The next day, I discovered that my husband had blocked every possible way for me to contact him. But I needed an explanation. He couldn't just block me like that and walk out of my life without even looking me in the eye and explaining how he had gotten involved with Karen.

My moment of rage had passed, and now I wanted to talk calmly and understand what was happening. He was still my husband. I deserved an explanation. He couldn't simply throw our history away like trash.

We met when he started working at my father's company. He was a kind man who took weeks to gather the courage to ask me out. Our connection had been immediate. It was the beginning of a beautiful love story. Between dating and marriage, only six months had passed.

Soon after, my parents died in a car accident. Carl stayed by my side the entire time, supporting me and helping with all the paperwork. Back then, my father owned a construction company, but as I later discovered, it was drowning in debt.

Karen had dropped out of college. My father had given one house to her and another to me inside a gated community, where I moved in with Carl.

Karen didn't want to study or work. She sold her house and wasted the money on designer clothes, trips, and older wealthy men. My sister had no sense of responsibility, and I could only hope she would settle down one day.

Meanwhile, Carl and I worked day and night to pay off the company's debts and rebuild the business. After five years, we finally secured new contracts, and money started coming in again.

Carl was a wonderful and understanding man, but in recent years, he had become increasingly insistent about having a child. It was my dream too, but I never got pregnant. Between doctor appointments, pressure, and disappointment, our relationship began to crack. Every negative test upset him. He would distance himself and blame me. I told myself it was only stress.

I believed our love was stronger than all of that, that the moment the test finally came back positive, everything would go back to normal.

But now, I understood nothing anymore.

I waited for my husband's lunch hour.

Carl was a man of habits. He always ate at the same restaurant, at the same time, ordering the same meal. I watched him leave the office and walk inside.

He hated scandals, so he wouldn't make a scene in a crowded restaurant. I only wanted him to explain what was happening.

I was calm.

But the moment I saw him, I remembered how much I loved him.

I couldn't let our marriage end like this.

"What are you doing here?" he asked harshly when I sat down across from him.

"We need to talk…"

"There's nothing to talk about. Karen already explained everything."

"Carl, you're my husband. We have a history together…"

"Isabelle, our marriage ended the moment you failed to give me a child. I can't stay with a sterile woman who's incapable of getting pregnant."

His words hit me like a slap.

"But I'm still going through tests…" I tried to explain, struggling to find words for what he was saying.

"I know there's nothing wrong with me. You're the problem. Besides, look at yourself. You're not even the same woman I married anymore. You gained weight, let yourself go, and you can't even cook the way you used to," he said with disgust.

Tears streamed down my face before I could stop them.

He was saying all those things out loud, and the people around us looked at me with pity.

Carl stood up angrily and impatiently, as if explaining something obvious to me was a waste of his time.

"Get over it, Isabelle. I have the right to be happy and build a family with Karen in peace," he said before walking away.

It took all my strength to get up from the chair.

My body felt weak and numb.

I returned home humiliated and completely shattered inside. I loved Carl, and hearing those words from him in such a cruel way destroyed me.

Camille told me to hire a lawyer, someone to protect my interests. Carl had forbidden me from entering the company that had belonged to my father and had thrown me out of my own house, which was legally in my name.

Something was wrong.

But my mind kept replaying his words over and over again. I couldn't think clearly.

How long had this affair been going on?

Did Carl love Karen?

Did Karen love Carl?

I couldn't believe the two of them had suddenly fallen in love out of nowhere.

I needed answers, so I went after the only person I was sure would tell me the truth.

I went to my sister-in-law's flower shop. The moment she saw me, her expression darkened, and she reached for the door to lock it.

Before she could, I pressed my body against the gap and begged, nearly in tears, "Please help me. You're all I have left."

She clearly hadn't expected my visit and didn't want me there, but she let me in anyway.

"What do you want, Isabelle?" she asked coldly.

After years of marriage, suddenly I was no longer welcome.

"I want to know how long Carl has been involved with my sister. Why is everyone ignoring me? What's going on?"

Alice seemed unsure whether she should answer, but in the end, she spoke.

"If you really want to know, Carl brought Karen to my mother's house more than a year ago. From what I know, they started talking after all the fights between you two. You kept accusing him because you couldn't get pregnant. You became more and more demanding, complaining about everything, and Carl got closer to Karen. That's what I know.

"Everyone at my mother's house loved your sister. She's a lighter person. She doesn't carry that heavy aura you do. Carl hadn't made the relationship official yet because he pitied you and was afraid of what you might do. But once she got pregnant, he had to make a decision and protect himself from you so you wouldn't harm his family."

So the affair had already been going on for over a year.

Everyone knew, but no one had the decency to tell me anything.

"I never accused Carl of anything. He was the one who got angry every time the test came back negative…" I tried to explain, but from the look in Alice's eyes, I could tell she didn't believe me.

"Look, Isabelle, I really do like you. But now it's better to move on with your life. Just give my brother the divorce already. He deserves to be happy. The last few years were hell, and now he's with someone who truly deserves him. I'm sorry, but the best thing you can do is step aside."

The version of events Alice described felt completely unfamiliar to me.

Over the past year, I had tried everything to improve the atmosphere at home. I cooked all of Carl's favorite meals, never pressured him about anything, and tried to be understanding.

But according to Alice, I had turned her brother's life into hell. A hell my own sister had rescued him from by being attentive and giving him a child.

I went home. I didn't want to talk anymore. I just wanted to hide.

Had I really made his life hell?