My Man Fell for His Deceased Colleague's Wife

Soon after the New Year, a huge piece of news spread through the city of Virelia. The son of the Copeland family, a family with enormous influence in Virelia, had actually proposed to Josephine Emerson! "Mr. Copeland, have you lost your mind? Josephine was violated by some unknown man. Her reputation is already ruined, and you still want to marry her?" Inside the most famous club in Virelia, several young people from prominent families gathered around Mason Copeland. "Exactly. With Mr. Copeland's status, he can have any woman he wants. Why insist on marrying a woman with a ruined reputation?" Mason calmly finished the red wine in his glass. "You are not qualified to talk about Josephine." Those few simple words caused a huge stir. That very day, the families of those who had spoken ill of Josephine all went bankrupt. From then on, no one dared to speak badly of Josephine behind her back again. But on the third day after the wedding, Josephine found out that she was pregnant with the child of the man who had violated her. Crying, Josephine went to Mason and told him she wanted to abort the child. But Mason said to her, "An abortion would hurt your body. I can't accept that." Mason got down on one knee and stroked Josephine's belly. "Give birth to the child. I'll treat him as my own." To protect Josephine, Mason even asked his best friend to be her attending doctor and gave her the best medical care possible. Everyone said Josephine must have used some kind of trick to captivate Mason, making this outstanding man—whom every woman in Virelia wanted to marry—change himself for her. Every time Josephine heard those words, she felt deeply guilty. Even when Josephine caught Mason getting a hotel room with a woman who sold alcohol, she did not dare step forward and question him. Instead, Mason knelt and begged Josephine to forgive him, saying he had been drugged and framed by someone else. With tears in her eyes, Josephine's lips trembled as she said, "I didn't see anything..." When Mason heard that, his eyes turned red. He held Josephine and comforted her again and again. He even bought jewelry worth more than a hundred million dollars just to cheer her up. The next day, Mason canceled all his work and accompanied Josephine to her prenatal checkup. After Josephine came out of the examination room, however, she heard Mason talking to his friend. "So you still haven't told Josephine that the person who drugged her at the hotel and had s*x with her was you?" "And you haven't told Josephine that this child is actually yours?" Mason held a cigarette between his fingers, his expression calm. "Adrian Theron, is all that psychology you studied completely useless? The best thing is to make Josephine feel like she'll never be worthy of me." "That way, no matter how much I fool around outside, Josephine won't make a scene." "Once Josephine gives birth to the child, she'll be even easier for me to control. By then, whether I tell her the truth or not will be up to me." Josephine's hand trembled slightly where it rested on her belly. Her tears had already begun falling uncontrollably, dripping onto the cold floor. With a blank expression, Josephine turned to leave, but she suddenly crashed into a trolley being pushed by a nurse. She immediately fell to the floor. "Mrs. Copeland, I'm sorry!" The young nurse was terrified and quickly reached out, wanting to help Josephine up. The noise outside immediately alerted the people in the room, and the door was soon opened. Josephine looked up and met Mason's worried expression. But within that worry, there was a rare flash of unease and probing. Mason shifted his gaze away from Josephine and looked at the young nurse beside her. "Do your staff not watch where they're going?" Mason's tone carried anger, and his words were clearly meant to defend Josephine. "My wife came to your hospital for a prenatal checkup. If anything happens to her because of this collision, none of you will be able to escape responsibility." Then Mr. Copeland, who had always held immense power in Virelia, crouched down just like that. Mason gently and carefully helped Josephine up, then pulled her into his arms. "Don't be afraid. I'm here." Finally, Mason's gaze fell on the young nurse. "As for you..." The young nurse instantly froze in place. She was shaking all over in fear, and her words became incoherent. All she could do was apologize again and again. Josephine pressed her lips together, forced down the grief in her heart, and spoke. "This has nothing to do with her. I accidentally twisted my ankle." When Mason heard that, he immediately looked at Josephine's ankle with concern, his expression worried. "Adrian, come take a look. Prescribe Josephine some medicine!" The people nearby watched the scene and all showed envious looks. "She's so lucky. Her husband is rich, handsome, and loves her so much. This kind of good fortune is truly enviable..." "That must be Mr. Copeland and Mrs. Copeland, right? They really are a model couple." "She's so blessed. If I were her, I'd be moved to tears." Josephine looked at everything before her and listened to those words. Tears silently welled in her eyes. Yes, Josephine truly did want to cry. Josephine had never imagined that the true culprit behind the nightmare she had endured for so many months would turn out to be her own husband.