Chapter 1

I had fertility issues that made it hard to get pregnant, but Julian still married me anyway.

He told me his childhood best friend, Melanie, was a brilliant fertility specialist who would definitely cure me.

But by the fifth year of Melanie's treatment, I was still not pregnant.

Julian grew colder and more distant. He rarely wanted to touch me. After one heated argument, he snapped impatiently, "We can't have kids anyway. There's no point in doing this."

Anxiety kept me crying myself to sleep every night. Desperate to save our marriage, I decided to talk to Julian about trying IVF.

Until one day in the hospital stairwell, I accidentally caught Julian hugging Melanie, comforting her softly:

"Don't worry, honey. There's no rush to cure my wife. You still need her case study for your research paper."

"Don't worry, Melanie. Chloe won't get pregnant. You still need her clinical data for your research, don't you?"

Julian and Melanie were hugging in the dim stairwell, comforting each other. Melanie was stressed about her thesis.

Julian stroked her hair affectionately to reassure her. His words felt like a physical blow to my chest.

I fled back home, shaking uncontrollably as I sank into the couch, the scene in the stairwell looping in my mind.

Could it be? Had my years of infertility been carefully orchestrated by Julian, just to provide Melanie with research data?

Thinking back, Julian had been incredibly cold lately. He barely touched me once a month.

Hoping to spark some intimacy, I put on a sexy lace nightgown to surprise him. But he just rolled over impatiently and said, "Go to sleep. I have surgery early tomorrow."

When I hugged him from behind, he gently but firmly pushed my hands away. "There's no point, Chloe. It's not like you can get pregnant anyway."

My tears flowed all night. The next morning, he saw my swollen eyes but still calmly ate the breakfast I made, acting as if nothing had happened.

Desperate to salvage our marriage, I had decided to surprise him at the hospital with lunch. That was when I stumbled upon the ugly truth.

Melanie had been my OB-GYN and fertility doctor for five years. Before our wedding, I had confessed my fertility struggles to Julian. It was Melanie who had patted my shoulder and promised that under her care, I would definitely conceive.

Whenever I got anxious, Melanie would sweetly comfort me, saying that babies were a matter of fate and that as long as I followed her treatment plan, it would happen sooner or later.

But when I thought of Julian's past tenderness—and how he had stood by me against all the family gossip about our childlessness—I couldn't bring myself to believe he was doing this on purpose.

I decided to wait until he came home and carefully feel him out.

Late that night, Julian came home looking exhausted. Seeing me sitting in the dark living room, he turned on the lights, walked over, and pulled me into his arms. "I had several back-to-back surgeries today, babe. Didn't I tell you not to wait up? You should have gone to bed."

I caught a faint whiff of perfume on his collar. It was Melanie's signature scent. Instantly, tears spilled from my eyes.

Noticing my tears, he sighed softly and wiped them away, comforting me, "Are you upset about the baby again? Don't worry, Chloe. I will never love you any less because of this."

"Is my condition really that severe?" I whispered, testing the waters. "Is it truly incurable?"

He seemed caught off guard. He hesitated, then pinched my cheek playfully. "It's a bit tricky, but Melanie said it's nothing serious. It just takes time."

"She'll cure you, babe. Trust her medical expertise."

I sat up, pulling away from his chest, and looked straight into his eyes. "I want to get a second opinion. Maybe another doctor will have a different perspective, and I can recover faster."

Julian's brow furrowed, and a flash of irritation crossed his face. "There's no need. How many times do I have to tell you? Just stick with Melanie. Going to random doctors will only make things worse. I'm your husband, Chloe. Why can't you trust that I have your best interests at heart?"

His impatient tone, his defensive protection of Melanie, and his refusal to let me see anyone else confirmed everything. He was using me as a lab rat for Melanie's research so she could publish her papers and secure her promotion.

For five years, he knew damn well he was preventing me from getting pregnant, yet he used our childlessness as an excuse to treat me coldly.

My heart turned to ice. Clenching my teeth, I demanded, "I'm tired of waiting. Do you even want a child? Let's do IVF. It's our last shot."

Julian let out a cold laugh. "You're being ridiculous."

He grabbed his jacket and stormed out. A moment later, I heard his car engine roar to life. At that point, I didn't even care where he was going.

I locked myself in the bedroom and cried hysterically. Maybe Julian had never wanted a child with me in the first place.

I remembered the night before our wedding, when I had seriously told him I might never be able to conceive.

He had held me like I was his most precious treasure, promising that even if we never had children, he would love me just the same forever.

Now that I thought about it... had he married me from the very start just to serve Melanie's experiment?