She Came to Her Husband’s Mistress’s Baby Shower,As the Real Novel – My plane had barely touched down from the business trip when a call came in from a five-star hotel manager： “Ms. Fox, congratulations on the new baby boy!” “I’m calling to ask if there’s anything else you’d like us to prepare for the little one’s one-month celebration?” I froze where I stood. When we got married, Elwin Henson told me himself that he didn’t want children.
So where exactly had a baby come from? I asked before I could stop myself： “Are you sure you have the right number?” The manager immediately sent me a video of my in-laws holding a baby, then said with a cheerful laugh： “You’re one of our VIP members, ma’am. You’ve brought them here to dine before. There’s no way I’d mix that up.” I stared at the screen, watching my in-laws coo at the infant in their arms, calling him their grandson. It clicked.
In the single year I’d been away, my husband hadn’t just cheated. He’d fathered a child with another woman. My grip tightened around the phone, and I dialed my people. “Lock down the Grand Dragon Hotel on Jingnan Road. Not a fly leaves that building.” —— After I hung up, I stared at the infant on the screen, at the face that looked so much like Elwin’s, and felt every last trace of warmth drain out of me. Twenty minutes later, I stepped out of my car in the hotel’s ground-level parking garage. The air around me could have frosted glass.
One of my operatives appeared and greeted me with a respectful bow： “Ma’am, the hotel owner has handed over full control. We’re ready to move on your word.” I gave a slight nod, my expression flat：“Don’t alert anyone. Hold your positions and wait for my signal.” Then I walked into the hotel. On the massive LED screen in the banquet hall, a slideshow of heartwarming family photos played on loop. The man in them was Elwin. The woman, I didn’t recognize.
All I remembered was that some well-connected family named Pruitt was involved. Not that it mattered. The commercial empire my grandfather left me stretched across the country, spanning both legitimate industries and the gray areas in between. The so-called Pruitt family was nothing. An insect I could crush without looking down. My identity was too sensitive to go public with, so when I married Elwin, the only story anyone got was that I ran a small trading company. Day to day, my grandfather’s most trusted people managed the empire on my behalf.
The number of people who had actually seen my face could be counted on one hand. That was when snippets of conversation about the celebration started drifting toward me from every direction. Every word landed like a needle driven straight into my chest. “This one-month celebration is something else. They booked the entire Grand Dragon Hotel. The Pruitt family sure knows how to put on a show!” “No wonder the Hensons have been walking around like they own the place. Their son married the Pruitt heiress.
They’ve hit the jackpot for good.” I stood at the back of the crowd, listening to the praise in silence, a cold, bitter smile curling at the corner of my mouth. A year ago, I had gone overseas alone to break into foreign markets, to build more opportunities for Elwin’s fledgling little company. And this was what I got. While I was gone, he hadn’t just betrayed me. He’d built a whole new life with someone else, complete with a child. Ice spread through my veins.
Then a voice piped up beside me. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around. Are you one of the Hensons’ relatives?” I kept my tone even：“Something like that.” She grabbed my arm right away and pulled me toward a seat. “You must be Mr. Henson’s sister, right?” “I heard the only reason his company grew this big, and the reason he just signed that eight-figure deal with Apex Technologies, is because the Pruitt heiress pulled strings behind the scenes.
The whole Pruitt family backed him.” “Being his sister, all you’d have to do is ask and the Pruitts would set you up with a cushy job for sure. God, I envy you.” A mocking laugh slipped out of me before I could help it. So this was how it worked. One person rides the wave, and everyone around them floats up too. Just then, the crowd parted on its own to form a path. My in-laws came strolling through, beaming with pride, the baby cradled in their arms.