My Lover Cheated, I Read Our Fate

Chapter 1

In Silverhold, inside a hospital.

On the top floor, inside a private VIP room, a doctor stood holding a fertility injection, torn between coming forward and stepping back.

"Carrying a child and giving birth is a woman's natural role. Today, you will take this shot!" The matriarch of the Cauldrake household spoke loudly, looking at her daughter-in-law who was staring at her with a flicker of helplessness crossing her usually calm face.

Behind Lady Cauldrake, there stood two large, broad-shouldered guards, as if ready to force the poor young girl if she refused.

For nearly half a year, Avelisse Cauldrake had taken every medicine and received every injection. Her legs were covered in tiny, dark bruises from the needles. Every touch brought pain, yet she still had not conceived. At this point, she no longer wished to suffer through it.

She clenched her fingers tightly and sighed. "It is not my fate to bear a child. Even with this injection, nothing will come of it."

"Spare me your nonsense!" the matriarch cut her off sharply. She glared at the guards and ordered, "Hold her down. Doctor, prepare more doses, give them all to her today!"

At those words, Avelisse frowned. She instinctively lifted her fingers, beginning a tarot reading to see whether today held good fortune or misfortune.

Then a deep, distinct voice rang out from the doorway.

"Stop this, all of you!"

Avelisse paused mid-gesture and looked toward the door.

A man stepped inside, dressed in a tailored black suit. His features were strikingly handsome, yet his expression was cold and firm, commanding respect without raising his voice.

It was Theron Cauldrake, her husband of five years.

Avelisse's tense shoulders relaxed. She looked at him, her gaze softening. "Theron."

The coldness in his eyes faded. He stepped forward and gently held her hand. "Do not cast readings so easily. They take a toll on you. I want to grow old with you. To live out our years together, happy and side by side." His words were filled with warmth and love.

Avelisse felt her heart swell. Reading tarot cards meant seeing what the future held, it was a way of peering into fate itself. And every time she did it, her own body suffered for it. That was why Theron hated seeing her cast readings.

Yet she had grown up at a school for seers on the outskirts of Silverhold. Reading tarot had always been her way.

When she turned eighteen, one astonishingly accurate reading made her name known across Silverhold overnight. She had foretold that the Cauldrake family, then fallen on hard times, would rise to greatness within eight years, and know nothing but good fortune from then on.

When she turned twenty-one, she completed her training and went down to the mountains to marry Theron.

Over the five years of their marriage, the Cauldrake family rose steadily higher, just as she had foretold. With her good fortune woven into their lives, the Cauldrakes had become one of the most powerful and wealthy families in Silverhold.

Yet such immense prosperity came at a price. It was simply Avelisse's fate that she would never bear a child.

Theron turned to his mother, his voice firm and unyielding. "Mother, if we have no children, then we have no children. If you ever treat her this way again, do not think I will hold back my anger."

The matriarch fell silent. Then as her chest heaved with rage once more, she spat, "I see now, you have not married a gifted seeress at all. You have married a woman who cannot give you an heir."

With that, she stormed out of the room.

Avelisse felt a sharp sting in her chest. She parted her lips, about to speak, but Theron's hand resting at her waist tightened protectively.

"No more tests," he said softly but firmly. "Not ever again. I will not watch you suffer any longer."

Avelisse nodded and laced her fingers through his, holding his hand tightly.

For the thousandth time, she thanked the stars she had chosen the right man.

Theron smiled gently at her. He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. "There are matters waiting for me at the office. Will you come with me?"

How could she say no to him?

Side by side, they left the hospital and headed straight for the Cauldrake Corporation headquarters.

*****

Half an hour later, inside the chief executive's office.

Theron was reviewing documents when his assistant walked in carrying a tray of tea.

She set it down before Avelisse. "Ma'am, your tea."

Avelisse set down the magazine she had been reading and looked up at the woman.

The assistant, Maerith Drevell, wore a sharp, professional outfit, yet there was something bold and knowing in her eyes. At a single glance, Avelisse could see that her love life had taken a fortunate turn.

"I wish you happiness," Avelisse said gently.

Maerith paused, confused. "What do you mean, ma'am?"

Avelisse's gaze rested softly on her slightly rounded belly. "You are expecting a child. Do not tire yourself too heavily in the months ahead." Those few words were enough.

Inside the executive chair, Theron froze. His face turned pale and hard.

Maerith looked briefly panicked, yet she gripped her hands together and spoke boldly. "They say your foresight sees things few others can. Will you tell me what kind of future awaits this child?"

Theron stood abruptly, his voice cold and sharp. "You speak to her as if she were here to serve you? Get out. Now."

Avelisse had never seen him so unsettled, not in all their years together.

She spoke softly, calming him. "Do not be so hard on her. This child is a blessing." Then she lifted her wrist, glanced at the time, and cast a quick tarot reading.

She had barely finished when her face went pale.

She stared at her husband, who had always looked at her with nothing but love.

Her voice trembled. "Theron... I have seen it." She paused, then whispered, "This child Maerith carries... it is related to you."