Chapter 1: Let’s Have a Baby

"One more time, hmm?"

"How else are we going to have a baby if we don't try harder?"

The man's voice was low and husky, laced with the lazy seduction of a lingering morning as he nuzzled intimately against Vivian Hale's ear.

Vivian’s long lashes fluttered, and she drifted fully into consciousness.

She looked at the face before her—familiar, yet inexplicably strange.

The features were exquisite and deep-set, and in the depths of those dark eyes, she saw a surging, unmistakable desire.

At that moment, every suspicion she had was confirmed once again.

The man in front of her was not her husband, Adrian Cross.

In their three years of marriage, Adrian had always been gentle, yet he refused to touch her. He had made it clear that he despised the idea of children.

How could he possibly be willing to get into bed with her and agree to conceive a child?

And there was certainly no way he would look at her body—scarred from her battle with breast cancer—with such intense, unyielding passion.

Yet this man, who looked exactly like her husband, knew the security codes to their home. He had appeared so conveniently on the very night Adrian was away.

There was only one explanation: Adrian had found a surrogate for his own bed.

The suspicion had taken root the very first night she was with this stranger. After several subtle tests, she was now certain.

It felt as if a needle had pierced her heart. A cold, numbing despair spread through her entire body.

She and Adrian were childhood sweethearts; they had been together since high school, a twelve-year journey that led to their marriage. For him, she had given up her university placement, content to be the wind beneath his wings, obeying his every whim.

But in three years of marriage, he had grown increasingly distant. Two weeks ago, he had even hired a stand-in to spend the nights with her, just to free himself up to tryst with Chloe Bennett—the university student he "sponsored"—in a secret villa.

Love had come to this. It was as tragic as it was absurd.

Fine. If that was how he wanted to play, she would go along with it. All she wanted now was a child, anyway.

At this point, the identity of the father no longer mattered.

As her mind wandered, the man’s slender fingers were already reclaiming her body.

She bit her lip, suppressing a moan as she leaned in to kiss his Adam's apple. Her hand reached out to the nightstand, grabbed her phone, and captured a quick photo.

The man stopped, looking at her with a hint of suspicion.

Vivian tossed the phone aside and wrapped her arms around his lean waist.

"I want to keep a memory of the way you look when you're lost in me."

A storm of desire flared in the man's eyes once more.

When she woke up again after their morning tryst, the man was gone.

She propped herself up against the headboard and sent the photo of their tangled embrace to Adrian.

Her pale fingers quickly typed a single line:

“Honey, don’t we look good in this? You just left, and I miss you already.”

She stared at the screen, her gaze icy.

Usually, Adrian would either give a perfunctory reply or ignore her messages entirely. This time, however, the response was almost instantaneous.

“I’m coming home. Wait for me.”

It was a bitter irony that it took such a trick to get her husband to come home, despite the vows they once shared.

She let out a self-deprecating smirk, pushed back the ache in her heart, and headed for the bathroom.

After a quick shower, she changed into a modest knit top and an over-the-knee skirt. She straightened the bed until it was spotless.

Then, she pulled a pre-drafted divorce agreement from a drawer and tucked it inside a blue folder labeled "Insurance Policies."

Just as she finished, the familiar sound of a car braking echoed from below.

Forcing a smile onto her face, she walked downstairs with the folder.

Even though she had prepared herself, seeing that face still made her heart skip a beat for a fleeting second.

She greeted him warmly, playing the part of the devoted wife as she took his coat and hung it up.

She pretended not to smell the perfume that wasn't hers. She pretended not to see the stray strand of chestnut hair clinging to his shoulder.

"Honey, you weren't gone long. Why the sudden return?"

Adrian’s eyes scanned her up and down.

Though the features were identical, the look in his eyes was worlds apart.

Vivian felt a pang of pity for him.

How stupid did he think she was? Did he really believe she couldn't tell the difference between her husband and the stranger, Lucien Cross?

If he didn't love her, he could have just asked for a divorce. Why go to such lengths to deceive her?

"Was last night... exhausting?"

Adrian asked, his hand sliding around her waist, giving it a suggestive squeeze.

Vivian found it revolting.

He had hired a surrogate, yet he couldn't stand the idea of the surrogate actually touching her and making him a cuckold.

She laughed coyly and twisted away from his touch.

"You're the one who was there. Don't you know what happened?"

In the next heartbeat, his fingers clamped around her wrist like a vice.

"You, last night..."

Fire flared in his eyes, but she looked up at him with a gaze of pure, innocent confusion.

"What about it? You drank too much and fell into such a deep sleep. I tried to wake you, but I couldn't. Have you been working too hard lately?"

Adrian’s expression flickered before he resumed his mask of gentle concern.

"I was worried that I had been too rough with you while I was drunk."

His gaze dropped to Vivian’s chest.

Beneath the padding of her clothes, she looked like any other woman, but he had seen the jagged scar with his own eyes.

A flash of disgust crossed his face, and he released her, tugging at his tie as he sat on the sofa.

"My head hurts. Give me a rub."

Vivian’s small hands tightened at her sides before loosening. After a moment, she walked over and stood behind him, her cool fingers pressing against his temples.

"My insurance policy has expired. Even though there’s been no recurrence since the surgery, the doctor says there are always risks. I’ve increased the coverage, and you're still the beneficiary. The contract is ready; you just need to sign where the pages are folded."

Adrian let out a soft sound of approval.

He was used to being taken care of, used to everything in the house being perfectly arranged and available at his beck and call.

He took the folder, pulled out a pen, and without even glancing at the contents, signed his name with a flourish on the marked pages.

Feeling the woman’s meticulous massage, he sank into the sofa, relaxing completely. Almost as if feeling a pang of guilt, he added:

"Don't skip your routine check-ups. If anything goes wrong, don't be afraid. I'll find the best doctors for you. I won't let anything happen to you."

It was a deep promise, much like the vows he had made when he proposed.

But Vivian felt none of the old emotion.

Back then, the pressure of her family’s bankruptcy had led to her unexpected illness at the prime age of twenty-one. After the surgery, she had lost all her confidence.

It was this man who had proposed to her in the hospital ward.

He had said almost exactly the same things then as he did today.

Now, those words were nothing more than a joke.

After ten minutes, Vivian pulled her hands away and closed the folder.

As she leaned over, a stretch of her fair, supple skin was revealed.

Beneath the elegant curve of her hips were legs that were long and straight—her calves perfectly shaped, like flawless pieces of jade.

A faint, delicate fragrance wafted over, and Adrian slowly opened his eyes to this very sight.

Once, Vivian’s legs had been the thing he was most obsessed with.

It was only because she was conservative and wouldn't let him touch her back then. Later, he only remembered that surgical scar, and his desire had vanished completely.

But now, for some reason, his large hand moved uncontrollably toward that calf, sliding slowly upward along her smooth skin.

"Vivian..."

Vivian’s entire body froze.

Before they were married, the two of them had been unable to control their passion, clinging to each other in tight embraces, his hands seemingly wanting to rub her into his very blood and bone.

But in recent years, this was the most intimate they had been.

The sensation in his palm made Adrian’s heart beat faster. He suddenly pulled her into his arms with force, his hand reaching beneath her skirt.

His burning kisses fell upon her neck, his breathing rapid.

"Let's have a baby."