Take Secret Revenge

Tina had been feeling that her husband, Chris Carter, was acting strangely lately.

Several times, Chris seemed on the verge of saying something, only to hold back. No matter how much Tina pressed him, his explanation was always that he was just too tired recently and wanted to take a few days off to travel.

Tina was relieved to know that. Why was it so hard for him to say that?

Although they had been married for ten years, they had never traveled together because Chris, being an engineer, was often too busy to even come home at night.

To better care for Chris, Tina quit her job right after they got married and became a housewife. Their life was relatively carefree since they didn't have children.

They had known each other on a blind date and thought they could make a marriage work, so they got married. But it was only after the wedding that Chris told Tina he didn't want to have children for life.

Tina was devastated at this news. She had always wanted a cute baby. But since they had gotten married and Chris was so firm about his decision, she reluctantly agreed. For the past ten years, whenever they were intimate, Chris always took precautions, never being careless.

Tina gradually got used to this uneventful life, except for her difficult mother-in-law.

Mandy was truly a difficult mother-in-law to deal with. At the beginning of Tina's marriage with her son, she was kind to Tina, frequently visiting and buying things for her.

But a few years later, Mandy changed, becoming increasingly harsh towards Tina.

Tina knew it was because she hadn't given birth to a child, but it wasn't her fault. It was Chris who didn't want kids.

Yet every time Tina tried to explain to Mandy, Chris would stop her.

He always said he would talk to his mom and didn't want them to have conflicts.

Tina believed him, but Mandy's attitude towards her got worse and worse each year.

Mandy would often come over to make it difficult for Tina. She was fussy about food and would complain the dish Tina made was awful tasting.

If Tina bought her fruit, she'd scold Tina for being inconsiderate to Chris because Tina was a housewife and lived off Chris.

Tina was almost at her wit's end, but for the sake of family harmony, she forced herself to endure it every time.

That day, Tina was preparing fish for cooking at home. Mandy had told her the day before that she would come over for lunch. Despite her headache, Tina bought a lot of food to entertain Mandy.

The door was knocked loudly, and Tina was puzzled. It wasn't even noon yet. Why was Mandy here so early?

She wiped her wet hands and ran to open the door. To her surprise, it wasn't Mandy but a flashily dressed woman with a four or five-year-old boy beside her.

Tina was about to tell her she had the wrong door when the woman suddenly knelt down, clutching Tina's pant leg tightly. The boy, seeing this, started crying loudly.

Tina was startled and reached out to help the woman up, but the woman held on tightly, causing Tina's leg to ache.

"Please, I beg you! Let Chris go!" The woman's desperate cries sent chills down Tina's spine, and her words left Tina at a loss.

"Who are you? What do you mean by that?" Tina's voice trembled as she gripped the woman's arm, trying to push her away.

The boy, seeing Tina push his mother, came over to pull at Tina's clothes. Afraid of knocking the child over, Tina relaxed her grip, and the woman cried even harder.

"This is Chris's child! Can you bear to let him grow up without a father? Please, let Chris go!" As soon as Tina heard the word father, she felt shaken to the core. Her mind went blank, and she could barely keep her balance. What did this woman just say? This was Chris's child?!

A neighbor opened their door slightly, cautiously peeking out to ask what was happening.

Tina snapped back to reality. She forced a stiff smile, "It's nothing. It's just a friend in trouble looking for advice."

Determined, she clenched her jaw to suppress her shock. No matter what, she couldn't let others take her for a laughingstock.

"Come inside first!"

She pulled the boy into the apartment and dragged the woman in as well. The woman didn't want to enter, but seeing her boy pulled inside, she reluctantly followed her in. Tina was still trembling as she rushed to the bedroom to call Chris. "Hello, honey, what's up?"

Tina's voice was hoarse and tinged with despair as if she were going to suffocate. "Chris! Get back here right now! Right now!"

She slammed the phone down and staggered to the living room, where the woman was wiping the boy's snot. Leaning against the bedroom door, Tina found a trace of composure and slowly asked, "Who exactly are you?"

The woman stood up, no longer crying, her expression full of mockery. "Who are we? I'm Clara Roffe, and my son is Jackson Carter, Chris's biological son."

As Clara said each of those words emphatically, she stared at Tina with a defiant air. Her words were like a dagger piercing Tina's heart.

"You must be lying..." Tina clutched her chest, gasping for air.

"What's the point of lying to you? Ask Chris when he gets back." Clara dismissively sat on the sofa, even crossing her legs as if she owned the place. Seeing her demeanor, Tina was furious.

"Get up! I didn't allow you to sit on my sofa!" Tina grabbed the woman's arm, and Jackson ran over to hug Clara's leg, asking Tina in his childish voice not to bully his mom.

Amidst their struggle, the sound of a key turning in the lock came from the door. A canny look flashed across Clara's eyes, and she fell to the ground with Jackson in her arms, tears streaming down her face again.

"What happened? What's going on exactly?" Chris rushed in, not even bothering to change his shoes, briefcase in hand. He saw Clara and the boy on the floor, with Tina standing unsteadily nearby. Chris's face turned pale.

"Chris! I just wanted to secretly meet your wife to understand why you're unwilling to divorce her. But she actually hit me! And not just me, she even beat Jackson." Out of Chris's sight, Clara pinched Jackson, making him cry even louder.

Without thinking much about it, Chris helped Clara and the boy up. Clara leaned into his arms, looking triumphantly at Tina.

"Chris, what is going on?!" Tina stared directly at Chris, observing the complex emotions on his face, fear, embarrassment, and even a hint of relief, but notably, no guilt towards Tina.

A sharp female voice came from the door, "What's going on here? How can you leave the door open like this? Do you want to get robbed?"

Mandy had arrived. Tina wiped her tears. No matter what, Mandy was her mother-in-law. Although Mandy wasn't kind to her, she knew Mandy's husband had left Mandy due to an affair, so Mandy would surely support her.

"Daddy!" Jackson turned to Chris, suddenly hugging his leg. As soon as Mandy entered, she heard Jackson's voice and saw all the people inside. She was taken aback. "What's going on?"

"Mandy! Chris cheated on me, and he even has a child!"

Tina, feeling she had found her support, couldn't stop her tears. Mandy's expression darkened at first, but her eyes lit up at the word child. "A child? Chris's child?"

"Mom, I..."

"Mrs. Carter, I'm Clara Roffe, and this is Chris's biological son, Jackson Carter." Clara stood pitifully beside Chris while wiping her tears.

"Mandy! Please stand up for me!" Tina walked over to Mandy, clutching her sleeve. The fishy smell from handling fish made Mandy flinch.

"Is this really your child?" Mandy asked, and Chris nodded with embarrassment.