched down and picked it up. Carved into the fragment was a single word: "Reed."
It was from the urn that held my father's ashes.
A hand shoved me hard.
"What do you think you're doing? That flower was placed here by Ms. Hart. You break it, can you afford to pay for it?"
I stumbled, watching him scoop the soil—mixed with shards of white jade—back into the pot.
My voice shook beyond my control. "My parents' ashes... became fertilizer for this flower?"
He didn't answer directly. He just mumbled, "Being a good child when they're alive—that's what counts. What's the point of all these formalities after they're gone? Ashes are ashes no matter where you put them..."
I didn't stay to hear the rest. I turned and left.
The whole way back, my mind was blank.
Until I returned to the villa, pushed open the bedroom door, and saw Lily Hart lying in my bed.
That was when my consciousness snapped violently back into my body.
Ethan glanced at me, gently tucked the blanket around her, and spoke as if it were nothing.
"After the press conference, people online still weren't buying it. The comments section was brutal. She was in a bad way, so I brought her here to keep an eye on her."
I looked at that entitled expression on Ethan's face.
When I spoke, my own voice sounded like a stranger's. Calm. Too calm.
"Ethan. Where are my parents' ashes?"
