Return to Find My Husband Married

After three grueling years leading a tunnel engineering project in the remote mountains of South America, I finally secured my transfer back to the States.

I spent three days traveling through rugged terrain and hopping between flights just to surprise my husband.

But when I arrived at the Blackwood Group headquarters, my keycard didn't work. The security guard blocked my path, his face full of arrogance.

"Who do you think you are? Mr. Blackwood made it clear that any woman other than his wife needs a scheduled appointment to see him."

I offered a tired but genuine smile.

"I am his wife."

The guard looked at me with pure disdain and pulled out his phone. He showed me a photo of Lucas Blackwood intimately cuddling a woman.

"This is the real Mrs. Blackwood. Everyone knows the boss threw a massive wedding for her three years ago."

"Take my advice and get lost. If the real Mrs. Blackwood sees you making a scene, the boss will make you regret ever being born."

I stared at the photo on the screen, a chill creeping down my spine.

Just as I reached for my phone to call Lucas, a group of bodyguards approached, surrounding a woman.

She rubbed her swollen belly, looking down her nose at me with a smirk.

"So, you're the one trying to claim a connection with my husband? You actually had the nerve to call yourself Mrs. Blackwood?"

1.

Maam, please be careful. Don't let yourself get worked up, its not good for the babies, a man in a medical coat said as he supported Seraphina.

Seraphina stroked her protruding stomach, her face glowing with triumph.

Do you see this? Twins. The Blackwood family treats me like a queen.

If a little bitch like you upsets me and something happens to my pregnancy, Lucas will have your head!

I stared at her belly, my voice trembling with shock.

Youre saying... thats Lucas Blackwoods child?

Seraphinas tone was dripping with pride.

What? Are you jealous?

My body is doing exactly what its supposed to. Ive got my husband wrapped around my little finger.

Look at your scrawny, dried-up frame. Did you really think you could tempt my Lucas?

The security guard nudged me, whispering under his breath.

Just leave! Everyone knows how much the boss dotes on his wife. If he catches you here, youre finished!

Back in the day, she was just a secretary. The boss ignored the entire board of directors just to make her the Vice President. You don't want to cross her.

I felt like my soul had been ripped out of my body. My face was deathly pale.

It was so incredibly ironic.

Lucas and I both came from prestigious backgrounds.

Our parents were Ivy League professors and high-ranking officials. We came from generations of clean, intellectual families.

We were childhood sweethearts for twenty-eight years. I thought I knew him better than anyone.

I never imagined that for the sake of a mistress, Lucas would stoop to the kind of behavior he used to despise.

During our three years apart, I had worked myself to the bone, hoping to get an early transfer back so we could start a family.

But Lucas had always frowned at the idea.

Thats taking a shortcut, Elara. I won't allow it.

After that, he restricted my credit cards and forbade me from returning home without permission.

He claimed he wanted me to finish the prestigious mission the government had assigned to me.

Now I knew the truth. It was all so he could have children with another woman.

Seraphina gestured for the guards to throw me out. During the scuffle, a business card fell out of my briefcase.

She picked it up and froze for a moment. Wait. Are you the one Lucas mentioned was coming to invest in the new project today?

I didn't say a word. She took my silence as a 'yes' and her expression changed instantly.

Oh, look at me! I don't keep up with the news as much as I should. I didn't recognize who you were!

Im so sorry for being rude. Please, come inside!

How pathetic.

That business card was a fake I had commissioned three years ago just to try and see Lucas. The information on it wasn't even real.

But at this moment, I had only one thoughtDdivorce.

However, I needed to gather evidence of his infidelity first.

I quietly pinned a tiny hidden camera from my bag onto my lapel.

Yes. Im here to inspect your new project.

Seraphinas attitude did a complete 180 as she led me into the Blackwood Group.

This was the company Lucas and I had built from the ground up with our own sweat and blood.

But my former Vice President office had been gutted. It was now a Luxury Maternity Lounge. Everything that once belonged to me had been tossed into the trash.

A secretary brought in a steaming bowl of expensive birds nest soup.

Maam, this was sent over by the matriarch. She wants you to keep your strength up!

Seraphina took it, sipping with a smug smile.

My mother-in-law is so fussy. Ever since she found out I was pregnant, she wont stop sending these things.

She didn't even approve of me and Lucas at first. He had to beg her for three days and nights just to marry me.

Now, she finally treats me like her own daughter.

I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I nearly drew blood.

Lucass parents had always loved me more than their own son. They had sworn that the Blackwood family would only ever recognize me as their daughter-in-law.

Even during the three years I was away, I never stopped calling them.

Elara, just get through this period and you and Lucas will be together forever.

Don't come back yet. Wait until Lucas handles the companys public listing, then hell bring you home to live in luxury.

I never thought the people who raised us to believe that infidelity was a disgrace to the family would be the ones helping him hide it.

I felt dizzy and stumbled back a few steps. My arm knocked a small, hard box off the desk.

It was a box of condoms.

2.

Seraphina picked up the box with a coy, blushing face.

Don't mind that. My Lucas has a high drive. He actually prefers doing it in risky places.

Hes not even afraid of people catching us.

She pulled open a drawer. It was stuffed full of similar boxes.

In the twenty-eight years I had known him, Lucas had always been the cold, distant, and disciplined type.

Even when I once accidentally drank a spiked drink at a bar and begged him to touch me, he had simply wrapped a coat around me.

Im sorry, Elara. Im not in the mood.

Youre not well. Im taking you to the hospital.

Back then, our intimate life felt like a chore he checked off his to-do list once a month.

I actually thought he had a low libido. I had even looked for holistic remedies to help him.

I never knew he had this side to him.

My stomach churned. I couldn't help but snap.

Youre this far along in your pregnancy. Aren't you worried about something going wrong?

Seraphina let out a mocking laugh.

Honey, you clearly don't understand men. For a woman who knows how to keep her man, pregnancy only adds to the passion.

Besides, we only got together because I got pregnant. We lost the first one, so he treats this pregnancy like its made of gold.

I narrowed my eyes. The first one?

Seraphina rubbed her belly proudly.

To be honest, we were seeing each other plenty of times while he was still with his 'ex-wife'.

Then I got pregnant. I demanded he divorce her, but the stress caused me to lose the baby. Lucas was so heartbroken he sent his ex-wife out of the country.

No wonder I was suddenly handed a three-year overseas assignment.

I had asked my supervisors why they chose me, but they had been vague and evasive.

It was all Lucass plan.

My throat felt like it had been sliced by a blade. How do you know he and his wife are actually divorced?

I hadn't been back in the country. Lucas couldn't have finalized a divorce alone.

Seraphina laughed.

Who cares about a divorce? His ex-wife is dead!

I kept pressuring him, and Lucas pulled some strings to have her declared dead. I even have the death certificate right here.

She pulled a document from the desk and tossed it toward me.

Elara Vance. Female. 28 years old. Deceased due to a riot in a foreign territory.

The information was exactly mine.

I nearly collapsed.

My husband had actually faked my death to be with another woman.

Wait... are you a relative of the ex-wife?

Seraphina looked at my reddening eyes with a strange expression.

Her parents looked just like you when they heard the news. They were absolutely devastated!

A terrifying realization hit me. I hadn't been able to reach my parents for a long time.

And... where are they now?

Seraphina let out a cruel laugh.

Dead!

They were on their way to catch a flight to see her 'body' one last time. The plane crashed. There were no survivors!

My brain felt like it exploded. My ears were ringing.

Dead.

My parents were dead.

The words looped in my mind like a nightmare.

Our parents were more than neighbors; they were lifelong friends and colleagues. They had fifty years of history.

When Lucas was young, his family wasn't as well-off as mine.

My parents would always find excuses to send over groceries and supplies so Lucas could grow up healthy.

They gave him more birthday money than they gave me.

Everything I hadDclothes, books, tutorsDthey bought for Lucas, too.

They even paid for a portion of his Ivy League tuition.

Lucas was raised by the combined efforts of both families.

On the day he proposed, he knelt and made a vow.

Elara, your family is my family.

I don't want you to call me your brother anymore. Give me a new title so I can take care of your parents for the rest of their lives.

And yet, he was the man who indirectly caused their deaths.

I could barely breathe. I forced back the tears.

No... I don't know them. I just... its a very tragic story.

Seraphina snorted.

Tragic? They deserved it.

They were trying to steal my honor for their daughter.

What honor?

Before I could finish, a man walked in, holding a set of bridge design blueprints. He looked like a total thug.

Hey, sis! Its all set. Im using these designs to apply for the national award.

Once I get that multi-million dollar prize money, Ill be set for life!

I recognized those blueprints immediately.

They were the designs I had created five years ago.

3.

I snatched the blueprints from the mans hands and examined them closely.

These designs belong to a female architect from five years ago. How did you get them?

Seraphina and the man exchanged a look. She walked over and tried to shove a credit card into my hand.

Look, just tell us how much you want to keep quiet. Lucas can afford it.

This is how the industry works. It doesn't matter who designed it. All that matters is who has the power to claim the award.

Look at this wall of trophies. Lucas got all of them for me.

I looked at the wall behind her. It was covered in awards.

Every single one of them had been won using my designs.

Before I left the country, I had handed all my lifes work to Lucas, trusting him to submit them for awards in my name.

Lucas had promised he would handle it as soon as possible.

I had waited for three years.

Every year, he made excuses, saying my portfolio wasn't 'ready' or the 'timing' was wrong.

In reality, my hard work was being used to build a throne for another woman.

The man spat on the floor and looked at me with arrogance.

Tch. Another one trying to shake down my brother-in-law for cash.

Go ahead and sue me. Im Jaxson Sterling, and Im not afraid of anyone! My brother-in-law has enough money to bail me out of anything!

Jaxson Sterling. I would never forget that name.

Five years ago, a bridge collapse caused by a corrupt contractor killed 119 people.

My favorite mentor had been crushed under that bridge.

And this man was the reason it happened. Now he was using my work to clear his name.

I grabbed a heavy glass ashtray from the desk and smashed it against his head.

Weren't you sentenced to life in prison? How are you out?!

Seraphina screamed when she saw the blood on his forehead.

Lucas paid a fortune to get my cousin out! If youve got a problem, take it up with him! Don't you dare act tough in front of us!

I see whats going on now. You aren't some investor!

Youre a friend of that dead bitch, aren't you? Youre here for Elara!

Jaxson wiped the blood from his face, his eyes bulging with rage.

What? That annoying ghost has been dead for years, and her friends are still causing trouble?

Sera! Stand back. Ill handle this bitch myself!

Jaxson lunged at me, grabbing my throat and slamming me to the ground. He started kicking me ruthlessly.

My face was bruised and bleeding, but I refused to beg.

Both of you... youll get whats coming to you.

When Lucas gets back... youre both finished...

Seraphina grabbed a dirty rag and stuffed it into my mouth.

You bitch! You don't get to say my husband's name!

Call Lucas right now! Tell him this psycho tried to kill me and the babies! Tell him to get here immediately!

A few minutes later, I heard frantic footsteps in the hallway.

Lucas burst into the office, but he didn't even look at me.

He pulled Seraphina into his arms, checking her over with desperate concern.

Once he was sure she was okay, he finally turned around.

Who the hell has the audacity to come to Blackwood Group and cause a scene?!

I wiped the blood from my face and struggled to my feet.

Its me, Lucas.