Genevieve, feeling neglected, urgently grabbed him as soon as he mentioned sleeping in separate rooms. “Magnus, what have I done wrong that you would treat me this way?”
“I thought you would know better than I?” Magnus replied coldly.
He had never found this woman more repulsive; she had been involved with his cousin, and they had even dared to desecrate the master bedroom with their disgusting acts.
“Magnus, could there be some misunderstanding? You seemed a bit off last night,” Genevieve asserted, certain he had discovered her affair with Paul.
“Misunderstanding? Then explain why Paul’s shirt button was on our bed? You never lock the door, yet why did you lock it when I came back? Yesterday, did you go to the company to see me or to meet him for your tryst?”
With Magnus laying the facts bare, Genevieve found herself at a loss for words.
She suddenly knelt down before him. “Magnus, yes, I’m sorry. But I was forced into this! I had my reasons.”
As the truth came out, Magnus had already gathered enough evidence against her.
“Really? Reasons? Ha, you are naturally lascivious. The first time we met, you drugged me, making me incapable of escaping your clutches for the rest of my life. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have separated from Victoria! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have lost her!”
Years of suppressed emotions finally erupted. Magnus regretted his indecision back then, which had led to this outcome.
He had let down Victoria and could not fail Genevieve in the same way. Carrying this guilt, he had been excessively kind to Genevieve, fearing she might leave him just as Victoria had.
Yet, his devoted heart had led to this tragic end, causing him both regret and guilt.
“Victoria, Victoria, she’s been dead for years, and you still think of her! Magnus, haven’t I been good to you all these years?”
Victoria was always a thorn in Genevieve’s heart. Although initially approaching Magnus for money, she had genuinely fallen for him over time.
She knew she had used tactics to keep Magnus, who had built a wall around his heart, locking away his true feelings.
He felt a duty towards her, but it wasn’t true love. His heart had always belonged to another woman.
She had thought that with that woman gone, she might finally enter his heart, but he had secretly undergone a vasectomy.
Ivy and Zachary were Magnus’s lifelong regrets. Having children meant he had to be responsible for Genevieve, but responsibility did not equate to love.
Though unspoken, Genevieve knew that even when with her, Magnus often thought of that other woman.
That was why he had always been meticulous about contraception. Initially, Genevieve too had wanted a child out of love with Magnus.
Partly out of fear that one day Zachary and Ivy’s true parentage would be revealed, she was prepared; and partly, she genuinely wanted to bear his child.
No matter how hard she tried, she could never conceive. After numerous checks, she found no issues with herself.
She realized that Magnus had always insisted on using protection and that he had stopped doing so a long time ago.
She had rummaged through the house only to find that he had secretly had a vasectomy, not wanting children with her.
The woman he loved had died, and with her, his heart; they both kept each other’s secrets, never confronting one another.
Now, revealing his pain outright, Magnus scoffed at Genevieve’s claim of care:
“You care for me? Ha… When you were sick, I carried you to the hospital in the middle of the night, afraid the caregiver wasn’t attentive enough, even taking leave to stay by your side.
But when I was ill, you just sent me to the hospital, hired a nurse and went about your day, eating, drinking, shopping as usual.
I am a man, I don’t usually sweat the small stuff, for it’s natural for a man to protect a woman.
But Genevieve, you crossed a man’s bottom line, which is why I didn’t reveal the truth this morning.
It was to spare you some dignity, for our children’s sake, fearing their grandfather would find out and take his anger out on them.
Yet those unworthy kids had to mess up their own lives; well, whether as a father or a husband, I am confident I have done my part.
If you have any self-respect left, you should leave on your own. Every moment with you now disgusts me.”
Hearing Magnus threaten to kick her out, Genevieve felt true fear and clung to his legs, pleading:
“You need to hear me out, I know I’ve wronged you, but I did it for our children!
Zachary fell into bad company and racked up fifty million dollars in gambling debts! Where am I to find such a sum? Those loan sharks are ruthless. If we don’t pay, the consequences are severe.
I was afraid of you and dad finding out, fearing it would ruin the kids’ futures. I had no choice but to ask Paul for a loan.
But he made such indecent demands, I didn’t want to agree, but I had to, for Zachary’s sake.”
“With such a major issue at hand, do you think I would have ignored it? You chose to sell yourself to a stranger rather than trust me!
Genevieve, should I call you clever or inherently promiscuous? What did you two do in my car? What happened in my bedroom?”
No excuse could justify infidelity, and Magnus would not be swayed by her words.
Now, whenever he saw Genevieve, he imagined her entangled with Paul’s corpulent body.
“I’m sorry, I really regret it, I didn’t want to, but Paul recorded a video, I couldn’t get away from him,” Genevieve cried pitifully.
“Even a million apologies can’t change what happened, Genevieve, our fate in this life probably ends here.
I’m giving you three days to move out, otherwise don’t blame me for being ruthless in throwing you out.”
Magnus, tired of her excuses, brushed her off, “Don’t touch me ever again, I find you filthy.”
After leaving those words behind, he walked away without looking back, while Genevieve, stumbling after a few steps, fell, her tears mingling with blood, staining the carpet.