I Did 99 IVFs, He Crashed His Sister-In-Law’s Wedding

Everyone in the city knew that Clara, the eldest daughter of the Hart family, had been a troublemaker since childhood. The only reason she was able to marry Gabe, the strict, by-the-book crown prince of the Sterling business empire, was because of a well-kept secret. He was physically allergic to women. But Clara never looked down on him for his condition. After ninety-nine grueling attempts at IVF, she finally, against all odds, successfully conceived his child. Yet, disaster struck before the umbilical cord was even cut. The baby was born underdeveloped and frail, and was rushed straight into the emergency room the exact second it entered the world. Clara collapsed to her knees right outside the operating room doors. Her entire body shook with terror as she begged every higher power she could think of to spare her baby's life. That was when the television in the corridor suddenly cut to live news broadcast. There on the screen was her husband, Gabe, crashing another woman’s wedding and raising absolute hell. And that woman was none other than Rose, his sister-in-law, who had been a widow for years. In an instant, Clara’s heart turned to ice, cold all the way through. On the screen, the always cool and composed Gabe had Rose crushed tight against his chest, veins bulging on his forehead. Even through the screen, Clara could feel the savage rage and burning jealousy rolling off him. He threw a brutal punch straight at the groom who had tried to step between them, then swept his cold glare over the entire stunned crowd and roared out a warning, "From this day forward, any man who so much as looks at Rose with desire ends up a mangled corpse!" Clara stared at the scene, and her blood seemed to freeze and reverse course in her veins. She remembered once, when she had been kidn*pped by his enemies, he had sat across from the kidnappers negotiating without a single flicker of emotion on his face. She had always believed that he would forever be that unshakable man, totally in control of every situation, cool as a cucumber, no matter what happened. Turns out he was capable of throwing all caution to the wind, capable of flying into a blinding rage, and capable of losing every last bit of his composure. It was never for her. It was always for another woman. So what the hell were the five years they spent together, then? Then the surgery ended, and the baby was wheeled out and transferred straight to the intensive care unit. Right then, a voice drifted from around the corridor corner. It was one of Gabe's buddies. "Gabe, you stirred up such a huge mess today. Aren't you worried Clara will find out?" Clara held her breath and caught Gabe’s resigned, low chuckle. "I’ve only ever loved Rose. All these years, I’ve stayed faithful to her. That’s why I lied to Clara on our wedding night that I’m allergic to women. Clara’s nothing but a tool I use. I’ll give her more than enough compensation when it’s done." Those words were a poison-dipped dagger, slamming straight into her heart and twisting viciously. Agony wracked her entire frame, leaving her shaking uncontrollably. So that was it. From the very first day, she had only ever been a shield to hide his forbidden love for his brother’s widow. She clamped a hand over her hammering chest, doubling over as she gasped for ragged, desperate breaths. That was when a familiar male voice rang out right above her head. "Clara? How long have you been standing here?" She lifted her head and did not miss the sharp, searching glint in Gabe’s eyes. Gabe furrowed his brows, his tone cool and detached as he asked, "How did the baby’s surgery go?" Clara spat the words out cold, laced with biting mockery, "You actually still remember you have a baby fighting for his life in emergency care?" Her attitude clearly rubbed Gabe the wrong way. He scowled deeper and snapped back, "I was out saving my sister-in-law today. She's raising my older brother's son. How could I let my brother’s bloodline take another man’s last name?" Clara let out a cold, sharp laugh, her mouth already opening to fire back, when a doctor rushing straight toward Gabe suddenly cut her off. "Mr. Sterling, congratulations! Your son’s blood type is a perfect match for your nephew. The bone marrow transplant can go ahead without any issues! Rose’s son is saved!" Clara froze dead in her tracks, as if lightning had just split the sky right above her head. Staring at the unmasked joy blooming across Gabe’s face, her voice shook so hard she could barely get the words out. "What?! Gabe, have you lost your mind?!" "Clara, this is a matter of life and death. Our son has to donate the bone marrow." Clara’s heart plummeted straight to the bottom of an icy abyss in an instant. For three whole years, that foot-long egg-retrieval needle had plunged into her body again and again. Vial after vial of hormone drugs had been pumped into her system one after another, nonstop. Dizziness and vomiting were her daily reality. By the end, her whole body had swollen so badly she could barely recognize herself. She had suffered through all that agony just to bring her baby into this world. Yet with one single sentence from this man, her child, her own flesh and blood, was just going to be turned into spare parts for another woman’s child. "But my baby is a human life too! He was just born!" No sooner had the words left her mouth than a violent cold shudder wracked Clara’s frame. A gut-wrenching, terrifying thought burst into her mind. She remembered all those years, when one IVF attempt after another failed. Gabe had put on a calm, comforting front for her, but he had never stopped badgering the doctors to speed things up. That was it. Gabe had wanted a child from the very beginning to find a matching bone marrow donor for Rose’s son. At that moment, every drop of blood in Clara’s body screamed to burst right out of her skin. Ignoring the searing, tearing pain ripping through her lower abdomen, she lurched to her feet, snatched the report right out of his hand, and tore it into a hundred pieces. "Gabe, I want a divorce!"