I thought I had found my light in the darkness, but it turned out to be just another illusion. On the day of my daughter’s one-month celebration, James’ adopted sister Amy set fire to the nursery. I rushed into the inferno, suffering severe burns all over my body, but my little Daisy still died from respiratory failure. My husband Zack wasn’t even sad. Instead, he helped Amy destroy all the evidence and locked me up at home. In my despair, Zack’s older brother James broke down the door to rescue me and held a grand funeral for my daughter. At Daisy’s graveside, James solemnly proposed to me. I accepted. For three years after our marriage, James took care of me in every way. No matter how busy he was, he always personally accompanied me to therapy sessions. Until one day, I woke up early from hypnosis and overheard his conversation with the therapist. “Sir, your wife’s memories of her daughter’s death are too deeply ingrained. If we continue with hypnosis, she might become confused and end up mentally impaired!” “I don’t care if Lily becomes an idiot. You just need to make her forget that Amy is the one who killed her daughter. That’s the only way Amy and my brother’s wedding can go perfectly.” “Once Lily loses her memory, I’ll give her another child to make up for it.” Tears silently rolled down my face. So all that attentive care I thought I was receiving was just his way of deceiving me. Making my daughter’s killer happy was his life’s goal. If that’s the case, I’ll just leave.
Outside the treatment room, James’ voice was unusually cold: “I don’t care what risks the new method has. You just need to make Lily completely forget that her daughter was burned to death.” “Otherwise, when she finds out Amy and Zack are getting married, she’ll definitely cause a scene at the wedding.” “What happened back then was our family’s fault, but I’ve already given myself to her as compensation. Making her lose a few memories is nothing.” The therapist still hesitated: “The technology for hypnotic amnesia is still immature. I’ve been trying for three years, but your wife’s memories of her daughter’s death are too deeply ingrained. If we forcibly use the new method, she’ll become confused and end up with dementia.” “You have other ways to keep this from her. You could take her abroad to avoid Miss Amy’s wedding.” James irritably interrupted: “No way. Amy wants her wedding to be perfect. Who else but me, her big brother, can walk her down the aisle and give her away?” “You’ve taken my money, so just do what I tell you. Don’t meddle in other affairs.” “At worst, after Amy’s wedding is over, I’ll give Lily another child to make up for it.” The therapist sighed: “Alright, but sir, I must warn you that the human brain is very delicate. I can’t guarantee your wife will never recover her memories.” “When she learns the truth, she’ll definitely hate you for the rest of her life!” “Let her hate me then. By that time, with a child, she’ll be obedient.” James sighed: “If she really wants to make a fuss, I’ll just take her and the child abroad.” “As long as Amy can be happy, even if I never come back to see her again, I’m willing.” My head was buzzing, tears falling silently. Footsteps approached outside. I quickly closed my eyes. “Lily? Lily? The treatment is over. Why are you crying?” In three years of marriage, James had accompanied me to countless therapy sessions. He’d come so many times that he even learned how to wake someone from hypnosis. Looking at James’ same gentle expression as always, I dug my nails into my palms: “I don’t know why, but I feel very sad, like I’ve lost something.” James immediately called the therapist over excitedly: “Come check quickly, has the treatment worked?” The therapist came forward to ask what I saw in my dreams. I touched the burn scars on my arm: “I kept dreaming I was surrounded by fire. When did that happen? How did I get this scar?” James hugged me sympathetically: “Lily, the fire was a long time ago. You almost lost your life then. After leaving the hospital, you had nightmares every night and couldn’t get over the psychological trauma.” “Now that the hypnotherapy has finally worked, you’ll get better and better. If you don’t like the scars on your body, we can go for scar removal surgery.” “If it can’t be treated domestically, we’ll go abroad. I’ll accompany you wherever we need to go for your recovery.” I nodded at James’ gentle smile. The therapist asked a few more detailed questions and gave James an affirmative look. James’ lips curled up, and he asked casually: “Lily, Amy is marrying Zack next week. They’ve invited us to the wedding.” “I know she used to give you a hard time because she liked Zack. She was spoiled, but I’ve scolded her for it. Are you willing to go with me?” “It’s fine. Even though it was an arranged marriage, it’s normal for Amy to be unhappy that I married the man she liked.” James hugged me emotionally: “Lily, I’m so lucky to have such an understanding wife.” I closed my eyes, suppressing the trembling of my body: “Let’s go home.” James quickly packed up my things and led me downstairs. Before James could open the passenger door, I spoke up first: “I’m a bit tired. I want to sleep in the back.” So James busied himself arranging pillows and blankets for me in the back seat. As the car started moving, I hid in the shadows, crying nonstop. So my initial approach that I saw as salvation was all an act James put on to help Amy clear obstacles. The attentive accompaniment to therapy sessions over the years was just to make me lose my memory so his dear sister could have a perfect wedding. I had always thought James was the only light I grasped in the darkness. If I hadn’t accidentally woken up this time and heard their plan, pretending to lose my memory… I probably would have forgotten everything about my daughter and become a puppet for them to manipulate. James has been too good an actor these years. So much so that I forgot he’s also part of the Potter family.
My marriage to Zack was arranged for business purposes, with no feelings between us. But because my mother-in-law kept pressuring us to have children, I got pregnant soon after the wedding. Having never felt much family warmth from my own parents, I was really looking forward to this child. After ten months of pregnancy, all the physical discomfort and pain of childbirth dissipated the moment I saw my daughter. Even Zack’s eyes held a hint of tenderness when he saw our tiny daughter. During that time, Zack and I were just like all new parents, clumsily but happily taking care of our daughter. I thought our days would continue peacefully like this. But on the night of our daughter’s one-month celebration, I got up to check on her. I found James’ adopted sister Amy standing in front of the nursery, which was engulfed in flames, smugly locking the door. I frantically rushed over to snatch the key from her hand, desperately rescuing my daughter from the fire despite the danger. Seeing Zack hurriedly running over with the servants, I finally collapsed in his arms, too weak from my injuries. When I woke up again, I heard from Zack that our daughter had died from respiratory failure after inhaling too much smoke. Unable to bear the devastating news, my burns worsened and I was rushed to surgery. But Zack, who had heard from me that Amy was the arsonist who burned our daughter to death, took advantage of my emergency surgery to clean up all the surveillance footage and fingerprints from that night. As soon as I regained consciousness after surgery, I immediately called the police to report Amy for deliberate arson and murder. The police searched the scene multiple times but regretfully informed me there was no substantial evidence, so my accusation couldn’t stand. Zack tied me to the bed with restraints, his tone full of threats: “Enough, Lily. The fire was just an accident, it had nothing to do with Amy. You can call the police a hundred times, it’s useless.” “Be a good girl. We can have more children in the future.” Zack confiscated all my means of communication and confined me at home. He even had my own parents come to persuade me to give in. That couple looked at me struggling desperately to the point of reopening my wounds, as coldly as if looking at a stranger: “We arranged for you to marry into the Potter family to maintain our company’s partnership with them.” “It was just a child who couldn’t even talk yet. Who told you to make such a big fuss?” “Zack has already promised to have another heir with you. You better know when to stop.” Seeing how the two of them looked down on me condescendingly, I completely broke down: “My daughter died for no reason! I want Amy to pay the price – how is that making a fuss?” “Zack clearly knows as well as I do that Amy set the fire, but he wants to cover for Amy and let my daughter die in vain!” My mom scoffed coldly: “So what if Zack saw Amy start the fire with his own eyes? My dear daughter, don’t be naive.” “He won’t allow a murder scandal in his family. If you were smart, you’d turn a blind eye to his and Amy’s affairs from now on.” My parents left, abandoning me to complete despair, betrayed by both my husband and parents. At that time, it was James, Zack’s older brother, who defied everyone’s opposition, Cut through the restraints and rescued me from the room full of surveillance cameras. With eyes full of sympathy, he took me to get treatment for my injuries. After I woke up, he offered several prime burial plots, letting me personally choose a feng shui treasure land for my daughter to rest. My daughter’s funeral, which had been suppressed by the Potter family, was held grandly with James’ help. Touching the words “Daisy, daughter of Lily Evans” engraved on the tombstone, I cried to the point of collapse. James supported me and took out divorce papers: “Lily, I’ve negotiated with Zack for you. Once you sign this, you’ll have no more connection to him.” “From now on, Daisy will be only your child.” It wasn’t until after the divorce cooling-off period that I learned Zack was willing to sign the divorce papers because James had given up half of his shares. On the day I received the divorce certificate, James gave me a large bouquet of bright sunflowers and knelt on one knee with a diamond ring: “Lily, your new life is beginning. Will you give me a chance to be your support?” Maybe it was because the sunlight that day was too beautiful, or James’ gaze was too sincere and passionate. I accepted his pursuit. After marrying James, I felt the warmth of home I had always dreamed of. Although I still couldn’t get over the grief of my daughter’s tragic death, With his companionship, I no longer resisted therapy and even started to actively engage in it. Even though it took a lot of effort to digest the psychological knowledge and work on self-healing. Even though each hypnosis session would make me dream of the nursery engulfed in flames that night. But now I’m told that James’ initial approach to me Was to help Amy get Zack, to remove me as an obstacle. He said he had already given himself to me as compensation, and would give me another child in the future. But James, I don’t need your cheap and hypocritical compensation.
After returning home, I maintained my usual demeanor, eating, washing up, and resting with James. Until I heard his breathing become steady, I gently pulled his hand off my waist. I got out of bed and went straight to the computer in his study. But after searching every corner of James’ computer, I couldn’t find any valuable information. I did see a folder labeled “Amy” though. Inside were photos and videos of Amy from childhood to adulthood. James had carefully labeled the time and place for each photo. In the three years of our marriage, he was still meticulously recording Amy’s every smile. Suppressing the nausea in my heart, I closed the folder and continued searching desperately. My mouse accidentally clicked on a foreign social media platform I didn’t recognize. James’ account was still logged in. After scrolling through all his chat logs and records, I finally found a clue in a transfer record from three years ago. The recipient was a hacker. James hired him to delete the online backup of the surveillance footage from the night Amy set the fire. Tears fell drop by drop. I urgently typed: “Can you recover the online backup you deleted three years ago?” The hacker quickly replied: “Didn’t you say to destroy it completely? I didn’t keep any traces on my end either.” Seeing this, my heart was already numb with pain. I brushed off the hacker, cleared the chat history, and shut down the computer. I picked up my phone and dialed a number: “Hello, I’d like to book a fake death service for seven days from now.” I didn’t sleep all night. The next morning, James saw my swollen eyes and looked very concerned: “Lily, did you cry again in your dreams?” “I must have. Did I used to do this often?” James wrapped an ice pack in a towel and held it to my eyes: “Yes, you often had nightmares. We have a family dinner today. When we have time, I’ll take you to see the therapist again.” Hearing the words “family dinner”, I took down the ice pack and looked up at James. He explained gently but firmly: “Amy is getting married next week. As her family, we should help out in some way, don’t you think?” I smiled: “Of course we should.” James got the answer he wanted and stood up with the ice pack: “Then I’ll go to the office first and pick you up in the evening.” As soon as James left, I went to the cemetery where my daughter was buried. Carefully wiping the dust off the tombstone, I apologized to my daughter in a low voice: “Baby, I’m sorry you’ve been sleeping in this place arranged by the Potters for so long.” “Mommy has figured out a way to take you away.”
When I got home, James followed me in shortly after. Seeing the mud from the cemetery on the soles of my shoes, he looked puzzled: “Lily, where did you go?” I calmly took off my shoes and handed them to the housekeeper: “I went out for a walk. It was crowded and I accidentally stepped in some landscaping.” James didn’t think much of it and urged me to change shoes so we could go to the family dinner. By the time James and I arrived, all the Potters were already there. Amy bounced over, rudely shoving me aside with a disgusted pout: “James! You finally came back, why did you bring her?” My waist slammed hard into the shoe cabinet, making me break out in a cold sweat from the pain. Amy looked at my exposed wrist with revulsion: “Her skin looks like it has bugs crawling on it. If I were her, I’d rather scrape off my skin than come out and disgust people.” James’ eyes were full of indulgence: “You’re still so childish even at this age. Lily, don’t take offense.” Childish? What kind of child tries to kill a baby less than a month old? I suppressed my hatred and smiled: “It’s fine. Let’s go in quickly.” James was very pleased with my docile demeanor. As soon as we sat down, my mother-in-law started mocking me coldly: “Bad luck charm, making us wait for you to eat when we invited you home for dinner!” My mother-in-law had always been very dissatisfied that James gave up shares to get my divorce agreement. Not to mention that James had a falling out with the family to marry me and hadn’t come back to see her in three years. Amy’s eyes flashed with glee: “Mom, my sister-in-law is the apple of James’ eye. You shouldn’t talk like that or he’ll be upset.” My mother-in-law’s expression grew even more unpleasant. James glanced at me, still staring intently at Amy as he spoke: “What do you mean ‘apple of my eye’? Don’t say such nonsense.” Seeing how nervous and concerned he was about Amy, My eyes couldn’t help but sting. Such an obvious thing, yet it took me three years to realize. Fortunately, I woke up in time that day and didn’t let his plan succeed. Just seven more days. Then I can leave completely, taking my Daisy with me. After dinner, the Potters gathered to discuss next week’s wedding details. I sat alone to the side, typing with lowered eyes: “One more thing, before the plan starts, help me go to the cemetery.” “Don’t let anyone find out.” I got up midway to use the restroom and ran into Amy on my way out. Disgust flashed across her face, but she grabbed my arm as I was about to move aside. “Sister-in-law, come help me see how the nursery I prepared looks.” With that, she dragged me upstairs. The room that had once been burned black was now completely renovated. It was filled with warm baby items. Amy smiled maliciously and smugly: “Sister-in-law, what do you think of this nursery?” I froze in place. Desperately telling myself to endure. If James found out the hypnosis didn’t work, I would be in an even more dangerous situation than when I was imprisoned and monitored back then. But Amy wouldn’t let me go. She pulled up my sleeve. Lightly tracing my scars with a fruit knife she had grabbed, “I heard from James that after seeing the therapist, sister-in-law doesn’t really remember how she got burned.” “If you ask me, sister-in-law’s mental illness is really scary. Back then, you tried to commit suicide by setting fire to this room in the middle of the night. You almost burned our whole family to death.” I looked at Amy in disbelief. I tried to commit suicide? How dare she turn things around like this? Seeing the anger in my eyes, Amy viciously cut off a piece of skin from my arm: “What are you glaring at? I finally got you to divorce Zack, but then you turned around and married my brother with this disgusting skin.” “You think my brother likes you that much? He told me that every night he sleeps next to you, he feels like vomiting.” I trembled in pain: “You psycho! Murderer!” Amy laughed coldly and cruelly, raising the knife for another cut: “You’re right to curse me. I’ve wanted to have someone kill you for a long time, just like I killed that little bastard you gave birth to.”
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