Jason’s mistress slid the stock transfer agreement across my desk. “Sign it, Skylar.” The irony wasn’t lost on me. Here I was, a top divorce attorney, personally handing my husband’s shares to his mistress. Jason pulled her closer, his voice a condescending sneer. “Be a good girl, and you’ll still be my wife.” I just smiled. He didn’t know that his mistress would return to me that night with the newly acquired shares. “Skylar, our revenge plot just got one step closer to success.” My gaze lingered on Jason’s signature, a flamboyant mark on the stock transfer agreement. There was no doubt. He was truly in love with Maya Evans. She was a living replica of the woman I once was. Every mannerism, every smile, was a perfect echo of my past self. My six months of training her had paid off. In just one month, she’d gotten him to hand over 20% of his shares. Over the years, every woman Jason had found always had something that reminded him of me. When things were passionate, he’d shower them with jewelry and designer bags, as if money was no object. But he’d always insist I approve them, sending them out under our names, as if from a loving couple. I’d gone crazy, made scenes, demanded to know why. He’d just shrug it off, always indifferent. “Relax, I’m just having fun. You’re still the one I love most, why else would I find so many replacements?” “After all, you’re so busy. So busy you didn’t even notice our son being abducted right under your nose. How could you possibly have time for me?” He conveniently forgot that he was there too, the night Leo disappeared. But that didn’t stop him from using these “replacements” to twist the knife, aiming for my heart. For years, guilt made me endure his every abuse. “Skylar, are you getting soft?” Maya, seeing me lost in thought, stopped joking around, her voice cautious. “How could I be? Next step is finding the solid evidence, then getting the divorce agreement signed, and finally, leaving him for good.” “Skylar, I’ll take care of the agreement!” Maya picked up the divorce papers I’d already signed, thumping her chest in assurance. But I still worried Jason would lash out at Maya if he discovered we were working together. She just shrugged, unconcerned. “Unless he’s brave enough to kill me like he did my sister! Otherwise, I’m ready to take him down with me.” I quickly grabbed some tissues, wiping her tears away. “I bear some responsibility for what happened to your sister, Sierra…” If it wasn’t for his twisted desire to get back at me, Jason wouldn’t have sought out Sierra, who bore such a striking resemblance to me. And she wouldn’t have died so tragically, still carrying his child. Jason’s story to the police was that she was unfaithful, pregnant with his baby, and seeing other guys-that’s why she ended up dead. But Maya and I both knew that was a lie. Because right before she died, she told Maya she loved Jason, which was why she’d stooped to being his mistress, a role she hated. And in her final moments, she’d called me. She said she had a secret to tell me, a secret to ensure her unborn child would be safe… But by the time I arrived at the location she mentioned, all I found was a pool of blood. After that, Jason’s womanizing only got worse, more blatant, more cruel. At the mention of Sierra, Maya began to cry. The sound woke Jason, who was getting water. He pushed the door open with a bang. Taking in Maya’s swollen, tear-streaked face, he stormed across the room and slapped me hard across the cheek. “Skylar! You really have some nerve! Bullying Maya right under my damn nose?” “Skylar!” he snarled. “You have some nerve! Bullying Maya right in front of me?” I stared into his eyes, unable to hold back the rage churning in my chest. “These years, you truly found no trace of Leo?” Jason bristled, a flicker of guilt so quick in his eyes, I almost missed it. “What, you’re questioning me? You know how much I’ve suffered, how much it hurts not finding Leo, don’t you?” I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. His so-called suffering just meant him screwing around with different women. At first, I believed him. I thought he was hurting and blaming himself, just like me. But he was also the first one to give up looking for our child. Jason didn’t want to continue talking about Leo, so he turned and scooped Maya into his arms, kissing away her tears. Maya, whose emotions hadn’t quite shifted yet, stiffened in his embrace. To cover her unease, she bit down hard on his shoulder. “Jason, honey, I’m so upset. I just came to tell Skylar that I’m not like those other women, I would never try to take her place as Mrs. Blackwood. But she cursed me…” “She said she’d rather die than let any woman disrespect her.” “She also said-” Maya didn’t elaborate on the rest, but it was enough to make Jason’s eyes burn with an intensity that promised to tear me apart. He looked at me coldly, a sneer twisting his lips. “Skylar, all you have left is the title of Mrs. Blackwood. If you ever lay a hand on Maya again, I can’t guarantee you’ll even keep that!” That threat, in the past, might have sent me into a furious frenzy. But now, I merely scoffed in response. “Oh really? Then let’s wait and see, shall we?”
Because of that comment, Jason went ballistic, showering Maya with every luxury he could think of. One day a mansion, the next a diamond set, the day after a private yacht. Each gift deliberately passed through my hands. He’d call it “proper” because “Mrs. Blackwood handled it.” It was just a twisted way to rub it in. I knew he wanted to see me suffer, to watch me descend into hysterics. I gave him what he wanted. When he once again ordered me to deliver a ten-million-dollar diamond necklace to Maya, I snatched the jewelry box and smashed it to the floor. Shards of diamonds glittered on the floor, a perfect mirror of our shattered marriage. “Jason Blackwood, do you enjoy humiliating me this much?” I glared at him, my eyes red, my acting Oscar-worthy. He leaned back on the couch, legs casually crossed, a satisfied smile playing on his lips. “Already can’t take it? Skylar, think of Leo. What’s a little pain compared to that?” He brought up Leo again. He always did this, twisting Leo’s disappearance into a knife he’d plunge into me, again and again. I grabbed the ashtray from the table and hurled it at him. He dodged, and the ashtray shattered against our wedding photo behind him. “You’re insane!” He sneered, standing up to adjust his suit. “I’ll have a new necklace sent. You will deliver it to Maya and apologize to her in person.” “From now on, I’ll come home once a week. I can’t stand looking at your face every day.” He walked out, genuinely looking disgusted to spend another second with me. I stood there, trembling, until his footsteps faded down the stairs. Only then did the savage expression on my face slowly melt away. Picking up my phone, I sent a message to Maya. “Plan’s still on.” The next day, I personally delivered the new diamond necklace to Maya’s villa. Jason was there too, spoon-feeding her grapes. Seeing me enter, Maya immediately flinched, burying herself deeper into Jason’s embrace. “Jason, honey, I’m scared.” Jason soothingly patted her back, then shot me a cold glare. “Leave the necklace, apologize, and then you can go.” I didn’t move, my gaze fixed on Maya’s face, so eerily similar to my younger self. Suddenly, I snatched a fruit knife from the table and lunged at her! “Skylar, don’t you dare!” Jason’s face contorted, and he lunged to stop me. I hadn’t intended to actually hurt her, but Maya, wanting to make it look real, deliberately extended her arm. The knife sliced her forearm. Blood welled up instantly, and Maya screamed, her cries like falling rain. “Jason, honey! It hurts so much!” Jason shoved me away, rushing to check her wound. I stumbled back a few steps from his push, hitting the wall. A sharp pain shot through my lower back. “Skylar!” He turned to me, his eyes murderous. “You are truly beyond redemption!” I steadied myself against the wall, laughing until tears streamed down my face. “Yes, I’m crazy! You drove me crazy!” He ignored me, sweeping Maya into his arms and heading for the door. As he passed me, he paused, his voice like ice. “Let’s get a divorce.” I had finally heard the words I’d been waiting for. Jason came home that night with the signed divorce papers. The property settlement wasn’t what I had expected. I wasn’t walking away with nothing. He called it his “benevolence” toward me. It seemed he was truly fed up with this “crazy woman” and desperate to make room for his new love. I picked up the pen and, without hesitation, signed the agreement. Leo had been missing for three years. I could finally be free. But the slight smile playing on my lips made Jason’s eyes blaze crimson. He snatched the divorce papers and tore them to shreds. “Skylar Vance, does leaving me make you that happy? You won’t get away from me that easily!”
He flung the shredded paper at my face, his jaw tight, as if *I* was the one who had betrayed *him*. I sat on the bed, calmly watching him. “Didn’t you want the divorce?” His breathing was ragged, his chest heaving as he glared at me. “I changed my mind.” “Just letting you leave like this is too easy.” “I want you to spend the rest of your life trapped in the empty shell of Mrs. Blackwood, watching me and Maya be happy until we’re old!” With that, he stormed out, slamming the door. Later that night, I received news that he had taken Maya to Switzerland. It was where we had spent our honeymoon. He’d promised me there that he would love and protect me forever. Now he was back at those same places with another woman, constantly posting their intimate photos and videos on Instagram. There he was, carrying Maya in his arms at the foot of snow-capped mountains. Then, sharing a romantic dinner on a hotel balcony. And most painfully, a video of him on one knee, sliding a ring back onto her finger. Our friends cheered them on in the comments, envying Maya and laughing at my loss. Mrs. Blackwood even showed up at my door, flaunting those pictures. “Skylar, a woman like you should just disappear, go somewhere no one knows you and end it.” “I know you don’t want a divorce because you’re hoping to cling to my Jason and bleed him dry for the rest of your life!” “Here’s a blank check. Fill in any amount you want, as long as you leave my son.” Compared to Jason, Mrs. Blackwood hated me more for losing her precious grandson. But she never once considered that Leo was the son I carried for nine months – I felt his loss even more profoundly than she did! Now, she actually thought I wouldn’t divorce Jason because I was clinging to the Blackwood family fortune. She had no idea that if it weren’t for my secret help, how could Jason’s career have achieved its current brilliance? I casually tore up the check, telling Mrs. Blackwood coldly, “It’s not that *I* don’t want a divorce. It’s your son who wants to trap me in this marriage as ‘Mrs. Blackwood’ just to torment me!” The next second, Jason sent me a SnapChat message. “Skylar, look how sensible Maya is? If you cause any more trouble, I won’t tear up the divorce papers next time.” Mrs. Blackwood saw the message and strutted out like a triumphant peacock, chin high. I stared at Jason’s smiling face on the screen, remembering how he’d knelt before me ten years ago, crying and begging me to marry him, so full of passionate promises. He thought Maya would be the love of his life, but he didn’t know that half a year ago, Maya had also knelt before me, pleading on her knees, desperate. “Skylar, I’ll do anything, just let Jason Blackwood pay the price!” Her acting skills had certainly improved. I turned off my phone, not bothering to reply. Jason thought I’d be devastated, that I’d call him in a furious rage. But he was wrong. During the days he was away with Maya, I contacted a private investigator. “Focus on Jason Blackwood’s whereabouts over the past year.” “Specifically, look into a six-year-old disabled beggar and Sierra Evans.” After sending that message, I opened my phone’s encrypted photo album. The first image was a chubby little boy in a blue dinosaur onesie, smiling widely for the camera. I’d taken it on Leo’s third birthday. He would be six now. For three long years, I never stopped searching for my son. Not for a single day. And Jason… I closed my eyes, remembering the encrypted message I’d accidentally seen on his phone last month. He’d deleted it instantly, but a few words were burned into my memory. “Deal with the kid. Don’t let Skylar find out.” Jason would never know. The day before I discovered that message, he had mumbled something in a drunken stupor. “Even if Leo was standing right in front of you, you wouldn’t recognize him. Just forget about him.” At the time, I’d dismissed it as the drunken ramblings of a grieving father. Now, it was full of red flags, every word a dagger to my soul.
With Jason out of the picture, the private investigator could dig into his past affairs without any obstacles. Soon, he sent me two files. After reading about Sierra’s true cause of death, my blood ran cold. I never imagined Jason could be so heartless. After realizing Sierra knew his secret, he actually, despite her carrying his own flesh and blood, killed her-a double tragedy! The detective told me that it all started because Sierra had tracked him and discovered him meeting a young beggar. The beggar the detective mentioned, if my suspicions were correct, was my Leo. I took several deep breaths before clicking on the video. But when I saw that small and emaciated figure with missing limbs and a body caked in grime, my heart shattered. The child in the photo had a face scarred beyond recognition. He was crawling on the ground, begging. Though Leo was terribly changed, I still knew him. He was my son. “Mr. Blackwood located him six months ago,” the investigator reported. “He said the boy was useless now. That bringing him home would be a burden. I collapsed into my chair, my body turning to ice. Even a wild animal wouldn’t do this to its own offspring. Jason Blackwood, how could you be cruel enough to destroy two of your own children? Outside, a sudden downpour began, thunder booming. It was just like the day Leo disappeared, three years ago. That day, the rain was pouring. Jason had come to my law office to pick me up, but then claimed an urgent matter and shoved a crying Leo into my arms. He locked himself in a conference room for a meeting. Leo, thinking his dad was playing hide-and-seek, slipped out the door while I was on a call. And then… I closed my eyes, tears streaming down. I picked up my phone and sent Maya a message detailing Sierra’s true cause of death. It was time to close the net. I leveraged all my connections, orchestrating a crisis for Jason’s company. His core project approval was stalled, and his cash flow was on the verge of collapsing. His sweet trip to Switzerland was cut short; he and Maya rushed back to the country. In his office, he was frantic, smashing his third coffee mug. “A bunch of incompetents! You can’t even handle this much!” I pushed the door open, ignoring the mess, and went straight to the point. “Perhaps, I can help you.” He looked up at me, his eyes mocking. “You? A crazy woman who only knows how to fight for attention?” I wasn’t angry or flustered. I simply uttered a name. “Mark Peterson. He’s in charge of the approval for this project.” “His sister’s divorce case last month? I handled it.” Jason narrowed his eyes, re-evaluating me. “What do you want?” “Ten percent of the shares. That’s not much for you.” He was silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth and nodded. “Fine.” With that 10% of the shares, I would completely control Blackwood Industries. I took Mark Peterson out for dinner, and the next day, the project approval went through. Jason was extremely pleased, looking at me with less contempt. “I never thought you’d be useful for this.” I lowered my gaze, hiding the cold glint in my eyes. From that day on, he continued to throw several other challenging projects my way. I handled every single one flawlessly. He gradually let down his guard, no longer scrutinizing documents when he signed them. One day, he was rushing to take Maya out for her birthday. He hastily glanced at a contract and signed it. I watched him disappear out the door, then reached for the very bottom of the folder. That’s the divorce agreement. Three days later, they were finalized. The weight of the paperwork felt heavy and final in my hand. Ten years of marriage had finally come to an end. I sent a message to Maya. “Tonight, see you at the airport.” The next day, Jason was woken by the delivery driver. He was hungover and irritable as he tore open the envelope. When he saw the divorce certificate, he sobered up instantly. His hands trembled as he flipped it open. The date was yesterday. He froze for a few seconds, then erupted in a furious rage. “Skylar Vance, you played me!” My phone was ringing off the hook, but Maya and I were in a coastal town in the Southern Hemisphere. The sun was warm, the ocean breeze gentle. “Turn it off, Skylar.” Maya handed me a glass of juice. “Let him go crazy.” I nodded and complied. Jason then started frantically calling Maya. I picked up and put the phone on speaker. “Maya! Let’s go to City Hall now! I’ll make you Mrs. Blackwood!” His voice was urgent and brimming with confidence. As if he’d just offered her the greatest honor, Maya let out a soft laugh. “Okay.” The line went dead. We looked at each other and smiled. Jason waited all day at City Hall. A steady stream of happy couples flowed in and out of the hall. But Maya never came. He called her again and again, his voice twisting from a gentle coax into raw, unfiltered rage. “Maya Evans! What the hell is this? You don’t want to be Mrs. Blackwood anymore?” On the other end, Maya stretched under the sun, a mocking smile curling her red lips. “Is being ‘Mrs. Blackwood’ really such a prize?” She chuckled. “Skylar didn’t want it. What makes you think I would?”
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