When the Years Took Our Love Chapter 1

After Dustin Horne cheated and returned to our marriage, my entire family turned into my surveillance team.

When he went out to take out the trash, my dad trailed him and sent me a video.

"He's behaving himself. Didn't even look at his phone once."

When he went to his law firm for a meeting, my mom disguised herself as a cleaner to sneak in.

"There wasn't a single woman within ten feet of him."

When he came back from trying a case out of state, my best friend scanned him top to bottom with a detector.

"No stray hairs, no lipstick marks... all clean."

Everyone swore to me that Dustin's heart was back where it belonged. Even Dustin himself stayed by my bedside every night, taking vows that he would only ever love me and our baby.

That was until seven months into my pregnancy, when he went away on a business trip and I went in for a routine checkup alone.

Passing by the maternity ward, I caught sight of him cradling a baby, kissing the woman in the hospital bed with tears of joy.

My parents and my best friend were standing around the bed, cheering right along with him. I recognized the woman in an instant. It was his former mistress, Hattie Shields.

Everyone panicked at the sight of me, instinctively bracing themselves to shield the baby. Yet I simply stepped forward and straightened Dustin's collar.

"The baby's cute. Looks just like you. I won't interrupt you guys. I need to get back home and do the laundry."

* * *

Dustin Horne froze on the spot, panic flashing across his face.

"Lily, listen to me..." he started.

"Do these clothes need to be washed?" I interrupted, gesturing toward the pile of shirts and pants on the sofa.

His face turned ghastly pale as he scrambled to grab my hand.

"Lily, don't be like this. Just let me explain."

"Like what? Isn't it a good thing I'm staying out of your way?"

I looked at him, a faint smile touching my lips. He shook his head, his voice tentative and cautious.

"You're... not angry?"

I knew why he was so confused. Six months ago, the day I had caught him cheating with Hattie Shields, I had lost my mind.

I had printed over a dozen explicit photos of them and plastered them all over his firm's front entrance. And when he brought up divorce, I stabbed him three times before running up to the rooftop.

That day, my parents and my best friend, Ophelia Cameron, dragged a bloodied Dustin in front of me, clutching my ultrasound results.

"Lily, you're pregnant," he pleaded. "For the baby's sake, give me one more chance."

Back then, everyone thought I was insane. Now, I just calmly pried his fingers off me, one by one.

"Because there's no point anymore."

As the words left my mouth, the baby in his arms started squirming, launching into a sharp, piercing cry that grated on my nerves.

Just yesterday, Ophelia had leaned against my belly, gushing about wanting to be my baby's godmother. Now she rushed over and shoved me hard.

"If you're going to act crazy, take it outside! Don't scare the baby! Hattie was so worried about hurting your feelings that she didn't even request a private VIP room. Do you have any idea how much she's suffered?"

My parents, whose hair had turned white overnight out of heartache for me back then, also stepped up to shield Hattie.

"Hattie is a good girl, and she doesn't have any family around here. We had to be here with her while she had the baby."

Heavily pregnant, I was pushed backward by the people closest to me, stumbling until my back slammed into the doorframe.

Sweat broke out across my forehead from the pain. It took me a few seconds to catch my breath. "That's your business. I don't care."

I held my aching lower back and turned to leave, but Hattie suddenly burst into tears, stumbled out of bed, and collapsed right in front of me.

"Lily, please don't blame them. It's all my fault. My dad was forcing me to go back home and marry someone, so everyone suggested I have the baby and pretend I was already married.

"You were the one who brought me out of the slum and paid for my tuition back then. I've never forgotten how much I owe you. I would never try to steal your husband."

She wept bitterly, but a hidden, triumphant smirk flickered in the back of her eyes. A sudden wave of intense nausea rolled through my stomach. Instinctively, I yanked my hand back, leaned against the wall, and dry-heaved.

"How could you push her? She just gave birth!" Ophelia snapped, slapping me hard across the face.

My cheek immediately went numb from the sting. I struggled to hold my belly, instinctively trying to defend myself, but my parents shoved me out the door.

"Go home! Stop causing a scene here!"

The door slammed shut in my face.

Inside, the group lowered their voices, comforting Hattie with tender words. Thunder cracked deafeningly outside, and a blast of cold wind swept down the hallway, sending a violent shiver through my body.

Dustin rushed out after me, holding an umbrella. "It's raining outside. Let me drive you home."

I didn't decline, and he let out a visible sigh of relief.

"The doctor said Hattie had health complications," he explained. "If she terminated this, she might never be able to get pregnant again. I just couldn't bring myself to be that cruel.

"But I swear, you're the only one I love. As soon as she gets discharged, I'll send her and the baby down to Savannah. She'll never show her face around you again."

I turned around, slid the wedding band off my ring finger, and tossed it at his feet.

"I don't care. Put it on her. Once my baby is born, we're getting a divorce."