Author: Momo Chan

1 I shoved Ruby to grab my toy, and Mother hurled an adoption certificate at me. Seeing the girl who looked so much like me, I let go of my bear. From then on, I surrendered anything Ruby wanted. When she wondered what being top felt like, I tutored her nightly and deliberately turned in blank tests. Teachers and classmates sneered, convinced I’d cheated. Brother Mason disowned me publicly. Only Noah stayed, my sole comfort. On college results day, I clutched my 1600 SAT score and Columbia acceptance, eager to share our Ivy League future. Instead, I found Noah comforting Ruby after her failed finals. “I’ll follow you to community college,” he told her. Ruby hesitated, worried about me. Noah ruffled her hair. “You were adopted. Sadie had her real family. You need looking after.” Mason joined in. “Sadie has a real family. You only have us.” I bit my lip until I tasted blood, swallowing sobs. I’d endured years of injustice to compensate for her adoption, only to find all their love belonged to her. That night, I deleted Columbia from my portal and chose Stanford, thousands of miles away. If they’d discarded me, I’d chase my own stars. … I didn’t snap out of my daze until Noah walked right up to me. “When did you get here? Why are you crying?” His voice was just as gentle as it had always been. If I hadn’t noticed his pinky finger still tangled in a strand of Ruby’s newly dyed pink hair, I would have thought my eyes were playing tricks on me earlier. I wiped the wetness from my cheeks and threw together a quick lie. “It’s nothing. The wind blew some dirt into my eyes.” Noah gave me a knowing, almost pitying look. “You bombed your exams and you’re too embarrassed to admit it.” “Right?” Before I could even formulate a response, his voice spiked with excitement. “But it’s totally fine. I changed my enrollment.” “We can still stay together!” I stared at the screen of his phone. It displayed his stellar test scores right next to the acceptance portal for Crestview Community College. My eyes widened in pure disbelief. Up until this very second, I thought he had just been saying things to make Ruby feel better. I never imagined he would actually throw away his spot at a top tier university for a local community college. He had been dreaming of the Ivy League since we were in elementary school. Was throwing away his entire future just to babysit Ruby really worth it? Seeing my stunned silence, Noah waved a hand in front of my face. “Speechless? Are you crying because you’re so touched?” “I told you a long time ago. Even if the whole world abandons you, I will never leave your side!” Looking into his bright, earnest eyes, I was suddenly pulled back to a summer ten years ago. An eight year old boy had walked me home. He sat at my kitchen table for hours, meticulously taping together the shredded pieces of my homework that Ruby had “accidentally” ripped up. With his eyes red from exhaustion, he had used that exact same tone to say those exact same words to me. Hearing what used to be the most beautiful promise in the world now just made me feel violently sick. I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing down the bitter lump in my throat. “I’m not feeling great. I’m going home.” “Go rest. Text me when you get back.” He reached out to cup my cheek, a gesture he had done a thousand times before. I turned my head, letting his hand hit empty air. Noah’s hand froze halfway. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but his phone buzzed. Ruby’s sickly sweet, whining voice drifted through the speaker. “Noah! Don’t forget you promised to take me back to school shopping this afternoon!” The corners of Noah’s mouth instantly turned up. His voice softened into pure honey. “I know, I know. When have I ever broken a promise to you?” By the time he put his phone away and looked up, I was already gone. Hidden in the shadows of an alleyway, I buried my face in my knees and let the tears fall freely. The boy I thought would never betray me had finally discarded me too. In my world, there was no one left but me. When I unlocked the front door of my house, my parents and Mason were taking turns trying to make Ruby laugh. The three of them looked so incredibly patient and dedicated. You would think they were trying to soothe a fragile toddler, not an eighteen year old adult. The moment Mason saw me walk in, a malicious glint flashed in his eyes. Before I could even process what was happening, a bucket of freezing water laced with chili powder was dumped directly over my head. I gasped, choking violently. The dual shock of the ice and the burning spice sent me into a coughing fit. Tears and mucus streamed down my face as my eyes caught fire. Ruby burst into hysterical laughter, pointing at my pathetic, dripping figure. “Thank God, she’s finally smiling!” My parents immediately relaxed. They looked like they were about to cry tears of joy just because Ruby was amused. This exact scenario had played out countless times over the years. If I scored a few points higher than her on a math test, or if a classmate complimented my outfit, or even if I just walked a little faster than her on the way home, it would trigger a massive emotional breakdown for Ruby. The second she shed a single tear, my parents would lose their minds and take their anger out on whoever was nearby. Originally, Mason used to get caught in the crossfire just like me. Because we shared the same misery, my brother and I used to be incredibly close. We survived the madness together. That was until one specific night when our parents were punishing both of us. Out of nowhere, Ruby spoke up to defend him. “Don’t yell at Mason. He bought me a candy bar yesterday.” My parents stopped mid rant. They immediately turned all their fury entirely onto me. That night, I laid in bed covered in bruises. Mason stood outside my bedroom door apologizing for hours, but I didn’t say a word. I didn’t blame him for saving his own skin. But that candy bar she mentioned. I had saved my allowance for weeks to buy it, and I had specifically given it to him. After that night, Mason crossed over to Ruby’s side. They shared candy, and they shared the hobby of bullying me. Then, I met Noah. Under his constant protection and comfort, the wounds from my brother’s betrayal slowly scabbed over. My dark, suffocating life finally had a sliver of light. But in the end, all that light was redirected to shine exclusively on Ruby. She stole my life, and then she stole every single person who ever cared about me. Right now, Ruby’s eyes were dancing with smug satisfaction, but she put on a mask of exaggerated innocence. “Oh no, Sadie, you’re coughing so hard you’re bleeding! And your clothes are soaked.” “Here, use a towel!” I stared at her. I didn’t take the towel. I lunged forward, grabbed a fistful of her freshly dyed hair, and violently shoved her face directly into the remaining chili water pooled in the bottom of the bucket on the floor. She thrashed wildly, screaming and sobbing. “Mom! Dad! Mason, get her off me!” I watched her panic. Her gorgeous pink hair was a matted mess, her pristine white dress soaked in dirty, spicy water. A twisted, thrilling sense of revenge bloomed in my chest. I threw my head back and started laughing. Mason rushed forward, shoving me backward with brutal force. My dad’s face was purple with rage. He raised his hand and slapped me across the cheek so hard the room spun. The impact snapped my head to the side. The heavy, metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth. I clutched my stinging cheek, and my laughter only grew louder. My mom pulled a sobbing Ruby into her arms, glaring at me with absolute, unfiltered hatred. “Sadie, if you act like a psycho one more time, I will send you away for good!” The first time I heard her say those words, I was four years old. I had been aggressively trying to take back a teddy bear my grandmother had given me from Ruby’s hands. The second my mom threatened to send me away, I went limp and let go of the toy. In that moment, my tiny brain pictured the stray dogs shivering in the rain, the homeless men sleeping in the dirt under the highway overpass. For weeks afterward, I woke up screaming from nightmares. I used to run to my parents’ bedroom, crying and begging. “I promise I’ll never fight with my sister again, please just don’t send me away!” I had been so utterly consumed by the terror of abandonment that I completely missed the fleeting looks of triumph and relief passing between my parents. But today was different. I slowly stood up straight and looked my mother dead in the eyes. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the adoption certificate. I tossed it onto the coffee table right in front of them. My voice was ice cold, dripping with venom. “Go ahead. Kick your biological daughter out.” “That way I won’t get in the way of you loving someone else’s kid.” The living room plunged into a suffocating, dead silence. “What… what kind of nonsense are you talking about?” My mom, usually so loud and overbearing, suddenly sounded like a cornered mouse. The guilt was practically radiating off her. I didn’t blink. I kept my eyes locked on hers. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.” On my way home, I had stared at that certificate for hours. I finally noticed the discrepancies. The name on the paper had been visibly tampered with. The dates didn’t line up at all. According to the date of adoption, I would have been four and a half years old. But the little girl in the photo was three at the most. And then I looked closely at the picture. At a quick glance, her features looked like mine. But zooming in, the girl in the photo had monolid eyes. I have double eyelids. My mom, my dad, and Mason all have double eyelids. Every single piece of evidence pointed to one undeniable fact. Ruby was the adopted child, not me. Feeling the weight of my stare, my mom finally cracked. She let out a cold, defensive scoff. “So what if we lied to you?” “If you weren’t such a selfish, aggressive brat, we wouldn’t have had to use that tactic to control you!” She pulled Ruby tighter against her chest, looking at me like I was garbage. “And even with that hanging over your head, you still bully her relentlessly.” “I have no idea how I gave birth to such a vicious, toxic monster!” She looked deeply, genuinely pained, as if being my mother was the greatest tragedy of her life. My dad and Mason pointed their fingers at me, their faces twisted in anger. “Apologize to Ruby right now, or you are dead to us!” Watching the three of them form a united front against me drove the final nail into my heart. I was their actual flesh and blood. But in their minds, there was only room for Ruby. There wasn’t a single square inch of space left for me. The absolute last shred of hope I held for this family evaporated into thin air. “You don’t need to kick me out. I’m leaving.” I walked to my room, dragged my dusty suitcase out from under the bed, and tossed my few meager belongings inside. I zipped it shut and walked out the front door without looking back. Behind me, the sound of their cursing carried through the humid summer air. “This is completely out of control! Does she actually think she can survive out there?” “I knew she was rotten to the core! We never should have kept her.” Then, their voices shifted, melting into sweet reassurance. “It’s okay, we still have our perfect little angel Ruby. God blessed us in the end.” In the past, hearing those words would have sent me spiraling into a guilt trip, crawling back to beg for forgiveness. Now, I felt nothing but a euphoric, weightless sense of relief. I was finally escaping hell. Since they loved Ruby so much, they could keep her. I was out. I dragged my suitcase to the boba shop where I worked part time and set up a makeshift bed in the supply closet. Even though it was literally a closet filled with syrup bottles, it was my own private space. Years ago, just because Ruby casually mentioned she wanted a dedicated music room, my bedroom was gutted and I was permanently moved to the enclosed sunporch. I lived out there for fourteen years. I baked in the summer, froze in the winter, and had absolutely zero privacy. On my second day living at the shop, a familiar figure walked through the glass doors. Noah stood there holding a bouquet of sunflowers, my absolute favorite. He looked wrecked. “I shouldn’t have kept it a secret from you.” “I am so sorry. I messed up.” I didn’t reach for the flowers. I just stared at him and asked one question. “When exactly did your feelings for her change?” I remembered the very first time Ruby showed her true, vicious colors. Noah had been so furious he almost screamed at her. He had looked at me and said, “Sadie, even if you aren’t really their blood, you are worth ten thousand times more than she will ever be.” The girl he once thought was a manipulative brat was now the center of his entire universe. Noah seemed to know exactly what moment I was thinking of. “Do you remember that massive hurricane at the start of eighth grade?” Of course I remembered. It was the worst flooding our city had seen in a century. The night before the storm hit, I had taken heavy cold medicine and passed out. When I woke up, there was two feet of water in my bedroom. My entire family was gone. They had evacuated without waking me. Panicking, I grabbed my phone and dialed my emergency contact. Noah. Thank God the cell towers were still working. But the phone rang and rang and rang. He never picked up. In utter despair, clutching the small potted cactus he had given me for my birthday, I climbed out my window and scrambled onto the roof. After I was finally rescued by a patrol boat, Noah found me. He told me he dropped his phone in the water and got lost trying to navigate the flooded streets to reach my house. I believed him. I even felt relieved he hadn’t made it. If the rescue boat had been one minute later, the current would have swept me away. I preferred him being safe over him risking his life for me. But right now, standing in the boba shop, he finally told the truth. “Ruby lost her favorite stuffed animal during the evacuation. She was having a total panic attack, crying uncontrollably.” “I couldn’t stand seeing her so devastated. So I decided to help her find the doll before I came to get you.” Noah raised his hand as if taking an oath, his eyes wide and innocent. “I never meant to abandon you. I swear.” A sickening wave of bitterness washed over me. When it was life or death, Ruby’s plush toy took priority over my actual life. He did keep his promise to protect someone. He just changed the person. I asked my second question. “Why?” Why did he know the truth about the adoption but choose to keep me in the dark? Why did he give all his sympathy to the girl who stole my life, leaving me with nothing? Noah hesitated for a second before answering. “Because you’re strong.” “Ruby is different. She acts tough, but inside she is incredibly fragile and sensitive.” “Compared to you, she needs me so much more.” The words felt like a knife twisting in my ribs. Compared to Ruby, who had mastered the art of playing the victim, I was absolutely tougher. But I was only tough because I learned early on that if I fell, no one was going to catch me. I thought he was the one person I could lean on. Instead, he pushed me off the ledge. I tilted my head back, swallowing the pain. “Leave.” “Let’s just pretend we never met.” Noah was clearly shocked by how cold and unyielding I was being. He planted his feet in the doorway, refusing to move. “Sadie, are you seriously going to be this heartless?” I grabbed the bouquet of sunflowers and tossed them straight into the trash can. “You let go of me first. Not the other way around.” Without hesitating, I pulled the heavy metal security gate down, slamming it shut between us. Through the metal slats, Noah’s frustrated, angry voice echoed on the pavement. “Sadie, with an attitude this toxic, no one is ever going to love you!” That’s fine. I will love myself. I whispered the words in my head. For the next few weeks, I worked double shifts. Right before the semester started, I finally saved up enough to cover my first semester’s tuition. It was my ticket out of this miserable swamp. Three days before orientation, I bought a plane ticket to California. Sitting in the terminal, my phone buzzed. A text from Noah. [Sadie, stop throwing a tantrum. I know you enrolled at Crestview too.] [When classes start, we can still be best friends. We can look out for Ruby together!] Immediately after, texts from my parents and Mason came through. [We are hosting a huge graduation dinner for Ruby at the Ritz tomorrow. You need to show up.] [We know you have terrible character and your grades are garbage, but we’ve accepted it. After all, we share the same blood.] I stared at the messages for two seconds. Then, I hit delete. I blocked every single one of their numbers. I grabbed my carry-on and walked toward the boarding gate without a single glance backward. The pathetic, desperate girl who begged for crumbs of love died in that house. I didn’t need anyone’s pity ever again. From now on, I was flying high, and I was never looking back.

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1 At twenty, I saved Connor from a crash and suffered a brain injury. Since then, a glowing number hovered above his head, his love for me. It stayed fixed at 100. I believed he loved me best. That certainty died on our wedding rehearsal day. I fainted at the venue and was rushed to the hospital. Wandering the halls, I found Connor pinning Stella, my best friend, against a wall. They kissed until their lips bled. “Stella, I love you. Why can’t we be together?” Stella pushed him back, eyes red. “Audrey saved your life. You can’t do this to her.” Tears filled Connor’s eyes. “Must I repay her with a lifetime of unhappiness? I’d rather have died in that crash.” Stella broke, sobbing into his arms. Above Connor, the number flickered, plunging from 100 to 50. I forced a weak smile, fingers curling around the medical report in my pocket. Brain Cancer, it read in bold. A perfect love could halve in a heartbeat. If this was its fragility, I wanted no part of it. … I stood completely still behind the corner, watching them devour each other. Connor’s hands gripped Stella’s waist tightly. The wedding band from our rehearsal was still shining on his left ring finger. I knew my name was engraved on the inside. He had carved it himself. Stella stood on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck. The delicate bridesmaid corsage tied around her wrist mocked my utter stupidity. Just three hours ago, during the rehearsal, she had looked Connor dead in the eye and issued a tearful warning. “If you ever break Audrey’s heart, I will haunt you for the rest of your life. Do you hear me?” Connor had stood there with glossy eyes. It took him a long time to finally nod. Looking back now, I realized that thirty second pause was filled entirely with regret and reluctance. But Stella was the one who introduced Connor to me in the first place. And Connor had chased me relentlessly for a whole year before I finally agreed to date him. They had a million chances to be together. Why wait until now to rip my heart out? I crouched against the cold wall, completely overwhelmed by the pain. It wasn’t until my legs went entirely numb that they finally noticed me. Connor’s eyes filled with immediate, practiced concern. He hurried over and helped me stand. “Audrey, why aren’t you wearing your shoes again?” I looked down. I had run out of my hospital room barefoot. I used to do that at home all the time. Whenever I did, Connor would gently pull my freezing feet into his lap and warm them with his own hands, terrified I would catch a cold. But today, he caught a glimpse of Stella’s mournful expression and hesitated. “Here, Audrey. Put my shoes on.” As he bent down to take off his sneakers, the glowing number above his head flickered again. It settled at 45. Another five points gone. All because my mere presence made Stella feel sad. I swallowed the vile, acidic bitterness rising in my throat and shoved Connor away. I turned around and walked off without a single backward glance. I naively thought that if I didn’t look back, I wouldn’t have to see it. But the polished glass doors of the hospital ward acted like a mirror, reflecting their every move perfectly. Stella was walking with her head down, looking incredibly depressed. Connor quickly closed the distance between them and carefully wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders. Stella shivered slightly, but she didn’t push him away. Eventually, their reflections blurred into one. My nose stung. A violent, splitting headache tore through my skull. The doctor’s grim warning echoed in my ears. He had told me the surgery to remove the tumor only had a fifty percent survival rate. And even if I lived, I would likely suffer from severe memory loss. Initially, I was terrified. I was terrified of dying on the operating table. But more than anything, I was terrified of forgetting Connor and Stella. Now, I suddenly felt like it was a blessing. Dying or losing my memory. Either option sounded infinitely better than living this nightmare. I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to my neurosurgeon. “I agree to the surgery. Please schedule it as soon as possible.” Twenty minutes later, they walked into my room. They kept a perfectly respectable distance from each other, acting as if nothing had happened. But my eyes instantly locked onto the faint, purplish bruise peeking out from the collar of Stella’s blouse. Connor had a strict rule. No matter how heated things got, he never left marks on my skin. I used to tease him about it, begging him to leave a hickey, but he always refused. Today, he broke his own rule for someone else. Even though I knew they didn’t have enough time to go all the way, my chest still ached so badly I could barely breathe. I quickly looked away, forcing my brain to shut down. “Audrey, sorry to keep you waiting.” “Stella bought you some chicken soup. Eat it while it’s hot.” Connor opened the takeout container and instinctively reached out to feed me. But then, as if remembering something, his hand froze mid air. I knew exactly what he was doing. He was creating boundaries. Like a well rehearsed dance they had performed a thousand times, Stella smoothly took the bowl from his hands. “Move out of the way, Connor. You are so clumsy. You have absolutely no idea how to take care of a patient.” “Audrey, you really need to train him better.” Connor let out a soft, amused scoff. “Who says? I am great at taking care of people. You will see one day.” They fell right back into their usual banter, effortlessly bouncing words off each other, neither willing to let the other win. A dynamic I used to think was perfectly innocent now clearly looked like shameless flirting. Humiliated, I lowered my head and stared at the bowl of soup. It was heavily garnished with cilantro. I despise cilantro. Connor knew that. Stella knew that too. They were just too distracted by each other to notice. I tried to push the bowl away, but my hand accidentally collided with Stella’s. The scalding hot broth splashed all over the back of her hand, leaving a bright red burn. Before I could even check on her, Connor shoved me backward. “Audrey! If you don’t want to eat, then don’t eat. Stop throwing your little princess tantrums!” He quickly turned his back on me, his voice softening into pure panic. “Are you okay? Does it hurt?” I froze on the bed, entirely lost. It was the very first time he had ever snapped at me like that. I slumped back onto the mattress, wanting to explain that it was an accident, but the words wouldn’t come. I just sat there and watched Connor apply burn ointment to Stella’s hand with agonizing care. The sour, burning jealousy bubbled up in my chest again. That look of absolute devastation used to belong to me. Now, it had a new owner. The pain in my head magnified to an unbearable level. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I coughed, and a mouthful of dark blood splattered across my hospital gown. It looked horrific against the white fabric. Stella gasped and rushed toward me, but before she could even touch my arm, Connor yanked her back. “Audrey, are you seriously still playing the fake blood trick? Haven’t you had enough?” As the cruel words left his mouth, the number above his head plummeted to 25. A wretched, hollow laugh escaped my lips. The metallic taste of blood coated my tongue, growing thicker by the second. I didn’t even know when it started, but recently, whenever my headaches got too severe, I would vomit blood. I didn’t dare tell Connor. I was even too terrified to see a doctor. I was so afraid that if I actually died, it would break his heart. So, I started pretending it was a prank I saw online. The first time I did it, Connor had pulled me into his arms, shaking uncontrollably, crying and begging me never to leave him. Now, he looked at me with nothing but cold, absolute disgust. My prank excuse had worked perfectly. So why did my heart feel like it was being ripped apart? I swallowed hard, desperately trying to force the blood back down, but it just kept coming. Seeing my silence, Connor shook his head in sheer disappointment. He wrapped his arm around Stella and stormed out of the room. It wasn’t until the heavy door clicked shut that I realized my face was completely soaked with tears. I wiped them away furiously, telling myself over and over again to stop crying. I was going to die soon anyway. What did any of this matter? After they left, I snuck out of the hospital and took a cab to my mother’s cemetery. When my mom passed away, I was thrown into the foster system. The only real friend I made in the orphanage was Stella. I would never forget those days. When everyone else ignored me, she was the only one who talked to me. When the older kids bullied me, she would secretly save her dinner rolls and sneak them to me. Years later, she was the one who brought Connor, her supposed best friend, into my life. I used to pray and thank the universe for giving me the best friend and the most loving boyfriend in the world. Now, it was all just a sick, twisted joke. I honestly didn’t understand. Why had the beautiful life I built with my own two hands rotted away so completely? I sat in front of that freezing headstone from dusk until dawn. I still couldn’t find an answer. Just as the sun began to rise, Connor finally found me. “Audrey, so you are pulling the runaway act now? Do you have any idea how… do you have any idea…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but I could hear the genuine panic beneath his anger. He held out a woman’s trench coat. It carried the faint, sweet scent of gardenias. Stella’s signature perfume. I stared at the coat. It was clearly a size too big for me. My nose stung, and the tears threatened to spill again. Truthfully, their affair wasn’t exactly a well hidden secret. Over the last few years, a lot of things had appeared in our apartment that were just one size too big. Clothes, shoes, perfume, jewelry. Even the engagement ring currently sitting on my finger was slightly loose. I used to tell myself he was just a little careless. But looking back, every single one of those “careless” mistakes was a quiet, desperate tribute to the woman he truly loved but couldn’t have. I didn’t say a word. I just reached over, pulled the engagement ring off my finger, and placed it on top of the trench coat. I shoved both of them back into Connor’s chest. “Keep it. I don’t need any of this anymore.” Connor’s face darkened instantly. The last tiny shred of his patience vanished. “Audrey! When are you going to stop throwing this tantrum!” “Is this what you want? You want Stella and me to constantly drop everything and revolve our lives around you?!” I looked up at him, my eyes red and exhausted. “I am not throwing a tantrum.” “I just…” I wanted to tell him that I was simply stepping aside. I wanted to give them their freedom. But he had already lost all interest in hearing me out. He was completely done. “Whatever, Audrey. Do whatever the hell you want.” He spun on his heel and walked away, leaving me completely alone among the graves. The freezing morning wind cut right through my thin clothes. A bitter, self deprecating smile pulled at the corners of my mouth. This time, he didn’t even notice I was barefoot. I walked down the mountain path, feeling the sharp rocks bite into my skin. By the time I finally reached my apartment building, my feet were bloodied and raw. But as I stepped into the dark stairwell, I heard two very familiar voices. Connor and Stella. “Connor, stop! We can’t!” “Audrey is my best friend. I absolutely cannot betray her.” Stella’s voice was thick with tears, dripping with the tragic restraint of a martyr. Connor’s eyes were bloodshot. His voice was raw, desperate, and completely unhinged. “Stella, I want you by my side forever. I want a baby with you! Our baby!” “We can just go to Audrey and explain everything. We can beg for her forgiveness. She is so kind, I know she will understand and give us her blessing!” A sharp slap echoed through the concrete stairwell. “Connor, get a grip!” But the second she hit him, her facade crumbled. “Connor… let’s just pretend today is our final goodbye.” “After today, we can never see each other again. Okay?” She stood on her tiptoes, crying, and pressed her lips against his. I stood paralyzed in the shadows, watching them smoothly unlock the door to the apartment I shared with Connor. My home. Through the narrow crack in the door, I saw Stella looking up at him, her face flushed red. “What if Audrey comes back?” Connor was breathing heavily, his voice dripping with pure lust. “She won’t. I left her stranded at the cemetery. There are no cabs out there this early. She is stuck.” “When we are done, I will go pick her up.” The heavy door clicked shut. Right before it closed, I caught a final glimpse of the number above Connor’s head. It was down to 10. My heart plunged into a bottomless abyss, shattering into a million irreparable pieces. I bit down on my lower lip so hard I tasted copper. Driven by a masochistic need to confirm my worst nightmare, I pulled out my phone and dialed Stella’s number. She picked up almost instantly, just like she always did. But this time, her voice was breathy, punctuated by uncontrollable, soft gasps. “Audrey? Where are you… I have been so worried about you…” In the background, beneath her sweet, breathy voice, I heard a low, heavy groan. Connor’s groan. My stomach violently rebelled. I doubled over and dry heaved until I felt like I was going to pass out. When there was absolutely nothing left in my stomach, I stumbled out of the building and ran blindly into the streets. I didn’t know how long I walked. By the time I finally looked up, the sky was completely dark. Suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I noticed a group of shady looking men trailing behind me. Their eyes were glued to my body, making my skin crawl. I sped up. They matched my pace. Their heavy footsteps echoed loudly in the empty, narrow street. Pure terror swallowed me whole. My hands were shaking so violently I could barely unlock my screen, but muscle memory took over. I dialed Connor’s number. Ring. Ring. Pick up! Please just pick up! Finally, the line connected. Connor’s voice was lazy, dripping with deep annoyance. “What do you want now? God, Audrey, you are so incredibly annoying!” I didn’t have the energy to fight him. My voice trembled with sheer panic. “Some guys are following me. I am on…” He viciously cut me off before I could finish the sentence. “Enough! Audrey, can you stop playing the victim for five minutes? First you run away, and now you are claiming you are being stalked?” “Do you actually enjoy making up these pathetic lies? I am exhausted!” Tears streamed down my face. I screamed into the receiver in absolute desperation. “Connor! Don’t hang up! I am telling the truth! Please, you have to come save me…” The line went dead. He hung up. When I frantically dialed again, it went straight to a cold, automated voicemail. He had turned his phone off. A tidal wave of absolute despair crashed over me. My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the concrete pavement. The heavy footsteps drew closer and closer. My vision began to blur. And then, the world went completely silent. When I opened my eyes again, the harsh fluorescent lights of a hospital room blinded me. Connor noticed I was awake immediately. He threw himself at the edge of the bed, his face twisted in agonizing guilt. “Audrey, you are awake!” His voice was hoarse. He reached out to touch my cheek, but his hand hovered awkwardly in the air, too afraid to make contact. “Audrey, I am so sorry. I genuinely thought you were just trying to get my attention.” “I swear to God, I will never leave you alone again.” I stared at his tear stained face, and then up at the glowing number. It was sitting at a pathetic 5. He looked so incredibly fake. I didn’t say a word. I didn’t even blink. The door opened softly, and Stella walked in. She was carrying a paper cup of warm water. In her other hand, a tiny white pill rested on her palm. “Audrey, the past is the past.” “Take this morning after pill, and everything will… everything will be fine.” When I continued to stare at the ceiling in silence, Stella’s voice grew thick with forced emotion. “Audrey, please don’t worry. No matter what happened, Connor is going to marry you.” “Right, Connor?” Connor looked up at her. His eyes were a chaotic storm of conflicting emotions. It took him a long time to finally speak. “Audrey, let’s go to City Hall and get married today.” A cold, bitter laugh erupted from my chest. “Can you two please drop the act?” “If I had actually gotten pregnant tonight, wouldn’t that just be the perfect excuse for the two of you to finally get rid of me?” Connor and Stella locked eyes, completely stunned. Before tonight, I had genuinely planned to quietly step aside and let them be happy. But right now, the only thing I felt for them was pure, unadulterated hatred. All the color drained from Connor’s face. He scrambled for an excuse. “Audrey, no, it is not what you think. We just…” But the words died in his throat. He couldn’t formulate a single believable lie. I was entirely done listening to their garbage. I ripped the IV out of the back of my hand, pushed myself off the mattress, and headed for the door. Stella suddenly dropped to her knees right in front of me. She grabbed a heavy glass water pitcher from the nightstand and violently smashed it against her own forehead. The glass shattered. Blood poured down her face, soaking into her eyelashes. But she acted like she didn’t feel a thing. She reached out and grabbed the hem of my hospital gown. “Audrey, I am so sorry!” “This is all my fault. You can hit me, you can scream at me, but please don’t blame Connor.” “I will leave town right now. You will never have to look at me again.” Connor let out a strangled cry and pulled Stella into his arms, completely abandoning any pretense of hiding his panic and heartache. “Stella, are you okay? God, does it hurt?” “Why would you do something so stupid…” When he turned his head to look at me, the guilt was completely gone. His eyes were blazing with furious, self righteous anger. “Audrey, you are a heartless, ungrateful bitch!” “Stella must have been blind to ever befriend someone as toxic as you!” I slid down the wall, sitting on the cold linoleum floor. I watched the number above his head drop from 5 to zero. I laughed so hard tears streamed down my face. Someone like me? What kind of person was I? Was I the kind of person who deserved to be betrayed by the two people I loved most in the world?! In that single moment, every last ounce of love and friendship I held for them evaporated into thin air. I looked up at the man I had given everything for, without a single shred of hesitation left in my soul. “Connor, we are done.” Connor opened his mouth, ready to scream at me again, but the door swung open. My neurosurgeon walked in holding a clipboard. “Audrey, get prepared. We are taking you into the OR in thirty minutes.” “If you have any final arrangements to make, do it now. You might not make it off the operating table.” Connor’s pupils dilated in absolute shock. “What do you mean?”

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1 My wife was a severe germaphobe. To even hold her hand, I had to endure a full surgical scrub. I would stand at the sink, brushing my palms and the backs of my hands until the skin was raw and glowing red, all just to earn sixty seconds of physical contact. If I wanted a kiss, I had to brush my teeth ten times before my lips could even brush against hers. Sharing a bed was an entirely different ordeal. I had to soak myself in medical-grade disinfectant, completely sanitizing my body, before I was allowed to pull back the covers. We had been married for three years, and I respected every single one of her paranoid boundaries. That was, until her company hosted a corporate retreat at a beach house in the Hamptons. Standing a few yards away, I watched my wife’s young assistant rubbing tanning oil onto her skin. His bare, unwashed hands, still gritty with beach sand, slid smoothly over her exposed back, trailing all the way down to her ankles. That was the exact moment it hit me. Her obsessive cleanliness was only directed at me. I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed a secure number. “Pull the plug on all of April’s corporate projects. Shut them down immediately.” If she was so deeply disgusted by me, I could easily find a wife who wasn’t. After all, as the sole heir to Horizon Enterprises, the line of women waiting to marry me stretched from Manhattan to Paris. … April had brought her entire staff to the Hamptons to celebrate landing a ten-million-dollar PR contract. I had just walked two miles under the blazing sun to fetch her a fresh artisan smoothie. The moment I stepped onto the private beach, I saw her lying on her stomach on a luxury towel. Her assistant, Edward, was hovering over her, dutifully massaging the expensive lotion into her skin. April was wearing a striking bikini. Edward’s hands moved with practiced ease, sliding down the curve of her spine, intimate and entirely unapologetic. They looked like lovers without a care in the world. In three years of marriage, I hadn’t even been allowed to touch her shoulder without a hazmat-level cleansing routine. I had scrubbed my hands until they bled just to hold hers for a few fleeting minutes. Even intimacy required a written schedule a month in advance. Yet here she was, letting Edward’s sandy, filthy hands wander all over her half-naked body. My expression darkened as I closed the distance between us. “I wasn’t aware an assistant’s job description included greasing up his boss’s private parts.” April glanced up. A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes, but she didn’t bother to sit up. “Adam, don’t be dramatic. The sun is brutal today, and I couldn’t reach my own back. I just asked him for a quick favor.” Edward’s hand lingered on April’s pale waist. He looked up at me, a smug, mocking glint in his eyes. “Come on, man. You’re just a stay-at-home husband. Everything you enjoy right now is paid for by April. You knew we were coming to the beach, and you didn’t even prep her skincare routine. That’s pretty lazy on your part.” He gave her shoulder a final, affectionate squeeze. “I just didn’t want her perfect skin getting ruined. Someone had to step up.” With the last drop of lotion applied, April looked at me with the cold authority of a CEO addressing a janitor. “Edward worked hard. Give him that iced drink you bought so he can cool off.” Edward smirked and reached out to take the cup from my hand. My face went completely numb. Without a second thought, I raised my arm and dumped the freezing, crimson fruit smoothie directly over Edward’s head. “If you want a drink, buy it yourself. Or do you just have a fetish for taking things that belong to other men?” A sharp crack echoed across the sand. April had leaped up and slapped me across the face with everything she had. “Are you out of your damn mind, Adam?” Edward wiped the sticky red pulp from his eyes, playing the perfect victim as he gently grabbed April’s wrist. “April, it’s fine. I was just trying to help you out. I didn’t know your husband was so insecure.” He let out a pathetic sigh. “I guess men who stay locked in the house all day just lose their grip on reality. He doesn’t even realize who puts the food on his table.” I stared at the pathetic mess of a man, my voice dropping to a low, dangerous octave. “Since when does a glorified paper-pusher get a vote in my marriage?” Edward’s face flushed with ugly anger, looking like he had just swallowed a fly. April immediately stepped in front of him, shielding him like a wounded puppy while glaring at me with pure venom. “Apologize to him right now, Adam.” Hearing those words froze the last ounce of warmth I had for this woman. “And if I don’t?” Her expression turned entirely ruthless. “Then don’t blame me for forgetting we were ever married.” Without another word, she grabbed Edward’s arm and turned toward the massive beach house. “Let’s go inside, Edward. I’ll take you to the boutique down the road and buy you a new suit. I can’t have you catching a cold.” I stood alone on the beach, watching my wife walk away with another man. I took out my phone and made another call. “Halt every single operation tied to April’s agency. And find out exactly who signed that ten-million-dollar contract with her.” April claimed Edward was the genius who landed that massive account. I wanted to see exactly who at my company had the guts to sign off on a ten-million-dollar deal with an entry-level assistant without my direct approval. I sat by the ocean for a while, letting the cold saltwater breeze clear my head, before finally walking back to the villa. The moment I pushed open the heavy oak door, something shattered against the frame above me. A torrent of warm, rotting, fermented fruit juice rained down on my head. The sickeningly sweet smell of garbage filled my lungs. April’s icy voice drifted from the sunken living room. “You like pouring drinks on people, Adam? I figured I’d let you have a taste of your own medicine.” The room erupted in laughter. Dozens of her employees were lounging on the designer furniture, looking at me like I was the punchline to a pathetic joke. “A total freeloader living off our boss, and he actually has the nerve to lay a hand on Edward?” “Right? Everyone knows Edward is the absolute lifeline of this agency right now. Pissing him off is practically career suicide. Well, not that Adam has a career.” April sat crossed-legged on a white leather sofa, sipping champagne, her eyes devoid of any emotion. “This is the price of your stubbornness, Adam.” Edward strutted over to me, holding a plastic water bottle. The smug superiority radiating off him was nauseating. “Man, that spoiled juice smells absolutely vile. You’re stinking up the whole house. Let me help you wash that off.” He uncapped the bottle and squeezed the liquid directly over my hair. A sharp, pungent, deeply acidic stench hit my nose instantly. Hot liquid dripped down my forehead, stinging my eyes. A wave of pure, unfiltered rage exploded in my chest. It wasn’t water. It was piss. I lunged forward, grabbing Edward by the collar of his expensive polo shirt, nearly lifting him off the ground. My voice was a lethal whisper. “Do you have any idea what happens to people who cross me?” Edward barked a laugh, entirely unfazed. “You’re a useless househusband living off April’s credit cards. What are you gonna do? Burn my toast?” I didn’t waste breath on a reply. I drove my fist square into his jaw. The crunch of bone echoed through the room as Edward crumpled to the hardwood floor, spitting blood. April screamed and rushed forward, throwing herself between us. “Adam! He was trying to help you clean up, and you assault him again? How can you be this psychotic?” I wiped the vile liquid from my jaw, staring at her with a bitter smirk. “You’re really going to risk everything to protect him?” April met my gaze, her eyes blazing with absolute certainty. “He is my core team member. He’s the hero who brought in a ten-million-dollar deal. Of course I’m going to protect him!” The corners of my mouth twitched. “Is that so? What if I fire him right now? As Vice President of this agency.” When April first wanted to start her business, I didn’t just write the checks. I pulled strings across the entire East Coast, calling in heavy favors, and personally taught her how to run a boardroom. Once the agency gained a fraction of success, she manipulated me into stepping down, claiming she needed a stable presence at home. I hadn’t cared. I built the company to give her a sandbox to play in. I rarely went to the office anymore. But I still held forty percent of the voting shares. Firing a jumped-up assistant was a matter of a single email. The moment the words left my mouth, the room erupted into howling laughter. “Did this guy watch too many soap operas? He actually thinks he’s some ruthless CEO. He needs to check into a psych ward!” “A glorified maid threatening to fire our top earner. Is his brain melting?” Edward clutched his bruised jaw and looked up at April with teary, pathetic eyes. “April, if he hates me this much, I should just resign. I don’t want to ruin your marriage over a job.” April immediately grabbed his hand, her face twisting with protective fury. “No one dictates what happens in my company except me.” She turned to her HR director, who was standing by the bar. “Effective tomorrow morning, strip Adam of his VP title. Edward will be taking over the position.” My fingernails dug into my palms. I stared at the woman I had married, feeling like I was looking at a total stranger. “You’re publicly humiliating your husband and handing over my executive seat to an assistant?” April sneered. “Your name is just ink on a piece of paper. Edward actually brings value to this company. You bring nothing.” I let out a dry, hollow laugh. “I can’t wait to see exactly how much value this parasite brings you.” The idiot couldn’t even format a basic spreadsheet without holding someone’s hand. I turned on my heel, ready to walk out. The heavy front door slammed shut. The deadbolt clicked. April’s voice echoed behind me, cold and authoritative. “You’re not leaving this house until you get on your knees and apologize to Edward.” I slowly turned back to face her. “And if I refuse?” She crossed her arms. “Then we do this the hard way.” At her signal, three of the male employees lunged at me. They pinned my arms behind my back, using their sheer weight to force me down. One of them drove a heavy boot into the back of my knee. Bone cracked against the floor as I was forced to kneel. I ground my teeth together, the taste of copper flooding my mouth. “Are you absolutely sure you want to cross this line for him, April? Have you thought about what happens tomorrow?” She hesitated for a fraction of a second. Before she could speak, Edward stepped up, leaning heavily against her arm. “April, I just got promoted. If he disrespects me like this in front of the whole team and gets away with it, how am I supposed to lead them tomorrow?” That was all it took to harden her resolve. She looked down at me like I was trash on the sidewalk. “Apologize right now, Adam. And sign over your forty percent equity to Edward. If you do that, I’ll pretend today never happened.” The sheer audacity of her demand actually made me laugh. “Is your brain filled with concrete? You want me to gift millions of dollars in shares to a glorified secretary?” Seeing my absolute refusal, April’s face tightened. Edward smiled, wiping the blood from his chin. “Since Adam isn’t in a talking mood, why don’t we play a little game?” He snapped his fingers. The men dragged me across the living room and threw open the sliding glass doors leading to the massive backyard pool. The moment I saw the water, my blood ran cold. The pool was boiling. Dozens of illegally imported red-bellied piranhas were swarming wildly beneath the surface, snapping their razor-sharp teeth. I tensed, fighting against the men holding me. “What the hell is wrong with you people?” Edward crouched in front of me, a sickening grin on his face. “Just a little team-building exercise, man. Let’s see who swims faster, you or the fish.” April, completely ignoring her supposed germaphobia, linked her arm through Edward’s. “It’s not too late to apologize, Adam.” Murderous intent flooded my veins. My hands curled into fists so tight my knuckles turned white. “It’s not too late for you either, April. If I go into that water, I guarantee your precious agency won’t exist by sunrise.” Edward threw his head back and laughed. “Still pretending to be a billionaire? Drop him.” April didn’t even blink. “Throw him in. Pull him out when he learns some respect.” A heavy kick to my spine sent me plunging into the chlorinated water. The moment I broke the surface, the water churned. The fish swarmed like a plague of locusts. Sharp, tearing agony ripped through my calf. Then my thigh. The crystal blue water turned a horrific, cloudy crimson in seconds. I kicked violently, swimming toward the concrete edge with everything I had. My fingers clawed onto the slick tiles. Before I could pull myself up, Edward loomed over me, holding a high-voltage stun gun. “Where do you think you’re going?” He jammed the electrodes into the wet concrete right next to my hand. Blue electricity arched across the water. A massive shockwave tore through my nervous system, locking my muscles in blinding agony. I choked on the bloody water, nearly blacking out. Edward admired the blooming red cloud in the pool, thoroughly entertained. “Beg for mercy, or become fish food. Your choice.” He turned to the crowd of employees watching from the patio. “Let’s make this interesting. Taking bets on how long the deadbeat lasts!” The finance director eagerly raised his hand. “A thousand bucks says he gives up in ten minutes!” “Five hundred on five minutes!” Amid the sick cheering, a cold voice cut through the noise. “I’ll put down a hundred grand. He won’t last ten.” April pulled a sleek checkbook from her designer bag, scribbled on it, and handed it to Edward. “Consider this a little bonus for your promotion.” The crowd gasped in awe, eating up the display of wealth. “The boss really knows how to treat her executives!” “Adam’s getting kicked to the curb soon anyway. Edward is the future of this place.” As they cheered, my strength was rapidly fading. The blood loss and the electrical shocks were taking their toll. The swarm of teeth closed in again. Just as my vision started to darken, a frantic shout echoed from the front of the house. “Boss! We have a massive problem! The executives from Horizon Enterprises are here!” April frowned. The marketing manager came sprinting onto the patio, panting heavily. “The VP of Horizon just called! They are ten minutes away from this exact villa!” April froze. Edward puffed out his chest, looking incredibly pleased with himself. “See? I told you. They know we’re here for a retreat, and they want to celebrate with us. They’re probably bringing paperwork to double the account size!” The employees immediately showered him in praise. “Edward is a god! Horizon Enterprises never does house calls!” April glanced back at the pool. Seeing the horrific amount of blood in the water, a fleeting shadow of panic crossed her face. Edward noticed and played the perfect gentleman. “We can’t let the VIPs see this mess. It’s bad for corporate image. Pull him out.” The men grabbed my arms and hauled me out of the blood-soaked water, throwing me onto the cold concrete. I lay there gasping, my clothes shredded, blood pooling beneath me. Edward walked over, holding a shot glass filled with a murky amber liquid. “Here’s the deal, Adam. You drink this, and we call it even. You can walk out the back gate.” I stared up at him, my eyes dead and hollow. “We are far beyond calling it even, Edward.” April’s face hardened with impatience. “Adam, don’t push your luck. He’s offering you an out. Take it before I let them throw you back in.” I looked at my bleeding legs. I needed out of this house to make the phone call that would ruin their lives. I didn’t have the energy to fight twenty people. “If I drink that, you unlock the gate?” Edward smiled. “You have my word.” I snatched the glass from his hand and threw it back. The liquid tasted metallic and burned like battery acid going down my throat. Within seconds, my blood felt like it was boiling. My vision warped. A heavy, paralyzing numbness crept up my limbs, as if thousands of microscopic insects were chewing through my nerves. “What… what did you give me?” My tongue felt heavy. My knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the concrete, entirely unable to control my own body. The patio erupted in sadistic laughter. “Edward, you absolute legend. A custom muscle relaxant laced with compliance juice. He’s totally locked in his own head, but he’ll do whatever we tell him!” I gritted my teeth, fighting the terrifying paralysis. “You’re… dead men…” Edward chuckled, stepping forward and kicking me hard in the ribs. “Maybe. But right now, you’re the dead man.” “Bark for me, Adam. Bark like a good little dog.” The chemical fog was eating my brain. My body betrayed me, slumping forward onto all fours despite my screaming mind. I bit the inside of my cheek until it bled, using the sharp pain to tether myself to reality. Blood dripped from my mouth onto the stone. I couldn’t move a single muscle on my own. I looked up at April, desperately hoping to find a shred of humanity left in the woman I had loved. She just looked at her diamond-studded watch. “Keep it clean, guys. Horizon is almost here. I don’t want them seeing any blood. Though… he is my husband, so don’t completely break him.” Her permission was all they needed. The crowd descended on me like vultures. “Strip your shirt off! Let’s see how pathetic the boss’s husband really looks!” “Crawl over here and lick my shoes, you absolute loser! Let’s see what a billionaire househusband tastes like!” Just as a hand grabbed my torn collar, an explosive crash rattled the entire patio. The heavy iron gates of the backyard were violently kicked open. Dozens of men in sharp black suits swarmed into the yard, completely surrounding the pool. April turned her head, and the moment she saw the man leading the pack, her pupils dilated in absolute terror.

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1 On the day of our tenth wedding anniversary, the young woman my husband had been sponsoring through college knelt before me. Tears streamed down her face as she clutched a newborn baby to her chest, begging me to adopt him. In my past life, I looked at the poor child, remembered my husband’s lack of an heir, and agreed to take the boy in. I poured my heart and soul into that child. I raised him as my own flesh and blood, grooming him until he was ready to take over the CEO position of my family’s empire. The very day after he assumed control of the company, he locked me in a windowless basement. I watched helplessly as they drained my stock portfolios, liquidated my trust funds, and moved into my cliffside estates. I watched Isabella flaunt her love with my husband, Sebastian, right in front of my face. I watched them attend elite galas wearing the jewels my grandfather left me. And me? I was chained to a concrete pillar. I was fed rotting scraps that a stray dog would refuse. I became their personal entertainment, a punching bag for their twisted amusement. In the end, driven to absolute despair, I threw myself headfirst against the concrete pillar. Blood poured over my eyes, yet Isabella merely stood there, smiling down at me with pure disgust. … “Genevieve, what was the point of being so brilliant?” she sneered. “You spent your whole life building a kingdom, just to hand me the keys.” “Be a little smarter in your next life. Stop being such a pathetic stepping stone. Honestly, watching you be this stupid almost makes me feel bad.” My husband, the man I had loved for a decade, stood beside her like a god looking down at an insect. His eyes were devoid of any warmth. “Genevieve, if you didn’t have a massive fortune, do you really think I would have let my son call you mother for twenty years? Do you think I would have let Isabella suffer being separated from her baby? You owed us. And debts are paid with blood.” I blinked. The cold, damp basement was gone. Sebastian was sitting at the edge of our king-sized bed, gently massaging my calves with a loving smile. “Genevieve, we’ve been married for ten years now. If we don’t have a child soon, all the wealth we’ve built will have nowhere to go. Why don’t we adopt?” I swallowed the phantom pain of my skull cracking against concrete. Slowly, a faint, icy smile touched my lips. “Alright. Pinnacle Holdings does need an heir.” In this life, I would no longer travel the world seeking elite fertility specialists. I would no longer secretly brew herbal remedies to cure his defects. I wanted to see exactly how this man, who was clinically and permanently sterile, managed to produce a biological son. Sebastian froze. He clearly hadn’t expected me to agree so easily. “You mean it? You are actually willing to raise someone else’s child?” I looked at him, my eyes sharp with mockery. “I said the company needs an heir. That doesn’t mean I’m going to take in some random bastard off the street. I am not handing my family’s legacy over to someone with inferior genetics.” Sebastian’s face darkened. He shot up from the bed, glaring at me. But after a long moment, he softened his tone and started his rehearsed pitch. “Genevieve, I’m thinking about our future. When we get old, we need someone to rely on. We need someone to care for us. Do you really want outsiders tearing apart the empire we built?” “Just think about it. A kid would bring so much life into this house. You can’t just focus on making money all the time…” I fought the urge to rip his eyes out. I stared at him, letting out a dry, bitter laugh. “Is that so? At least if outsiders tear my company apart, I’ll know who killed me. If I adopt a little wolf pup, I might just end up dead in a basement without a clue how it happened.” He still thought he could play me exactly like he did in my past life. He wanted me to slave away for his empire. He was out of his mind. In this life, his little bastard would never see the light of day. These pieces of trash belonged in hell. Sebastian stood entirely still, looking at me in shock. “Genevieve, what are you talking about? If we raise a child as our own, why would he ever turn on us?” “Because genetics matter,” I said coldly. “If the biological parents are ruthless, shameless parasites, what kind of genes do you think the kid inherits? Pinnacle Holdings is my life’s work. It holds all the assets of the Sinclair estate. I am not handing it over to a stranger.” I suppressed the boiling rage in my chest and stared him down. Impatience and panic flickered across his face. “You can’t be this selfish! You know how much my mother and Uncle Richard have been pressuring me!” “And the board of directors! Every single one of those old vultures is staring at the CEO chair! Do you have any idea how much pressure I’m under because we don’t have an heir?!” “If you can’t handle the pressure of the boardroom, resign from the CEO position.” Sebastian’s face turned red with anger. “I put up with you because I love you! Can’t you think about me for once?!” I had no desire to waste another breath on this animal. I stood up, walked into the master bathroom, and slammed the door shut. I slid down the cold marble door, clutching my chest, gasping for air. I was back. I was really back. There was no rotting food. There were no heavy iron chains. My arms were smooth and flawless, free from the festering wounds and infected scars. My hair wasn’t gray. I wasn’t a walking corpse. After a long time, I steadied my breathing and pulled myself up. I took out my phone and dialed a private number. “Detective Cross. I need you to lock onto a target. I want every single detail of her life on my desk.” “Understood, Ms. Sinclair. We will have eyes on her 24/7. Not a single detail will slip through.” The next morning, Sebastian kissed my cheek as gently as he always did, acting as if the argument never happened. He smiled, blowing on my hot coffee to cool it down, chatting casually about the upcoming merger of our family assets. It was as if yesterday was just a minor hiccup, one he had graciously forgiven because he respected my boundaries. I didn’t bother arguing with him about the child. I had an empire to secure, client accounts to reclaim, and his absolute destruction to plan. He was going to be thrown out of Pinnacle Holdings. Seeing me working late every night, Sebastian would wrap his arms around my shoulders, playing the doting husband. “Take it easy, sweetheart. I can handle the heavy lifting at the office. Just focus on your health. Don’t push yourself.” I would just smile coldly, secretly saving the photos and videos Detective Cross sent me into an encrypted cloud drive. They were quite the tragic lovers. Sneaking off to different cities just to sleep together. Meeting up in cheap motels twice a month. Sebastian having to invent elaborate lies about business trips just to see her. In the videos, they were inseparable. Isabella clung to him like a leech. It was hilarious to think I used to drown in his sweet words, truly believing I had married the perfect man. Soon, it was the night of our tenth anniversary. Half of the elite families in Newport were gathered at our cliffside estate. Champagne flowed. Designer gowns swept across the marble floors. I wore a custom haute couture gown, linking my arm through Sebastian’s as we mingled. The compliments rolled in endlessly. “You two are the ultimate power couple. A match made in heaven.” “With your families united, nobody on the East Coast can touch you. Make sure you leave some of the market for the rest of us, Genevieve!” I smiled gracefully, watching Sebastian force a polite laugh while his eyes kept darting toward the grand double doors of the ballroom. One second. Two seconds. Three. The moment his phone buzzed in his pocket, the heavy mahogany doors burst open. A frail, slender figure rushed into the grand hall, clutching a bundle of blankets. Isabella dropped to her knees right in front of me. “Genevieve, I didn’t know where else to go!” “The baby’s father abandoned me. I’m just a broke college student. I have no family. I can’t keep this little boy alive!” She gently stroked the baby’s cheek, looking up at me with red, swollen eyes. “You and Sebastian have been paying my tuition for years. You are my saviors. I have nothing to give you in return. But if you are willing to adopt this child, I will spend the rest of my life praying for your happiness.” She leaned forward and actually pressed her forehead to the marble floor, sobbing loudly. In my past life, seeing her look so pathetic, combined with Sebastian’s aggressive persuasion, I melted. I agreed to take the child right then and there. Now, the entire ballroom went dead silent. The socialites began whispering. Everyone knew I was barren. A free child seemed like a perfect solution. I took three steps back, widening my eyes in pure, dramatic horror. Then, I stepped forward and slapped Isabella across the face with everything I had. “Isabella! Are you out of your mind?! You got pregnant in your junior year?!” “I treated you like a little sister! I paid for your education so you could make something of yourself! And you come here with a bastard child?! You disgust me!” I forced tears into my eyes, my voice trembling with perfectly acted heartbreak. I pointed a shaking finger at her. “You swore to me you were studying! You swore you wanted to make me proud! Is this how you study? On your back in some frat house?!” Isabella’s face drained of all color. She froze, entirely caught off guard. For the five years I funded her education, I had never raised my voice at her. I protected her pride, comforted her, and encouraged her. My kindness and soft heart had nurtured a venomous snake. And since she was a snake, I was going to crush her head. I turned to Sebastian, looking utterly devastated and furious. “Look at this! We spent a fortune trying to give her a future, and she throws it away to birth an illegitimate child! How could we ever adopt a baby with genetics like this?!” The wealthy guests around us immediately turned their noses up in disgust. “Absolutely shameless. She barely has pennies to her name, and she’s out getting knocked up. Now she wants Genevieve to foot the bill for her mistakes? Disgusting.” “Crashing their tenth anniversary to dump a baby on them? Is she trying to ruin the party on purpose? What a piece of trash.” “She knows Genevieve has a soft heart, so she’s trying to extort her.” Isabella’s face burned scarlet. She looked up at Sebastian, tears pooling in her eyes. Sebastian’s face twitched. He pulled his hand back, trying desperately to run damage control. “Genevieve, the baby is innocent. What’s done is done. Isabella is young, she made a stupid mistake.” He gently pushed my shoulders, guiding me closer to the infant. His voice trembled with fake emotion. “Just look at him. He’s so alert. Look at those big eyes.” “We’ve been wanting a child for so long. The moment we start talking about adoption, Isabella brings us a baby. It’s fate, Genevieve. Let’s take him. Consider it an act of charity.” I looked down at the infant wrapped in the expensive blanket. A wave of pure nausea washed over me. In my past life, this boy grabbed me by the hair and shoved my face into a bowl of rotting dog food. To please his biological mother, he whipped me until my back was shredded. He didn’t care that I loved him. He didn’t care that I raised him for twenty years. I let out a sharp laugh and slapped Sebastian’s hands off my waist. “Alert? Every baby looks around. The ones that don’t are dead.” “I am not adopting him, Sebastian. I will not raise the spawn of a cheap, easy woman.” With those two sentences, Isabella turned to stone. The tears literally stopped falling from her eyes. Sebastian’s gentle, patient smile completely shattered. He never expected this. I had always been soft. I always gave him what he wanted. They had rehearsed this play flawlessly, yet I was burning the script. After a brief moment of shock, Isabella let out a wail, shifting her performance into overdrive. “Genevieve! I wasn’t sleeping around! I was forced! I was assaulted! I was too terrified to tell you!” She hugged the baby tighter, sobbing violently. “I wanted to get rid of it! But the doctors told me my uterine lining was too thin. If I had an abortion, I would bleed to death! I had no choice!” She cried beautifully, playing the fragile victim to absolute perfection. Her tears were cheaper than tap water. In my past life, this was the exact lie that broke my heart. Right on cue, my mother-in-law, Eleanor, broke through the crowd. She snatched the baby from Isabella, cooing and rocking him. “Oh, my poor sweet boy! Look at him!” She turned to me, her face twisting into an ugly scowl. “Genevieve, why are you being so vicious?! Your own stomach is useless! Who else can you blame? Isabella is offering you a son on a silver platter, and you’re acting like a tyrant!” “What’s wrong with adopting him? It’s good karma! Maybe if you do a good deed, God will finally bless you with your own child! Don’t ruin your own blessings!” Sebastian’s uncle, Richard, stepped out of the crowd, his face stern. “A person needs a charitable heart, Genevieve. Your family line is dying out. You need to look in the mirror.” “How much money does a baby really cost? Just take him in. Why push the girl to the edge? She’s always been a polite girl. Maybe she really was forced.” The crowd’s attention shifted back to Isabella, who was shivering in a cheap cotton dress, looking utterly defeated. Taking Eleanor’s lead, Sebastian’s relatives swarmed me, launching their rehearsed guilt trip. “Exactly. The poor girl is desperate. Save a life, Genevieve.” “I’m just being honest with you, Genevieve. If you’re too cruel, you won’t hold onto your wealth. A baby brings joy to a quiet house.” The entire family ganged up on me, weaponizing morality to force my hand. No one asked what I actually wanted. Sebastian stood silently in the crowd, watching me buckle under the immense pressure. He was so confident I would break. He was absolutely certain I would cave and accept the child. Eleanor patted the baby’s back, glaring at me, waiting for my surrender. When I didn’t speak, she raised her voice for the whole room to hear. “I am making the decision! Sebastian will adopt this boy! I don’t care who objects!” She looked at me sideways, challenging me to fight back. The guests immediately began congratulating Eleanor, praising the baby’s cute face. Sebastian rushed over to help Isabella off the floor. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second, flashing with absolute victory. I calmly picked up a glass of sparkling water, listening to the exact same dialogue I had heard a lifetime ago. I took a slow sip, burying the murderous rage burning in my chest. In this life, if they wanted to hand me their bastard son, they were going to pay in blood. I stepped forward slowly. I reached out, gently running a finger over the baby’s soft cheek, and gave them the brightest, warmest smile I could muster. “You’re right, Eleanor. Uncle Richard is right. If everyone believes this is an act of charity…” “Then I will adopt him.” The ballroom went dead quiet. Isabella’s head snapped up. The wild, greedy joy in her eyes was impossible to hide. Sebastian’s tense shoulders dropped. He clenched his fists, trying to mask his overwhelming excitement. Eleanor beamed with triumph, acting like a conquering general. “You finally used your brain, Genevieve! Since you can’t have one, raising someone else’s is the exact same thing!” I nodded slowly, my voice perfectly calm. “But since the Sinclair and Vanguard families are adopting an heir, we cannot do this in secret.” “I want to choose an auspicious date. We will host a massive naming ceremony. We will invite the press, the politicians, and every business partner on the East Coast. On that day, I will officially name him the sole heir to Pinnacle Holdings.” The room erupted in applause. The guests praised my generosity. The atmosphere was electric. Eleanor excitedly yelled for the estate manager, ordering him to prep the nursery, demanding the best nannies money could buy. The estate dissolved into a joyful frenzy. No one noticed the pitch-black, sinister smile curling on my lips. I set the date for June 8th. The exact date I had signed my company over to Oliver in my previous life. On this day, I would let the world witness their “crowning achievement.” The city was in an uproar. Sebastian had rented twenty-eight helicopters to drop rose petals over the estate. Banners of congratulations covered the luxury hotel we rented. Every rival, every partner, every relative, and every friend was in attendance. Everyone praised Eleanor’s kind heart for taking in the orphan. They praised my good fortune for finally securing an heir. The grand ballroom was deafening with flattery. Eleanor wore a dark red silk gown, carrying her precious grandson through the crowd, showing him off to the billionaires. “Look at him! My eldest grandson. Isn’t he handsome? He looks exactly like Sebastian did as a baby!” The guests eagerly fed her ego. “Absolutely! He has a strong brow and perfect ears. So much like his father. He’s going to lead the Vanguard Group to glory!” “You are so blessed, Eleanor! This boy is going to make your family untouchable!” Sebastian boldly walked Isabella through the crowd, introducing her to the elite, basking in their praise. They thought they had completely broken me. They didn’t even try to hide their affection anymore. Isabella had been professionally styled. Her makeup was flawless. She wore an elegant evening gown, and around her neck sat a hundred-thousand-dollar Cartier diamond necklace. She looked like a young billionaire’s wife. The pathetic, shivering victim from a few days ago was completely gone. The guests praised her luck, telling her she was blessed to have met such saviors. She just lowered her eyes, looking shyly at Sebastian. “Sebastian is a saint. I only kept the child to repay his kindness. Now, his family legacy is secure.” The crowd fawned over her gratitude, conveniently ignoring the fact that she had gotten knocked up by a random man in college. I sat quietly at the head table, sipping my wine, watching the Titanic head straight for the iceberg. Soon, the master of ceremonies took the microphone, his voice echoing through the speakers. “Ladies and gentlemen! Please welcome the matriarch, Ms. Genevieve Sinclair, to the stage to officially welcome the new heir to the dynasty!” Thunderous applause shook the room. I smoothed my elegant dress, walked calmly up the steps, and took the microphone. “Since my husband and I have agreed to take in Isabella’s child, we will treat him as our own flesh and blood. And naturally, the legal paperwork must be flawless.” I raised a thick leather binder containing the adoption papers and the corporate equity transfers. “Upon the finalization of this adoption, I am transferring thirty percent of my voting shares in Pinnacle Holdings directly to this child. He will be the undisputed heir to my empire.” The applause was deafening. Isabella’s eyes were practically glowing with greed. Sebastian’s face flushed deep red with excitement, his hands trembling at his sides. I let out a soft chuckle. I paused, letting the silence build, before shifting my tone. “However, an heir to a multi-billion dollar empire cannot have any legal liabilities. To prevent any future extortion or custody battles, I would like Isabella to come to the stage and sign a total termination of parental rights.” Isabella hesitated for a fraction of a second. But as her eyes locked onto the equity transfer documents, she lifted her chin and walked elegantly onto the stage. There was no trace of fear in her. She knew she had won. A piece of paper meant nothing. Once her son controlled my wealth, he would easily welcome his biological mother back into the fold. She stood in the center of the stage, bowing slightly to the crowd, looking incredibly dignified. “I want to thank Sebastian for his years of support. And Genevieve is so generous. I know she will treat my boy as her own and raise him to be a brilliant leader.” With a swift, practiced motion, she signed her name on the dotted line. I smiled. She just couldn’t resist manipulating the crowd one last time. After her touching speech concluded, I stepped up to the microphone again. My voice was eerily calm. “Since we are legally separating the child from his original family, the biological father must also sign away his rights.” “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the biological father to the stage.” The words hit the room like a bomb. The entire ballroom gasped, turning their heads toward the massive double doors. “Wait, didn’t she say she was assaulted? Why would the rapist be here?!” Isabella’s body turned to stone. The elegant smile on her face shattered into a million pieces. A thin, exhausted-looking young man in a cheap suit was walking slowly down the center aisle. Isabella let out a blood-curdling scream of pure terror. “Noah?! Who the hell let you in here?! Get out!” I stepped closer to her, leaning in until my lips brushed her ear, my voice dripping with venom. “I brought him here, Isabella. He’s the father, isn’t he? We need his signature.”

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1 On my wedding day, just as we were about to exchange rings, my older brother burst through the church doors. He was carrying my pale, shivering adopted sister in his arms. He shouted that she was having a severe PTSD panic attack and demanded that my fiancé, Dr. Larry Stanton—a renowned clinical psychologist—perform an immediate psychiatric intervention. Just as I opened my mouth to stop him, a string of glowing, semi-transparent text floated across my vision. [The adopted sister’s PTSD was cured ages ago. She made a bet with her friends that she could ruin this wedding. The prize is a limited-edition Chanel bag.] [Larry isn’t doing ‘psychiatric interventions.’ Every time he ‘treats’ her, they’re just hooking up in his office.] [Warning! If Harper tries to stop them, Chloe will pretend to be triggered, run out of the church, and stage a fake car accident. The entire family will blame Harper, gang up on her, and have her locked in a psychiatric ward where she gets abused to death!] Everyone swarmed around the adopted sister. Not a single person looked at the bride standing at the altar. I silently swallowed the words of protest I was about to say. The icy chill in my eyes grew darker. If they wanted to chase a thrill on my wedding day, I would make sure they got the thrill of a lifetime. … Larry immediately dropped my wedding band and carefully took Chloe into his arms. I only frowned slightly, but my brother, Mason, shoved me hard in the shoulder. I crashed backward into a massive champagne tower. Glass shattered everywhere, and freezing alcohol soaked my wedding gown, making me look utterly pathetic. “Are you done throwing a tantrum, Harper?!” Mason yelled. “If you hadn’t come back and tried to steal everything from Chloe, her condition wouldn’t have relapsed!” “As far as I’m concerned, Chloe is my only sister! If anything happens to her, I will never forgive you!” My mother clicked her heels across the marble floor, rushing forward to look at Chloe with overwhelming concern. When she turned back to me, her face was twisted in anger. “Chloe’s trauma is highly unstable! The doctors explicitly said she cannot be triggered! You just have to push her over the edge, don’t you? Are you trying to kill her?!” My father looked at me with deep disgust. “You ungrateful brat. Do you not understand the value of human life?” “A wedding is just a formality! Were you really going to stand there and watch Chloe suffer? You have no heart!” I stood barefoot in a pile of broken glass, my blood running cold. I hadn’t said a single word, yet my entire family had already lined up to accuse me of being an unreasonable monster. The last shred of familial affection I had for these people evaporated completely. [The real daughter has it so bad. Not a single person in her biological family actually loves her.] [Here’s some heavy tea: Mason knew Chloe wasn’t his biological sister for years. He’s been secretly in love with her. No wonder he’s so insanely biased.] [The real daughter was kidnapped by human traffickers eighteen years ago because she was trying to save Mason’s life. She suffered for eighteen years, and this is how they treat her. It’s sickening.] [Honestly, her mother is blind. Chloe isn’t some poor orphan they adopted. She’s the bastard child of her husband and his childhood sweetheart.] My heart skipped a beat. The overwhelming sense of betrayal and injustice was instantly crushed by cold realization. If these floating comments were telling the truth, then this was going to be an incredible show. Chloe buried her face in Larry’s chest. A flash of triumph crossed her eyes before she wiped away her non-existent tears. “Harper… I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have come.” “I know you hate me for taking your place. But I can’t control my illness. Maybe I should just pack my bags and leave the family.” Larry immediately tightened his grip on her, his voice dripping with heartbreak. “Don’t be ridiculous, Chloe. You’re just sick. You can’t control your emotions. No one is blaming you.” He turned to me, his eyes filled with absolute coldness and revulsion. “Harper, you know exactly why Chloe is like this.” When I was five years old, Mason took me to the park. We were targeted by human traffickers. I bit a trafficker’s leg with everything I had, giving Mason the chance to run away. But I was dragged into a van and sold into a deeply impoverished mountain village. For eighteen years, I endured inhuman torture. I was forced to farm fields, feed pigs, starve, freeze, and survive on the scraps of others. Three years ago, the police finally found me and brought me back to my wealthy family. The very night I arrived, Chloe slit her wrists and was rushed to the hospital. She cried to my parents, saying she had stolen my life, that she was too ashamed to face me, and that it would be better if she just died. From that day on, the narrative was set. I was the vicious, petty, jealous biological daughter who couldn’t tolerate the innocent adopted girl. They never asked me what I suffered during those eighteen years. They only cared if Chloe felt slighted. Even today, on my wedding day, the most important day of my life, the moment Chloe clutched her chest and whimpered, they threw me out like trash. “Harper, I know you’ve been looking forward to this wedding,” Larry said, using his clinical, authoritative tone. “But Chloe’s condition is critical. Her psychological state is extremely volatile. I am the only one who can stabilize her. A wedding can be postponed. A life cannot.” “Be mature. Let me treat her.” I looked at the hundreds of wealthy guests filling the pews, suppressing the churning emotions in my chest. “There are thousands of psychologists in this city. Your own mentor is taking patients down the street.” “Why does it have to be you?” “If you’re the only man who can save her, then she can have the groom.” The entire cathedral fell dead silent. My mother was the first to react. “Harper! What the hell is wrong with you?!” “Larry is Chloe’s dedicated therapist! He’s been treating her for three years! He knows her triggers better than anyone!” “No one else can calm her down! His treatment is the most effective!” She grabbed my arm, her nails digging painfully into my skin. “With all these guests watching, are you trying to ruin Chloe’s reputation?! What is wrong with you?!” Before I could even respond, Mason exploded. He had been secretly obsessed with Chloe for years. He couldn’t stand the idea of her being romantically linked to another man, especially Larry. To him, my words were an insult to his pure, innocent goddess. Mason’s eyes burned with jealousy and rage. “Chloe is pure and innocent! She never asks for anything! Why do you constantly attack her?!” “You’re so rotten inside. You deserved to be kidnapped for eighteen years! It’s karma for being such a vicious person!” Deserved it. In my brother’s eyes, the fact that I sacrificed myself to save him, enduring eighteen years of hell, wasn’t something to be guilty about. It was my own fault. [Mason is a certified psychopath. Erasing a life-saving debt just to simp for a fake sister. Disgusting!] [Run, Harper! This whole family is toxic trash!] My chest tightened. I didn’t want to breathe the same air as these people for one more second. Chloe covered her face, her shoulders shaking violently as she sobbed. “Harper… please, stop saying these awful things.” “Ever since you came back, I’ve been trying to give you your life back.” “The family wealth, Mom and Dad’s love… I wanted you to have it all! I never wanted to fight you for anything!” She looked up, fragile and utterly shattered. “The only reason I stayed… the only reason I forced myself to keep living… was because I didn’t want Mom and Dad to be heartbroken.” “Larry and I are completely professional! We have never done anything inappropriate!” “Harper, what did I ever do to you? Why are you trying to destroy my life?” In just a few sentences, Chloe painted herself as a selfless, dutiful, suffering angel. And I became the relentless, jealous villain. My father, who had spoiled Chloe since she was a toddler, stepped forward and kicked over the life-sized wedding portrait of Larry and me. “Harper! If I knew you were going to come back and torture Chloe every single day, I would never have spent a dime trying to find you! I should have let you rot in those mountains!” The guests gasped in shock. They began whispering, looking at me with strange, mocking expressions. Larry tightened his hold on Chloe. He glared at me, his voice freezing cold. “Harper. Apologize to Chloe right now.” “Apologize for your disgusting accusations, and do it in front of everyone.” My heart had turned to stone. “I spoke the truth. Why should I apologize?” Larry’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “If you don’t apologize, I will have to reconsider this marriage.” “The Stanton family will not accept a bride who is malicious and actively tries to destroy innocent women.” Mason leaned in close, whispering directly into my ear. “Harper, don’t push your luck.” “Think very carefully about the old woman with dementia living in the nursing home.” “If you don’t bow your head and apologize right now, I will call the facility and have them throw her onto the street.” I froze. During my eighteen years in hell, an elderly, half-blind woman in that mountain village had taken me in. She starved herself to feed me. She protected me from the worst of the abuse. She was my only light in the dark. When I was rescued, I brought her with me. She was now suffering from severe dementia, and my family paid for her high-end care facility. I could endure their bias. I could endure their betrayal. But I would never let them hurt my grandmother. I dug my fingernails into my palms until they bled. The last shred of my pride was ground into the dirt. “I’m sorry. I misunderstood the situation.” Those words drained every ounce of strength I had left. Seeing me surrender, a flash of pure victory crossed Chloe’s eyes. She immediately put on her mask of absolute forgiveness, reaching out to touch my arm. “It’s okay, Harper… I don’t blame you…” Before she even made contact, she let out a sharp cry and collapsed onto the marble floor. Her eyes went wide, tears spilling perfectly down her cheeks. “Harper… I really want us to be a family. Why do you hate me so much?” Larry violently shoved me backward. I lost my balance and fell hard. My palms slammed into the shattered glass of the champagne glasses. Blood instantly pooled on the white marble, staining the hem of my wedding dress crimson. But no one looked at me. My mother, my father, and my brother all rushed toward Chloe, frantic with worry. “Chloe, are you okay?! Did you hit your head?!” “Don’t cry, sweetheart! Harper is just an ungrateful brat!” “Breathe, Chloe, please breathe!” My mother was so furious she spun around, raised her hand, and swung at my face. I caught her wrist with my bleeding hand. I looked up at her, a dark, mocking smile curling on my lips. “I didn’t touch her. Why don’t you ever believe me?” “But you know what? You don’t have to put on a show anymore. The wedding is off.” “And I am done with this family.” “Is this apology sincere enough for you?” I was exhausted. My heart was completely dead. I would take my grandmother back to a quiet town and protect the only person who ever truly loved me. My parents’ faces changed drastically. They stared at me in shock. They were so used to me begging for scraps of affection, so used to me swallowing my pride, they never expected me to sever the tie. Larry looked down at my blood-soaked hands, a flicker of hesitation and panic crossing his eyes. Sensing the shift in the room, Chloe suddenly ripped herself away from the family. She clutched her chest, sobbing hysterically, and sprinted toward the spiral staircase leading to the cathedral’s bell tower. “I’m the problem! I’ve always been the problem!” “If Harper wants me gone so badly, then I’ll just die!” The guests were thrown into total chaos. A massive crowd chased her up the stairs. “Harper is a monster! A girl is about to jump, and she’s crying about a wedding?!” “Exactly! Just let the doctor treat her!” “Poor Chloe. Her identity is already so fragile, and now she’s being driven to suicide.” The glowing text in my vision went absolutely wild. [Classic manipulation tactic. Chloe has pulled this stunt eight hundred times in the last three years, and they fall for it every time!] [Chloe literally bet her sorority sisters that she could steal Harper’s groom at the altar. The prize is a limited-edition Chanel bag you can’t even get on the waitlist for.] [She’s faking a suicide attempt for a handbag. That’s next-level psycho!] I stood at the bottom of the stairs, staring coldly at the woman acting out her dramatic scene on the balcony. I felt nothing. Larry was pale with terror. He shouted up at Chloe standing near the ledge. His voice was filled with a frantic, desperate love I had never received. “Chloe! Don’t do this! Come down, and I will start your intervention right now!” “Just step away from the edge! I’ll do whatever you want!” Mason spun around and slapped me across the face so hard my ears rang. “Are you happy now?! If she dies, I swear to God I will kill you!” My mother grabbed my arm, sobbing hysterically. “Harper, please! Just let Larry treat her! I’m begging you!” “If Chloe dies, I’ll die too!” The absolute terror in her eyes was entirely for Chloe. I stared at her, feeling ice in my veins. I couldn’t help but wonder how she would react when she found out the truth. My father was pacing in a panic. “Larry, go! Go calm her down!” “You’re a professional! It will only take you a few minutes to stabilize her!” The floating text flooded my vision again. [A few minutes? Keep dreaming. With Larry’s stamina, this is going to take at least two hours.] [Psychiatric treatment, my ass. They’re literally using this as an excuse to go hook up in a hotel room.] [This family’s double standards are making my blood boil.] Larry finally managed to pull Chloe away from the edge, wrapping her tightly in his arms. Without a second of hesitation, he scooped her up and carried her toward the penthouse suite of the luxury hotel attached to the cathedral. “Psychological interventions are extremely delicate! They cannot be interrupted!” “Until we come out, absolutely no one is allowed inside!” Mason nodded vigorously, ordering the family’s private security to guard the penthouse door. The hundreds of guests settled back into their seats, eating appetizers, waiting for the “treatment” to finish. The media reporters pointed their cameras directly at me. Videos were already flooding social media. #Bride Abandoned at Altar as Groom Treats Adopted Sister’s Mental Breakdown!# #Real vs. Fake Heiress: Who Actually Won?# Seeing me standing silently in my bloody dress, my mother suddenly remembered her shallow maternal duties. “If you had just been mature about this from the start, none of this would have happened.” “Chloe is highly sensitive. We spoiled her for eighteen years. She can’t handle rejection.” “You just got back. You’re stubborn and rude. You should have accommodated her.” “When she comes down, I want you to apologize to her nicely. Comfort her.” “We are a family. Keeping the peace is more important than your petty feelings.” I looked at the woman who birthed me. The tiny shred of pity I had for her vanished. “Mother, if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, I hope you remember to ‘keep the peace.’” Mason glared at me, disgusted by my tone. “Of course she will! That’s how this family operates! Chloe’s well-being comes before anything else.” My father nodded in agreement. “I raised Chloe for eighteen years. That bond is deep. Even if you share my blood, you have no right to bully her.” “Stop looking so miserable. You’re embarrassing the family.” I remained completely silent. The glowing comments were losing their minds. [Why isn’t Harper screaming? Is she plotting something?!] [Waiting for the plot twist! Slap these freaks in the face!] I excused myself to use the restroom. The moment I was out of sight, I pulled out my phone and dialed 911. If they wanted a thrill, I was going to pour gasoline on the fire. I returned to the banquet hall. Ten minutes passed. Half an hour passed. The clock kept ticking, but there was dead silence from the penthouse. The guests were getting restless. My mother kept checking her luxury watch, looking nervously toward the private elevator. “Why hasn’t he brought her down yet?” My father’s jaw was tight. “Larry is a top-tier doctor. It shouldn’t take this long.” [LMAO, the lights in the penthouse just went off. Are they doing something rated R?] [I peeked through a window earlier. Larry’s got serious stamina.] [Two hours minimum. I stand by that.] Just as the text flew past my eyes, the heavy double doors of the banquet hall burst open. A dozen uniformed police officers marched in, their body cameras flashing red. “We received a tip regarding illegal activities taking place in the penthouse suite of this hotel!” “We are conducting a mandatory sweep of the premises! Step aside!” The reporters’ eyes lit up. Cameras clicked furiously. Mason panicked. He tried to call Larry, but it went straight to voicemail. His phone was off. My mother rushed forward, putting on her best socialite smile. “Officers, there must be a misunderstanding!” “My daughter is having a medical emergency upstairs. There is nothing illegal happening.” My father quickly backed her up. “Yes, she’s undergoing an emergency psychiatric intervention. If you interrupt, it could cause severe trauma. Please, give them space.” The lead officer looked at them coldly. “No medical procedure supersedes the law.” “If you attempt to block a police investigation, you will be arrested for obstruction of justice.” My parents and brother froze, their faces turning pale. [Hahaha! The female lead is a genius! Using the cops to kick the door down is legendary!] [The climax is here! Prepare for the ultimate walk of shame!] I covered my mouth with my hands, faking an expression of absolute terror. “Oh my god…” “They’ve been locked in there for over an hour. Their phones are off. Do you think a criminal broke in and took them hostage?!” With one sentence, I weaponized their own paranoia against them. “She’s right!” a guest shouted. “Why else would both their phones be off?!” My father started sweating profusely. “Get the master keycard! Now! Open that door!” Mason sprinted to the hotel manager. The moment the keycard clicked against the penthouse door, the police stormed inside. Right behind them were dozens of reporters, their massive lenses and cellphones livestreaming the event to millions. The next second, the scene inside the suite was broadcast to the world. On a massive, custom California king bed, the sheets were violently tangled. The bed frame was creaking loudly. The visual was beyond explicit. Larry and Chloe were in the middle of an intense, sweaty hookup.

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Because of a throwaway joke, I stayed with Gideon for five years. Five years of silence, obedience, and playing the dutiful companion. I thought he felt at least a spark of affection for me. Just a tiny spark. Yet when his scandal with a pop star blew up the tabloids and news of his imminent engagement sent shockwaves through the financial world, I was the last soul to know. I asked him if he had ever loved me. Gideon’s laugh was ice-cold. “Love between us? Don’t you think that’s a bit too extravagant?” “I have to get married eventually, and that person was never going to be you.” “Stop making a scene. Can’t you just stay in your lane?” 1 SHOCKING! Pop Star’s Secret Lover Revealed—Is This Wall Street’s Most Eligible Bachelor? I sat on the crowded subway train, clutching a folder Gideon had left at home. The entertainment gossip on my phone screen burned into my eyes. Morning rush hour was brutal, everyone crammed shoulder to shoulder, surviving on trashy celebrity drama just to kickstart their day. “Look at this! She claimed to be single last week, and now she’s caught with a guy?” “He’s gorgeous, though.” “Rich too. Typical starlet trying to marry into money.” I stared at the familiar silhouette in the photos, my thumb trembling as I refreshed the page. A new statement popped up immediately. RUMOR CLEARED! Pop Star Clarifies Scandal: Just Friends. “Already debunked? How boring!” A dry, lifeless laugh escaped my throat. Gideon’s PR team was certainly getting faster at handling his messes. Stepping out of the subway station, I walked toward the towering glass skyscraper. The receptionist knew me, so I glided straight up to the penthouse executive suite without a word. I knocked on Gideon’s office door and walked in before waiting for a reply. The scene inside caught me off guard. Two people were sitting on the couch that used to sit empty. A faint yip echoed as I opened the door. An older man in a bespoke suit sat with an imposing air, a CEO from a partner firm, no doubt. Next to him was a stunning young woman, impeccably styled, her poise effortless. Gideon blinked in surprise, reacting instantly. “What are you doing here?” I froze, lifting the leather folder in my hands. “I brought the files you left behind.” “And who is this?” the beautiful woman asked, tilting her head. “My assistant,” Gideon said without a second thought. Assistant. I chewed on the word silently, my lips parting, but no sound came out. Seeing me stand there like a statue, Gideon reached over and took the folder. “That’s all. You can go back now.” I nodded mechanically and turned to leave, but her voice called out behind me. “Excuse me, could you bring me a cup of coffee?” She turned toward Gideon, her voice dripping with sweet affection. “I still can’t get used to black tea.” Gideon gave her a gentle, indulgent smile. “True. Tea isn’t for everyone.” He didn’t stop her, which meant he approved. A few minutes later, I returned carrying a fresh cup of coffee. Kneeling down, I set the mug smoothly onto the coffee table in front of her. “Here you go, ma’am.” I lowered my head and stepped back, only to be startled by a small dog suddenly lunging at me. I nearly lost my balance and tumbled to the floor. “Are you alright?” the woman asked politely, though she didn’t budge an inch from her seat. Gideon glanced over, frowning. “Why are you always so clumsy?” Scrambling back up in humiliation, I bowed my head. “I’m sorry.” “Just leave,” he commanded softly. “Wait,” the woman called out again, though her next words were directed at Gideon. “We’re heading to the gala later, and there’s no one to watch Milo. Can your assistant take him back to the hotel for me?” “Of course,” Gideon replied with easy charm. I took the leash from her manicured hand and led the whimpering little dog out of the office. 2 Coming to his office unannounced and crashing his meeting meant Gideon was furious. I gripped the steering wheel, my mind spiraling as I drove. A sudden, sharp bark from the backseat made me jump, skin crawling with goosebumps. I hated dogs, big or small, they terrified me. Cold sweat soaked my palms. I pressed on the gas, trying to reach the hotel as fast as possible without looking in the rearview mirror. But the little dog was bursting with energy, almost as if it sensed my fear and chose to prey on it. When I stepped out to open the back door, I didn’t move fast enough. It lunged and clamped its teeth into my hand. Sharp pain flared, and blood welled up immediately. The hotel manager rushing over gasped. “Ma’am, are you okay?” I pressed a napkin over the gash, taking a shaky breath. “I’m fine. Take him inside, please. I’ll handle this.” All the anxiety that had been building inside me vanished the moment the teeth broke my skin. The worst had happened. I drove myself to urgent care to get a tetanus and rabies shot. The bite on the back of my hand was deep, so the nurse escorted me into a small curtained bay to flush the wound with antiseptic. Traffic and the hotel stop had eaten up time, and now it was past lunch. The clinic was quiet. Cold liquid rushed through the tubing, washing out the wound over and over. Trapped in the chair, I could only scroll through my phone with my good hand. At exactly one o’clock, a push notification from the company’s official page flashed across my screen. GRAND ANNOUNCEMENT: Gideon Mercer, CEO of Mercer Enterprises, Announces Engagement to Heiress Gwen Crawford. The woman I had seen in his office was now wearing an exquisite evening gown, her arm looped intimately through Gideon’s. They held champagne flutes, smiling radiantly for the camera. Gideon looked immaculate in his tailored tuxedo, his power and confidence amplified by the stunning socialite at his side. So that rapid scandal denial this morning wasn’t for his reputation. It was to save face for Gwen. Panicking, I tried to stand up, but my knee knocked into the metal medical cart beside me. Tray, gauze, and silver instruments crashed onto the floor with a deafening rattle. The nurse rushed in, reassuring me as she knelt down to pick up the mess. A sudden wave of heat surged into my eyes, and a tear splashed directly onto the stainless-steel tray. Then a second. A third. Giving up, I buried my face into my knees and sobbed uncontrollably. “Hey, it’s really okay, sweetie, don’t cry…” The nurse panicked, patting my shoulder gently. That evening, Gideon came back. He had been entertaining guests all day and looked drained, heavy with the scent of whiskey. I handed him a warm, damp towel for his face. He didn’t take it, instead, he caught my hand. “What happened to this?” I pulled back slightly, but his grip tightened. He stared at the bandage on my hand, his brow furrowed. “Talk to me.” “I nicked myself while chopping vegetables for dinner.” Gideon finally let go. “How could you be so careless?” He wiped his face with the towel. As I turned to take it back to the bathroom, he wrapped his arms around me from behind. “Did you miss me?” He leaned his weight against my back, resting his chin on my shoulder. His warm, alcohol-laced breath brushed against my neck. I tilted my head away, evading the question. “You’re drunk. Let me help you to bed.” Gideon wouldn’t have it. Picking me up in his arms, he carried me straight into the bedroom. Fueled by liquor, his touch was rougher, bolder than usual. I stared up at his flushed face, but my thoughts drifted miles away. I wondered what he was like when he looked at Gwen. “What are you thinking about?” Gideon noticed my distraction and pinched my chin, forcing me to look at him. 3 “About you,” I answered softly. “What about me?” He leaned down, aiming for my lips. “About your engagement party today.” The moment the words left my mouth, the room went ice-cold. Gideon froze instantly. All the intimate warmth evaporated into thin air. Losing all interest, he let go of me and sat on the edge of the mattress, his expression turning dark. “You’re marrying Miss Crawford, aren’t you? Not as a market stunt, not to secure a deal. You’re actually making her your wife.” A heavy silence hung in the room before Gideon spoke. “I have to get married eventually.” “Then what am I? What were these five years supposed to mean?” My voice cracked with emotion. “What does that have to do with us? Marriage doesn’t change anything between us. You can still stay with me.” “Stay with you how? As your mistress?” Tears spilled over again. “Gideon, after all these years, don’t tell me you couldn’t tell. I love you. I’ve loved you for so long.” “What about you? Have you ever loved me even once?” Irritation flickered across Gideon’s face. “Don’t you think talking about love between us is a bit too extravagant? In the beginning, you were just…” He cut himself off, and silence reclaimed the room. But I knew exactly what he was going to say. “In the beginning, I was just a pet you bought, right? Someone you paid to sleep with. Isn’t that what you wanted to say?” The old, rotting scar was ripped open, bleeding fresh pain into both of us. I slid off the bed, kneeling on the floor to look up at him. “But I’ve truly loved you all these years.” I reached out, trying to take his hand. “Do you really not care about me at all?” Gideon pulled his hand back, his voice flat and detached. “Vivian, stop throwing a tantrum. Know your place. Can’t you just be sensible?” He rubbed his temples in frustration. “I’m stressed enough as it is. Stop making trouble for me!” My hand, rejected, hovered awkwardly in the air. Gideon turned his back to me and lay down, refusing to acknowledge my tears any longer. I don’t know how long I sat there. Finally, I wiped my face, pushed against my stiff knees, and stood up. Gideon remained motionless, facing the wall. He might have been asleep, or perhaps he simply refused to look at me. I softly pulled the bedroom door shut and walked out. Without intimacy, I had no right to be in that room. Leaning against the doorframe, I stared into the pitch-black living room, suddenly realizing I had nowhere left to go. Gideon was getting married. Which meant I could no longer exist in his world. The five-year fantasy had finally been shattered by his own hands. The love I had believed in was nothing more than a transaction, paid in full. 4 The truth was, being with Gideon had always been a leap above my station. When I first met him, I was a broke college student forced to take a leave of absence during my freshman year to pay off my family’s debts. The loan sharks were relentless. I had nothing but a pretty face, so I ended up working at a high-end lounge, promoting expensive champagne. In a place fueled by pure greed and lust, humanity didn’t exist. Being grabbed by the neck and forced to drink was a daily occurrence. When a bottle of expensive champagne was poured over my head, drenching my collar, I closed my eyes as usual, silently calculating how much commission I would earn from that single bottle. That was when Gideon walked into the VIP lounge. He put a stop to the cruelty, cupped my chin, and forced me to look up at him. He studied my face for a long time before asking a simple question: “Do you want to come with me?” I said yes. Because he had endless wealth. He wiped away my astronomical debt with a flick of his wrist. The terrifying debt collectors who used to corner me suddenly bowed and scraped in front of him, even addressing me politely as “Miss Vivian” for the very first time. He took care of my alcoholic father and my gambling brother too. I didn’t know what methods he used, but from that day on, neither of them ever crossed my path again. I was like a desperate weed clinging onto a towering oak tree, grasping Gideon for dear life. I had nothing to offer him in return except my body. I satisfied his every desire, in every way possible. And Gideon enjoyed it. For five years, I was his most constant companion. He re-enrolled me in college, pulling me out of dark basements into the bright sunlight of campus life. He spent considerable effort shaping me. He hired etiquette coaches, took me to elite galas, and introduced me to influential figures. I worked endlessly to learn, making sure I could walk beside him smoothly, my arm tucked in his at every grand event. In his words, I had to be someone he could show off. Yet Gideon was intensely possessive. He forbade me from getting close to any other man. He refused to let me attend social gatherings without his permission. Once, simply because a male classmate asked me for directions on campus and I talked to him for a few extra seconds, Gideon flew into a rage. His anger was terrifying. With a cold face, he threw me onto the bed, pinned me down, and bit my shoulder hard. “Why were you talking to him?” Breathless under his weight, I had to soothe his wrath while he dominated me. He knew everything that happened in my life and refused to listen to my explanations. I endured these punishments often. Though scared at first, I eventually tasted a twisted sweetness in it. He cared. He was jealous. Didn’t that mean he loved me? When did my love for him truly begin? I couldn’t pin it down. Perhaps it grew during those endless, quiet nights, or perhaps the seed was planted the very first moment he raised my chin in that dark nightclub. Over five years, that seed had grown into a massive tree, only to be yanked out by the roots tonight. 5 The next morning, Gideon left early. No breakfast, no farewell, not even a single glance in my direction. He was icing me out. This was my punishment for overstepping my bounds. Gideon ignored me for two whole days. Then, on the third night, he sent me a short text telling me to meet him at an upscale bar downtown. I pushed open the door to the dimly lit VIP lounge. Gideon was sunk deep into the leather sofa, a scantily clad woman leaning against his side. “Hey, Gideon! Your little pet is here!” “Better make it up to her, man, she looks pissed!” Gideon’s friends surged forward with glasses of tequila, laughingly blocking my path. They swore they wouldn’t let me reach Gideon unless I drank with them. Old memories hit me like a tidal wave. Suddenly, I was back in that chaotic lounge five years ago, surrounded by greasy men forcing drinks down my throat. Gideon watched with dark eyes, staying completely silent. He was granting them permission. I was forced to match them drink for drink, downing shot after shot until everyone had their fill. Only then did they mercifully part the way. I stumbled and fell onto the floor in front of Gideon. With a wave of his hand, the woman beside him quietly slipped away. Gideon reached out, gripping my chin just like he did the night we met, and asked softly, “Have you figured it out yet?” I was practically kneeling at his feet, burning alcohol surging up my stomach. Nauseous and dizzy, I was forced to look up at him as he waited for my surrender. “I was wrong, Gideon. It won’t happen again.” I was dazed and sick from the alcohol, but Gideon was thoroughly pleased. My submission put him in such a good mood that his temper remained bright the entire next day. Shortly after he left for the office, his assistant delivered a gift to the apartment. Proof that my performance last night satisfied him. If only the gift hadn’t been the wrong one. It was a luxurious velvet box containing a breathtaking diamond necklace, accompanied by a bouquet of deep red roses, so red they burned my eyes. Gideon had recently hired a new assistant who clearly didn’t understand the dynamics between us. I guessed he had mixed up my gift with the one meant for Gwen. Because Gideon never gave me red roses. Roses symbolized love. And a secret relationship like ours didn’t qualify as love. In all five years, he had always substituted roses with tulips or lilies, carefully avoiding any flower that might grant me foolish hope. I picked up the necklace. It was exquisite, shimmering like a river of stars. Sadly, it wasn’t meant for me. When Gideon returned that night, I showed him the box, having set the roses aside. “Ah, my assistant must have swapped them,” he said, taking the box and placing it on the nightstand. “What do you want instead? I’ll get it for you tomorrow.” “It’s fine, Gideon. It’s just a gift.” Gideon seemed pleased by my compliance. Switching off the lights, he pulled me into his arms. “You seem a bit distant lately,” his voice murmured against my ear. “Is it because I haven’t been performing well?” “I’m sorry, Gideon. Tell me what you like, and I’ll learn.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “536937”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

1 Marcus died three days before our wedding. As the youngest criminal profiler on the force, he was shot dead in the line of duty. When he died, his hand was still tightly clutching a custom Band-Aid. It was sealed in an evidence bag as a crucial piece of physical evidence. Yet back at home, I had a box full of identical Band-Aids, each inscribed with a different handwritten note. Paige, high heels hurt so much. Stop wearing them, okay? I made another thousand Band-Aids for you today. They can stay with you for a long, long time, just like me. Paige, who do you love more, me or those heels? Unfortunately, I never got the chance to tell him my answer. He was already gone. I went through the motions of daily life as if nothing had happened. I set his plate at dinner, bought his winter coats during seasonal sales, and regularly visited his parents. In the third year after his death, my best friend, Brianna, offered to drive his parents to the hospital for their annual checkup. As she stepped out of the car, I noticed a Band-Aid stuck to her ankle. I didn’t think much of it at first, assuming it was just a coincidence. Until my eyes caught the handwriting on it. … My hand trembled as I picked up the discarded strip. The words were unmistakably clear. Marcus’s Forever Love, Brianna. I rubbed my eyes, thinking grief was finally making me hallucinate. “Paige, what are you looking at?” Brianna walked over. I instinctively clenched my fist, squeezing out my usual soft smile. “Just checking a work email.” She sighed, gently ushering me back into my car. “I know how busy you are. Go on, I’ll drive his parents home.” I flashed her a grateful look, nodded, and started the engine. Half an hour later, I quietly followed her back to Marcus’s parents’ house. Someone opened the door from the inside. The hallway light illuminated the side of his face, the bridge of his nose, and the faint scar near his eyebrow. It was the scar he got years ago when he saved my life. It was Marcus. He wasn’t dead. Three years later, he had even gained a little weight. My fingernails dug deep into my palms. My entire body shook violently. He casually wrapped his arm around Brianna’s waist, his voice as tender as ever. “Exhausted?” “Not really,” Brianna shook her head, her tone heavy with exhaustion. “I just don’t know how much longer we can keep this from Paige.” A wave of suffocating absurdity washed over me. They were the ones deceiving me, yet she claimed to be exhausted. Marcus’s parents sat on the sofa, letting out heavy sighs. “Back then, Marcus was critically injured and deeply in love with you… yet you happened to be Paige’s best friend. There was no other choice but to fake his death so he could marry you. Do you think she’ll ever forgive us?” Marcus had faked his death to marry Brianna. His parents knew the truth all along, watching me mourn him day and night like an absolute fool. Brianna knew my bank account passwords and was listed as my emergency contact on surgery forms, yet she had stolen my fiance, moved into his bed, and orchestrated a three-year betrayal. And after all this, they expected my forgiveness? Tears spilled silently down my cheeks, burning cold against my skin. Marcus’s jaw tightened. He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he gently helped Brianna sit down, waiting a long moment before speaking. “I’ll lay all the cards on the table with her soon. Brianna’s belly is getting impossible to hide.” I felt as though I had been flash-frozen in a blizzard. I watched him stroke Brianna’s slightly swollen stomach, a radiant, satisfied smile touching his lips. Memories flashed across my mind. Paige, how many babies are you going to give me? Should we aim for a whole soccer team? Back then, I had blushed, chasing him around the room with a couch cushion. The laughter in my memory collided violently with the scene before my eyes. The man remained the same, but the woman in his arms had changed. “Let’s wait a little longer. I don’t want Paige to be hurt,” Brianna whimpered, burying her face into Marcus’s chest, her shoulders trembling. He leaned down, resting his chin on her hair, his breath trailing a soft sigh. “The fault lies with me, not you. I tried to marry her, but I failed…” Inside the house, his parents offered low, comforting murmurs. Outside the wall, I stood frozen in the relentless snow. Snowflakes dusted my hair, settling into my heart like ice. My vision blurred. My phone screen glowed in my numb hand. I dialed Brianna’s number. “Brianna… I think I just saw Marcus.” Brianna had always kept a secret lover in the shadows. Whenever she got drunk, she would ramble about the love letters he wrote her, boasting that he had given her a kidney, that he was willing to abandon his career, his dreams, and his morals for her. I used to ask her, “Why keep him a secret then?” Brianna would take a heavy swing of liquor, laughing through her tears. “Because he has a girlfriend he stayed with out of obligation. She took a bullet for him, begging him never to leave her. He tried to tell her the truth multiple times, but I stopped him. Call me a saint if you want, but I just can’t stand seeing someone heartbroken.” Back then, listening to her story filled me with righteous anger. I had thought Brianna was far too soft-hearted, foolishly sacrificing her own happiness for a stranger. When I introduced Marcus to her, I specifically emphasized that Brianna had a gentle, fragile soul, asking him to take good care of her. He had nodded with a bright smile. I never imagined that behind my back, he would take her straight into his bed. I was eighteen when I met Marcus. I had good grades and decent looks, but my life was ruined by a predatory stepbrother. I had complained to my mother countless times. Instead of protecting me, she blamed me for wearing dresses and applying lip balm. One night, he crept into my room again. I smashed a glass vase over his head and fled to a late-night diner down the street. Marcus was sitting at a booth across from me. Glancing at my thin nightgown, he pulled off his jacket and tossed it over my shoulders. “Go back inside. It’s not safe out here.” I whispered, “Home is even worse.” We talked for hours. Before leaving, he gave me his phone number and booked a hotel room for me. After that, we grabbed meals together regularly. When my stepbrother tried to force his way into my life again, Marcus stood firmly in front of me. Everyone urged me to endure it. My mother wept, threatening to disown me if I made a public scene. Only Marcus stepped up, kicking my stepbrother square in the chest and breaking two of his ribs. Afterward, he hired a lawyer and sent my stepbrother to prison. When my family threw me out onto the street, Marcus covered my college tuition and living expenses for four solid years. Later, when a gunman aimed a pistol at Marcus during a raid, I threw myself in front of him without a second thought. When I opened my eyes in the ICU, his eyes were bloodshot as he yelled at me furiously. “Are you insane? You could have died!” I didn’t argue. I simply pulled his hand to my lips and kissed his palm. That was how our story began. He treated me wonderfully, so well that everyone at the police precinct knew I was his bride-to-be. He brought me home and told me to call his parents Mom and Dad. Knowing I hated the cold, he would wrap my icy feet against his warm chest even when the heater was blaring. Knowing I lacked security, he placed only my name on the title of our apartment and transferred his entire paycheck directly to my account. So when he “died,” I never considered finding anyone else. I continued caring for his parents as my own. Yet today, I discovered it was all a grand illusion. He stood inside that living room, hugging my best friend in front of his parents, gently rubbing the swell of their unborn child. While I was branded as the manipulative girlfriend who trapped him using a debt of gratitude. The blood in my veins turned to liquid ice. Flashbacks smashed into my mind: him kneeling to propose, him laughing while holding Brianna, his body covered by a white sheet, and his words, I tried to marry her, but I failed. My hand shook uncontrollably against the phone. I hated myself for being so weak, yet I desperately needed to hear his excuse. Brianna glanced instinctively toward Marcus as she held her phone. “Paige, are you just exhausted? Should I take you to see a therapist?” I forced down the tremor in my throat, asking softly, “Did he fake his death because he fell in love with someone else? Did he lie to the department, abandon his career, his principles, and his future just for her?” Brianna’s face turned deathly pale. She exchanged a panicked glance with Marcus, squeezing out a dry, hollow laugh. “Why would you think that? What… what did you hear?” My throat felt as dry as sandpaper. I couldn’t bring myself to ask the ultimate question: Why did you two betray me? “Are they getting married soon? Do they already have a baby on the way? Did his parents know all along, which is why they never let me join them on his memorial days?” With every question I asked, their faces drained of color, as if they had seen a ghost. Marcus’s father couldn’t restrain himself any longer, snatching the phone and asking nervously, “Paige, did you hear something?” I held the phone, letting out a low, hollow laugh. “Dad… look behind you.” With that single sentence, everyone in the room whipped their heads around. Three years later, my eyes met Marcus’s, resurrected from the dead. By the time my senses returned, I was already sitting on their sofa, a mug of warm tea forced into my hands by Marcus. His parents had retreated into their bedroom. Only the three of us remained in the living room. Marcus stared at me, his expression swirling with complex emotions. “You know everything?” I gave a faint nod. Suddenly, Brianna dropped to her knees right beside my feet with a loud thud. No matter how hard Marcus tried to pull her up, she refused to budge, staring at me with tear-filled eyes. “Paige, take all your anger out on me! Don’t blame Marcus, he had no choice…” Seeing that she wouldn’t stand, Marcus knelt right alongside her, shielding her with his body. “Faking my death was my idea. It has nothing to do with her! Throw your anger at me, don’t hurt her!” “Marcus, don’t say that!” “Brianna, listen to me!” The two of them knelt on the floor, fiercely protecting each other. One implied he was forced into this by circumstance, while the other warned me that Brianna was completely innocent. And I, the actual victim in this nightmare, was framed as the villain breaking up their happy family. A quiet laugh escaped my lips. “Get up. You’re pregnant, after all.” At those words, Marcus let out a visible sigh of relief, quickly helping Brianna to her feet. He even reached over to gently rub her knees. Brianna said nothing, giving him a playful, subtle glare before turning to look at me. There was an unmistakable flicker of triumph deep within her eyes. I turned my face away. “When did it start?” Marcus’s hand froze. He avoided my gaze, his voice muffled. “The night of your twenty-fourth birthday.” I closed my eyes. A sharp, stabbing pain pierced my chest. I had been with Marcus for five years, and they had been carrying on behind my back for three. That night, we were supposed to celebrate together. He claimed he was called into an urgent operation, while Brianna said she had to work overtime. On my way home, I got into a terrible car accident. While I was being rushed into the operating room, I dialed his phone, but it was switched off. There was no urgent operation, nor any overtime. While I was clinging to life on an operating table, they were wrapped in each other’s arms in some hidden room. Afterward, they acted completely normal, one playing the loyal best friend, the other kneeling down to propose and promising me a lifetime. A sudden surge of nausea rose from my stomach. I set the tea mug down and slowly stood up. Brianna panicked, rushing over to grab my wrist, her voice breaking into sobs. “Paige, if the fake death gets out, his entire reputation will be destroyed…” Before I could process her words, she threw herself backward, clutching her stomach as she collapsed onto the carpet. “You can hit me or scream at me, but you can’t report Marcus!” Seeing her on the floor, Marcus’s eyes turned red with fury. He shoved me aside violently, scooping Brianna into his arms, asking frantically if she was hurt. Then he turned to me, his handsome features twisted in anger. “Paige, I owe you a debt, but she and our baby don’t owe you anything!” “If you try to harm them again, don’t blame me for getting ruthless!” I rubbed my sore hip, trying to catch my balance, when Marcus’s parents burst out of the bedroom. His mother pointed a finger directly at my face, shouting shrilly, “Paige, true love is never a crime!” “Blame yourself for failing to hold his heart! Marcus never loved you, he would rather fake his death than marry you!” She grabbed my arms, shoving and dragging me toward the front door. A neighbor passing by asked what was happening. His mother spat toward my feet. “She’s a shameless mistress trying to cling to my son! I already have a grandchild on the way, yet she still won’t give up!” When they needed annual checkups or hospital visits, they called me their sweet daughter-in-law. Now that their ugly secret was exposed, I was branded a shameless mistress. As a drop of saliva slid down my cheek, Marcus stood at the doorway, backlit by the hallway light, his expression unreadable. His voice carried a chilling detachment. “Go home first. I’ll come find you later.” I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Home? He had personally destroyed our home. Where was I supposed to go? I stumbled back to the apartment we shared. Staring at the polished wedding portraits on the wall and the framed photo of the three of us smiling on the coffee table, a wave of revulsion overwhelmed me. I grabbed a heavy glass ashtray and smashed everything in sight like a madwoman. I don’t know how long passed before silence reclaimed the apartment. I knelt on the floor among jagged shards of broken glass, unable to stand up. Yet I still wanted a final answer. Marcus never showed up that night. Instead, a text message arrived from Brianna at midnight. Paige, the baby is ninety days old now. In a few months, he’ll be calling you Auntie. Can’t we just let the past stay in the past? You saw it yourself, I am the one he truly loves. No matter how much you scream or cling to him, he will never want you back. When she failed her graduate school entrance exam years ago, I spent months staying up late to tutor her. When she wanted to open a boutique but lacked capital, I gave her my savings account card along with the PIN. Even the down payment for her current apartment came from my hard-earned money. She spent my money, lived in an apartment I helped buy, and deceived me for over a thousand days. Yet she had the nerve to tell me that Marcus loved her, warning me not to cling to him. I stared at the screen until the letters blurred into an illegible smear. Then I typed a two-word reply: No way. She didn’t text back, and I didn’t reach out again. Early the next morning, I listed the apartment with a real estate agent, cleaned myself up, and went to work. The moment I stepped into the office, whispered rumors rippled through the room. “So much for being a devoted fiancee! Turns out she’s a homewrecker trying to steal her best friend’s husband!” “Brianna’s in-laws came with a whole crowd to protest outside our building! How can anyone be so shameless?” My phone rang loudly. It was the HR Director. “Paige, someone filed a formal complaint accusing you of destroying a family. They’ve put up a massive banner at the main entrance…” Before she could finish, I understood the unspoken mandate. “I understand. I’ll submit my resignation immediately.” She let out a soft sigh and hung up. Ever since Marcus “died,” I had treated the company as my home, working my way up from a junior analyst to department director. Yet now, based on a vicious rumor, they forced me out without asking a single question. Before I even reached the main gates, someone grabbed me viciously by the hair. Brianna stood there, her face swollen from an earlier slap, leaning in close to my ear. “I’m sorry, Paige, but only if you’re completely ruined will he stop thinking about you.” “Whatever I owe you in this life, I’ll repay in the next!” With those words, she dropped to her knees, grabbing the hem of my coat, sobbing hysterically for the gathered crowd. “Paige, I treated you like a sister! How could you seduce my husband behind my back?” “I know you lost your fiance and you’re in pain, but you can’t keep clinging to my husband like this! I’m giving birth in a few months…” The gazes of the onlookers sliced into me like jagged blades. I violently yanked my coat from her grip. In the next second, a harsh slap struck my face, sending my head snapping to the side. The taste of copper filled my mouth. Marcus stepped forward, holding a trembling Brianna with one arm while pointing an angry finger at my face. “Didn’t I warn you never to bully her again?” I wiped the blood from the corner of my lip, letting out a rasping, bitter laugh. “What right do you have to lecture me?” “You were the ones who lied to me and betrayed me first…” “Enough!” He glared at me coldly, his eyes brimming with harsh mockery. “Deceived you? Betrayed you? Do you want to know the truth?” “Your entire existence was nothing more than a stand-in! Your only real value was bringing Brianna into my life!” My mind went completely blank, as if a bomb had detonated in my skull. Yet Marcus kept driving the knife deeper. “If you hadn’t taken a bullet for me, I would never have accepted you in the first place!” “I loved someone else before, and I love Brianna now. I never loved you, not for a single second!” His words were lethal, meant to destroy me entirely. Yet his own eyes turned bloodshot first. Brianna put on a show of pulling his sleeve, whimpering softly, “Don’t say that, she only did it because she loved you so much…” “So she threw herself at me, mourned for me like a widow, cared for my parents, and lived in my house surrounded by my clothes like an obsession! How pathetic!” His words stabbed deep into my chest, causing my whole body to tremble violently, yet I couldn’t utter a single defense. “If you talk to her like that, won’t she report you to the police?” Brianna whispered anxiously. “She won’t.” Marcus turned his head, staring deeply into my eyes, all the remaining light in his gaze snuffing out. He gave a confident shake of his head. “She’s hopelessly in love with me. She would never ruin my reputation.” “Don’t forget, I’m a criminal profiler.” He forced a harsh laugh, taking Brianna’s arm and turning to walk away. Mockery, curses, and harsh laughter crashed over me like a tidal wave. Hot coffee, water, and sticky liquids were poured over my head. Outside the gates, Marcus’s mother held up a massive banner, shouting demands to destroy the homewrecker. A security guard waved a nightstick in my face, barking threats. “Get out of here! A pathetic mistress like you has no business dirtying our building!” Blood mixed with liquid dripped from my forehead, splashing onto my shoes. I squatted down, gathered my cardboard box of belongings, and stumbled toward the exit. In my head, I silently counted. One. Two. Three. When I reached five, Marcus and Brianna were suddenly surrounded right outside the main gates. Leading the squad was my former colleague, Detective Burke. He raised his badge, his voice ringingly authoritative. “Marcus Mercer, you are under arrest for faking your death to defraud the state of benefits and insurance payouts. Walk with us!”

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1 On the eve of our engagement, we were playing Undercover at a party. The name written on my card belonged to my girlfriend’s ex. When the game started, her older brother, Blake, went first. “Petty. Can’t stand on his own two feet.” Her best friend, Harper, didn’t hesitate for a second. “Calculative. It feels uncomfortable just sitting next to him.” Ginnifer remained silent for a moment before speaking. “Possessive and jealous.” My younger brother, Owen, chimed in with a nod. “And fragile as glass.” My stomach tightened. I had met Ginnifer’s ex before, and he was nowhere near as awful as they were making him out to be. When it was my turn, I couldn’t help standing up for him. “He’s sharp, attractive, and genuinely fun.” Owen burst out laughing. “Bro, aren’t you a little too full of yourself?” In the next second, the entire room exploded into laughter. Moments later, I was voted out by a unanimous vote. … That was when the realization hit me. I was the undercover player. Their cards had my name on them. While I sat there frozen, my best friend, Logan, walked back into the private room holding a tray of ice-cold sodas. Six people. Five cans. Once again, there was nothing for me. A deep, hollow fatigue settled in my chest. The six of us had grown up together. When we were kids sharing snacks, I was always the last one to get a piece. As adults, whenever they changed dinner venues at the last minute, nobody bothered to text me. When we went white-water rafting and the boat was too full, they smoothly left me behind to ride with complete strangers. If a circle is too tight to fit into, there is no point in forcing my way in anymore. “You guys keep playing,” I said, picking up my bag. “I’m a little tired. I’m heading home.” I left the private room seconds before the tears spilled over. The moment the heavy door shut behind me, my legs gave out. I crouched by the hallway wall, covering my face as quiet sobs broke through my throat. From inside the room, muffled voices drifted through the gap in the door. “Ginnifer, aren’t you going after him? He looks pretty upset.” Ginnifer’s voice was flat, completely unbothered. “No need. He’ll get over it himself.” Her brother took over the conversation. “Right. We’ve been pushing him out like this since we were kids, and he always acts like nothing happened.” “Maybe he’s just thick-skinned,” Harper added. A wave of laughter rippled through the room. Then came Harper’s voice again. “He still doesn’t know we deliberately sent him away the night of the concert just so Gavin could have his moment with you.” “A goodbye kiss at a Coldplay concert, now that is a romantic ending.” “Honestly, it’s a shame Ginnifer and Gavin didn’t work out. We feel worse about it than anyone.” “Today’s game was just our way of getting back at Neil for Gavin one last time.” Logan quickly hushed her. “Shh, keep it quiet. Don’t let him find out.” “He’s so sensitive. If he finds out, he’ll raise hell.” “What about his parents? They won’t accidentally slip up, right?” Owen patted his chest proudly. “Relax, I already talked to Mom and Dad.” “They spoil me the most. Whatever I say, they do.” My heart dropped into an abyss. So that was why. Mom didn’t randomly sprain her back that night, and Dad’s business trip wasn’t a last-minute coincidence. Everyone had kept me in the dark, conspiring together just to give Ginnifer and Gavin a chance for a cinematic farewell kiss. I didn’t even remember how I walked out of that venue. It was the middle of July, yet a bone-chilling cold invaded every inch of my body. Sitting in the back of a cab, my mind spun out of control. With trembling fingers, I dialed Logan’s number. “During all these years I’ve been with Ginnifer… was she still seeing her ex behind my back?” “And were you… in on it the whole time?” I wanted him to tell me it was all a sick joke. Instead, he admitted it without a shred of hesitation. “Yeah. I knew.” “At first, I thought Gavin was just a shameless homewrecker too.” “But the more time I spent around him, the more I realized he’s a genuinely good guy.” “He gives his umbrella to stray dogs in the rain. He donates money to young girls who had to drop out of school so they can afford basic hygiene products.” “He’s just that good, Neil. It’s hard for anyone not to like him.” A sharp burn stung the back of my nose. “What about me then? Did I deserve to be betrayed by every single one of you?” He went quiet for a moment, his tone shifting into something cold and dismissive. “See, that’s the difference between you and him.” “You’re always calculating, never letting anything go, acting like a bitter, jealous husband.” “To be completely honest, those two belong together way more than you and her ever did.” I stared at the phone in total disbelief. This was the guy I had stepped in to protect during a violent high school brawl, taking a blow that nearly permanently scarred my face. This was the guy who swore he would get revenge for me when my very first girlfriend cheated on me. This was the guy who promised we would be brothers for life. And now, he stood firmly on the opposite side, holding the weapon against me. The call disconnected, and almost instantly, my phone rang again. It was the wedding planning agency. “Mr. Bennett, there are a few adjustments to your wedding arrangement that require your confirmation.” “The garden roses at the venue have been replaced with white lilies, and all the desserts have been switched to oat milk options.” I froze for a couple of seconds. “Did Ginnifer make these changes?” The representative hesitated. “A gentleman named Mr. Chi suggested them. Ms. Ginnifer mentioned that he has full authority over the arrangements.” My pulse stopped. I am severely allergic to lilies. Coming into close contact with them restricts my airway within minutes. Ginnifer knew this better than anyone. Yet, because of a single word from Gavin, she threw my personal safety out the window. My heart died completely right then and there. I typed out a long paragraph, then deleted every single character. “The details are fine.” “Except you got one very important detail wrong…” After hanging up, I went back to the apartment to pack. But as I walked through the rooms, I realized almost nothing in this place actually belonged to me. On the balcony sat a large monstera plant they had picked out together at the market. On the couch were plush souvenirs they had brought back from Disney World. Even the fridge was packed to the brim with drinks and snacks favored by the five of them. My favorite strawberries were shoved into the darkest corner, crushed and bruised under heavy bottles. Before we moved in, Ginnifer had held my hand and promised again and again, “This is our little home. No one will ever intrude on us.” Her words were now a bitter joke. Late that night, Ginnifer stumbled home smelling strongly of alcohol, holding a decorative bakery box in her hand. “Babe, don’t be mad anymore,” she slurred, leaning against the entryway wall. “Nobody meant what they said today.” “It was just a game. They didn’t mean any harm.” She opened the box with an eager, pleading smile and pushed it toward me. “I bought your favorite dessert. Consider it my apology on their behalf.” I remained silent, my gaze fixing on the strawberry tart inside. A small section was missing. Someone had already taken a bite out of it. The truth was, I never liked strawberry desserts. It was simply because none of the five of them liked strawberries, so those portions always ended up in my hands. Over time, they convinced themselves that it was my favorite. And right now, my gut told me this leftover tart belonged to Gavin. I looked up, meeting her unfocused eyes. “Ginnifer, let’s call off the wedding.” “And whatever Gavin leaves behind, I don’t want it either.” The double meaning hit her like a bucket of ice water. Her drunken haze evaporated instantly. Surprise flashed across her face, followed by a flicker of defensive anger at being exposed. “Neil, what kind of nonsense are you talking about?” “Can you stop being so sensitive for once? It’s just a pastry. Must you overthink everything?” “He and I are in the past. Acting like this is exhausting for me.” I looked at her, my voice quiet. “Is being with me exhausting?” “Or is hiding all of this alongside everyone else what’s really wearing you down?” Ginnifer and I had dated briefly back in high school. When she went abroad for college, we maintained a long-distance relationship for four full years. I waited patiently for her to return, only to be met with endless delays every time I brought up marriage. Everyone around me advised me not to rush her, so I trusted her and kept waiting. Only today did I realize that our seven years had been quietly shared with Gavin for four of them. No wonder she never posted about our relationship publicly. Whenever I suggested matching profile pictures, she dismissed it as childish, claiming her academic advisors might find it unprofessional. Whenever I accidentally appeared in the background of her social media photos, she would take them down immediately and re-upload edited versions. I had once broken down in tears, asking her if she was hiding something from me. She had just rubbed my hair and laughed softly. “Babe, I’m doing this to protect us.” “When people see how happy we are, they get jealous.” I had believed her completely, thinking she was being thoughtful and protective. Now I finally understood. She wasn’t protecting our happiness. She was terrified that the person she actually cared about would misunderstand. Looking at her, I felt entirely ridiculous. “Logan told me everything, Ginnifer. Are you going to keep lying to me?” Panic swept across her face. She stepped forward, trying to pull me into an embrace. “Neil, it’s not what you think. Let me explain…” I shoved her away with everything I had. In the chaos of our movement, my arm collided hard with her lower back. Ginnifer gasped loudly and collapsed onto the floor, clutching her spine in agony. I froze in place, my hands trembling. Ginnifer suffered from a severe, chronic back injury, one that was my fault. During our senior year of high school, I was cornered by a group of thugs in a dark alley after class. At the critical moment, she had rushed in like a miracle, pulling me out from under heavy wooden bats. She suffered three broken ribs and permanent damage to her lower lumbar spine. That injury ended her athletic career on the spot, destroying her dream of becoming a professional swimmer. Back then, I wished I had been the one beaten half to death instead of calling her for help. She had held me close, her voice tender as she comforted me. “If anything happened to you, winning championships wouldn’t mean a thing to me.” The love she gave me back then was real, undeniable, and profound. And the pain she inflicted on me now was just as real. I called an ambulance and accompanied her to the hospital. After finishing the registration and payment at the counter, I realized I had left my jacket in her private room. As I hurried back down the corridor, a low, choked sob drifted from inside the slightly open door. “Doesn’t he know about your back injury? How could he have the heart to put his hands on you like that?” Ginnifer was gently wiping away tears from Gavin’s face, her voice extraordinarily soft. “Don’t cry. It doesn’t hurt that much. I’m the one at fault here.” Gavin’s tone turned bitter. “Do you really have to marry a man like him? You’ll never be happy.” “I regret everything. If I hadn’t let my pride get the better of me and disappeared back then, we would be the ones walking down the aisle…” Ginnifer didn’t contradict him. Her silence was a clear confession. If she hadn’t realized that I was the most convenient option, and if her father’s failing health hadn’t made him desperate to see her settled down, she would never have picked me. Overcome by emotion, Gavin leaned in to kiss her. My heart skipped a beat, and my hand reached reflexively for the door handle. Before I could push it open, a massive force yanked me backward from behind. The back of my head slammed violently into the concrete wall. Sharp pain exploded across my skull, and warm blood trickled down my neck. My vision went dark. Before I could process what was happening, I was dragged down the hallway into an empty stairwell. I forced my eyes open to see the four of them standing over me. Ginnifer’s brother spoke first, his tone harsh and unfeeling. “Neil, since you already know, there’s no point in keeping up the act.” “You should see things clearly by now. Gavin is the only person Ginnifer has ever truly loved.” Harper chimed in right after. “Exactly, Neil. Just let them be together. They’re soulmates.” Owen tried to adopt a reasoned tone. “Bro, leave with some dignity. To be honest, Ginnifer only agreed to marry you to make Gavin jealous.” Each of them spoke with such righteous conviction, as though I were the villain standing in the way of true love. When I remained silent, Logan sighed and took a step forward. “Neil, love isn’t logical. Stop deceiving yourself.” He pulled out his phone, scrolling through their private group chat and holding the screen in front of my face. “Did you know every time Ginnifer said she was working late, she was actually at Gavin’s apartment watching movies?” “Did you know his fingerprint is the only other one registered on her phone?” “Did you know her private notes app is full of his birthday plans, and his chat has been pinned at the top of her messages since day one?” “Even the birthday cake you ate last year was just a custom order he didn’t end up wanting.” “We kept it from you because we were afraid you’d lash out at Gavin.” “Now that you know the truth, do the right thing and walk away.” Looking at the four people I had known almost my whole life united against me, words completely failed me. The tears I had fought so hard to hold back finally broke through. A flicker of hesitation crossed Logan’s eyes. “Neil, I’m doing this for your own good. Marrying a woman who doesn’t love you is pure torture.” Owen nodded in agreement. Harper rolled her eyes, her expression full of disgust. “I knew you’d pull this pathetic routine again, acting like the whole world owes you something.” “That’s exactly why nobody actually likes having you around.” “Do you have any idea how people talk about you behind your back?” “Narrow-minded, petty, incapable of handling real life.” “Gavin is nothing like you. He’s confident, intelligent, and knows how to love people properly.” “He’s the ideal friend, brother, and partner everyone actually wants.” They stacked insult upon insult, desperate to tear down my self-worth until I believed I was worthless. I looked at these four faces, feeling a sudden, absurd urge to laugh. In the next second, I pulled off the engagement ring Ginnifer had given me and tossed it out the open stairwell window. “I am stepping out of this toxic mess.” “And as of today, I am completely done with every single one of you.” Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked away without looking back. That night, I gathered every piece of evidence showing Gavin acting as a secret third party in my relationship and submitted it to a prominent online gossip blogger. By sunrise, the internet exploded. Gavin’s social media accounts were unearthed, and his comment sections were flooded with thousands of angry calls for accountability. Ginnifer was the first to call. “Neil, whatever issues we have, we can settle them privately. Don’t turn this into a public circus.” Her brother was practically screaming into the mic. “Neil Bennett, delete that damn post right now! Are you trying to destroy Gavin’s life?” Logan sent a text. “Neil, that’s enough. Why do you have to drag this out until nobody can clean up the mess?” Owen sent endless direct messages. “Bro, are you trying to make the entire family hate you forever?” I muted my phone and blocked every single one of their numbers. However, within forty-eight hours, the narrative shifted drastically. The four of them had come forward publicly to clear Gavin’s name, releasing fabricated stories framing me as the manipulative outsider who had forced my way between Ginnifer and Gavin. Even my own parents posted a statement backing their narrative, taking the side of strangers over their own son. Overnight, tens of thousands of hateful messages flooded my inbox. Online vigilantes tracked down my university, sending mass emails to the graduate department demanding my degree be revoked. The temporary apartment I was renting was vandalized with red paint and foul garbage. My landlord evicted me on the spot, forcing me to drop off my dog at a local pet boarder while I searched for a place to stay. Three days later, I assembled a complete, undeniable timeline of records to expose their lies once and for all. Before I could post it, my phone rang with an unknown number. “Is this Mr. Neil Bennett? Last night, several individuals broke into the boarding facility and took your dog.” “We found his body in the back alley this morning. Please come by to identify him.” The news struck me like a physical blow. The phone slipped from my fingers, and I sprinted out the door. When I arrived, Bubbles lay motionless on the cold concrete. His stomach had been sliced open, his insides scattered across the dirt. I dropped to my knees, my hands trembling so violently I couldn’t touch him. My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a text from Ginnifer. “Neil, my hands were tied.” “I had no idea they were going to post those statements online, or I would have stopped them.” “But things have already escalated to this point. Trying to clarify everything during a public uproar won’t change minds anyway.” “Besides, Gavin has a heart condition. He can’t handle this level of stress.” “I also just secured the contract for the CG project, so I need you to endure this for a little while.” “Don’t worry, I will clear your name when the timing is right, and the wedding will go on as planned.” “To make it up to you, we can spend our entire honeymoon on that tropical island you’ve always wanted to visit, okay?” Logan’s message popped up right after hers. “Neil, it’s just some online hate. People will move on to something else in a few days.” Owen’s message came next. “Bro, for the sake of the family’s reputation, stop causing trouble.” I stared at the words glowing on the screen, feeling as though my chest had been hollowed out completely. A numb, crushing grief washed over me, blurring my vision. I gathered Bubbles’ cold body into my arms and began walking aimlessly along the edge of the busy road. Tires screeched and horns blared around me, but the sounds felt miles away, muffled and meaningless. In a haze of exhaustion, a deafening screech of brakes tore through the air. A heavy semi-truck failed to stop in time, sliding dangerously across the wet asphalt directly toward me.

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My coworker, Simone, waddled over to my desk, holding her rounded belly. “Nora, could you let me crash at your apartment near the office for a few months?” “Commuting across town while pregnant is killing me. I really can’t take it anymore. I promise I’ll move out the second I give birth.” I was just about to nod when a line of floating text materialized right before my eyes. [Don’t nod.] A second later, dense streams of bullet comments flooded across my vision like a bright projection screen. [The fetus in her belly lost its heartbeat three days ago.] [The child belongs to your boyfriend, Sam.] [Tonight, Simone will collapse inside your apartment. She’ll cry to everyone that you lost your mind with jealousy after discovering the truth, pushing her down the stairs.] [At that exact moment, your home network will leak the confidential bidding price for the company’s major project.] [You’ll be suspended, dragged through the dirt online, held legally liable by the company, and branded as a monster who killed a pregnant woman’s baby and sold out trade secrets.] I stared at those glowing words, a bone-chilling cold creeping up my spine inch by inch. Simone stood there, waiting expectantly for my answer. I looked down at her slightly swollen waistline, then slowly closed my laptop. “I’m sorry,” I said, my voice steady. “I don’t lend my home out to anyone.” 1 The conference room fell into a dead silence for several seconds. Simone’s eyes instantly welled up with tears. “Did I make things difficult for you? I’m so sorry, Nora. I just thought being closer to the office would make it easier to handle late-night project changes.” The product manager sitting next to me leaned in and whispered, “Nora, your place usually sits empty anyway.” Another colleague chimed in to coax me. “Yeah, it’s only for a few months. Simone’s still pushing through work despite being heavily pregnant. It really isn’t easy for her.” Trent, sitting at the head of the table, tapped his knuckles against the mahogany surface. “Nora, we’re at a critical phase of the project right now. Supporting team members isn’t a bad thing.” I raised my eyes to meet his gaze. “Trent, if this involves an employee borrowing private property, does it need to go through formal corporate compliance registration?” Trent frowned. “There’s no need to make something so simple so complicated.” “Then it’s even more inappropriate,” I replied, clicking the cap back onto my pen. “That apartment is my private property, not a company resource.” “If Simone needs a place to stay, she can apply for a corporate housing stipend according to company policy. I’ll gladly sign off on her request.” Simone bit her lower lip, tears hanging delicately from her lashes. “But finding a place on short notice is so hard right now, and anything close to the office is way too expensive.” “Nora, I thought after working through so many late nights together, we were friends.” The moment those words left her mouth, the atmosphere in the room turned uncomfortably tense. I didn’t take the emotional bait. “Even friends need boundaries.” Someone murmured quietly in the corner. “That’s so cold-hearted.” “She’s probably just terrified Simone will steal her credit for the project later.” “Being pregnant isn’t a crime. Is there really a need to guard against her like she’s an enemy?” More bullet comments drifted across my vision. [She’s putting you on the hot seat.] [Don’t bother explaining. The more you defend yourself, the more guilty you look to them.] [Sam will call you in ten minutes.] Less than ten minutes after the meeting adjourned, my phone vibrated in my hand. “Nora, I heard you turned Simone down today?” I stood inside the quiet stairwell, staring out at the hazy, gray sky beyond the windowpane. “Word travels fast to you.” He let out a low, smooth chuckle over the line. “A lot of people at our two firms went to college together. The group chats are buzzing. Don’t take it to heart, babe. I’m just worried people will misunderstand you.” “And?” “She’s a pregnant woman, Nora. There’s no reason to sour your relationship over this. It’s just crash space. You could always have her sign a short-term agreement.” The comments floated past, icy and sharp. [Listen to how considerate he sounds.] [He still remembers the backup door code to your place.] [He literally sent photos of your living room to Simone last week.] My grip on the phone tightened until my knuckles turned pale. “Sam, do you know Simone well?” There was a brief pause on the other end of the line. “I’ve heard her name around. We aren’t close.” I let out a soft smile. “Not close, huh?” “Of course not. Babe, have you been overly stressed lately? Don’t overcomplicate things or assume the worst in people.” “Right,” I said, and hung up the phone. I didn’t confront him. I didn’t scream. The bullet comments were right. Tearing off the mask right now would only warn them to switch tactics early. I walked back to my desk and sent a quick message to Audrey, our senior legal counsel. “Are you free tonight? I need your help securing some evidence.” She replied almost instantly. “What happened?” I glanced toward Simone, who was sitting a short distance away, wiping her eyes with her head lowered. “Someone wants to borrow my apartment.” “And take my life while they’re at it.” 2 After work, I drove straight to the apartment on Chestnut Street. Behind the entryway door, near the bottom frame, was a faint pencil mark. Beside it were crooked, faded numbers written years ago: Nora, age twenty. Remember to come home even when you grow up. It was the final height mark my father had drawn for me during the last year of his life. I stood in the quiet hallway, staring at those faded pencil lines for a long time. Then, I got to work. By the time Audrey arrived with two officers from the notary public, I had turned on every light in the apartment. The living room, master bedroom, study, kitchen, balcony, and bathroom were bathed in bright light. We recorded continuous video footage covering every single corner. Door locks, window latches, the Wi-Fi router, my desktop computer, bookshelves, and tamper-evident seals on the drawers were all captured clearly on camera. Audrey watched me, her eyebrows drawing together. “Who exactly are you protecting yourself against?” “A pregnant woman.” Her hands paused mid-action. “You can’t make accusations like that lightly.” “I know. That’s why I’m only collecting evidence.” In front of the notary officials, I updated the master password for the smart lock system and revoked every temporary access code ever created. The visitor pass code I had given Sam months ago was completely wiped from the system. System Notification: Access permission successfully removed. I took a screenshot and uploaded it straight to my encrypted cloud storage. Next, I restored my old home router to factory settings and requested remote technical support from Ray, the head of our IT security department. Ray listened to my instructions on the phone, remaining silent for a long moment. “Are you absolutely certain you want to wipe the authentic bidding documents from your personal local drive?” “Positive.” “Then what are we leaving on your home computer?” “A honeypot file.” “How fake are we talking?” “Fake enough to look entirely real, but embedded with tracking code so every interaction leaves a permanent digital footprint.” Ray let out a low chuckle. “Got it.” At one in the morning, a text from Sam popped up on my phone. “Still working, babe? I ordered some warm milk for you. It’s waiting at your office front desk.” A second later, Simone posted a message in the main project group chat. “It was my fault today for putting Nora in an uncomfortable position.” “Please don’t blame her, everyone. I’ll come in early tomorrow. Even if I live far away, I won’t let it slow down our project progress.” Comforting messages flooded the chat immediately. “You’re already working so hard, Simone.” “Don’t cry, take care of your health first.” “Some people get promoted into management and completely forget how hard life is for ordinary staff.” I didn’t reply. A bullet comment drifted lazily across my screen. [Don’t touch that document folder at the front desk.] [There’s a flash drive inside. The moment you plug it into your computer, it will install remote-access spyware.] I checked my phone. The receptionist had just sent a notification: “Ms. Ellis, someone dropped off a late-night snack for you along with a document folder. They said it contains important review materials.” I typed back: “Leave it untouched under the lobby security camera. I’ll have IT security collect it tomorrow morning.” The next morning, Ray walked into my office holding an anti-static bag. “You’ve got terrifying instincts, Nora.” “The flash drive contains a custom Trojan horse disguised as a PDF reader plugin. The second it touches a PC, an external party gains full remote file access.” I looked at the sleek black drive. “Can we trace the origin?” “No fingerprints on the casing, but we can trace the hardware batch number.” “Also, the courier wore a mask, but the lobby camera captured a clear side profile.” Audrey stood beside my desk, her face darkening. “Nora, from this moment on, do not handle any project materials in private.” I nodded. “I need to file a formal compliance disclosure with the company.” “Regarding what?” “My boyfriend, Sam, is the project lead for our main competitor on this bid.” Audrey let out a rare curse. “Why are you only telling me this now?” I kept my voice low. “Because I only realized today that he might be far more than just a boyfriend.” 3 The night before the final bid sealing, Trent suddenly ordered me to head to our client’s East District headquarters. “The client representative requires the project lead to confirm a clarification letter in person. It should only take thirty minutes back and forth.” I scanned the email CC list. Sam was included in the client communication thread. The bullet comments refreshed rapidly. [Classic diversion tactic.] [They’re breaking into your apartment right now.] [Don’t go alone. Take legal counsel with you and keep your GPS location active.] I turned around and grabbed Audrey. “Come with me.” Trent’s expression turned sour. “Why are you bringing legal? The client will think we don’t trust them.” Audrey clipped her employee badge onto her blazer. “Company policy requires legal presence for any offline confirmations during the blackout period before bid submission.” Trent didn’t say another word. On the drive to the East District, I activated continuous audio recording and shared my real-time location with Ray. When we arrived at the client’s corporate building, the receptionist informed us that the representative had left minutes ago. When I dialed his cell, his assistant offered a vague excuse: “He must have gotten the meeting time mixed up.” Audrey and I exchanged a sharp glance. We turned around and raced back toward the city. Halfway through the drive, my phone buzzed violently. It was Mr. Davis, the property manager at Chestnut Street, his voice trembling through the speaker. “Ms. Ellis, you need to get back here right now! Something terrible happened inside your apartment!” My blood ran cold. “Who is in my apartment?” “A pregnant woman! She said she’s your coworker. She collapsed in your living room, there’s blood on the floor, and the ambulance is already on its way!” Audrey gripped my wrist firmly. “Stay calm. Don’t say anything over the phone.” I stared out the car window at the streetlights flashing past in a blur. The bullet comments flared up, blindingly dense. [Her performance has started.] [Someone has already posted photos in your work group chat.] [The corporate security system is about to sound an automated alarm.] Sure enough, a second later, the main project chat exploded. Someone had uploaded a photo. It was my living room. Simone lay motionless on the hardwood floor, her face deathly pale, her hands clutching her stomach, and a streak of blood smearing her dress. The caption read: Something horrible happened at Nora’s place! Simone looks like she’s having a miscarriage! Immediately after, an automated IT security alert popped up on my screen. Alert: Core bidding file transmission detected. Source IP: Unit 602, Chestnut Street, Nora Ellis residential network. The group chat went completely chaotic. “Her home network? Are you serious?” “Why was Simone even at her apartment?” “Nora turned her down yesterday, and now Simone’s injured in her living room? That’s way too suspicious.” “The confidential bid was leaked from her home? Isn’t her boyfriend that project director from Nexus Systems?” My fingertips turned ice-cold. Sam’s name lit up my screen. I answered the call. “Nora, where are you? Simone said you two got into an argument… She fell.” I asked, my voice flat, “What else did she say?” He paused for a heartbeat. “She said… you found out about the baby.” “What baby?” “Nora,” he lowered his tone, sounding deeply concerned. “Now isn’t the time to assign blame. Come back right now, cooperate with everyone, and keep your attitude cooperative. I’ll help you hire a top defense lawyer.” A cold, bitter laugh escaped my lips. “You’ll help me, Sam?” “I’m doing this for your own good, babe.” “Then meet me at the scene.” I hung up. Ten minutes later, I sprinted up the stairs to the sixth floor. The hallway was packed with onlookers. Paramedics were wheeling a stretcher out of my doorway. Simone lay on it, cold sweat glistening on her forehead. The moment she caught sight of me, tears spilled uncontrollably down her cheeks. “Nora, I just wanted a place closer to work so I could help finish the project!” “Even if you found out the baby belongs to Sam, how could you do this to me?”

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1 I told my husband to take the trash out on his way, but our bag was still sitting right by our front door. Instead, I watched him effortlessly pick up the leaking bag in front of our neighbor’s apartment. He offered his usual smooth explanation. “It was on the way. Besides, she’s your best friend’s sister.” My neighbor was Stella, my best friend’s older sister. She was also a single mother. Every single time my husband stepped in to help her, he pulled out the exact same line: “She’s your best friend’s sister.” Even Harper, my best friend, would back him up, telling me I was making a mountain out of a molehill. Yet he only ever noticed Stella’s needs. Mine were completely invisible to him. Even when I practically screamed for help, he was deaf to it. For ten long years, I asked him countless times to take out the trash. He never did it once. Yet for ten solid years, he carried Stella’s trash down the hall every single day without fail. I stood there, staring at the kitchen waste that had begun to rot in the summer heat. It smelled just like our ten year marriage. I tied up the foul bag and threw it away myself. Next on my list was this rotten marriage. … That night, I brought up divorce to Derek. I had mentally prepared for every possible reaction from him, but what actually happened caught me completely off guard. Without a word, he rushed straight to the living room closet to grab his toolbox. “Babe, whatever it is, let’s talk later,” he blurted out, heading for the front door. “Stella’s overhead light is flickering. I need to go fix it.” Toolbox in hand, he didn’t even pause. “After all, she’s your best friend’s sister.” I watched his back as he hurried away, a sharp, stabbing pain blooming in my chest. A light bulb at Stella’s place was a crisis of monumental proportions to him. My request for a divorce did not even register. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms. “Don’t go!” Derek frowned, looking back at me with a flash of annoyance, as if I were delaying something vital. “Stop throwing a fit, babe.” “Stella is a single mother raising a kid alone. Her lights are out. What do you expect her to do?” There it was again. That exact sentence. Whether it was moving furniture, picking up packages, or even peeling fruit for Stella, Derek was always first in line. He catered to her every tiny inconvenience with terrifying devotion. And every time, he would recite: “What do you expect a single mother to do?” Yet when it came to our own home, he was blind to everything. Faucets, light fixtures, clogged drains, I fixed every single one of them myself. He would make vague promises to handle them, but he never moved a finger. Even my best friend, Harper, used that same excuse to lecture me. “Come on, my sister has it so hard raising a boy on her own. Just let your husband help them out a bit.” “Can you stop overreacting for once?” Was I really overreacting? I watched Derek sprint across the hall toward Stella’s open door with an urgency he had never once shown for me. When I accidentally sliced my finger while chopping vegetables, he didn’t even turn his head from the TV. “Slap a Band-Aid on it.” When a heavy box fell off the top closet shelf and bruised my shoulder, he merely glanced up. “You okay?” Yet here he was, tearing out of the house just to fix a single light bulb, terrified that a single second might be wasted. I sat on the living room sofa for two full hours. When Derek finally walked back inside, I didn’t hesitate. “I want a divorce.” He poured himself a glass of water, took a slow drink, and only then seemed to process what I had said. His expression turned into one of pure bewilderment. “What are you talking about?” “I go fix one light bulb and you want to split up?” I looked down at the faint scar on my knee, left behind the last time I climbed a ladder to fix a light myself. “It’s about the trash, too.” “You never carried out a single bag for me, but you take hers out every day.” Derek let out a short, incredulous laugh. “Do you even hear yourself right now?” “We’re in our thirties, Hazel. We’re not insecure twenty-year-olds anymore.” “Are you seriously getting jealous over something this pathetic?” Before I could reply, the front door clicked open. Stella stood in the entryway, looking pale and terrified, clutching her cardigan to her chest. “Derek, are you guys fighting because of me?” She immediately turned toward me, her voice trembling with desperate apology. “Hazel, please don’t be mad at Derek.” “It’s all my fault. I’m just so useless at handling house stuff, so I always end up bothering him.” “If you’re going to blame anyone, blame me.” Tears trickled down her cheeks right on cue. I stared at our front door in utter shock. Stella knew the keycode to my home. She had punched it in with effortless familiarity. How did she get it? Even my best friend didn’t know our door code. The answer was sitting right in front of me. Derek was already at her side, gently wiping away her tears, his eyes filled with tender concern. Because of Stella’s tears, Harper rushed over in the middle of the night. The three of them sat together on my living room sofa, with Stella sandwiched right in the middle. Derek and Harper took turns telling jokes, doing everything they could to make her smile again. I sat on a single dining chair nearby like an absolute outsider, watching the spectacle unfold. A bitter realization washed over me. It had always been like this. Whenever the four of us were together, this was the dynamic. If I needed to go shopping, the trip would somehow end with Derek and Harper picking out clothes and home goods for Stella. If we went to the movies and couldn’t get four seats in a row, the lone seat in the back was always mine. The three of them would sit together. One would feed Stella popcorn, while the other handed her a drink. When the movie ended, they would walk out chatting and laughing about the plot, completely forgetting that I was trailing behind them. Every single time, I was the one running to catch up. I was the one forcing myself into a group that didn’t want me. Not anymore. Finally, Stella let out a soft giggle, put at ease by their frantic efforts. Derek and Harper simultaneously let out a long sigh of relief. Then Harper turned to me, her expression instantly souring. “I think you owe my sister an apology, Hazel.” Even Derek chimed in, his tone scolding. “Babe, you really scared Stella tonight.” “She’s fragile. She can’t handle seeing people fight.” “Just apologize to her.” I sat there, utterly speechless. I was in my own house, having a private argument with my own husband. What on earth did I do wrong? It was Stella who had unlocked my front door and barged into my home uninvited. Seeing my silence, Harper’s face darkened further. “Don’t make this so ugly, Hazel.” “We’ve been best friends for twenty years. Can’t you even apologize to my sister for my sake?” Right. Because Stella was my best friend’s sister, I had apologized to her dozens of times over the years. When she saw our wedding photos on the living room wall and burst into tears, Harper demanded I apologize for reminding Stella of her failed marriage. I not only apologized, I packed away every single wedding photo in the house. When she saw me buying baby clothes for my own pregnancy, she cried again. Harper accused me of showing off that my baby would have a father, while Stella’s son didn’t. I apologized again. And back then, Harper even had the nerve to suggest: “Maybe you shouldn’t have this baby. Otherwise, every time my sister sees your child with a dad, she’s going to cry for her own kid.” Even Derek had lapsed into a thoughtful silence when Harper said that, as if he genuinely thought it was a reasonable point. Back then, I naively thought Stella was just pitiable, so everyone felt protective of her. Now I finally understood the truth. They didn’t care about pity. They cared about Stella, and they completely erased me. I placed my hand over my lower abdomen, feeling the faint, gentle flutter inside. My resolve hardened into steel. I was divorcing Derek. I would not bring my child into a world where these people could walk all over them. My child would not be sacrificed just because Stella’s son didn’t have a father. I slowly uncurled my fists, revealing deep, red crescent marks etched into my palms. “I want a divorce,” I repeated, my voice quiet and unwavering. Harper’s face changed instantly. Without another word, she and Derek escorted Stella back across the hall. When Harper returned to my living room a few minutes later, her expression was furious. “What is wrong with you, Hazel?” “Just because Derek took out her trash and fixed a light bulb, you’re demanding a divorce? And you had to say all that right in front of my sister?” Derek sighed heavily from the doorway. “You really crossed the line this time.” “Throwing a tantrum in our own home and terrifying an innocent person.” I looked at the two people standing before me. One was my husband of ten years. The other was my best friend since childhood. A cold, mocking laugh escaped my lips. It was all so utterly pointless. I didn’t waste another word on them. I turned and walked straight into the bedroom, locking the door behind me. If Derek refused to sign the papers, I would simply hire a lawyer. Late that night, Derek slipped into bed and wrapped his arms around me from behind, letting out a long, weary sigh. “Alright, babe, stop being mad.” “I’ll take out our trash from now on, okay? Just stop throwing around the word divorce.” Was he actually trying to fix things? Just as I opened my mouth to speak, he continued softly against my ear. “By the way, babe… I’m thinking about becoming Toby’s godfather.” “That five-year-old kid has no father around. It’s just devastating to watch.” “Don’t overthink it, okay? It’s just… you have no idea how happy he gets every time he sees me…” Toby was Stella’s son. I ripped myself out of his grip, staring at him in complete horror. “What did you just say?” “You want to be his godfather? What about our baby?” What about the child growing inside me right now? Derek had never once gently rubbed my belly. He had never spoken a single word to my bump. I had assumed he was just nervous about becoming a father for the first time. Now I realized the truth. His heart and mind were entirely consumed by Stella. Even Stella’s son mattered more to him than his own blood. Looking at his guilty silence, my heart plummeted into a dark, bottomless pit. Ten years of marriage, rendered an absolute joke. We slept on opposite edges of the mattress that night, neither of us uttering another word. The next afternoon, Harper came over to the apartment carrying a bakery box. She offered a sweet, apologetic smile. “Don’t be mad anymore, Hazel. I was just stressed yesterday.” “Today is your birthday! Let’s go out for a nice lunch to celebrate!” She pulled me out the door and led me to a restaurant nearby. Derek was already seated at a table, having ordered a full spread of my favorite dishes. They sat on either side of me, wishing me a happy birthday. Until Stella walked into the dining room. I knew then that my birthday celebration was officially over. The moment she sat down, she announced excitedly, “I have amazing news, everyone!” “I’m pregnant!” With tears of joy in her eyes, she pulled out a medical confirmation sheet. Before the paper even hit the table, Derek and Harper had both abandoned their seats to crowd around her. “Congratulations, sis!” “We have to celebrate this!” “Oh, look, we even have a cake right here!” Harper picked up my birthday cake and placed it directly in front of her sister. Derek lit the candles and smiled warmly at Stella. “Quick, make a wish! Wish for a healthy, happy baby!” Stella closed her eyes, holding her hands together in prayer. When she blew out the candles, Derek and Harper clapped enthusiastically. I sat alone in the corner of the booth, watching them share their joy. I was used to it. For the past ten years, I had never once gotten to blow out my own candles or eat my own birthday cake. Every single year on my birthday, Stella would magically show up with some marvelous piece of news to share. A flower she planted had finally bloomed. A boutique she liked had opened a new branch. She had managed to buy a limited-edition coat online. No matter how trivial her news was, they would hijack my day to celebrate her. My birthday cake inevitably became her celebration cake. Except this year, her grand news wasn’t some minor detail. “Who’s the father?” I asked, my voice cutting through their laughter. Everyone turned to look at me, as if they had only just realized another human being was sitting at the table. Stella pulled a playful face. “It’s a secret!” I didn’t push further. I stood up and walked to the restroom. When I stepped back into the dining area, the booth was completely empty. All that remained was a table of leftover food and the unpaid bill. A bitter smile touched my lips. This was my birthday, exactly like every year before it. After settling the bill, I walked out of the restaurant to look for them. As I turned the corner down the hallway near the private rooms, I caught the sound of Derek’s voice. “Stella, why didn’t you tell me about the pregnancy earlier?” Stella replied softly, “I only found out today.” “What are we going to do, Derek? What about Hazel?” My mind went completely blank. What did she mean, what about Hazel? What on earth did her pregnancy have to do with me? Then Derek spoke again, his tone resolute. “Don’t be scared, Stella. I’ll lay it all out for Hazel.” “I’ll tell her the baby is mine, and that I’m going to take full responsibility.” A loud bang resonated in my ears, and my world spun on its axis. So Derek’s constant care and devotion toward Stella hadn’t been driven by sympathy at all. They were having an affair. What shook me to my core, however, was Harper’s response. “It’s fine, sis. Don’t back down now.” “I’ve watched you and Derek all these years. If you ask me, the one who isn’t loved is the real intruder.” Those words detonated right in my ears. My blood ran cold, freezing in my veins. The same Harper who had once fiercely warned Derek that he would be dead meat if he ever cheated on me was now declaring that the unloved wife was the real homewrecker. No wonder no one at the table had asked who the father was. They knew all along. I was the only fool kept completely in the dark, allowing them to mock me for years. My husband of ten years and my best friend of twenty years had joined hands to destroy me. Despite the scorching summer heat outside, I shook violently from a chilling cold. I couldn’t even remember how I dragged my trembling body back home. When I stepped through the door, Derek was busy in the kitchen. “Stella is pregnant now, so we need to step up and take extra care of her from here on out.” Ten minutes later, he placed a freshly sliced plate of fruit into a container, preparing to walk it across the hall. I grabbed his arm, tears finally spilling over. “I’m pregnant too.” Why was I never treated with this level of tenderness? Why had neither of them ever cared for me like this? Derek shoved my arm away with an impatient scowl. “Stop throwing fits, Hazel!” “It’s just a plate of fruit. Do you really have to compete with Stella over everything?” With that, he turned and walked out the door. Before Stella became our neighbor, Derek had been attentive and sweet to me. Now, every ounce of his care and affection belonged exclusively to Stella. What was the point of holding onto a marriage like this? I grabbed the divorce papers from my bag and walked across the hall to Stella’s apartment. Her five-year-old son, Toby, opened the door. Neither Stella nor Derek was in the living room. Only the bedroom door at the end of the hall was tightly shut. A wave of intense nausea hit my stomach. Before I could move, Toby suddenly sprinted forward and shoved me hard. “You bad woman! Who allowed you into my house to steal my daddy!” The sudden push threw me off balance. My heel caught on a hard plastic toy ball on the floor. I tumbled backward, crashing violently onto the floor. A sharp, unbearable agony exploded in my lower abdomen. Through the blinding pain, I watched the bedroom door remain firmly closed. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a sterile hospital bed. My baby was gone. An hour later, the three of them walked into my hospital room together. Before any of them could speak, I handed the signed divorce papers directly to Derek. “Sign it.” “I’m setting you both free.” Just moments ago, I had received a formal job offer from a major firm in New York. My flight was already booked.

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