Chapter 5

I thought, "How could I 'get it'? How could I be okay with the fact that Melissa had pampered Tanya like her own daughter, but when she fell ill, I was the one who had to care for her through the night?

"How could I accept the fact that while their family was living a comfortable life of luxury, I was the only one trapped in a cheap rented apartment and forced to endure year after year of hardship?

"How could I be fine with the fact that Melissa and Leonard had worked together to deceive me for five whole years?"

I couldn't do it.

I almost gave in to the urge to tell the woman in front of me that she was being kept in the dark too and that we were both pitiful women Leonard had deceived.

But when I saw the blissful expression on Tanya's face, I couldn't bring myself to expose the truth.

Throughout all this, Leonard was the one in the wrong. There was no point in having two innocent women bear the humiliation and agony as a result of his actions.

A long time later, I suppressed the bitterness in my heart as I said calmly, "Ma'am, please lie down, and we can begin the massage."

While Tanya adjusted her posture, I navigated to the number I hadn't dared to contact in a long, long time. Then, I sent a message. "Dad, I regret everything I did. Please come get me home."

Dad's reply came almost instantly. "I'll be right there."

Putting my phone away, I remained calm on the surface as I deftly poured the massage oil. Then, I reached out and started massaging Tanya.

Tanya was still in high spirits as she shared her thoughts.

"Actually, I did want to have another child with my husband, but unfortunately, to give my son and me security, he had a vasectomy right after we got married. He even told me that unless I tell him in person that I want another child, he will never reverse it. He said he would never force me to have a kid."

Up until this point, everything I knew about Leonard's hidden side had come from Tanya.

However, this was the only thing I had known beforehand.

But Leonard had told me a different story.

Two months after we got together, I found out that I was pregnant.

Back then, we had nothing to our name, and we lived a difficult life in poverty. We were incapable of managing a household together, let alone ready to be parents.

After debating about it for an entire night, Leonard said to me with reddened eyes, "Rena, let's not have the kid."

That single sentence took my first child away from me.

While I recovered from the procedure, he never once showed up to keep me company.

Instead, he had a vasectomy done behind my back.

It was only after the procedure that he held my hands and explained, "Rena, I'll reverse it when we settle down and become more capable of giving our child a proper home. For now, I don't want you to go through the pain of losing a child again."

Back then, I was so clueless that I felt touched by that for a long time.

As it turned out, he had come up with two completely different excuses for the same matter.

He had lied to me, and he had also deceived the poor woman right in front of me.

Looking at the sweet smile on Tanya's face, I was surprised to realize that my sympathy for her surpassed the hatred I felt toward Leonard for betraying and lying to me.

I could just go back home if I got hurt, but she was different.

She had nowhere to go, and she even had a child with her.

Just then, a familiar male voice sounded at the entrance. "Honey, why are you getting a massage in a place like this?"

Leonard slowly walked in through the door.

I subconsciously tried to turn around so that Tanya wouldn't find out how we were connected.

But in the next second, Tanya sat up. Her gaze fell upon my desolate face, which looked pale under the lights.

Then, she put on a half-smile as she answered, "Why else? To meet the shameless homewrecker who seduced my husband, of course."