Author: Momo Chan

My best friend and I got sucked into the romance novel I wrote. We were living the absolute dream. We had the two male leads—one a broad-shouldered, tailored-suit god, the other with stamina that defied human biology. We were practically drowning in perfection. Until another girl crossed over into the manuscript. Because of her, my best friend was strapped to a human roulette wheel, enduring torture that caused her to miscarry. Five separate times. I became this girl’s personal blood bank, submerged in a giant vat of liquor as a “vintage beauty,” served up for a crowd of degenerates to taste. And our two perfect men? They slowly, inexplicably, changed their hearts. The manipulative little bitch flaunted it in our faces. “So what if your babies died? So what if you’re drained of blood?” she purred, her smile razor-sharp. “One phone call. That’s all it takes for your husbands to drop everything and come running to me. Tell me, which one should I let share my bed tonight?” My best friend, Maddie, gripped my hand. She didn’t have any tears left to cry. “Heather,” she whispered, her voice hollow. “I can’t take this anymore. Let’s just pull the plug. Let’s die here so we can wake up in the real world.” I stayed completely silent. The rule was simple: finish the plot, and the System would grant our deepest wishes. I didn’t care about the eight hundred million dollars I had wished for anymore. But Maddie? In the real world, Maddie had terminal cancer. Going back early meant going back to die. I ground my teeth together, grabbed her arm, and shoved her behind me. “I’ll pull the plug. I’ll die,” I told her fiercely. “You stay alive. You survive the plot.” “The second I wake up on the other side, I’m opening my laptop and rewriting this whole damn thing. Share her bed? I’m going to scatter her ashes to the wind!” … 1 “I’m going to write a scene where she falls into a cesspool seven times. I’m going to make her run naked through the streets. I will torture her to death on the page for you, I swear to God.” A faint, desperate flicker of light finally returned to Maddie’s deadened eyes. Just for that flicker, I needed to die. Right now. I spun around and sprinted straight for the window. I was just about to throw my leg over the sill when my peripheral vision caught movement down in the courtyard. A tall, chillingly handsome man was kneeling on the pavement, tying a woman’s shoelace. Six-foot-two, sharp jawline, lean muscle. It was a silhouette I knew better than my own reflection. My husband. Declan. I ground my teeth, mentally calculating the distance to the ground. Part of me wondered if I should just aim my trajectory to crush them both on impact. Declan must have sensed something. He looked up. His eyes locked onto me, dangling halfway out the second-story window. His pupils contracted violently. “Heather!” he roared. “Get back inside right now!” I stretched my mouth into a cold, hollow smile and flipped him the bird. I closed my eyes and leaned forward into the empty air. Suddenly, something tight wrapped around my waist. A brutal force yanked me backward, dragging me violently onto the carpet. Declan’s secretary was clutching me, chest heaving, his face pale with raw panic. Seconds later, Declan burst into the room. He was ashen. “Are you out of your mind, Heather?!” he shouted, his voice cracking with rage. “Throwing a tantrum with your life?! Do you have any idea how high that is?!” He stood there panting. Then, his eyes flicked to the girl standing timidly behind him—Isabelle. Instantly, a chilling calm washed over him. “They were right. You’re becoming an absolute embarrassment,” he sneered, adjusting his cuffs. “Pulling a stunt like this in front of a guest. It’s pathetic.” I leaned back against the wall. A breathless, broken little laugh escaped my throat. “Oh. So I’m an embarrassment.” I looked at him. “And here I thought you were actually worried about me.” He stiffened, his gaze darting away uncomfortably. “Enough. It’s rare for Isabelle to visit. Stop causing a scene.” He turned his back to me. “She loves mangoes. Go cut a plate and be a decent hostess for once.” Maddie stared at him, absolutely paralyzed with shock, before turning her heartbroken eyes to me. I froze, too. Then, I smiled. A bright, compliant smile. “Sure.” Down in the kitchen, the bright, heavy mangoes sat on the cutting board. I picked up the knife. A passing maid happened to glance over. The color instantly drained from her face. She screamed, dropping her towels, and practically tackled me away from the counter before running hysterically toward the living room to beg Declan for mercy. “Mr. Declan, I am so, so sorry! The new grocery shopper didn’t know—they didn’t know Mrs. Heather is deathly allergic to mangoes! Please don’t be angry, I’ll throw them all out right now!” Declan froze. It hit him. Just touching the skin of a mango would send my throat into anaphylaxis. In the past, if a single mango ever crossed the threshold of our house, he would fire the entire kitchen staff. A complicated storm of emotions flickered in his eyes. He raised an eyebrow, his voice dropping to a freezing register. “Does she not know her own allergies? She has a mouth, doesn’t she?” He scoffed. “She just had to wait until an audience was watching to get close to them. Who is this performance for?” The corners of Isabelle’s mouth twitched upward before she quickly suppressed it. She clung to Declan’s arm, looking up at him with wide, tearful eyes. “Declan, please don’t be mad at Heather. As a woman… I understand how she feels.” She let out a delicate little sniffle. “She’s definitely doing this on purpose. She thinks if she puts herself in danger, you’ll feel sorry for her, and then… and then you won’t want to see me anymore. If she hates me being here this much, I should just go!” She was incredibly good at crying. It was the kind of crying designed to break a man’s heart. Declan’s brow furrowed in deep distress. “Apologize to Isabelle,” he demanded. Here we go again. Over the last few years, if Isabelle dropped a glass, it was because I startled her. If she rolled her ankle, it was because I pushed her. If she picked a fight with Declan, it was because I manipulated them. I’d apologized eight hundred times. If they weren’t sick of hearing it, I was certainly sick of saying it. I raised my hand and pressed the cold steel of the kitchen knife flush against my own neck. “I’ll apologize with my life,” I whispered. “Is that enough?” Declan just rolled his eyes, utterly exhausted by me. “Not this again! Heather, when are you going to get it through your head? These psychotic tantrums only make me despise you. They don’t make me pity you!” The blade rested against my pulse, but the freezing cold went straight down to my soul. I suddenly remembered a time, years ago, when I nicked my finger slicing a strawberry. Declan had practically had a panic attack. He held my hand, blowing on the tiny cut, tearing apart the bathroom to find a band-aid, and then kissing the plastic once he wrapped it. I had laughed at him. Is this really necessary? It’s just a scratch. It is, he had said, looking at me dead serious. When you hurt, I hurt. But now, holding a butcher knife to my own throat was just a “psychotic tantrum.” He had the exact same face. The exact same voice. But where did my Declan go? I looked across the room at the man staring at me with nothing but cold disgust. I smiled, letting two hot tears spill down my cheeks. “Declan,” I breathed. “I really miss you.” His eyes violently trembled. I closed my eyes and slammed my neck toward the blade. 2 A large, heavily-knuckled hand slammed over the sharp edge of the blade, stopping it dead. The metallic tang of blood instantly filled the air. “Heather, are you out of your goddamn mind?!” My older brother, Colin, glared at me, his eyes blazing with furious disbelief. He raised his uninjured hand and swung it hard toward my face. Maddie threw herself in front of me. The slap landed across her cheek with a sickening crack. Colin froze, staring at his palm. But a second later, the anger morphed into something uglier. “Maddie, look at what you’ve done to my sister!” he roared. “She throws her life around like it’s a joke! If you don’t even respect your own life, how do you expect anyone else to love you?!” His chest heaved. He struggled to catch his breath before spitting out the final, venomous words: “You’re both pathetic idiots!” I stared at him, and a hysterical urge to laugh bubbled up in my chest. This was my second male lead. The man I wrote to be gentle, refined, the ultimate protector. In my original outline, “idiot” was the absolute harshest word his character was even capable of saying. I never thought he’d use it as a weapon against us. “She doesn’t respect her own life?” I asked, my voice dropping to a dead, icy calm. “Do you have any idea how desperately she tried to protect herself and her babies?” The first baby. Isabelle “accidentally” dropped saffron into her soup. Hemorrhage. Gone. The second baby. Colin was too busy fixing a leak at Isabelle’s apartment, so he made Maddie walk home alone in a thunderstorm. She slipped. Miscarriage. Gone. The third. The fourth. The fifth… “Colin, use your goddamn brain,” I snarled. “Who exactly is it that doesn’t respect her life?!” Beside me, Maddie was shaking violently, silent sobs wracking her frail body. A flash of raw guilt crossed Colin’s eyes. He raised his hand, instinctively reaching out to wipe Maddie’s tears. But Isabelle gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in innocent horror. “Five babies? Lost?” she whispered. “That’s… well, maybe it’s just natural selection? If the genetics were that flawed, bringing them into the world would have just been cruel.” She tilted her head, her eyes wide. “Besides… isn’t it a little strange? Five times? Do you think she… maybe she did it to herself, just to get your attention?” Maddie flinched as if she’d been shot. She turned, her eyes bloodshot, screaming from the depths of her lungs. “What the hell are you saying?! I would never kill my own children for a man’s love!” “Wouldn’t you?” Colin’s hand dropped. It was obvious. He believed Isabelle. He looked at Maddie, a cold, clinical disgust rising to the surface of his eyes. Then, he turned to Isabelle, his voice softening into something like velvet. “Izzy, I’m so sorry. I never should have brought you to this house today. Let’s go to that private kitchen you like. I’ll cook for you myself to make up for this.” Isabelle hooked her left arm through my brother’s. She grabbed Declan’s hand with her right. She looked back at us, smiling. Sweet. Triumphant. The heavy front door slammed shut. It sounded like a gunshot. I pulled Maddie to my chest, running my hand down her back, over and over. “It’s okay. They’re just characters on a page. It’s okay. Don’t be sad.” I was lying. It felt like my ribs were caving in. Declan and Colin were the men Maddie and I had built from the ground up. We poured our ideal types into them, meticulously designing every trait, every flaw, every tender moment. They were born into this universe specifically to be our perfect matches. But my love felt like he’d been hollowed out and replaced by a parasite. I held Maddie tighter, rocking her, trying to soothe her—trying to soothe myself. “It’s going to be okay. As soon as I die and log out, I’m rewriting the manuscript. Everything will go back to normal.” I dug through Maddie’s purse and pulled out her sleeping pills. I poured a handful into my palm. I was just about to swallow them dry. Suddenly, the front door burst open. A group of furious executives stormed into our living room, pointing straight at Maddie. “You absolute psycho! You run that account, don’t you?!” 3 My brother’s corporate social media had exploded. Two weeks ago, a young woman had posted a picture of her new tattoo. The official corporate account had replied to the thread, publicly accusing her of being a sex worker. The ensuing cyberbullying had been so severe the girl had committed suicide. Now, her family and their lawyers were standing in our living room. Maddie shook her head, terrified and confused. “No, it wasn’t me. The account manager is—” “Stop lying! Your own company just released a statement! You murdered my daughter, and I’m going to make you pay!” A phone was shoved inches from our faces. It was a statement. Posted by my brother. “Due to reckless statements made by my wife while managing the corporate accounts…” At that exact second, Maddie’s phone buzzed. A text from Colin. “Maddie, Izzy is fragile and terrified. I need you to take the fall for this for now. I’ll figure something out later.” Maddie stared at the screen, her eyes wide, unable to process the absolute magnitude of the betrayal. Before she could even breathe, the mob lunged. I threw myself over Maddie, wrapping my body around hers, screaming over the chaos. “Isabelle was running the account! Go check the IP! It was Isabelle!” “Isabelle is just a junior assistant. Why would she have top-tier clearance for corporate socials?” Declan’s voice cut through the room like a glacier. He was standing in the doorway, shielding Isabelle behind him, his eyes sharp and unforgiving. “I can personally testify,” Declan said smoothly. “That account has always been managed jointly by Maddie and Heather.” Behind his broad shoulders, Isabelle shot me a wicked, victorious smirk. In that moment, whatever was left of my heart finally flatlined. The blows started raining down. Fists, boots, briefcases. Maddie and I were desperately trying to shield each other, scrambling to take the brunt of the hits. But her body was weak. I was stronger. I made sure I took every single hit. The dull, sickening thuds echoed through the room as shoes connected with my ribs. Maddie was wailing, a sound of absolute despair. “Heather, stop! Stop protecting me! I know this is breaking your heart more than mine!” she sobbed. “I don’t want to suffer anymore! Let’s just go home. I don’t care how long I have left in the real world, it’s fine, I just want to—” Gag. My body finally gave out. I violently coughed up a massive mouthful of dark blood, staining Maddie’s white shirt red. My vision tunneled into black. The world went completely silent. The exit door back to reality slowly began to materialize in my mind. But suddenly, I felt someone sprinting toward me like a madman. Arms wrapped around me, crushing me to a chest, shielding me from the mob. Then came the rhythmic, sterile beep-beep of hospital monitors. And Isabelle’s grating, falsely tearful voice. “Declan, it’s all my fault.” A sniffle. “But Heather has always been so healthy. Do you think she’s faking it again? Just to make you feel bad?” Declan didn’t answer her. Instead, I felt hot drops of water landing on my neck. They burned. They made my heart physically ache. “Heather,” Declan whispered over and over again. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think this would happen. Please wake up. I’ll give you anything you want.” His voice broke. “You always loved touching my abs, right? If you wake up, I’ll let you do it every single day.” A faint, ghostly laugh echoed in my own mind. Yeah. I did. Every night before bed, I’d reach over and feel for his stomach. It was a ritual. He used to pretend to be annoyed. He’d complain that my hands were freezing, that I was being clingy. But he would always lift his shirt and pull my hands against his bare skin anyway. That was my Declan. The man sitting next to this hospital bed wasn’t him. So, it was time to leave. I let my consciousness sink deeper into the dark. But just as I was slipping away, Isabelle’s cold, mocking whisper brushed against my ear. “I know exactly what you’re trying to do. And I’m not going to let you die that easily.” “If you keep sleeping… your best friend is going to be destroyed.” Maddie’s agonizing scream suddenly ripped through the air. 4 I jolted awake, gasping for air. Isabelle was leaning over the bed, holding her phone inches from my face. A video was playing. It was my brother, Colin. He had Maddie pinned against a wall by her throat. His eyes were bloodshot with rage. “You and Heather set her up, didn’t you?! You told that mob Izzy was running the account so they’d go after her!” he roared in the video. “Do you have any idea what she’s been through these past few days? Stalked outside the office, death threats blowing up her phone! She’s practically a kid! How could you be so vicious?!” Maddie’s face cycled through shock, pain, and finally, a hollow, devastating resignation. “I did it,” she rasped. “Heather had nothing to do with it. If you want revenge, take it out on me.” The video snapped off. I was trembling so violently the bed frame rattled. I lunged forward and grabbed Isabelle by the collar. “What did you do to her?!” Isabelle giggled. “Oops. You fell for it.” In a fraction of a second, her expression contorted into sheer terror, and she began sobbing hysterically. “Heather, please! Please don’t hurt me!” The door crashed open. Declan burst in, instantly pulling her behind him, his face etched with panic. Isabelle buried her face in his shoulder. “Declan, look. I wasn’t lying.” “She was faking the coma! Whenever you leave the room, she wakes up and beats me! Look at the bruises, she did this to me!” Declan stared at me, his eyes wide with revulsion. He kicked a metal chair across the room; it slammed into the wall. “Heather! What is your goddamn problem?! I sat by this bed for three nights without sleeping, isn’t that enough for you?!” “Can’t we just have a normal life?! Why do you insist on torturing her?!” I stared back at him. This face. I had stared at the computer screen and mapped out every angle of it. The sharp brow, the straight nose, the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he was genuinely happy. Now, those eyes held nothing but pure, unadulterated hatred. And strangely, that realization brought a terrifying calm over me. “Where is Maddie?” I asked evenly. Isabelle wiped a fake tear. “You and Maddie just went too far this time.” “Declan and Colin are too soft-hearted. I couldn’t bear to see you two manipulate them anymore. So I sent her to a correctional facility. To help her learn some manners.” A loud, deafening ringing filled my ears. I vaulted out of the bed and slapped her across the face with everything I had. Declan grabbed my wrist. He squeezed so hard I thought the bones would snap. “Heather!” he roared. I looked him dead in the eye and gave him a bloody, feral smile. “I guess I’ve gone too far, too. Why don’t you send me there to join her?” The “correctional facility” was an underground nightclub. The second they dragged me through the doors, I saw her. Maddie was strapped spreadeagle to a massive wooden roulette wheel. She was the needle. The outer rim of the wheel was painted with punishments. Shots. Needles. Cigarette burns. Wherever she stopped, that was what she got. She was covered in blood and burns. When she saw me, her swollen eyes immediately filled with tears. I screamed and tried to sprint toward the stage, but two massive bouncers slammed me into the ground, pinning my arms behind my back. Isabelle didn’t even bother acting anymore. She threw her head back and laughed. “Your bestie has had a rough night! Good thing you’re here. Want to help her carry the load?” “She spins, you take the punishment. Deal?” Before I could even open my mouth, she reached out and violently spun the wheel. Maddie blurred into a circle of motion. The G-force was too much; her eyes rolled back, and she passed out completely. I was thrashing against the guards, seeing red. The wheel slowly ground to a halt. The entire club erupted into cheers. “Vintage Beauty! Vintage Beauty!” the crowd chanted. Isabelle looked at where the needle had stopped. A slow, wicked smile spread across her face as she looked me up and down. “Looks like your luck just ran out, Heather.” 5 A crew of men wheeled out an enormous, reinforced glass tank. It was filled to the brim with amber liquor that sloshed heavily under the strobe lights. “This is the club’s specialty,” Isabelle announced to the room. “We’re going to use you to flavor the whiskey. Everyone here gets a glass. A little taste of high society.” The crowd roared as I was dragged up onto the platform. Isabelle leaned in close, her eyes glittering with malice. “You think you can just pull the plug and escape to rewrite the plot?” she hissed. “In your dreams. I am going to make sure you two beg for death, and I’ll never let you have it.” I froze. How did she know about the plot? Before my brain could process it, Isabelle shoved me hard toward the edge of the tank. A split second before I fell, I grabbed fistfuls of her shirt and yanked her with me. “I didn’t come here to be tortured,” I laughed right in her face. “I came here to drag you to hell with me!” Splash! The freezing alcohol rushed into my nose and throat. The burning and the suffocation were instantaneous. But I kept my arms locked around Isabelle like a vice, sinking us both. I smiled as the bubbles escaped her screaming mouth. Then, I heard a muffled, familiar shout from above the surface. Someone plunged into the tank. Strong hands grabbed my wrist. The grip was desperate. Terrified. Like they were holding onto their entire world. I forced my burning eyes open. Through the swirling amber liquid, I saw his face. Brows pulled together in panic, lips pressed tight. Declan. He came for me? My heart gave a pathetic, hopeful flutter. But in the next second… He systematically pried my fingers apart, one by one. He ripped Isabelle out of my grip, pulled her into his chest, and kicked off the bottom. He swam toward the surface. He never looked back. I sank back to the bottom of the glass. I watched their silhouettes break the surface and disappear into the glaring lights of the club. Fine. So this is how it ends. Just as the edges of my vision started to turn black, the glass tank groaned under the pressure. CRACK. The reinforced glass shattered. Thousands of gallons of liquor exploded outward, washing me violently across the concrete floor. I collapsed on my hands and knees, violently hacking up alcohol, my lungs screaming. A heavy hand patted my back. Colin. He was drenched, chest heaving. He looked at me, and for a fraction of a second, there was genuine, agonizing heartbreak in his eyes. “Heather, you absolute idiot,” he breathed. I spat out a mouthful of whiskey and gave a weak, breathless laugh. I couldn’t believe that didn’t kill me. Across the room, Isabelle was clinging to Declan, hyperventilating in a perfectly orchestrated panic attack. “I just came to see them… I just wanted to make peace with her, but Heather tried to murder me!” Instantly, two pairs of frigid eyes locked onto me. Declan and Colin immediately started shouting for doctors. They flanked Isabelle on both sides. Wrapping her in thick towels, vigorously drying her hair, holding a cup of hot water to her lips. Absolute, gentle devotion. All for her. Meanwhile, a bouncer grabbed me by the ankle, dragged me into a dark back room, and dumped me on the floor. I pulled my knees to my chest. My heart was beating erratically. Too fast. My face felt like it was on fire. My throat was tightening. Every breath was a struggle. Through the haze, a memory hit me. The IV bag at the hospital. Ceftriaxone. Cephalosporin antibiotics. I had just inhaled and swallowed a massive amount of alcohol. I instinctively opened my mouth to call for help. Through the cracked door, I saw Declan and Colin’s backs. They were leaning over Isabelle, whispering something soothing. She was smiling, her eyes curving into sweet little crescents. Out of the corner of her eye, she shot me a smug, triumphant look. I closed my mouth. The corners of my lips slowly turned up. I went through all that trouble to find a window to jump out of. Turns out, dying was actually this easy. In the dim yellow light of the back room, I curled myself into a tight ball. I kept my eyes fixed on the backs of the men I had created, and I quietly went to sleep. I don’t know how much time passed. Eventually, a doctor declared Isabelle was perfectly fine, and I heard the two men let out long sighs of relief. Declan finally remembered I existed. “Heather,” he called out, his tone dripping with frost. “Thank God Izzy is okay. Get out here and apologize.” The figure curled in the corner didn’t move. Annoyance flashed across his face. He strode into the room, bent down, and grabbed my arm to haul me up. The second his skin touched mine, his entire body went rigid. When I opened my eyes again, I was sitting at my desk in the real world. I immediately pulled up the manuscript file, my fingers hovering over the keyboard to rewrite the nightmare. But then, my eyes snagged on the document history log in the sidebar. My brain short-circuited. I finally knew exactly who Isabelle was. No wonder she could manipulate my plot!

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “400766”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

Three hours before my wedding, my fiancé called to tell me he wasn’t coming. He didn’t just bail; he went straight to the courthouse and married Melanie Sandra—my supposed best friend. I stood there in my Vera Wang, heart-shattered, listening to the jagged whispers of three hundred guests. That was when Nigel, my fiancé’s uncle, pushed through the heavy oak doors of the hotel ballroom. He didn’t come to apologize for his nephew. He came with a fleet of black Escalades and enough long-stemmed roses to bury the scandal. He told me, in front of everyone, that he had loved me from a distance for years. He told me he’d been dreaming of the day I’d finally be his. Grateful for the lifeline, and perhaps wanting to burn my bridges with the man who humiliated me, I said yes. We’ve been married for three years now. In those three years, I’ve suffered through seven miscarriages. Each one took a piece of my soul. But then, I got pregnant again. Nigel was ecstatic. He’d spin me around the living room, whispering against my hair about how I needed to rest, how he’d protect me and this baby with his very life. He was the perfect, doting husband. Until I hit the twelve-week mark. I was headed toward his study to ask about dinner when I heard voices. Nigel was talking to our private physician, Dr. Aris. “Everything is on schedule, Mr. Montgomery,” the doctor’s voice was clinical, chilling. “Just like the last seven times. I’ve already added the abortifacient to her nightly milk.” A pause. Then the doctor spoke again, sounding genuinely confused. “I don’t understand. Melanie already has your child. Why can’t your wife be allowed to carry one to term?” I heard Nigel let out a self-deprecating, dry laugh. “Only a direct heir can inherit the Montgomery Group,” Nigel said, his voice devoid of the warmth I’d grown used to. “Jordan is sterile—everyone knows that. If I let Norma have a child, that child would be the competition. I can’t have Melanie’s life get complicated later. I won’t let anyone jeopardize her security.” The world tilted on its axis. Every “I love you,” every “be careful,” every late-night vigil by my hospital bed—it was all a curated performance. I wasn’t a wife. I was a placeholder, a sacrificial lamb on the altar of his obsession with Melanie. … “You realize,” the doctor said, hesitant now, “that by doing this, you aren’t just giving up the Chairmanship. You’ve sacrificed seven of your own children. You’ve had me falsify Jordan’s medical records for years; he doesn’t even know he’s infertile. When Melanie’s child is born, he’ll think it’s his. You’ll never be ‘Dad’ to that baby. Is it really worth it?” Nigel’s voice dropped, thick with a twisted kind of devotion. “What does it matter? I couldn’t have Melanie back then. The least I can do is curate her happiness now. No one is going to ruin her future. Not the board of directors, and certainly not a child I have with Norma.” “But sir,” the doctor pressed, “she’s had seven procedures in three years. Her body is failing. If she loses this one, she’ll likely never conceive again. The damage will be permanent.” There was a long silence. I gripped the door handle so hard my knuckles turned white, my breath hitching in my throat. “It’s fine,” Nigel finally said, his tone dismissive. “I’ll take care of her for the rest of her life. She won’t need children.” I didn’t wait to hear the rest. I turned and fled, stumbling back to our bedroom. I collapsed onto the floor, my legs giving out. For three years, I blamed myself. I thought I was weak. I thought my body was a broken vessel. I felt guilty for “failing” Nigel, for not giving him the heir his father demanded. His father had made it clear: Nigel or his nephew Jordan—whoever produced the first grandson would take control of the family empire. And Nigel… Nigel didn’t even use protection. He let me get pregnant over and over again, knowing he was going to kill the baby every single time. He watched me bleed, watched me cry, watched me wither away, all to ensure Melanie’s child—his child with Melanie—had no rivals. “Norma? Why are you sitting on the floor, sweetheart?” Nigel was in the doorway. He rushed over, lifting me with a practiced tenderness that now made my skin crawl. “I’m okay,” I managed, my voice a hollow rasp. “Just… morning sickness.” He rubbed my back, his touch feeling like ice against my spine. “I know, baby. It’s hard work, isn’t it? Next time you feel like this, call me. Don’t suffer in silence. It breaks my heart.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “This little guy is already such a troublemaker. When he’s born, I’m going to have to give him a stern talking-to for making his mommy so miserable.” He reached for the nightstand. “Here. I brought you some warm milk. It’ll help you sleep.” I looked at the white liquid in the glass. My stomach turned. Will there even be a ‘next time’? I wondered. Every time before, he had been this way. A special late-night snack, a handmade fruit bowl, a “healthy” smoothie. I thought it was love. It was just a cold-blooded execution disguised as care. “Nigel, I really don’t like the taste of milk lately. Can I skip it tonight?” He smiled, that soft, indulgent smile that never reached his eyes. “Norma, don’t be a brat. The doctor said the things you crave the least are the things your body needs the most. If you don’t sleep, the baby doesn’t rest. You love him, don’t you? Do it for our boy. Here, let me feed you.” He pressed the glass to my lips. It wasn’t an invitation; it was a command. He held it there, firm and unyielding, until I swallowed every drop. Nigel, are you really that afraid my child would stand in Melanie’s way? Or do you just hate the idea of a child that isn’t hers? I closed my eyes as the bitterness slid down my throat. Less than thirty minutes later, the cramping started. It was a familiar, agonizing bloom of heat in my abdomen. I curled into a ball, sweat soaking my sheets. Nigel called the doctor immediately—the doctor who was likely already sitting in his car in our driveway, waiting for the signal. Even though I’d been through this seven times before, the soul-crushing weight of the loss never got easier. Through the haze of pain, I heard the doctor whisper: “Mr. Montgomery, the hemorrhaging is worse this time. I think… I think the damage is done. She won’t be able to carry again.” Nigel didn’t say anything. He just gathered me into his arms, his eyes red as if he were the one grieving. “It’s okay, Norma. I’m here. Even without children, I’ll love you forever. I’ll take care of you.” This man, a CEO who had never so much as boiled an egg, personally cleaned the blood from my skin. He held me tightly through the night, murmuring into the darkness as I drifted in and out of a feverish sleep. “Don’t worry, Melanie,” he whispered into my hair, thinking I was unconscious. “I’ll make sure you get everything you ever wanted.” The tears I’d been holding back finally broke. Years ago, at that disastrous wedding, he promised to give me a life of happiness. It was all a lie to keep me quiet, to keep me out of Melanie’s way. My entire marriage was a punchline to a joke I wasn’t in on. I waited until he fell into a deep sleep, then reached for my phone. I sent a text to my best friend, Regina, who was living in Paris. Remember when you asked me to go on that trip around the world? I’m in. I’ll be there the day after tomorrow. I put the phone down, the ache in my womb a dull, constant throb. I’d just lost another child—murdered by his own father. I locked myself in the bathroom, letting the water run to drown out my sobs. As I leaned down to pick up my phone after dropping it, I noticed something tucked far back under the vanity. It was wrapped in heavy silk, hidden away like a relic. I pulled it out. It was a thick photo album. I opened it to find hundreds of photos of Melanie. From the time she was fifteen until now. I recognized the cover. I’d seen a similar one in Nigel’s office, but he’d told me it was a portfolio for a project. Nigel loved photography—it was his one true hobby. Nigel was older than Jordan and me, but only by about six years. When we were kids, he was always the cold, distant “adult” watching us play, acting like our games were beneath him. But when Melanie moved into the neighborhood and joined our circle at fifteen, everything changed. That was when Nigel started bringing his camera everywhere. I thought he was just growing up. I didn’t realize he was falling in love. The photos captured every minute detail. Melanie laughing, Melanie pouting, Melanie simply tucking her hair behind her ear. Moments I hadn’t even noticed, but Nigel had frozen in time. Since we got married, Nigel hadn’t touched a camera. Once, I asked him to take maternity photos of me. He told me he’d lost his favorite Leica and suggested I hire a professional instead. He hadn’t lost the camera. He just didn’t want to waste his lens on someone he didn’t love. My eyes were dry. I had no more tears left for him. I put the album back exactly where I found it. Then, I pulled up my banking app, booked a one-way ticket, and began drafting a digital divorce settlement. If he wanted Melanie so badly, he could have her. The next morning, my eyes were swollen like bruised plums. Nigel was the picture of a grieving, devoted husband. He made me a nutrient-rich breakfast, poached eggs exactly how I liked them, and even used chilled spoons to help the swelling under my eyes. He was so convincing, I almost doubted my own ears from the night before. But the emptiness in my gut reminded me of the truth. When I didn’t eat, he sighed. “Norma, I know you’re hurting. I’m heartbroken too. But you have to take care of yourself. Your body has been through so much. Please, eat for me.” “Where is the baby?” I asked, my voice flat. “I want to see him.” Twelve weeks. He would have been formed by now. I wanted to see the life he had extinguished. His answer was the same as the seven times before. “I’ve already made the arrangements, honey. He’s been buried privately. You’re in no state to see that. It would only traumatize you further.” He paused, stroking my hand. “My parents heard about the… accident. They’re devastated. They want us to come over for dinner tonight. It might be good to get out of the house.” The moment we walked into the Montgomery estate, I saw Melanie. She was leaning against Nigel’s mother’s arm, preening like a prize cat. When she saw me, she shifted her stance to make her six-month-old bump even more prominent. “Norma! It’s been so long,” she said, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. “Come, sit. I heard about your loss. You really should be more careful at your age.” Ever since the wedding debacle, I’d cut ties with Jordan and Melanie. We only came to the estate when we knew they weren’t there. Tonight was clearly an ambush. I looked at her belly—at Nigel’s child—and felt a physical pang of nausea. He had never let my children live past three months. Nigel’s mother, a sharp-featured woman in her fifties, didn’t even look at me. “Useless,” she spat. “Can’t even hold onto a pregnancy. How many times is this now? I don’t know what my son was thinking, marrying a woman who can’t even provide an heir.” She was Nigel’s mother, but only Jordan’s step-grandmother. She was bitter that Jordan—the nephew—was currently in line for the chairmanship because he had married “the right woman” first. Usually, Nigel would defend me. But today, his eyes were locked on Melanie. He looked at her with such raw, naked longing that he didn’t even hear his mother’s insults. “Grandmother, don’t be so hard on her,” Melanie said, her voice a sugary trill. “Some women just aren’t meant to be mothers. It’s a tragic lack of luck, really.” “It’s a curse, is what it is,” the older woman grumbled. Melanie stood up, acting as if she were going to help me sit down, but she feigned a stumble. Even though she steadied herself instantly, Nigel reacted like a grenade had gone off. He shoved me aside—hard—to catch her. Ignoring his parents, he pulled her into his arms. “Melanie! Are you okay? Where the hell is Jordan? Why are you wandering around alone in your condition?” Melanie smiled, a slow, triumphant thing. “Jordan’s in New York on business. He’s so busy prepping for the CEO transition, you know how it is.” She looked at me, her eyes flashing with malice, then looked back at Nigel. “Nigel, I think I twisted my ankle. It hurts…” Without a word, Nigel swept her up into a bridal carry and headed straight for the upstairs bedrooms, never once looking back at his wife. Nigel’s mother looked at me with pure disgust. “Can’t even keep your own husband’s attention. If Jordan hadn’t snatched Melanie up first, do you think Nigel would have looked at you twice? Get out of my sight. I have no appetite looking at you.” She’d always hated me. She saw me as Jordan’s “leftovers.” And because of the miscarriages, she saw me as a failure. I used to endure it because I thought Nigel was my shield. Now I realized he was the one who had sharpened her blades. I didn’t argue. I didn’t scream. I just walked upstairs. I found myself standing outside Melanie’s guest room. The door wasn’t fully closed. I peered inside. Melanie was lying on the bed, her clothes disheveled, and Nigel was pressed against her, his face buried in her neck. “Nigel,” she moaned, “you’re the only one who cares. Jordan is useless… he can’t even give me a child of my own. If I hadn’t used you, we’d never get the company. If Norma had a baby, everything would be ruined for us.” Nigel pulled back, his eyes dark with a desperate, hungry lust. “Does he treat you well? Does he touch you?” “He treats me like a queen because he thinks I’m carrying his legacy,” she giggled. “He even washes my feet. He’s so grateful.” Nigel’s expression was tortured. “As long as you’re happy. As long as you’re safe, I can live with the rest.” “Nigel,” she whispered, pulling his head down. “I couldn’t marry you, but I can give you this. Tonight, I’m yours.” I watched my husband—the man who was always so stoic, so controlled—lose his mind. I watched them disappear into each other. Tears blurred my vision as I stumbled back to our room. Nigel didn’t return that night. The next morning, he appeared in the doorway, looking remarkably refreshed. “Norma, I’m so sorry about last night. My mother kept me up for hours talking about the estate. I couldn’t get away.” I didn’t call him out. I didn’t even look at him. I just went to the front door to wait for the car I’d called. But as I stepped onto the porch, a bucket of freezing, greasy kitchen scraps and dishwater was slammed over my head. Melanie stood there, an empty bucket in her hand, laughing. “Did you enjoy the show last night, Norma?” she sneered. She’d left the door open on purpose. “Losing a baby sucks, doesn’t it? But don’t worry, you won’t have to deal with that anymore. You’re dried up now. Did you really think you could compete with me for the title of Mrs. Montgomery? Nigel gave up his inheritance for me. He gave me a child. And all those little ‘accidents’ you had? They were just fuel for my fire.” I looked up, my voice trembling through the filth dripping off my face. “What did you say?” “Oh, didn’t he tell you? Every time you lost one, Nigel told you they were buried. But he actually brought the remains to me. A certain specialist told me that… well, certain tissues are excellent for a pregnant woman’s health. Think of it as your children finally doing something useful for the real heir.” A wave of visceral horror crashed over me. Nutrients? He gave her the remains of our children to… consume? The sheer, distorted depravity of it broke something inside me. How could a human being do this? “Don’t look at me like that,” Melanie laughed. “It’s your own fault for being so pathetic. A useless mother breeds useless fruit.” I lost it. I swung my hand, aiming for her smug, beautiful face. Smack. The blow didn’t land on her. Nigel had appeared out of nowhere, pulling Melanie behind him and taking the slap across his own cheek. He shoved me back so hard I fell onto the gravel driveway. “Norma! What the hell is wrong with you?!” he roared. Melanie dissolved into theatrical sobs. “Nigel, I was just trying to comfort her! I told her not to be sad about the baby, but she started screaming that I stole her life, that she wanted me to miscarry! She threw that bucket of water at me and I just dodged—it hit her instead! And then she tried to kill me!” Nigel looked at me, his face a mask of cold fury. “Norma, I had no idea you were this shallow. This vindictive.” “You couldn’t keep a child because you’re weak. Don’t take that out on Melanie. She was being kind. Stop dreaming about things that aren’t yours and apologize to her. Now.” I’m weak? I looked at him and realized I didn’t know this man at all. He was a monster wearing the skin of the man I loved. “Nigel,” I said, my voice eerily calm. “Tell me one thing. Where are the bodies of my children?” He narrowed his eyes. “I told you. They were buried. We’ve been over this.” His acting was flawless. “You’re right,” I said, standing up and wiping the grease from my face. “I shouldn’t want things that don’t belong to me. You don’t have to worry about me anymore.” I turned and walked away. Nigel stared after me, a flicker of genuine panic crossing his face for the first time. He started to follow, but Melanie grabbed his arm. “Nigel, I think I’m going to throw up. The smell… please, take me to the hospital.” He hesitated for two seconds. Then he turned his back on me to help her. I went home, packed a single suitcase, and threw every piece of jewelry and clothing he’d ever bought me into the fireplace. As I held our marriage certificate over the flames, my phone buzzed. It was a photo from Melanie. She was tucked into a hospital bed, looking radiant, eating a bowl of hand-cut fruit. Norma, I just said I felt nauseous and Nigel called in three world-renowned specialists. He even chartered a helicopter to bring in a doctor from the Mayo Clinic. Are you jealous yet? I didn’t reply. I watched the certificate turn to ash. I knew he wouldn’t be home tonight. Sure enough, he called an hour later. “Norma, Melanie had a scare. Jordan is out of town, so as the family head, I have to stay. Don’t be petty about it.” “I understand,” I said. “The baby is the priority. Stay as long as you need.” He paused, his voice softening. “Norma, I didn’t mean to be harsh earlier. I know you’re emotional. But Melanie is carrying the Montgomery bloodline. Since you and I… well, since we can’t provide that anymore, we have to protect her. For the family.” “Right. For the family.” “Be a good girl and stay home. Tomorrow is your birthday. I’ve booked the best suite at the Pierre, and I have a surprise for you. I’ll pick you up in the morning.”

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Today was supposed to be our sixth wedding anniversary. It was also my oldest son Parker’s fifth birthday. We had planned a getaway to a secluded cabin in the Catskills, a day meant to be etched in our memories for all the right reasons. I never imagined Madeline would abandon us on that mountain without a word, taking with her the only medical bag that contained Parker’s emergency asthma equipment. I had been frantic, trying to reach her through her assistant, but the private transport and the security detail wouldn’t budge without her direct order. I watched, helpless, as the light left my son’s eyes. It was only after he took his last breath that I finally got through to her. She sounded tipsy, her voice slurred and distant. I couldn’t even get a word in before a man’s voice, sharp and full of life, cut through the line, vibrating with the joy of a long-awaited reunion. “Come on, Miles, don’t be so petty. I just landed back in the States today. You don’t actually mind if I take Madeline out for a ‘welcome home’ drink, do you?” I let out a soft, jagged laugh, my arms tightening around the cold, still weight of Parker in my lap. “I don’t mind at all,” I whispered. “Because as of this moment, my marriage to Madeline is over. Congratulations to you both.” … After we finally got off that mountain, I disappeared. I handled everything—the funeral arrangements, the cremation, the agonizing paperwork—entirely on my own. Meanwhile, Madeline’s social media, and that of Sebastian Rossi, were never silent. It was a non-stop parade of high-end bars and exclusive dinner parties. They were basking in the glow of their rediscovered spark. During those seven days, my mother tried calling Madeline a thousand times. Every call went straight to voicemail. My mother eventually dropped her phone onto the kitchen table, her voice trembling with rage. “That woman… her heart is made of ice.” It wasn’t until a week later, when I returned to our estate in the city carrying Parker’s urn, that I finally crossed paths with her. She wasn’t alone. Sebastian was right there with her, lounging in my living room. When they saw me—haggard, covered in the dust of the road, looking like a ghost of the man I used to be—Sebastian couldn’t even hide the smirk playing on his lips. “Miles, where the hell have you been? I’ve called you a dozen times today and you didn’t pick up once!” Madeline started, her tone a mix of a playful pout and genuine annoyance. The irony tasted like copper in my mouth. I didn’t even give them a glance. I walked straight past them toward the stairs. I was here for one thing: to pack my life into a suitcase and leave. This gilded cage of a house never belonged to a regular guy like me. I had reached too high, and I had paid the price in blood. But she wouldn’t let it go. She chased after me, grabbing my arm so hard I nearly dropped the urn. “Miles! What kind of temper tantrum is this?” Even now, she couldn’t see the wreckage. To her, I was just being difficult. I laughed, a sharp, ugly sound. “My mother called you for a week straight. Why didn’t you answer?” Madeline frowned, reaching into her designer handbag and pulling out a shattered phone. “My phone broke, okay? The night I picked up Sebastian, we were out, and I ended up losing it in a bet during a game. It was a whole thing.” She lived for the game. And because she wanted to play, my son was gone. “Is this really worth getting this angry about, Miles?” Madeline noticed my face turning a sickly shade of grey and tried to soften her tone, shaking my arm slightly. “So I missed a few calls. I’ll go over to your mom’s place and apologize personally tomorrow, alright?” Then, my eyes caught something. The handcrafted sandalwood bracelet on her wrist—the one I’d spent months on—was cracked in several places. It looked like it had been slammed against something. Rage, hot and blinding, surged up my throat. I grabbed her wrist. “What happened to the bracelet?” I had hiked to a remote monastery three times to get that specific wood blessed for her protection. Parker and I had sat at the kitchen table for weeks, using tiny chisels to engrave the intricate patterns she loved. Madeline was born with a silver spoon. Clothes, cars, jewelry—nothing I bought her ever meant much because she could buy the store. I had to give her things that took time. Things that had a soul. My hands still had faint scars from the slips of the blade, scars that throbbed whenever they got cold. When I gave it to her, she’d cried. She said she’d wear it forever. Now, she just flipped her hand dismissively. “Oh, that? We were out drinking last night, and I was shooting dice with Sebastian. I must have hit it against the edge of the table. It’s just a bit of wood, Miles. Don’t make a federal case out of it.” “Parker and I made that with our own hands,” I said, my voice dangerously low. Sebastian chimed in from the couch, his voice dripping with condescension. “It’s the thought that counts, right? It’s a cheap wooden trinket. How much could it possibly be worth?” Madeline patted my shoulder. “Exactly. If it means that much to you, I’ll have some premium sandalwood shipped in from overseas. You and Parker can carve a new one. It’ll be a fun little project for you guys.” She knew exactly what that bracelet represented. But to her, our love and our effort were just “projects” to keep us busy while she lived her real life. I realized then that in her heart, I was probably just a hobby, too. Six years of marriage. This was the first anniversary we were actually supposed to spend together as a family. It was the first birthday Parker was supposed to have her full attention. And she threw it all away because a ghost from her past called her cell. Yes, Sebastian wasn’t just a friend. He was the one who got away, the college heartbreak she never quite healed from. But she was a mother. How could she not realize Parker’s condition? She brought him to a mountain peak covered in pine pollen and wildflowers—his worst triggers—and then left without making sure he had his rescue inhaler. She had left me to watch our son die. My mother had warned me. She told me not to bring Parker to the city, told me that Madeline would never prioritize a child over her own whims. I had laughed at her. I told her Madeline was his mother—how could she be that cruel? God, I was so wrong. “Thanks for the offer,” I said, wrenching my arm away. I turned to go upstairs, my face a mask of stone. Her temper flared at my coldness. “What is with the attitude today? What did I do that was so terrible?” she yelled at my back. “And where’s Parker?” I stopped dead on the stairs. The irony was a physical weight. This was the first time she had asked about him, and he was already gone. I remembered that afternoon on the mountain. I had stroked Parker’s hair as he struggled to breathe, whispering, “Mommy wouldn’t miss your birthday, buddy. She loves you so much. She’s probably just out getting you a huge surprise.” Well, it was a surprise, alright. “You remember you have a son?” I turned, a bitter smile curling my lips. “I thought you’d decided you didn’t want him anymore.” Madeline winced, then snapped back. “He’s my son! How can you say that?” “I get it. You’re still sulking because I left, right? Because I had to go help Sebastian?” She stepped toward the stairs, looking up at me. “But you know the situation, Miles. He just got back from years abroad. We hadn’t seen each other in forever, and he was dealing with a massive shipping crisis at the docks. He was stressed, he was hurt… I couldn’t just leave him to handle that alone.” She tilted her head, giving me that soft, manipulative look that used to work every time. “You can understand that, can’t you?” In the past, that look would have made me fold. It would have made me move my boundaries back another inch until I had no ground left to stand on. But my son was in a jar in my hand. I was done gambling. “Madeline,” I said quietly. “I want a divorce.” The words hit her like a physical blow. Her eyes widened, her pupils dilating as she stared at me. “Miles… are you serious? You’d actually leave me over this?” “Yes. We’re done.” Madeline took a deep breath, her shock turning back into arrogance. “And what about Parker? You think you can raise him better than I can? You think you can give him this life? Your mother won’t even agree to this. Don’t turn our lives into a mess just because your feelings are hurt.” When I didn’t answer, she scoffed. “Fine. Go get Parker. Let him decide who he wants to live with.” “Parker isn’t coming,” I said. My voice broke on his name, and I had to clench my jaw to keep from sobbing. Madeline’s face twisted with sudden agitation. “What do you mean ‘he isn’t coming’? Where did you take him? Miles, if you’re using our son to get back at me, that is low, even for you.” She let out a sharp, indignant breath. “Don’t think you can threaten me with my child. I have my own life, Miles. I have my own friends. You wouldn’t understand that!” I looked at her beautiful, heartless face and realized I never knew her at all. I had raised that boy for five years. I was more of a parent than she ever dreamed of being. And yet, her first instinct was to assume I was using him as a bargaining chip. “Miles, stop torturing her!” Sebastian stood up, walking toward the stairs. “Just hand over the kid and stop acting like a psycho.” He sounded so protective, as if he were the one whose life was being upended. Madeline looked at him, touched by his “bravery,” and a single, perfect tear rolled down her cheek. “Miles, please. Just give me Parker back.” It was a performance. A sick, synchronized act. “And if I say no?” I asked, my voice trembling with suppressed fury. Sebastian didn’t hesitate. He lunged forward, grabbing my collar. “Say it again! I dare you!” “Sebastian, don’t!” Madeline cried out, but she didn’t move to stop him. She stayed behind him, effectively choosing her side. I was shoved backward, stumbling against the banister. The urn wobbled in my hand, the lid nearly slipping off. I clutched it to my chest, a roar of protective instinct erupting in my lungs. If Parker hadn’t insisted on one last “memory” with his mother, I never would have brought him back to this house. “I’ve wanted to say this for a long time,” Sebastian said, pointing a finger in my face. “Look at you, Miles. You’re a loser. You’re a nobody. You don’t fit in Madeline’s world. Your son doesn’t even have her last name—why? You don’t have a penny to your name that she didn’t give you.” He sneered. “You’re just a small-town guy who got lucky and played the husband card. If you want to walk, walk. Stop holding her back.” I looked at Madeline. She was actually considering his words, looking at me with a cold, analytical gaze. It was pathetic. When I graduated, I had been recruited by a top-tier federal research lab. If it wasn’t for Madeline’s begging, I never would have thrown away my career to take a mid-level position at her firm just to be near her. And now, she was letting this man call me a parasite. I wasn’t going to starve without her. Sebastian was still shouting. “What’s the matter, Miles? Cat got your tongue? If you’re gonna leave, leave! And don’t you ever come near Madeline again, or I’ll make sure you regret it!”

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After my wife Levitt got pregnant, I applied to join the polar research team. During the mission, Levitt’s first love Matthew and I both fell into an ice crevasse, our lives hanging by a thread. Faced with the rescue rope Levitt threw down, I resolutely gave up saving myself and left the chance of survival to Matthew. Because in my previous life, I was successfully rescued while Matthew was swallowed by the ice, his body never recovered. After his death, Levitt showed no reaction. She withdrew from the research team to peacefully nurture her pregnancy. It wasn’t until after the child was born that Levitt said to me with a face full of hatred: “This is mine and Matthew’s child. You’re the one who killed my child’s father. He’s dead—what right do you have to live? Go die and atone for your sins in hell!” She pushed me off the rooftop and made it look like suicide. When I opened my eyes again, I had been reborn to the moment of the rescue… “Quick, grab the rope!” Levitt stood in the distance and threw a rope that landed right beside me. I instantly became fully alert. Turning my head, I saw Matthew behind me. In temperatures of minus twenty degrees, the two of us clung desperately to the edge of the ice crevasse with our hands, a bottomless abyss beneath our feet. The rescue rope was closest to me, but with Levitt’s strength, she could only save one person. My hands trembled. Gritting my teeth, I made sure Matthew beside me saw the rope. “Matthew, grab the rope quick! I’ll pull you up!” The next second, Matthew firmly grasped the rope. From the corner of my eye, I saw Levitt’s whole body relax with relief as she pulled hard to drag him ashore. “You’re injured. Let’s get back to the base quickly!” Seeing Matthew rescued, I breathed a sigh of relief. In the wind and snow, the two embraced tightly, supporting each other as they left. As she walked away, Levitt tossed the rope on the ground aside. “Christie, I’ll have someone else rescue you!” Gritting my teeth to hold on, my strength completely depleted, I waited until they were far away before my hand slipped and I fell into the ice crevasse. Fortunately, at the critical moment, the tool in my hand wedged into the crevice, temporarily stopping my descent. I don’t know how much time passed. Cold wind rushed through my torn protective suit, my fingers had lost all feeling but I kept holding on, until finally I heard voices from above. “That Christie guy is probably already dead.” “If you fall down there, there’s no way to survive. Who told him to show off and insist on coming out here.” I desperately called for help, finally getting the people on shore to notice this crevice. Looking up, I made eye contact with several people. Seeing me, the few members of the research team all fell silent at once. No one reached out to me, letting me continue sliding down. “Christie, do you know you were wrong?” “Who told you to deliberately lead Matthew this way, trying to harm him, only to nearly kill yourself instead.” Finally someone sneered and tossed down a chunk of ice that hit my face shield. The slight movement made my nerves tense and cold sweat broke out on my back. I humbly begged them to save me. Like watching a clown, several people gathered around the edge of the crevice, their faces full of mockery. “Don’t be a coward! Be a real man, own up to what you did, and climb up yourself!” Lives were at stake, yet they were treating it like a joke. My fingers had lost all feeling, my body was losing heat—I couldn’t hold on much longer. Finally, after they’d had their fill of enjoying my misery, a rope was thrown down from above. I tried to reach it but couldn’t. “Climb up yourself. We’re leaving.” My whole body tensed. I could hardly believe it, but when I looked up, I saw Levitt’s face. “Levitt, help me out. Just pass me the rope.” These words filled her face with disgust. Not only did Levitt not help, she actually took an instinctive step back, then spoke in an icy tone. “Why should I help you? If I hadn’t been there today, Matthew would have been killed by you!” “Climb up yourself. If you manage to survive, you have to apologize to Matthew. If anything happens to him, we’re getting divorced!” “You don’t deserve to be this child’s father!” Losing strength, I listened as the sounds above went quiet. No matter how humbly I called for help, no one was willing to lend a hand. I couldn’t wait any longer. I would die.

I couldn’t wait any longer. Taking a gamble, I let go and lunged for that rescue rope. Fortunately, I caught it. Using every ounce of strength to climb ashore, my heartbeat was thunderous. All around was a vast expanse of white, not a single person in sight. They really hadn’t saved me—they’d all left. Whether I could survive or not, they simply didn’t care. The base was still over ten kilometers away. Having narrowly escaped death, I felt no sense of relief. Even with a GPS locator on me, just walking back like this could cost me half my life. But right now… Gritting my teeth, I plunged headfirst into the wind and snow. In extreme cold conditions, equipment at the base was prone to malfunction. Wearing gloves made it inconvenient to repair equipment, and when I fell into the ice crevasse, I had already lost my gloves. Between the exertion and the freezing cold, my fingers had long since lost all feeling. As a meteorologist, I understood environmental changes better than anyone. The snow fell heavier and heavier, wind pierced through my damaged protective suit, the road was a white blur with visibility less than ten meters. Cut off from contact with the base station, cold and hungry, I gritted my teeth and pushed forward. I had originally given up my research position back home and applied to join the polar research team for the sake of pregnant Levitt. Worried she’d suffer hardship, I willingly took on more suffering myself. But in the end, I was just making a wedding dress for someone else. The little life I’d most looked forward to wasn’t mine. The person I trusted most, lying beside me in bed, had also chosen to abandon me. My legs numb, I walked forward, my whole body trembling uncontrollably. If I could just survive… Holding onto that one breath, I don’t know how long I walked before finally seeing the base station with its lights on. In that moment, my heart settled. Trembling, I pulled at the door once, twice… The door was locked tight. No matter how I knocked, it wouldn’t budge. Outside, the cold wind was bone-piercing. Inside, people heard the commotion and sat in a circle. Levitt held hot tea for Matthew and covered him with another blanket. “Lucky bastard actually made it back alive!” “I knew nothing good would come of him joining the research team. This time we definitely can’t forgive him easily.” Levitt looked with concern at the scrape on Matthew’s leg, and in front of all the team members, she forbade anyone from opening the door. My fingers numb and without feeling, my legs also insensible to the cold, I gritted my teeth and held on, staring fixedly at that door, refusing to give up calling for help. Finally… “You can come in if you want.” Coughing twice, Matthew looked at me, his eyes harboring ill intentions. “If you want to come in, then kneel down and apologize to me.” “Oh my, forgiving him just like that—isn’t that letting him off too easy?” Levitt frowned, playfully scolding and roughhousing with him, completely ignoring my calls from outside the door. Reaching out to touch her belly, Matthew’s tone was light. “It’s fine, I won’t hold it against him. After all, he’s the child’s father and your lover.” “I don’t blame him. It’s my fault. If I hadn’t gone abroad back then, you wouldn’t have…” The rest of the words went unspoken. As the two looked at each other, their eyes were full of affection, with no room for anyone else. My heart ached and convulsed. Even though I’d experienced this once before, I still couldn’t help feeling miserable. The happiest moments of my life could be counted on one hand. After my parents died early, I grew up on charity. The first time I met Levitt was at university. The first time I saw her, I felt an inexplicable fondness for her. But Matthew was by her side, so I silently stayed beside her, thinking this affection would remain buried forever. Until one day, Levitt came to me on her own initiative. “Christie, let’s date.” For the first twenty years of my life, it was the first time I felt I’d won fate’s lottery. I desperately tried to be good to her, pouring all my efforts into helping her pursue her dreams. She wanted to do polar research, so I took care of her family and supported her with everything I had. After she got pregnant, I even gave up my own work and actively came to the polar region to accompany her, just to take good care of her. The happiest moments of my life were dating Levitt, marrying her, and nurturing new life together. But only now did I realize how foolishly naive and completely wrong I’d been. The people inside were laughing. A single door separated two worlds. As I knelt on the ground, I heard Matthew and Levitt pouring out their hearts to each other. “If I wasn’t trying to spite you, how could I have agreed to date and marry Christie?” “Levitt, I regret it. If I hadn’t gone abroad back then, we wouldn’t have…” Matthew’s hand rested on Levitt’s lower abdomen, his expression gentle. Covered with a layer of snow, I watched Levitt’s completely different tender expression and smiled bitterly. Getting together now isn’t too late, is it? After all, the child in her belly is Matthew’s.

I could die anywhere, but absolutely not at the base entrance. With only one breath left, I was finally allowed inside. Staggering to my feet, for those last few steps, I practically crawled into the building. Seeing me in this state, Levitt looked even more disgusted. “Stop with the pity act, Christie. It makes me sick to watch.” I didn’t defend myself. I moved closer to the heat source to warm up. The snow on my clothes melted and soaked the floor, leaving a puddle of water. “That’s disgusting. Make sure you clean it up.” I was shivering from cold, too preoccupied to respond. Several fingers on my left hand still had no feeling. Levitt left. She was concerned about Matthew’s scraped shin and insisted the base station doctor examine him. When she saw me coming to find the doctor, she blocked the doorway completely, refusing to let me advance a single step. “What do you think you’re doing? Don’t come here!” “The base doctor is busy. They don’t have time for your minor issues. Don’t you dare go near Matthew. Get lost!” Full of wariness, she said I wasn’t acting like a man while driving me back to my room. I changed into a fresh set of clothes, but my fingers still had no feeling. Looking at my discolored fingers, I frowned and tried to get past her. “I just need to see the doctor for a moment. You…” Slap! Before I could finish speaking, I was hit with a slap. Glaring at me with furrowed brows, Levitt blocked my way firmly, not allowing me to advance a single step. Amid the jeering, she glanced at me smugly, then quickly looked away. “Stop pretending. What could possibly be wrong with you? You climbed out of an ice crevasse and walked all the way back to the base station. You’re tough as nails. Matthew is different from you.” “See the doctor tomorrow. Tonight you’re not allowed near the infirmary!” My face burned. My anger had also been provoked. I tried to speak again but was pushed away from the infirmary by others. “Alright, alright, go back to sleep!” “Your own wife is pregnant and you still want to hit people? Go tomorrow.” “Levitt already told you. What more do you want, coward?” Matthew stood with his arms crossed watching me, his face full of disdain. Hearing the other team members curse at me, he curved his lips and silently mouthed at me. “Worthless.” I was driven back to my room. Lying in bed, I received a video on my phone. Levitt lay in Matthew’s arms, sleeping sweetly. Red marks showed on her neck, and there was a small cut at the corner of her mouth. Matthew had deliberately filmed this to show me. But right now, more than jealousy, I needed a doctor. At this moment, the only doctor at the base was busy following Levitt’s orders to “take care of” Matthew. Levitt did it on purpose. She stood guard all night, not allowing me near the infirmary. Only early the next morning was I finally able to see the doctor. “Your fingers… I’m afraid they’re already severely frostbitten…” “The base station doesn’t have the medical facilities for this. You need to get to a hospital for treatment as soon as possible.” Even though I’d had a premonition, hearing the doctor’s words still made my heart sink. Getting from the polar region to an outside hospital for treatment was easier said than done, but I couldn’t worry about that now. I couldn’t become disabled. I had to save my hand. The first thing I did upon returning to my room was call for outside help. After receiving confirmation, I breathed a sigh of relief. Headquarters would send a helicopter. As long as I received treatment in time… I stayed in my room all day. It wasn’t until I heard the roar of a helicopter that I pushed open my door. By the time I arrived, two figures stood in front of the helicopter, preparing to board. “We’re the injured! Matthew is hurt. Take him to the hospital to recover. I need to go with him!” Seeing me, Levitt’s face was cold. Touching her belly, she tried to squeeze onto the helicopter. “They can only take two people at a time. I need to go to the hospital for a prenatal checkup.” “Christie, you wait for the next one.” When the next one would be, I had no way of knowing. Compared to being abandoned in the ice crevasse, this moment felt even more chilling. Watching Levitt’s resolute back, my chest felt cold. “Levitt, I can’t wait any longer. My hand…” “Stop talking. Let’s go.” Matthew put his arm around her shoulder. Through his face shield, he flashed me a mocking smile, waved at me victoriously, and signaled the pilot to take off. The roar echoed in my ears. Before takeoff, Levitt looked at me, her face full of disappointment. “Stop the act. It makes me sick.”

The repeated rejections sparked anger in me. Ignoring the mockery from other base members, I organized some materials and luggage and called for rescue again. This time, I finally got help. When I removed the glove wrapping and exposed my fingers, the doctor gasped and looked at me again. “Let’s go do some tests first.” Only simple treatment had been done at the base station. The three most severely affected fingers had changed color, the tips turned black. The test results were not optimistic. The frostbite had damaged skin, muscle, and nerves. The doctor’s assessment was that amputation would be necessary. “The frostbite has reached the point of tissue necrosis. There may be infection later. We can only amputate as soon as possible.” “I’m very sorry…” Even though I’d anticipated it, when I heard the results, I still stood there stunned. After a long while, I wiped my face. “Alright, then let’s proceed with surgery as soon as possible.” In my previous life, Levitt always said I owed Matthew my life. This way was good too—at least this time both his life and mine were saved. Thinking this way, when I signed the surgical consent form, my fingers still trembled uncontrollably. Loving Levitt had cost too much. I felt it wasn’t worth it. Lost in thought, the sound of arguing next door brought me back. Familiar voices reached me. “Your injury looks so serious, yet the doctor says it’s nothing. They have no medical ethics at all.” “You’re a top scientific researcher. If something happens to you, I’ll definitely make them pay.” It was Levitt and Matthew. They were at this hospital too. Matthew had only suffered some scrapes, yet Levitt was extremely anxious. Hearing someone tell the “couple” to calm down, she didn’t correct them, just frowned and threw a tantrum. During the argument, from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of me in the crowd. She instinctively frowned and turned cold, but seeing me, she still walked straight toward me. “Christie, explain to them. Why should others get priority treatment? Matthew should be treated first!” My gaze fell on a blood-covered man being carried into a ward nearby, then looked at the silent Matthew. I found it laughable. Who needed treatment more urgently? Wasn’t it obvious? But she acted as if she couldn’t see it. “Don’t get angry. You’re going to be a mother. There’s no need to…” I meant it as comfort, but Levitt frowned at me and threw the examination report in her hand at my face. “If you know that, why aren’t you helping me? Whose fault is it that Matthew got injured!” “If it weren’t for you, how could he have gotten hurt? You’ve upset my pregnancy too.” Watching her transfer all her anger onto me, the last bit of love in my heart dissipated completely. She wanted Matthew to stay in the hospital to rest, and claimed she’d been upset by me and needed my care. The doctor looked at me, wanting to speak but stopping short, but I held them back. Even if she didn’t say it, I would have stayed at the hospital anyway. The day after tomorrow, I would have surgery. Levitt demanded the best room and wanted to stay next to Matthew so she could take care of him anytime. Facing this pair of lovers day after day, my heart had long since lost all turbulence. I prepared divorce papers. After my surgery, I would voluntarily withdraw from the research team and divorce her. But before that… Completely unaware of my emotions, Levitt devoted all her attention to Matthew. The only time she got distracted was when she saw research papers in my hospital room. After flipping through them, she lowered her head and took a pen to scribble on the research papers. “How can these research reports count as only your achievement? Matthew almost lost his life because of you. You have to add his name!” With a wave of her hand, Levitt wrote Matthew’s name on the papers. The further she read, the more her brow furrowed. “How could these coordinate points be so dangerous? You’re just a meteorologist. Matthew specializes in measuring ice layer thickness and terrain. Your viewpoints don’t hold up at all!” The papers in her hand were thrown to the ground and stomped on. Levitt lifted her chin, looking at me with contempt. “Forget it. All you can write is this garbage anyway.” “Matthew is going back to the research team tomorrow. The first places he’ll go are those points you marked. Just wait.” “He’ll disprove your arguments and prove you’re wrong.” I jerked my head up to look at her. Hearing where Matthew planned to go, I tried to stop them, only to be met with her loud mockery. In the end, I watched helplessly as she sent Matthew off. Through the window, the man hugged Levitt and flashed me a provocative smile. Behind me, medical staff knocked on the ward door and confirmed my information with me. “Mr. Christie, it’s time to prepare for surgery.” “Alright.” Before leaving, I glanced at the two of them. From now on, we would have nothing to do with each other.

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On April Fool’s Day, the company organized a team-building trip to India. My girlfriend Barbara’s assistant Sean insisted on visiting a special temple as soon as we landed. He didn’t know that the so-called temple was actually a sex temple. I told my boss this secret to stop Barbara and Sean from going to this temple. But Sean secretly snuck out in the middle of the night. As soon as he reached the temple entrance, six men dragged him into an alley. When we found him, he was lying dead outside the temple, completely naked. After Barbara found out, she blamed him for bringing it on himself. But the day before leaving India, she had someone strip off my clothes and throw me onto a black bus. “You’re the one who got Sean killed. If I had gone with him that night, nothing would have happened. You’re so evil—you’re the one who deserves to die!” I was tortured to death by a group of thugs. When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn on the day Sean wanted to go to the temple. This time, not only would I not stop them, I would encourage them to go.

“Howard, Indian temples are cultural heritage sites. How could they be as chaotic as you’re saying?” When I was reborn, all my colleagues had already changed clothes and were ready to go out, but I blocked them at the door. Barbara felt I was making her lose face. She pointed at my nose and cursed, “I think you’re just jealous of Sean and me, so you’re trying to scare everyone with stories about rapists!” The other colleagues chimed in. “Yeah, all the Indians we’ve met have been pretty friendly. It’s not like what he’s saying—that they’re all desperate and sex-crazed.” “I think he’s just jealous. He’s afraid Barbara will go to the temple with Sean and they’ll get together, and then she won’t want him anymore.” “Honestly, Howard, have you been to those kinds of places yourself? Is that why you’re describing it so vividly?” Hearing these words, my heart turned completely cold. Here, there was a sexual violence crime every three minutes, a woman was raped every twenty-two minutes, and a girl had an abortion every hour. But they didn’t take it seriously at all, and they thought it was just media exaggeration. The company had spent big money on a professional tour group for this team-building trip. We stayed in luxury hotels, our tour guide was a highly educated graduate, and the places we visited were all legitimate establishments. So along the way, everyone felt that India wasn’t as chaotic as the internet made it out to be. Barbara’s assistant Sean had seen online that the temple here was very effective for finding true love, so late at night he insisted on going to see it. Before coming here, I had already found out that the so-called temple was actually a sex temple, surrounded entirely by brothels. Not only would it be dangerous for women to go there at night, even men could easily run into trouble. In my previous life, I had desperately tried to stop this from happening. When they wouldn’t listen to my warnings, I went to the company’s senior leadership. But my good intentions resulted in my family being destroyed. “Everyone, please stop talking about Howard like that.” At this moment, Sean stepped forward and spoke up for me. “Howard, I know you’re concerned about everyone’s safety. But don’t worry—my dad knew I was coming to India, so he specially arranged professional bodyguards for me. Nothing will happen.” “If you’re really worried about Barbara, then let her stay here with you.” Sean was nominally Barbara’s intern, but on his first day at the company, people started spreading rumors that he was the company chairman’s son. When Barbara heard that Sean wasn’t planning to let her go, she immediately panicked and slapped me across the face. “If you don’t want to broaden your horizons, don’t drag me down with you.” Then she turned around and fawned over Sean, “Sean, I have to go with you. It’s so late—I’m worried.” Everyone immediately started making jokes. “Is Barbara really worried about safety, or is she afraid Sean will find his true love at the temple?” “With so many of us here, why is Barbara only worried about Sean?” The people present completely ignored the fact that I was Barbara’s boyfriend and kept teasing the two of them. Sean laughed. “Everyone, stop teasing Barbara and me. If Howard gets upset, he’ll probably go complain to Miss Kane again.” At these words, everyone fell silent. Barbara’s look toward me also became disgusted. “Howard, are you some kind of elementary school student? Do you have to go running to leadership about everything? We’re all adults here. If something happens, we can take responsibility for ourselves.” The way she looked at me reminded me of the scene from my previous life when she pushed me onto the black bus.

I shuddered and quickly apologized. “I’ve been watching too many short videos—they’ve messed with my brain. I shouldn’t have stopped you.” “But I heard that the fewer people who go to the temple, the higher the chance of finding true love. Do you want to try?” I was just making it up, but unexpectedly they actually believed me. Someone even searched for tips online and found that someone wearing a miniskirt had met their true love there. So the female colleagues immediately went back to change into miniskirts, and the male colleagues also changed into shorts. Then the whole group left excitedly. Watching their backs, I let out a cold laugh. When they got to the temple and discovered that those people didn’t even spare the men, I wondered if they’d still be so happy. This group had just reached the elevator when they ran into Miss Kane returning from outside. Seeing their outfits and learning their destination, Miss Kane’s face turned red with anger. “Indian women who go out after 9 PM are considered to be consenting to assault. Do you all think your lives are too comfortable or something?” “Hurry up and take off your makeup, change your clothes—nobody is allowed to go out tonight!” Her tone was stern, but Barbara didn’t think it was serious. “Miss Kane, you’re going a bit too far. We’re all adults. We can go wherever we want. You can’t restrict our personal freedom.” Miss Kane’s vision went dark, and she got even angrier. “Fine! I can’t control your personal freedom, but I can control your salaries. Anyone who runs out on their own tonight can forget about their bonus this month.” They were all working people, so they were quite sensitive about money. Several people immediately wanted to go back, but some were still stubborn and unwilling. “Miss Kane, it was Sean who wanted to go. You should…” “Enough.” Sean stepped forward at this point. “Everyone, don’t make things difficult for Miss Kane. If we’re not going, we’re not going. Let’s go back to our rooms.” Only after he spoke did these people obediently return to their rooms. Having seen enough of the commotion, I was about to go back when Miss Kane grabbed my arm. “Howard, you’re the most reliable one among these people. Help me keep an eye on them. Don’t let them go out at this hour. If this makes international news, it’ll affect our entire company’s image.” I told her I’d try my best, but these people were all adults, and if they really wanted to go out, there was no stopping them. As soon as I returned to my room, Sean and Barbara were standing inside the door with several people. One of them was asking Sean, “Sean, why didn’t you tell Miss Kane you wanted to go? If she knew you wanted to go, she definitely wouldn’t have stopped us. After all, your dad is our chairman.” A flash of discomfort crossed Sean’s expression, but he quickly returned to normal. “We still need to give Kane some face when we’re outside. Besides, someone obviously snitched, and once Kane knew, she couldn’t just ignore it.” At these words, they all turned their gazes toward me, who had just returned. My heart sank. I was about to run when Barbara came over and grabbed my collar. “Howard, you’re really shameless. You let us go out, then immediately went and reported us. And you even promised her you’d monitor us. What exactly is your relationship with this Miss Kane?” Sean added fuel to the fire from the side. “Howard, you’re not trying to climb the ladder through Miss Kane, are you? What has Barbara done to wrong you that you’d treat her like this?”

His one sentence completely enraged Barbara. Barbara raised her hand and slapped me hard twice. My face immediately stung with burning pain. I kept saying I didn’t do it, and I even took out my phone, telling her she could look at it if she didn’t believe me. Barbara took my phone and thoroughly checked it. Only after she discovered that I really didn’t have any contact with Miss Kane outside of work did her expression improve a little. Sean looked disappointed. “But I really want to see the temple. Barbara, what should we do now?” Barbara thought for a few seconds, then took my phone and sent a message to Miss Kane. “If we want to go, we’ll go. I just sent Miss Kane a message saying we’ve decided not to go. We’ll wait until midnight to leave. By then, Miss Kane will definitely be asleep.” The remaining people thought this was a good idea. Immediately, someone shared this in the company’s small group chat, asking if anyone else wanted to go. They quickly got responses—most people were willing to go. I sneered inwardly. Going out at 9 PM was already dangerous, and they wanted to wait until midnight—as if they were afraid those perverts wouldn’t be out. A few hours later, they prepared to leave. Just before going out, Sean suddenly turned to look at me. “Barbara, what if Howard snitches? Should we tie him up?” My face went pale. “That’s not necessary, is it? I can just give you my phone.” But Barbara nodded. They somehow found a bundle of rope and tied up my hands and feet. After tying the last knot, Barbara crouched down and warned me, “Howard, just bear with it for a bit. I’ll be back soon.” “I know what you’re worried about, but so many male colleagues are going. I won’t be in any danger.” Then, right in front of everyone, she actually kissed me. Sean’s eyes nearly blazed with fire. I let out a cold laugh. Barbara was truly too naive. Those male colleagues couldn’t even protect themselves—how could they possibly protect her? Sean’s knot-tying technique was very professional. The more I struggled, the tighter the ropes became. So after they left, I shouted for help toward the door, hoping someone from room service passing by might hear me. I had barely shouted a couple of times when the door was pushed open. When I saw who it was, all the blood in my body turned cold. “Sean, why did you come back?” He didn’t answer my question at all. He and two other people dragged me into the bathroom and punched me twice in the stomach. “I knew you wouldn’t be honest. Even tied up, you’re still shouting for help.” I quickly explained, “I just wanted someone to untie my ropes. I wasn’t trying to snitch.” But after I said this, he raised his hand again. “You really think I hit you because I’m afraid you’ll snitch? I just can’t stand you.” “Tell me, what do you have? Why does Barbara like you so much?” “I’m telling you, I’ve set my sights on Barbara. You’d better break up with her quickly, or I’ll ruin your reputation.” As Sean spoke, he kept hitting me. I was in so much pain that cold sweat dripped down. I was beaten to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore and was just about to say I could break up with her right now. But as soon as I pursed my lips, Sean suddenly grabbed my mouth. “What do you mean pursing your lips? Are you trying to show off that she just kissed you? Damn it, I’m going to ruin your mouth right now so Barbara never wants to kiss you again.” As he spoke, he picked up the toilet cleaner from nearby and tried to shove it into my mouth. The pungent acidic smell instantly rushed into my nasal cavity. When I struggled, half a bottle of cleaner spilled onto Sean’s body. He immediately screamed, “These clothes are expensive! How dare you!” He kicked me hard in my lower body. I almost passed out from the pain.

Sean said he needed to change clothes and told the other two male colleagues to shove the remaining half bottle of cleaner into my mouth. After he left, one of the male colleagues, Brown, picked up the bottle, and the other one stopped him. “Maybe we should just forget it. What if he reports us to the police?” Brown scoffed. “There’s not even a surveillance camera here. Even if he reports to the police, as long as we deny everything, the police can’t do anything to us.” “Even if this matter really gets investigated, it was Sean who did it first. When that happens, the chairman will definitely protect him. I don’t want to offend the chairman’s son.” The two of them were originally Sean’s lackeys, and they were both eager to climb the ladder. When Sean outside urged them a few more times, one of them held my mouth open while the other poured all the cleaner into my mouth. The cleaner was acidic. As it flowed down my throat, I felt like my esophagus was being burned through. Worse than the physical pain was the pain in my heart. I didn’t understand. I had never done anything wrong to them at the company, yet they were treating me like this. After they finished, Sean had already changed his clothes. He said Barbara had already called and told them to hurry downstairs. The hands supporting me loosened, and my whole body collapsed on the floor. I looked like I was barely breathing. Brown was a little scared now. “Sean, he looks like something’s really wrong. Should we take him to the hospital?” Sean was dismissive. “It’s just half a bottle of cleaner. At worst it’ll damage his throat a bit. He’ll throw it up himself in a moment.” “I’m going to confess to Barbara at the temple in a bit. I can’t let him ruin my plans.” Then he kicked my stomach. I felt something surging up. A few seconds later, I threw up with a loud retch. The cleaner mixed with vomit stuck to my body, making my scalp tingle with disgust. Sean cursed, “Disgusting.” Then he took out his phone and took a picture of me. “In a bit, I’ll show this photo to Barbara. She definitely won’t like Howard anymore.” Brown flattered him from the side. “Sean, if you ask me, Barbara probably already likes you. After all, you’re tall, rich, and handsome—much more noble than Howard.” Listening to this flattery, I almost wanted to laugh. I had already found out that Sean did have some connection with the chairman, but he was just a poor student sponsored by the chairman, not his son at all. And there were no bodyguards secretly protecting him. Thinking of the scene when they would truly encounter those things and be helpless, I felt satisfied. I lay in the bathroom all night before being discovered by Miss Kane who came looking for people. When she saw me like this, she immediately untied the ropes on my body. “Howard, who tied you up? Where are the other colleagues? Why can’t I reach any of them?” My eyes immediately reddened. “I’m sorry, Miss Kane. They insisted on going out. I couldn’t stop them at all.” When Miss Kane heard it was around midnight, her eyes went even darker. She was just about to take out her phone when a call came through. After answering, Miss Kane collapsed on the floor. “Something terrible has happened.”

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I killed my cheating husband Adam and sealed him into the wall during our home renovation. The police came three times and found nothing. Until the fourth year, when my son Bridges learned to draw. He drew a family portrait. In the background, there was a hand reaching out from the wall, wrapped around my waist. I asked him what he had drawn. He smiled and said, “That’s Dad. He’s been standing in the wall, watching me grow up.” “Kelly, happy eighth anniversary.” Adam smiled as he pulled out a velvet box from behind his back and pushed it in front of me. I opened the box. It was a necklace. “I was poor when I married you, couldn’t give you anything. I’ve remembered all these years. Making it up to you now.” He reached over and took my hand. “Kelly, marrying you was the greatest fortune of my life. I swear, I’ll treat you even better from now on.” I lowered my head and let him fasten the necklace around my neck. “Thank you, Adam.” I looked up and smiled at him. “Go ahead and eat, everything’s your favorite. I spent all afternoon making this fish. Try it.” He ate with gusto, rubbing his belly and praising my cooking. I watched him and smiled. Three hours earlier, I had gone to the hospital and found out I was pregnant. I went to his office to tell him the good news. Instead, I walked in on him having an affair with his mistress in his office. I stood outside the door and watched for a full three minutes. Later, I went home and prepared the fish I’d just bought for our celebration, cooking it exactly the way he loved it. “Adam.” I called his name softly. “When you proposed to me, you said something.” His eyes widened as he looked at me. “You said you’d only love me for the rest of your life. No separation in life, only parting in death.” He paused for a moment, then smiled. “Of course. I meant every word.” I nodded. He suddenly clutched his stomach. The smile on his face froze. “Kelly…” He looked down at his hands, then up at me. Terror slowly filled his eyes. “What… what did you feed me?” I didn’t move. I just watched him. Adam slid off his chair and collapsed on the floor, convulsing. Blood started seeping from the corners of his mouth. He reached out desperately, trying to grab my foot. “Save… save me…” I looked down at him. “When we got married, you said we’d have no separation in life, only parting in death.” After struggling for a while, he stopped moving. I went to the balcony and got cement and bricks. We’d bought this house the year we got married. It was a resale property. During the renovation, I’d built an extra wall behind the storage room. At the time, he said it wasn’t necessary. I said the storage room was too messy and a partition would look better. Now, behind that wall, there was one more person. Three days later, the wall had dried, and the police came. People at his company couldn’t reach him and reported him missing. I told them with red-rimmed eyes that he’d had an affair, taken the money, and run away. I was looking for him too. The police looked around the house, looked at the newly built wall, and left. The second time they came was half a month later. Seeing how thin I’d become, they didn’t ask anything. The third time was three months later, a final confirmation before closing the case. I stood in front of that wall and saw them out, smiling and thanking them for their hard work. After the door closed, I stood against the wall for a long time. Nothing happened. I thought this would stay buried with me until the end of my days. Until four years later, when Bridges turned four. That day he came home from kindergarten, holding up a drawing to show me. “Mom, the teacher asked us to draw our family!” On the paper were three people: him, me, and a grayish-white hand. That hand was reaching out from the wall, wrapped around my waist. I froze in place. “What is this?” He tilted his head and smiled. “That’s Dad. He’s been standing in the wall, watching me grow up.” That night, I couldn’t sleep. I pressed my ear against the wall and listened for a long time. There was nothing. I told myself it was just a child’s vivid imagination. But the next day, Bridges pointed at that wall and said, “Mom, Dad talked to me last night.”

I asked Bridges what Dad had said. He sat at the dining table swinging his legs. “Dad said it’s really dark in the wall. He asked if it was light outside. I said it was. He said he’d wait a little longer.” My fingers dug into my palm. “Wait for what?” “Wait for me to grow up a little more. He said then he’ll be able to come out.” I stared at that wall. The surface was smooth, without a trace of anything. Early the next morning, I pulled Bridges out of bed and looked into his eyes. “Tell me, how do you know there’s someone in the wall?” He blinked. “Dad told me.” “When did Dad tell you?” “Every night. He calls me over, and I go. He talks to me.” My palms started sweating. The year Adam died, Bridges hadn’t even been born yet. Except for me, no one knew Adam was hidden in the wall. Four years old was the age of curiosity. I dropped Bridges off at kindergarten, then immediately called his teacher. “Mrs. Betty, sorry to bother you. I wanted to ask—have you shown any special films in class recently? Or has anyone claiming to be Bridges’ family come looking for him?” The teacher thought for a long time. “No, Bridges’ mom. Our kindergarten is closed-campus. Except for drop-off and pick-up, we don’t let parents in at other times.” After hanging up, I opened the children’s watch location app on my phone. Bridges’ daily activity pattern was simple: home—kindergarten—home. Occasionally he’d go to the playground in our complex, but always within my sight. The timeline was complete. Every single minute accounted for. So how did Bridges know? I didn’t believe in ghosts or spirits. During dinner, Bridges put down his fork and tilted his head, as if listening to something. “Mom, Dad’s asking if you ever ate that fish. He said he didn’t have the heart to finish it that day. He wanted to save it for you.” The bowl nearly slipped from my hands. That’s right—Adam had eaten the fish and been poisoned to death. In my panic, I thought of someone. Adam’s mother, my former mother-in-law, Ramos. The year Adam disappeared, she’d made a scene. She pointed at my nose and called me a murderer, said I’d killed Adam. She hung banners at the entrance to our complex, wailed at the bottom of our building, blocked me every day going to and from work. Later the police took her away a few times, and she finally quieted down. After that, she moved to a nursing home. I never saw her again. Could it be her? After all these years, was she still watching me? I immediately drove to the nursing home. The caregiver said Mrs. Ramos had passed away last month. “Passed away?” The caregiver’s eyes flickered. “Sudden heart attack. They couldn’t save her at the hospital.” I froze. “Did she… leave anything behind?” The caregiver shook her head. I turned to leave, but she suddenly called out to me. “Actually, in the days before she died, she kept repeating one thing.” “What?” “She said, ‘My son is calling me from the wall. It’s too cold. I need to go keep him company.’”

A chill ran down my spine. I gripped the steering wheel tightly. When I got back to the complex, I didn’t go home right away. I sat in the car, staring at my apartment window for a long time. When I finally got home, Bridges was sitting at the dining table drawing. I walked over, wanting to see what he was drawing. He looked up and smiled at me. “Mom, Dad says thank you for visiting Grandma today.” “Dad says Grandma finally came to keep him company. He’s not as cold anymore.” I stood frozen in place. “Dad also said—” Bridges lowered his head and continued drawing. “He said Grandma walked away that day, and he went to get her.” “What else did Dad say?” Bridges’ dark eyes rolled around. “Dad said there’s no parting in death, and no separation. He’ll always stay with us.” I stared at him for a long time. A four-year-old child, but his tone sounded like he was reciting something. “Bridges.” I crouched down and gripped his shoulders. “Tell me, how does Dad talk to you? In dreams, or when you’re awake?” He tilted his head and thought. “When I’m awake. At night when I’m sleeping, Dad calls me. Then I get up, walk to the wall, and he talks to me.” “What does he… call you?” “He calls me Bridges.” Bridges blinked. “He says Bridges is a good boy. He tells Mom not to be scared, that he won’t hurt Mom.” My hands were trembling. “He also says Mom is a good person, just angry that’s why she did that. He says he doesn’t blame Mom.” I let go and stood up, stepping back two paces. My back hit the dining table. It hurt, but I didn’t move. That night, I installed another camera in the living room. The lens pointed at that wall, night vision mode on. I lay in bed hugging my phone, staring at the screen. At 2:23 AM, something moved on the screen. It wasn’t the wall moving. It was Bridges. He was wearing pajamas, barefoot, walking out of his room. He walked to the wall and stood still. Then he raised his hand and gently pressed it against the wall, as if touching someone’s face. He stood like that for a long time. Very soft sounds came through the phone—Bridges was talking. I couldn’t make out what he was saying. I could only see his lips moving. Suddenly, he stopped and tilted his head, as if listening to something. Then he nodded and walked back to his room. I stared at the screen, waiting all night. The wall didn’t move again. Bridges didn’t come out again. The next morning, I carried Bridges to the sofa, opened my phone, and showed him the video. “Bridges, what were you doing last night?” He looked at himself on the screen and blinked. “Talking to Dad.” “What did Dad say?” Bridges thought for a moment. “Dad said his leg went numb. He asked if I could help move the bricks a little.” I sucked in a sharp breath. “Did you… did you move them?” “No.” Bridges shook his head. “I’m not strong enough. I can’t move them. Dad said it’s okay, when I grow up a little more I can help him.” I gripped my phone tightly. “He also said he’s been in there for four years. Sometimes it’s stuffy, sometimes it’s not. When you and Mom talk to him, it’s not stuffy.”

That night, I didn’t sleep at all. After Bridges fell asleep, I sat in the living room staring at that wall. The surveillance feed was open on my phone. The night vision lens turned the entire living room a sickly green. There was no sound, but I kept feeling like that wall was watching me. Early the next morning, I took Bridges to a child psychology clinic. Bridges sat in the waiting area swinging his legs, drawing with crayons. I leaned over to look. He’d drawn a house with two people inside, one big and one small, holding hands. There was no one in the wall. I breathed a sigh of relief. “Ms. Kelly, you’re up.” I took Bridges’ hand and walked in. A woman doctor in her thirties sat in the consultation room, wearing glasses. She had a warm smile. She crouched down to greet Bridges. Bridges wasn’t shy and shook her hand. “Such a good boy.” She looked up at me. “I’ll spend some time alone with the child first. Please wait outside.” I nodded and stepped out, sitting in a chair by the door. Thirty minutes later, the door opened. Bridges bounced out, now holding a lollipop. “Mom, the doctor gave me candy!” I patted Bridges’ head and looked at the female doctor in the doorway. She stood at the door, her smile still in place, but her eyes looked wrong. “Ms. Kelly, the child has no problems.” She said. “He’s very smart, expresses himself well, has a rich imagination. That’s all.” I opened my mouth, wanting to say something. She looked at me, opened her mouth, then closed it again. “Is there a problem?” I asked. She shook her head. “Nothing. Please come in for a moment. I’d like to discuss the child’s daily care with you.” I left Bridges outside playing with blocks and followed her inside. The door closed. She sat across from me and stared at me for several seconds. “Ms. Kelly,” she began, “have we… met somewhere before?” I froze. “I don’t think so. I’ve never been here.” She frowned, examining my face carefully. Her gaze moved from my eyes to the corners of my mouth, then back to my eyes. “I might be mistaken.” She said, though her tone didn’t sound certain. “How has your sleep been lately?” I gripped my bag strap. “Okay.” “Any nightmares?” “No.” “Have you heard any sounds, or seen anything… that others can’t see?” I stared at her. She stared at me. “What are you trying to ask?” I said. She was silent for a few seconds, then pulled out a business card from her drawer and pushed it toward me. “This is my private number. If you need help, you can call me anytime.” I looked down at the card. White, very plain, just a name and a string of numbers. “I don’t need help.” I fled from the clinic. When I walked out of the clinic, the sun was bright, so dazzling I couldn’t open my eyes. Bridges held my hand, bouncing along. “Mom, that doctor was so weird.” “She kept asking what you do at home. I said you cook, clean, and play with me. Then she asked what you do at night. I said you don’t sleep, you just sit in the living room.” My steps stopped. “What else did you say?” “Nothing else. She just kept nodding and writing things down.” When we got home, I settled Bridges in, then sat on the sofa in a daze. That business card was pressed under the coffee table. The white corner peeked out, like it was staring at me. That night, I bathed Bridges, read him a story, and tucked him in. At midnight, I lay in bed with my eyes open, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. My mind was full of the past few days’ events. Bridges’ drawings, what he’d said, the psychologist’s hesitant look. She said we’d met before. But I’d never seen her. She said the child had no problems. But how could a child with no problems talk to a dead person? At 2:17 AM, I heard a very soft sound. Like fingernails scraping across brick. I sat bolt upright, staring at that wall. The sound stopped. I held my breath and waited for a long time. Nothing happened. I was about to lie back down— Creak. Like someone in the wall had shifted slightly. I rolled out of bed and walked barefoot to the wall, pressing my ear against it. Nothing. I stepped back and stared at the wall. Four years. This wall had stood in my home for four years. It had never moved, never made a sound, never made me afraid. But now, I was afraid. Not afraid of ghosts—afraid that there was nothing in this wall at all. I rushed to the balcony and grabbed a hammer. Bricks fell one by one. Dust choked me until I couldn’t open my eyes. I smashed frantically, breaking through a hole, half the wall, until my arms ached, until the hammer slipped from my hands and clattered to the floor. Then I stopped. The wall was empty inside. No corpse. No bones. Nothing at all. Just a puddle of four-year-old bloodstains, dried and blackened, seeped into the cement. I knelt on the floor, staring at that empty hole in the wall. A hand reached from behind me and gently touched my shoulder. “Mom.” Bridges stood behind me in his pajamas, barefoot. “Dad says he went out to get some air. He says you should stop looking.”

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I heard that the real heiress, lost for many years, had been found and brought home. I immediately flew back to the country. The car had barely stopped when she rushed over and grabbed my hand with great enthusiasm. “So you’re my sister? Your skin is so nice. I can tell you’ve never suffered, unlike me—I’ve endured every hardship imaginable in the countryside.” I didn’t quite understand what was happening. Suddenly, she grabbed my hand and yanked it toward herself, then fell to the ground. She cried out, pointing at me: “You… why did you push me? If you don’t welcome me, I’ll leave right now. I won’t stay here and be an eyesore to you…” “Just please don’t tell Mom and Dad. I don’t want to make things difficult for them. I don’t want this family to become unhappy because of me.” As she spoke, she curled up on the ground, crying so hard her whole body shook. People around us all turned to stare. I was completely stunned. What sister? I’m her mother! “Dear sister, please don’t be angry…” “I… I know I was wrong… I shouldn’t be here bothering you…” In front of me, Serena was still lying on the ground, looking like she’d suffered the greatest injustice in the world. The people around rushed to help her up, their eyes blazing with anger as they glared at me. “You must be Vivian? The fake heiress the Sullivan family adopted?” “What gives you the right to push Serena? A fake heiress bullying the real daughter—where do you get the nerve?” “Fake is fake, after all. All she knows is how to be jealous!” The crowd’s comments swirled around me, their eyes filled with contempt. “Please don’t talk about my sister that way…” Serena held back her sobs and stumbled toward me, her hands gripping my wrists tightly. “It’s okay. If you want to hit me, hit me. If you want to yell at me, yell at me. I got used to it growing up in the orphanage anyway…” “It’s just…” She paused, tears streaming down her face. “Could you please let me see Mom just once? I grew up in an orphanage. I don’t even know what my mother looks like…” The crowd erupted at her words. “Serena is so pitiful! She’s the Sullivan family’s real daughter, but she was abandoned in an orphanage to suffer!” “Vivian, you’ve been taking her place all these years, and now you won’t even let her see her mother? Are you even human?!” I looked at everyone, my brows furrowing. When did I ever stop her from seeing her mother? She just didn’t recognize me—I AM her real mother. Over the years, due to the special nature of my work, I never appeared at any public events. Almost no one had seen me. Plus, I’d always taken good care of myself and looked quite young for my age. But I never imagined I’d be mistaken for my adopted daughter, Vivian. “I’m begging you…” Serena suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me, looking up at me with tear-filled eyes: “Once I see Mom, I’ll leave immediately. I’ll never appear in front of you again… Please, I just want to see my mother once…” I looked down at her, my emotions a tangled mess. Last week, I’d gone on a secret mission. It wasn’t until I came out of the lab today that I learned my daughter had been found. I’d rushed back immediately. The whole way, I’d imagined our reunion, thinking about what I would say. But I’d calculated everything except this—that the first thing my biological daughter would do upon seeing me was frame me. “Stand up first.” I bent down to help her. “Serena, actually I’m not—” Before I could finish my sentence. Suddenly. “What are you doing?!” An furious voice came from behind me.

“Serena, you don’t need to be afraid of her.” Declan walked over and helped her up, looking at me coldly. “You must be Vivian? Let me tell you something—Serena is my girlfriend. It’s not your place to bully her, you fraud!” As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd exploded. “Girlfriend? Mr. Reed is together with Serena?” “But Mr. Reed and Vivian have an engagement! Is he publicly breaking it off? That’s such a slap in the face!” “So what if he breaks it off? Serena is the real heiress. What is Vivian anyway?” “This Vivian must be so humiliated. If it were me, I’d find a hole to crawl into.” Listening to the surrounding chatter, my frown deepened. Declan was the only son of the Reed family and the marriage candidate I’d personally selected for Vivian. I’d planned to have the two children meet after I finished with my current work. I never expected him to suddenly show up here, much less that he’d be holding Serena and calling her his girlfriend. “Vivian, since you’re here today, let me make this clear.” Declan stared at me, holding Serena tightly. “I fell in love with Serena at first sight. She’s the one I’m going to marry.” “As for you, my parents forced you on me. I have no interest in someone who throws herself at me.” The crowd burst into laughter. I clenched my fists, a cold laugh escaping my chest. This marriage alliance was originally begged for by his parents. The Reed family’s capital chain had broken a few years ago, and they nearly went bankrupt. I’d helped them out for old times’ sake. If anyone was “throwing themselves” at anyone, it was the Reeds desperately clinging to us. “Declan, don’t say that.” Serena tugged at his clothes and looked up at me. “Vivian, please don’t be angry. Declan just can’t stand to see me wronged.” As she spoke, smugness and triumph flashed in her eyes. I stared at that face, my heart feeling like it was being squeezed by a giant hand. Serena had wandered off and gotten lost on her own. I’d searched for her for more than ten years. I’d hoped and waited, finally waiting for her to come home. But I never imagined… she’d become this kind of person. “Vivian, I know you must like me and want to marry me.” Declan lifted his chin arrogantly. “But I’m not interested in you. You should just give up.” “Who says I like you?” I finally couldn’t hold back a light laugh, looking up at him. “Declan, I’m already married. How could I possibly want to marry you?” The air fell silent for a moment. Declan froze, then burst out laughing as if he’d heard the funniest joke in the world. “Married? Vivian, what are you pretending for? How could you possibly be married? Are you so obsessed with me that you’re using this pathetic reverse psychology? I already told you—I’m not interested in you.” Listening to his words, I found the situation increasingly absurd. I’d been willing to let him be with Vivian because I’d met him once at a party and thought he seemed dignified and worthy of my daughter. I never imagined that in private, he was such an arrogant, conceited fool. “Vivian, I’m sorry…” “But Declan and I truly love each other. You’ve already taken everything that should have been mine all these years.” “Just let me have Declan!” As Serena spoke, tears streamed down her face. She buried herself in Declan’s arms, trembling. Declan held her tighter, his eyes looking at me as if he wanted to tear me apart. I stared at her, truly at a loss for words. I’d searched for her for seventeen years, afraid she was suffering, afraid she was being bullied, afraid she wasn’t living well. Yet here she was—performing in public, slandering her own mother, stealing her sister’s fiancé. What made it even more ridiculous was that the man she was stealing happened to be someone like Declan. “Vivian, I’m begging you!” Seeing that I hadn’t responded, Serena cried out desperately. “You can’t take Declan away from me!” “You’ve already… already secretly been with another man…”

Serena’s words cut off abruptly. She covered her mouth, acting as if she’d said something she shouldn’t have. “Another man? What other man?” Declan’s expression changed. “Serena, what do you know? Explain yourself clearly.” “I…” Serena looked at him with some difficulty, then suddenly turned and bowed to me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it… I just didn’t want Declan to be deceived…” With that, she pulled out her phone and held up a photo for everyone to see. In it, I was embracing a man. My face was crystal clear. But the man only showed a blurry profile, impossible to see clearly. “Holy crap! So Vivian has a boyfriend too? What does that make her? Is she betraying Mr. Reed?” “Who’s that guy? He looks kind of familiar.” “Whoever he is, he doesn’t look young, does he? Tsk tsk, I can’t believe Vivian would pass up Mr. Reed to find some old man. That’s some taste!” Listening to the crowd’s discussion, Declan’s face grew darker and darker. The next second, he suddenly rushed over and grabbed my hand, his eyes blazing. “Vivian, how dare you betray me!” I was speechless at the absurdity of his words. Forget the fact that I wasn’t Vivian at all. Even if I were, and Vivian really had found a boyfriend, what business was it of his? The engagement hadn’t been formally established, and they’d never even met. He could be intimate with Serena and publicly announce their relationship, but Vivian had to remain pure for him? What kind of logic was that? “Actually…” Seeing the situation, Serena hesitantly spoke two more words. She shot me a provocative glance, then sighed. “Vivian… it’s not just this one old man you’ve been involved with, is it? My friends also photographed you frequently going in and out of nightclubs, and the men around you were…” She stopped her voice at just the right moment and looked at me persuasively: “Vivian, women should have some self-respect. Mixing with so many men like that is really…” Everyone’s eyes turned to me in unison. “I never would have thought that this Vivian was that kind of person.” “She’s been passed around so much she’s basically trash, right? So disgusting.” “What would a fraud like her know about shame? She should just get out of the Sullivan family!” The insults around me grew more vicious, and the eyes assessing me became increasingly lecherous. I stood in place, my gaze fixed on Serena. I truly never imagined that my own daughter would dare to spread sexual rumors about me! “Vivian, the past is the past. I’ll definitely help keep your secret.” “I absolutely won’t let Mom and Dad know about this. Don’t worry.” As she spoke, she suddenly came over again, trying to hold my hand intimately. A bone-chilling cold surged in my heart. I stepped back two paces and instinctively shook her off gently. “Ahh—!” Serena suddenly screamed and fell backward, her whole body crashing hard to the ground. She even rolled twice before stopping. “Serena?! What happened? Who dared to push you?!” Hurried footsteps approached from far to near. The next second, a familiar figure rushed into the crowd and lifted Serena from the ground. I looked over at the sound and saw an incredibly familiar face. It was the man from the photo Serena had just used to slander me. My husband of twenty years. Her father. Marcus Sullivan.

“Dad!” Serena threw herself into Marcus’s arms, tears streaming down her face. “I’m fine, Dad. Please don’t blame my sister…” Declan immediately stepped forward righteously. “Serena, you’re too kind. Vivian bullied you like that, why are you still speaking up for her?” Then he turned to Marcus with an indignant expression. “Mr. Sullivan, today is the reunion party you’re throwing for Serena.” “But look how much she’s suffered because of Vivian! You must stand up for Serena!” Marcus was slightly stunned, seemingly not reacting. “Vivian?” “Yes, your adopted daughter!” Declan’s face showed disgust as he sighed deeply. “The moment she came back today, she started bullying Serena. She’s so arrogant and domineering. Serena is your biological daughter. You can’t let her suffer for nothing.” Marcus’s frown deepened, but he still didn’t speak. Serena looked up at him secretly, then suddenly started sobbing, looking like she was holding back. “Declan, please stop talking… It’s okay if I suffer a little… If Vivian doesn’t like me, it must be because I did something wrong…” “Dad, please don’t blame my sister or put yourself in a difficult position. At worst, I’ll just leave…” As she spoke, her eyes grew redder and redder. The people around couldn’t help but speak up. “Mr. Sullivan, you can’t be so biased! Serena is your biological daughter!” “Your biological daughter grew up in an orphanage, so pitiful. If you continue to be biased, what will happen to her?” “Exactly! You need to be fair. You can’t drive away your real daughter for the sake of a fake heiress!” Listening to the chaotic advice from all around, Marcus’s frown grew tighter. He turned to look at the pitiful Serena, his voice tinged with helplessness: “Serena, don’t talk about leaving. If your sister did something wrong, I definitely won’t be biased. It’s just…” “Just what?” Serena interrupted him, even more aggrieved. “Just that Dad still prefers Vivian and doesn’t want to blame her, right? It’s okay, I understand… After all, she’s been with you for so many years, and I’m just a stranger who suddenly appeared…” Seeing that she was about to burst into tears again, Marcus helplessly rubbed his temples. “No, I’m not trying to be biased. It’s just that your sister is still in Africa today. How could she possibly be here bullying you?” The air instantly fell silent. Serena’s tears stopped mid-flow, her face showing confusion. The people around also froze, looking at each other. “What do you mean? Isn’t Vivian right here?” Serena suddenly snapped back to reality, pointing at me with a sharply raised voice: “Then who is she? Dad, you can’t just make things up to protect my sister!” The people around echoed her sentiment. “Yes, Mr. Sullivan, this is too heartbreaking!” “You only love your adopted daughter and completely ignore your biological daughter’s grievances?” “Exactly! Mr. Sullivan, you’re protecting a fraud like this—what is Serena supposed to think? What are we supposed to think?” Amid the clamor. Marcus frowned, looking puzzled as he pushed through the crowd. Serena watched him walk toward me step by step, a flash of triumph crossing her eyes as she said sweetly: “Dad, I really don’t blame Vivian… As long as she’s willing to apologize to me, I’ll let this go.” Hearing this, people around looked at Serena with admiration and pity. “Serena is so understanding!” “Vivian, did you hear that? Serena only wants an apology!” “Apologize to Serena right now, or Mr. Sullivan definitely won’t let you off easily!” Before the crowd’s voices died down. Marcus finally pushed past the last person and stood in front of me. He stared at me blankly, his brow gradually smoothing out. The next second, he blurted out: “She’s my wife! What’s going on here?”

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In the third year of my marriage to Lachlan Foster, the crown prince of the elite circles, his first love returned. I thought Lachlan, with his naturally cold temperament, had changed into a different person when facing the woman he loved. He paid astronomical breach-of-contract penalties for her and signed her to his company without hesitation. He made her into a household-name superstar. For her sake, he didn’t hesitate to destroy an entire company and blacklist every media outlet that spread rumors about her. Even when the media discovered my existence and asked about me, in order to protect her reputation, he didn’t bat an eye before saying coldly, “No special relationship. She’s just an assistant I hired for Chloe.” Overnight, I became the laughingstock of the entire upper-class circle. They mocked me for being willing to swallow my pride and work as Chloe Warren’s assistant just to stay in the Foster family. I remained silent. That same day, I went to Lachlan’s mother and asked for a divorce. But after learning I had left, Lachlan seemed to go crazy. He searched everywhere in the capital for any trace of me.

“Are you sure you want a divorce?” Lachlan’s mother took a light sip of her coffee and set down her cup. Her proud eyes swept over me repeatedly, oozing disdain at every turn. She had always looked down on me—before and now. “Yes.” My tone was firm. “I remember you said before that as long as I agreed to divorce, you had a way to process it. I refused then, but now I’ve changed my mind. I want to divorce Lachlan as soon as possible. When can it be finalized?” “One month.” She said it casually, as if about to say something more. I cut her off. “Don’t worry. After divorcing Lachlan, I won’t take a single penny from the Foster family.” A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes. I said nothing more and got up to leave. The moment I stepped out of the Foster estate, for the first time in three years, my heart felt an unprecedented sense of relief. I opened my phone screen. On the lock screen, a sunny, smiling young man immediately came into view. Alden, if only you hadn’t jumped in to save him back then. Would we be the happy ones now? But at least now, everything is about to end. My chest filled with grievance and bitterness. I took a deep breath and closed the lock screen. I strode forward with determination. But after only a few steps, the sound of car tires scraping against pavement came from behind. I looked up to see a black Maybach steadily parked at the Foster estate entrance. The car door opened, and a pair of elegant designer shoes stepped out. It was Chloe Warren. She walked around to the other side and skillfully hooked her arm through Lachlan Foster’s. The two walked toward me, chatting and laughing. Instantly, I froze in place, my blood flowing backward through my entire body. Actually… Right after Alden left this world saving Lachlan, Lachlan was exceptionally good to me. He would spend entire days by my side, trying every way possible to cheer me up when I was sad. He even violated his family obligations and married me against everyone’s opposition—me, a woman who could offer no help to his career or family—all to take care of me. He would light up an entire city with fireworks for my birthday. That day, beneath the sky full of fireworks, he stood at the top of the city with a ring and proposed to me. He said, “Sienna, I know you’re heartbroken over Alden’s passing. From now on, let me take his place in caring for you. Give me a chance, Sienna.” When he loved me, even my slightest frown would make him terribly anxious. But at some point, I don’t know when, his attitude toward me began to turn cold. All he talked about was finance, economics, and stocks—subjects I knew nothing about. He began to find my interests tiresome. He would say, “Sienna, you’re Mrs. Foster now. Stop obsessing over these lowbrow things. Otherwise, as your husband, I’ll just feel embarrassed.” The day he said that, I was stunned for the longest time. I didn’t follow Alden’s advice to never compromise myself in any relationship. Instead, to get closer to Lachlan, to bridge the distance between us, I began clumsily trying to please him. I learned about his interests, read those difficult, obscure books just to have common topics with him. But whenever I tried to start a conversation with him, he would impatiently cut me off. He said, “Sienna, some things—if you’re born knowing them, you know them. If you’re not, you don’t. Your clumsy imitation and acting only make you look more pathetic.” To this day, I can’t forget the cold expression on his face when he said those words. And the way my heart throbbed with pain. But I still didn’t give up. I told myself it was normal for him to be colder than others—he was born privileged, a child of heaven. Until Chloe Warren suddenly returned from abroad. Until I saw him break his longstanding rule of never accepting media interviews, doing one just for her sake, letting her tease him on camera. Around Chloe, Lachlan was no longer an unmelting glacier. His gaze toward her was full of affection. The media said they were made for each other, a perfect match. And I, in this relationship, officially went from being an unacknowledged Mrs. Foster to becoming background decoration. I could only leave. I forced myself to look away from the seemingly perfect couple in the distance and turned to go. Suddenly, a sweet, delicate voice called from behind.

“Sienna!” Chloe released Lachlan’s hand and quickly walked toward me. With an enthusiastic expression, she hooked her arm through mine. “What a coincidence! I happened to have time today to come back with Lachlan to visit his mother. I didn’t expect you’d be here too.” Her clear eyes looked at me, seemingly innocent and harmless, but only I knew the hatred hidden beneath that beautiful gaze. I pulled away from her hand without saying anything and tried to walk around her. But Lachlan blocked my path. “Sienna, what are you doing here?” His questioning tone sounded from above my head. I looked up slightly, my gaze meeting the wariness and disgust on his face. “Did you come to complain to Grandmother about Chloe and me again? Or did you know we’d be here today and deliberately come over?” “Sienna, I told you before, Chloe and I are just—” “You’re overthinking it.” I cut him off before he could finish. Meeting those cold eyes of his, I no longer felt even the slightest heartache. “I’m not that childish.” I said calmly. His expression showed obvious shock. His eyes stared at me intently. Which made sense. Since Chloe’s return, what little remained of our feelings had taken a sharp nosedive. Our arguments over Chloe had happened more than once or twice. But now, I didn’t want to continue anymore. “I have things to do. I’ll leave you to it.” Without bothering about his reaction, I turned and left without looking back. Shortly after I left, my phone buzzed with messages from Chloe. Several photos of her and Lachlan at the Foster estate. And… a video. In the video, Chloe sat close to Lachlan on the sofa. Lachlan’s mother sat on one side, his sister on the other. They were all chatting happily. Unlike the disgust she showed when seeing me, Lachlan’s mother’s face radiated genuine joy. They looked intimate, like one family. Which made sense—in the eyes of those Foster family members, wasn’t Chloe the true daughter-in-law of the Foster family? In the past, seeing these messages might have driven me crazy, made my heart unbearably painful, and I definitely would have called Lachlan to make a scene. But now, my heart remained strangely calm. I casually typed a few words: “You look good together. Congratulations.” Then I turned off my phone screen and ignored it. That evening, Lachlan didn’t come home as usual. But I saw his scandal with Chloe on the news right on schedule: “Foster Corporation CEO Seen Entering Foster Family Estate with Famous Actress Chloe Warren—Wedding Bells Soon?” In the photo, Chloe intimately held Lachlan’s arm. Lachlan gazed at her with affection. The two looked absolutely perfect together. The comment section was buzzing with discussion. “Our girl looks so gorgeous! Mr. Foster is so handsome too!” “These two are just too perfect together!” “When is Mr. Foster going to propose to our girl? I can’t wait to attend your wedding!!!” … Scrolling down, there was nothing but congratulations. I didn’t continue reading and exited the page. Just as I was about to lie down and sleep, a call came in. Seeing the caller ID, I froze. It was from Lachlan’s close friend. But ever since I married Lachlan, he rarely introduced me to his friends, let alone invited me to their gatherings. Why was he calling me now? While I was thinking, my finger accidentally touched the screen and answered. “Mrs. Foster, Lachlan’s drunk. He’s at Nightfall Bar. Can you come pick him up?” “What?” I was stunned. Shouldn’t he be calling Chloe instead? Logically, Chloe should be with him. I tried calling back to ask more, but it showed no one was answering. After thinking it over, I changed clothes and went out anyway.

Arriving at the bar Lachlan’s friend mentioned, I followed the private room number to a door on the second floor. Just as I was about to push the door open, laughter came from inside. “Has she arrived yet?” “Hey Lachlan, do you think she’ll really come? It’s so late, and if Sienna comes and finds out we’re just messing with her, won’t she be angry?” “She brought it on herself. She has no self-awareness. Now that our Chloe is back, she still won’t step aside and keeps occupying the position of Mrs. Foster. Her skin is really thick.” After several noisy voices, Chloe responded with satisfaction, playing mediator. “Alright, alright, stop talking nonsense. What happened between Lachlan and me was so long ago. It’s all in the past.” “Past? What’s past, Chloe? You don’t know how much Lachlan missed you during the years you were gone.” “Exactly! The only reason he married Sienna was to make you jealous. Who would have thought…” What?! The chaotic voices reached my ears with unusual clarity. The reason Lachlan married me wasn’t because he truly loved me back then. It was… Instantly, my head buzzed. I felt completely unwell. “Right? And Sienna still thinks Lachlan really likes her…” The voices continued. Until Lachlan interrupted. “Enough. Stop talking.” The private room fell silent instantly. Someone tried to smooth things over. “True. I figure it’s about time now. Sienna should… probably be arriving soon, right?” The moment those words ended, I pushed open the door before me. “Sienna!” The person’s voice cut off abruptly. Instantly, everyone’s eyes turned toward me. “Sienna, you’re here.” Chloe was the first to approach, looking both heartless and innocent. I ignored her, my gaze falling directly on Lachlan Foster sitting in the main seat on the sofa. The man’s eyes were clear and alert—not a trace of drunkenness. I looked at Heath, the one who had called me. He avoided my gaze. “Sienna, you’re not angry, are you? We were just playing Truth or Dare and lost. We were just joking with you.” A joke? I laughed. Looking at her hypocritical expression, I couldn’t take it anymore. I shook off her hand and turned to leave. She suddenly cried out and fell down on cue. “Sienna, I was being nice, asking you to stay and hang out with us. Why did you push me?” As soon as she spoke, everyone’s accusing eyes turned to me. “Sienna! How can you be so vicious? Chloe just wanted you to stay and have fun with us. Was that really necessary?” “Exactly! How can someone be so malicious? She must be jealous that Chloe is prettier.” “This kind of person is psychologically twisted. She could even hurt someone as kind as Chloe.” … I looked at them coldly and said, “Are you done playing these games with people?” They looked completely indifferent. “It’s just a joke. What? Can’t take it?” “Right? It’s not even that late. We were kind enough to call you over to hang out, and now you’re picking a fight?” Kind enough? I laughed. Not wanting to deal with them anymore, I turned to leave. But before I’d taken two steps, a strong force pulled me back. “Apologize.” Lachlan’s cold, emotionless voice sounded from above. “Forget it, Lachlan. Sienna was probably just emotionally worked up. I’m fine. You don’t need to be too hard on her.” This statement sealed my guilt. Instantly, those people looked at me with even more contempt. And their sympathy for Chloe grew stronger. “Why should I apologize?” I shook off his hand. In the past, I would have compromised. But now, in less than a month, Lachlan and I would be divorced. Why should I apologize? As soon as I spoke, Lachlan’s face visibly darkened. Words as cold as ice came from his mouth. “Sienna, apologize. I don’t want to say it a third time.” “Then let me tell you—I won’t!” My voice was resolute. After speaking, I turned and ran out. Behind me came a chorus of sharp gasps.

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My husband’s mistress and I share the same birthday. During dinner, our son asked Nathan. “Mom, are we celebrating your birthday a day early again this year?” Nathan said, “Can’t this time. I’m taking Iris to Mint Island for diving. We need to attend diving classes these next few days.” Five years of marriage, and Nathan had always celebrated my birthday a day early, then spent my actual birthday with his mistress. But this year, I wouldn’t even get that. Our son jumped up excitedly at that moment. “I want to go diving too! Can you take me with you?” Nathan nodded in agreement, then looked at me. “Hannah, for your birthday wish—whatever you want, I’ll make it happen.” And my birthday wish was divorce. While I was clearing the table, Nathan called Iris. “Connor wants to come too. Is that okay with you?” Iris responded cheerfully, “Why wouldn’t it be? Unless you’re planning to do something naughty.” Nathan leaned lazily against the counter. “I really do want to do something naughty to you.” He smiled as he fiddled with the shelf I’d just bought. “Alright, just wait till I see you.” While they flirted, I turned to Connor. “You really want to go? You won’t stay to celebrate Mom’s birthday?” Connor nodded. “It’s more fun with Dad and Aunt Iris.” I said nothing and went to our room to pack their luggage. I suddenly remembered my first trip with Nathan. At eighteen, he got scammed out of five hundred dollars trying to buy me a necklace. Nathan had comforted me. “When I start earning money, I’ll buy you a one-of-a-kind necklace.” Our love had been so passionate once. How did it become this? I still remember when I found those intimate messages between Nathan and Iris on his phone. I cried and demanded a divorce. Nathan had been so scared he knelt before me. “I was wrong. I promise there won’t be a next time. I’ll have her leave the company tomorrow.” Later, Nathan openly gave Iris the title of girlfriend. Wearing his crisp suit, he told me: “Hannah, don’t worry. I know the difference between home and outside. I won’t let her affect your life.” I was so angry I smashed the matching mugs we’d bought for our wedding. That night I thought about so much—Nathan’s awkward confession, his wedding vows, his eyes red from crying when Connor was born. Looking at the sleeping child in the crib, the next day I bought two acrylic cups and accepted Iris’s existence. Connor interrupted my thoughts, bursting into the room. “Mom, I don’t want to bring these ugly clothes you bought.” I took Connor’s little hand. “Your respiratory system is weak. The sea breeze is strong. You need a windbreaker.” “No, no, I don’t!” Connor’s crying brought Nathan in. He put away his phone and entered the room. “Enough, Hannah. Mint Island is hot. He won’t need any of this. I’ll buy new things at the mall tomorrow. You don’t need to pack anymore.” With one sentence, he dismissed all my effort from the entire evening. I took out the rhinitis medication I’d prepared for Nathan and Connor from the suitcase. Since it wasn’t needed, I wouldn’t give them anything.

When I dropped Connor off at his enrichment class, he bragged to his friends: “My dad, mom and I are going diving at Mint Island soon!” A classmate glanced at me. “Your mom doesn’t look like someone who can dive.” Connor let go of my hand. “Not this mom.” He explained anxiously. “Another mom who’s prettier and younger. If you don’t believe me, wait after class. My other mom is picking me up to go shopping for clothes.” So after class, Connor pointed at the Rolls-Royce with Iris inside, her hair in big waves, and shouted: “She’s my other mom.” Connor ran to Iris’s side under his classmates’ envious gazes. “Mom.” Iris smiled and responded. “How could someone as young as you have such a big kid?” Nathan said with his hand on the steering wheel, smiling. “What? Don’t want to be my child’s father? I’ll find someone else then.” Iris raised her eyebrow, and Nathan pulled her into his arms and pinched her waist. “You dare!” She immediately acted coy. “I wouldn’t dare.” Their laughter reached my ears. Watching the two most important people in my life gather around Iris, I turned away with self-mockery. I thought as long as I didn’t leave, as long as Nathan loved me most, I could give Connor a complete family. But now it seemed I was the extra one. On my way home, the sky opened up with heavy rain. I ducked under a nearby bus shelter. I remembered the last time I took the bus—it was with Nathan, carrying our luggage, graduating from college. There were no empty seats in the bus, so Nathan had me sit on our suitcase while he gripped the handrail tightly, sheltering me in front of him. Back then our destination was a rental apartment. Now we had our own home, but we no longer shared the same destination. Thinking of this, I stepped onto the bus in front of me, but my rain-wet hands couldn’t unlock my phone. As the driver frowned impatiently, Nathan’s calls kept coming through. My vibrating phone fell from my hands. I scrambled into the rain in embarrassment. The driver cursed, “Wasting time.” As the bus drove off, water splashed onto my pants, leaving dark mud spots. On the phone, Nathan’s voice carried blame. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you answering?” “It’s raining outside, I…” “Whatever.” Clearly Nathan didn’t actually want to know my situation. “I just wanted to tell you Connor won’t be home for dinner. Iris is taking the little brat out for pizza.” “You tell her yourself.” Connor’s childish voice came through. “I’m going to eat pizza with Mom Iris. Don’t make me any of that chicken soup—it tastes awful.” Then came laughter, and Iris sounded rather smug. “See, I told you no kid likes chicken soup, but you didn’t believe me!” “Fine, you win.” Nathan’s tone was indulgent. I could almost picture Iris’s triumphant smile—worlds apart from my current pathetic state. I said flatly, “Got it.” I laughed at myself. If I couldn’t board the bus, I wouldn’t take it. Instead of going home, I went to a law firm.

I waited on the sofa until ten at night. After Nathan put the sleeping Connor to bed, I brought up divorce. “Nathan, I won’t interfere with your relationship with Iris anymore. Let’s end this amicably.” Nathan’s usually expressionless face actually showed emotion. “Hannah, if this is because I didn’t celebrate your birthday this year, I apologize.” I shook my head. “It has nothing to do with her. I just don’t want to be with you anymore.” Nathan gripped his water cup tightly. “I don’t understand. We’ve made it through five years—why are you making trouble now? We’re leaving the country tomorrow. Do you have to ruin tonight?!” When the cup hit the floor, I was just grateful it was acrylic. Nathan put on his jacket and walked out. “Going down for a smoke. Don’t wait up.” I saw him again at the airport. I’d brought Connor and ran into Iris. She wore her usual smiling expression. “Hannah, I was packing last night so I sent Nathan home early. Why did he suddenly come over in the middle of the night and cling to me for ages? Did you two have a fight?” “Just let him stay at your place from now on.” I pushed Connor toward Iris. Connor happily grabbed her hand. “Nathan’s too much. I said we could just celebrate my birthday casually, but he had to go abroad.” I looked toward Nathan checking in up ahead. “When we get back, I’ll have him throw you a proper birthday party.” Iris’s face showed smug pride. I swallowed all the words I wanted to say. I couldn’t compete with this young body, so I wouldn’t try. Nathan took Iris’s hand with its extravagant manicure. “Hannah, we’re leaving now.” A rare hint of guilt appeared in his eyes. “Remember to send me your birthday wish. If I can make it happen, I will.” “Dad, hurry up, stop dawdling with her. I want to ride on the big airplane.” Connor pulled Nathan and Iris, bouncing toward security. After returning home, I developed a high fever. Completely out of it, I could only hide under the covers. In my delirium, I dreamed of Nathan. He still looked twenty, holding my hand with that playful smile, calling me wife. “Good girl, take your medicine so you can get better.” He put the prepared medicine to his own lips to test the temperature. “Perfect. Drink it quickly.” When I woke from the dream, only the noisy phone ringtone remained. I answered in a hoarse voice. “Hannah Smith, why didn’t you pack the rhinitis medication?” “Don’t you know the sea breeze is strong? Connor and I both had flare-ups.” Nathan pulled me back to reality, shouting impatiently. “Fine, send me the medicine name. I’ll buy it myself. You’re such a hassle.” The phone went dead. My long-dried tears finally fell again. I understood one thing deeply—Nathan and I could never go back. I compiled all our income and assets from our five years of marriage. I decided not to fight for Connor’s custody. I had only one demand—that Nathan couldn’t have any more children. This was his promise from the beginning. I gave these materials to my lawyer, who quickly drafted divorce papers.

Before deciding to leave, I went to see Nathan’s mother. When we were students, she would always have Nathan bring me home and would pile food into my bowl. “Hannah, eat more. Look how thin you are.” Those words gave me, an orphan, the warmth of home. My marriage to Nathan had been natural, without any of love’s usual hardships. That’s why I endured those five years in silence, nearly losing myself. When I entered, my mother-in-law was on a video call. Looking at Nathan and Iris on screen, her face couldn’t stop smiling. “You rascal, Iris is still young. Be good to her.” Nathan ruffled Iris’s hair. “She may be young in age, but her temper’s bigger than anyone’s. She gets mad if I make her eat one more bite.” My mother-in-law’s tone was indulgent. “Iris dear, you need to eat more. Look how thin you’ve gotten.” I froze while removing my shoes. When my mother-in-law looked over, I quickly lowered my head to hide my bloodshot eyes. My mother-in-law put away her phone and called out, “Hannah, come in quickly.” “No, Mom. I didn’t change my shoes. I won’t come in.” I opened my umbrella and walked through the park where Nathan and I used to stroll during college. Under the most lush tree, we’d buried the hamster we’d raised together for three years. Nathan had wiped my tears and called me useless. “If I’m gone someday, how much will you cry?” He scattered the last handful of dirt, then held me. I’ll never forget how gently his voice was when he said, “Hannah, I’ll stay with you forever.” He knew better than anyone that my parents died early, that I’d lived alone for over ten years. He had become my whole world. But his whole world didn’t belong only to me. I sat on the park bench watching the time. At midnight, I sent him the divorce agreement. “Nathan, this is my birthday wish.” The next moment, my phone rang. I’d never heard Nathan this angry. “Hannah Smith, why did you have to send this message now? Because I looked at your stupid message, I didn’t hold onto Iris properly. She’s in the hospital now from drowning!” “I don’t care what you’re doing. Get over here right now and take care of Iris until she’s out of danger!” After he hung up, I received flight information. A 2 AM flight with two transfers. This was the fastest way to get to the Philippines. When I saw them, Iris had already woken up. Connor rushed at me first. “Bad mom! You’re the one who hurt Mom Iris!” “I hate you!” I let his little fists pound on me, but my eyes went to Nathan. He clearly hadn’t slept all night. He was now carefully feeding Iris water. “Good girl, drink more water so you’ll recover faster.” Iris looked at me. “Hannah, you actually came. I don’t blame you. It was my poor skills.” “After three days of diving classes, I still didn’t dare let go of Nathan’s hand. I’m so stupid.” “Even if you’re stupid, I’ll take care of you. I’ll never let go again.” Nathan’s eyes were about to overflow with heartache. “I was so scared. I almost lost you forever. Without you, I wouldn’t want to live either, Iris.” Nathan pressed his head against Iris’s face. Even though I was used to it, I couldn’t help but tear up—moved by their love and sad for myself. The doctor walked in with test results. “Miss Iris, your blood work shows you’re pregnant. We estimate about six weeks.” This news was like a bomb, leaving my mind completely blank. “That’s wonderful!” “Nathan, we’re going to have our own child!” “No!” I rushed forward. “Nathan, what did you promise me?!” I looked at Connor. He didn’t understand what this all meant yet. “Hannah Smith, is it your place to speak here?” “Come with me!” Nathan dragged me to the hallway. “Nathan, you promised me you’d never have a child with another woman!” Nathan laughed coldly. “You have my child. Why can’t Iris?” “What about Connor?! Your money, your company—will Connor inherit it, or will Iris’s child? Can you guarantee fairness?!” “I can.” Nathan’s tone weakened. I let out a breath. “Nathan, have Iris terminate it.” The moment the words left my mouth, a slap landed on my face. “No one is going to hurt Iris again!” My ears rang. I saw Nathan reach out his hand. “Get out! Get out of here!” “Nathan.” I looked at him. “Today is my birthday.” “You promised you’d make all my wishes come true.” “All I know is today is Iris’s birthday!” His eyes filled with disgust. “I don’t have time to read whatever stupid wish you sent. Get lost. I never want to see you again!” Connor heard the commotion and rushed out too. He mimicked Nathan’s manner and shouted at me, “Get lost! Get lost!” But I smiled. “Fine.” “Nathan, remember what you said.” I walked out of the hospital and in the Philippines did the last thing I’d prepared for Nathan. Half a month later, Nathan received a phone call. “Hello, is this Mr. Miller? I’m a doctor. We’ve confirmed that a deceased person is your wife, Hannah Smith.”

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I attended my boyfriend’s company party, where his female friend Sienna leaned against him with a mocking smile. “Andrea, I heard your mom was a homewrecker who slept her way up, and you’ve been someone’s mistress since you turned eighteen. You only recently latched onto Asher.” “Although this is our first meeting, I’m quite familiar with your plastic surgeon.” Then, as if she’d accidentally said something wrong, she covered her mouth playfully while looking at Asher. “Oops, I forgot that homewreckers who get plastic surgery to climb the social ladder don’t like being reminded of their past. Asher, please don’t blame me.” Asher’s smile froze on his face. Just seconds ago, he’d been bragging to his colleagues about my beauty and background. I looked up at his female friend, finding her increasingly familiar. Wasn’t this the plastic surgery influencer who’d been dumped by dozens of sugar daddies, with every relationship ending in disaster? I’d even handled the lawsuit when one of her sugar daddies sent her to the hospital. I wondered if those sugar daddies’ wives would be thrilled to know she was here.

Out of professional habit, I quietly turned on my voice recorder. After all, for someone like me, everything requires evidence. The moment Sienna finished speaking, the envious glances that had been directed at Asher immediately turned strange. A colleague tried to defuse the situation with an awkward laugh. “You must have her confused with someone else. Miss Andrea is an heiress—she wouldn’t need to be anyone’s mistress.” Sienna didn’t deny it. She just let out a deep sigh. “Well, I suppose her mother had foresight—willing to be some rich man’s mistress for money.” “But I wouldn’t want to be that kind of heiress.” I was secretly alarmed. She really dared to say that. If my doting father found out, she probably wouldn’t be able to stay anywhere in America. Seeing my expression change, Sienna shrank further into Asher’s embrace. “Asher, did I say something wrong? It’s my fault for not being as calculating as those women—I just say whatever’s on my mind.” I suppressed the urge to slap her. After all, one slap would mean five to ten days of detention. While distracted, the wine glass in my hand tilted, and the red wine accidentally splashed onto Sienna’s white dress. She shrieked, her face full of grievance. “Andrea, why are you so humiliated and angry just because I told a few truths?” “The ability to disguise yourself so perfectly is quite a skill—I’m envious, really.” Asher’s expression instantly turned cold. He picked up a wet napkin from the table and carefully wiped Sienna’s dress. He glared at me. “Sienna’s always been straightforward and can’t beat around the bush. What’s wrong with you!” “Apologize to Sienna right now!” I laughed bitterly. Sienna slandered and defamed me, and he watched coldly. But now that I’d accidentally stained Sienna’s dress, he was furious. Sienna’s eyes reddened as she pressed against Asher. “It’s okay, Asher. Maybe I did mistake her for someone else and was just joking.” I looked at her with a cold tone. “Words require evidence. I don’t have a sense of humor and can’t understand jokes.” This statement was also reminding Asher not to believe things without evidence. Asher indeed seemed slightly stunned, slowly withdrawing the hand that had been wiping Sienna’s dress. Sienna’s body stiffened, and she looked pitiful. “I’m sorry, Andrea. This is all what your plastic surgeon told me—I really didn’t verify it.” I propped my chin on my hand and looked at her. “Which plastic surgery hospital? Which doctor?” Whatever she dared to say would become evidence. I thought she’d be stuck, but unexpectedly, her tone suddenly became earnest. “Andrea, even if you haven’t had plastic surgery, you’re not that ugly. You really don’t need to go for touch-ups a dozen times every month.” The surrounding colleagues showed expressions of disdain. The female colleague sitting next to Sienna laughed mockingly. “This world really belongs to plastic surgery girls. Get some work done, spread your legs, and you can get rich.” “Not like me and Sienna—we’re all natural and just want to marry for love.” Asher cared most about face. He’d brought me to the company party to show off. Who would have thought he’d face this kind of humiliation? He glumly drank an entire glass of wine. I looked at that female colleague, my eyes turning to ice. “My monthly income is $200,000. Asher makes $30,000. And you’re saying I’m a gold digger?” The guy with glasses across from us laughed mockingly. “$200,000 a month? Andrea, that’s quite a special profession.” “Our Asher is so blessed. Other people spend money on relationships, but when he dates, a bunch of sugar daddies crowdfund it for him… Haha…” “Shut up!” Asher suddenly punched the guy with glasses, shattering his frames. I felt no satisfaction, because I knew he wasn’t defending me—just his wounded pride. The guy with glasses was about to fight back when the host on stage happened to call our table. “Next game—we invite the colleagues from table five!”

Everyone in the company turned to look at us. The guy with glasses had to lower his fist, temporarily swallowing his anger. The game rules were simple: share one thing from work that moved you. Whoever told the best story could choose a prize. The first few people mentioned things like the boss buying coffee or a client’s words of recognition. When it was Sienna’s turn, she glanced at me sideways with a provocative smile. “Last month, I got drunk at a business dinner and called Asher in the middle of the night.” “He rushed back from a business trip and took care of me all night…” “I only found out later that his girlfriend was also looking for him that night.” Applause erupted below. “Asher really values friendship.” “He’s reliable when it counts!” Among the applause, my entire body went rigid, as if plunged into an ice cave. That night in the early morning, I’d been in a car accident. My phone was smashed to pieces, and the only number I could remember was Asher’s. But he just said flatly that he was on a business trip, then became completely unreachable. I nearly died that night. Afterward, Asher knelt by my hospital bed, slapping himself hard. “Andrea, I just want to marry you so badly that I’ve been working like crazy. I really didn’t know it was so serious.” I looked at Asher. He avoided my gaze, his profile tense. For this game, the host announced Sienna as the winner and told her to choose a prize. She looked around and spotted a medical spa VIP card, exclaiming with delight. “Asher ignored his girlfriend because of me, so his girlfriend loves plastic surgery—I’ll use this to apologize.” She looked at me with a bright smile, her voice suddenly rising. “Oh right, she’s actually at our company party—right there in the audience!” The lighting technician followed her pointing finger and shone a spotlight on me. Murmurs rose around me. “This woman had plastic surgery? She looks so natural.” “Looking like that must have cost a fortune.” Sienna grabbed the host’s microphone. “Don’t worry about Andrea spending money—she makes $200,000 a month.” As she spoke, she smiled meaningfully. The crowd immediately responded with knowing “ohhhs.” The men’s gazes became lewd as they looked me up and down, as if appraising merchandise. I stared coldly at Sienna. “Spreading rumors and defaming others, if the circumstances are serious, carries a sentence of up to three years in prison.” “Some words, once spoken, come with a price.” She snorted dismissively and opened her phone. She displayed one of the photos for everyone to see. “I’m not spreading rumors.” It was a before-and-after plastic surgery comparison. The successful case on the right showed my face. Mocking laughter and ridicule flooded the hall like a tidal wave. “The money was well spent—even a pig can become a beauty. Worth it!” “Which doctor did this? I need a recommendation!” I stood up to speak, but Asher suddenly rushed over and slapped me hard. “Andrea!” He gripped Sienna’s phone, fury burning in his eyes at being deceived. “I’ve done graphic design for eight years! This photo isn’t photoshopped—it’s real! You really have been lying to me!” I said nothing, just slowly straightened up. My heart to explain had long since died. Now my mind was calculating another, more practical question: this slap would get him five to ten days of detention. Sienna placed her hand on Asher’s shoulder at just the right moment, her voice sweet. “It’s okay, Asher. Girls love beauty—getting plastic surgery is normal.” “Not like us rough types who are too lazy to even use skincare products.” I looked at Sienna’s elaborate “no-makeup makeup” look and laughed coldly. When I poured makeup remover on her face, she’d find out just how beautiful she really was.

At this moment, the host announced the next performance— a duet by Sienna and Asher. I watched their backs as they walked onto the stage side by side, lost in thought. Asher was right—the photo was real. But the person before surgery and the person after were two different people. I was just curious how Sienna had obtained my college ID photo. I quickly sent tasks to my team members. [Within half an hour, I want all of Sienna’s information!] On stage, Asher knelt on one knee, singing to Sienna with deep affection. “Today you’re going to marry me.” I felt somewhat dazed. When had this man who once shone so brightly in my eyes become so dim? When I first met Asher, I’d been robbed on a foreign street and left penniless. He draped his coat over me, took me to the embassy, and accompanied me to file a police report. I had no phone, so he ran around for me and pressed all his money into my hands. The day they caught the robber, he was even more excited than I was. Back then, he was my hero, my savior. Under the Statue of Liberty, he confessed to me, promising to be faithful to me alone and never change his heart. But after we returned home, Asher forgot his promise. During dates, he’d leave during the movie’s climax because of a phone call from Sienna. When drunk, he’d murmur in his sleep, “I’ll drink for Sienna—don’t make things difficult for her.” His family gatherings never included me, but Sienna was always the guest of honor. I suddenly felt utterly exhausted with it all. I grabbed my bag to leave, and my phone vibrated. My subordinate sent a message. [Andrea, Sienna has major problems.] [The lawsuit materials are ready and can be used anytime.] I frowned and clicked on the link my subordinate sent—Sienna’s influencer homepage. Just one glance made my breathing quicken, my blood rushing backward through my body. What she shared on her influencer page was clearly MY life! Whether it was the pinned post with nine photos from last month at the National Museum, or the “alma mater memories” she posted two years ago— all the photos were identical to the originals on my phone. Except the protagonist had been replaced with her face. So that’s it. I began to understand Sienna’s true intentions. She didn’t just want Asher. She wanted to completely destroy me and replace me. My phone vibrated again. My subordinate sent a new message. [Andrea, we dug deeper—Sienna isn’t just stealing photos… she’s also…] [We’ve found the original owner based on that pre-surgery photo…] I looked at the evidence streaming in, my lips curling coldly. Sienna was going to rot in prison for this.

The duet on stage reached its finale, applause thundering. Sienna and Asher held hands, fingers intertwined, bowing to the audience below. After coming down, she looked at me with deliberate surprise. “Andrea, why haven’t you left yet?” Then she blinked her watery eyes with feigned innocence. “Does getting too much plastic surgery make your face thicker and thicker?” Asher frowned tightly, moving closer to her and distancing himself from me. My heart grew cold, but my face remained calm. Seeing this, triumph flashed undisguised in Sienna’s eyes. “You’re right—marriage requires caution. You can’t marry someone with a filthy disease and harm the whole family.” Asher’s face changed. “Sienna, you can’t say things like that.” Sienna seemed startled, shrinking her neck. “I’m sorry, Asher. I spoke without thinking again.” “I shouldn’t talk about other people’s privacy.” The moment those words left her mouth, everyone pulled their chairs away from me. They looked at me as if I were a virus. Asher’s knuckles turned white, his voice trembling. “Where did you hear that?” “From Andrea’s plastic surgeon. They have to do physical exams before surgery—one test and they know everything.” Sienna seemed to remember something and patted her forehead. “Oh right, she even sent me a photo of the test results.” The instant Sienna pulled out the photo, I quickly photographed it with my phone and sent it to my subordinates. Asher’s rationality completely snapped. He grabbed my throat tightly and roared. “Andrea! You shameless slut! You refused to have premarital sex with me, then turned around and slept around with others!” “If I’d known you were this kind of person, I shouldn’t have bothered with you abroad back then—I should have let you die!” Suffocation surged over me as I struggled desperately to break free. I looked at this face I’d loved for three years becoming twisted and unfamiliar, my heart aching. “Asher,” my voice was hoarse, “I’ve never lied to you. The one lying is Sienna! She…” “BANG!” A bottle of red wine smashed into my head— it was the male colleague who’d been agreeing with Sienna earlier. “You’re the disgusting one, and you want to slander our Sienna? She’s our team’s beloved buddy!” I tried to defend myself but was held in a death grip by the man. A female colleague took the opportunity to viciously grab my nose. Her tone was sharp and bitter. “Oh, this fake nose is pretty secure.” The man next to her laughed lecherously. “Let me test if the fake breasts are sturdy.” Dizzy and disoriented, I looked at Asher— hoping so much that he’d save me from danger like he had years ago. But he just coldly turned his face away. My heart died completely. Just as the man’s hand was about to touch me, the host pushed through in a panic. “Stop it! The boss is here to make a toast!” In the chaos, through the red liquid, I looked at the boss being surrounded and brought over. I was shocked—it was him! Asher roughly dragged me toward the exit by my arm, his voice squeezing through gritted teeth. “Andrea, we’re done! Get out now!” I struggled hard. “Before I leave, I have a question to ask.” “What else do you have to say!” At this moment, the boss was raising his glass to toast our table. I looked at the boss’s wife, who held her husband’s arm with a proper smile. I raised my hand and pointed at the smug Sienna beside me, my voice clear. “Ma’am, did you know she’s your husband’s mistress?” The moment the words left my mouth, the previously noisy hall fell dead silent.

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