I Rejected My Barren Husband

Chapter 3

Only I knew that Adrian's effortless rise through the business world in our first life had depended entirely on Julian's attempts to please me.

Back when Julian was still heir to the Carter family, he would message me every few days to ask when I planned to divorce.

He kept asking for years. Eventually, he stopped asking when I would leave and began asking how my husband's health was.

When even that became too indirect for him, he simply asked whether Adrian had fallen ill lately and when the man might finally die.

Only Julian knew what it cost him to pine after another man's fiancée.

Sure enough, the Bennett family ended the engagement that morning, and the Carter family's lavish wedding gifts arrived at our door that very afternoon.

Adrian flew south in a hurry. He had no idea that I had already accepted Julian's proposal.

By the time he returned to Bellmont with my frail stepsister Chloe, I was sitting in Julian's bridal limousine as the motorcade made its way to the ceremony.

That day, Adrian stumbled after the car in a daze, grabbing anyone he could reach and asking the same question.

"Who is Julian Carter marrying?"

"Evelyn, the Parker family's daughter..."

"Who is Julian Carter marrying?"

Only after the wine at the reception burned down his throat did reality finally hit him.

I had truly married someone else without the slightest hesitation.

Adrian must have assumed I would wait for years again, just as I had before, until he changed his mind.

That was why he had flown south in perfect confidence to find his "destined soulmate," while still treating me as his possession, the same wife who had managed his life for decades.

He wanted me to become the version of "Evelyn" who had never married in our first life.

In his eyes, only that would have been fair.

I had burned his funeral hall and memorial portrait in our first life. Why would I indulge him now?

Fueled by the wine, Adrian staggered through the crowd and somehow found his way to the bridal suite.

Red drapery filled the room, and I sat on the sofa in my wedding gown.

"Evelyn... how could you really marry someone else?"

His eyes were unfocused, as though everything before him were merely a continuation of our first life.

Slowly, he reached out to touch my face.

As if he and I were the ones getting married that day.

I slapped his hand away and called for help.

Assistants and security guards rushed in and pinned him to the floor.

Julian stormed in from the ballroom, his face like ice, and drove his foot straight into Adrian's chest.

Hidden beneath my veil, I pretended to sob twice.

Two clear shoe prints appeared on Adrian's dark suit.

He clutched his chest and coughed, suddenly struggling to breathe.

Julian seized his jaw and stared down at him with ruthless eyes.

Yet he was smiling when he said, "This is my wedding day. I don't want any bad omens, so swallow it."

Then Adrian was dragged into a storage room like a dead dog. The next day, Julian planned to visit the Bennett estate and settle the matter in person.

Julian lifted my veil. His bright, charming eyes blinked at me.

Unable to wait, he bent down and poked his head beneath the veil for a look at me.

The childish gesture made me laugh instead of angering me.

I also told him that Adrian had been born sterile and suggested he make good use of the information during tomorrow's visit.

Julian scoffed. "So he's useless, yet he still dares covet you."

He buried his head against me and patted his chest in exaggerated relief.

"Thank God. Thank God you didn't marry him."

Early the next morning, Julian hauled a disheveled Adrian back to the Bennett estate and brought a respected medical specialist with him.

The Bennetts stared in confusion when Adrian, who had been missing all night, was dumped in front of them.

"Mr. Carter, what happened?"

No one knew how Adrian had managed to offend Julian on the man's wedding night.

Julian gave a cold, mocking laugh.

"Mr. Bennett certainly has guts. He sneaked into the bridal suite on my wedding night because he wanted to catch up with my wife? Your family ended the engagement. What now? Does he want her back?"

Adrian's grandfather flew into a rage. He snatched up his cane and beat Adrian until he was nearly unconscious.

Cries of pain and the metallic scent of blood filled the living room.

Julian sat on the sofa, took a leisurely sip of tea, and calmly enjoyed the Bennett family's display of "sincerity."

Adrian's grandfather wiped the sweat from his brow. Faced with Julian's expression, he did not dare hold back and struck even harder.

Adrian rolled across the floor in agony, yet still roared defiantly.

"You don't understand! Evelyn was my wife to begin with! If she hadn't been infertile, we would have had a house full of children by now!"

The room fell utterly silent.