Back from holiday, our longtime nanny Audrey brought me a dark fertility tonic she’d prepared. As I took the first sip, a child’s giggle echoed in my mind: “Hehe, once this idiot drinks this, her mansion will be mine!” A week later, I was pregnant. Audrey became especially attentive, even whispering to my belly. I was so moved, I doubled her salary and gave her gifts. But after ten months of care, I hemorrhaged during childbirth. Dying, I heard that voice again: “Stupid woman. My mom planned this. When I grow up, she’ll get all your family’s money!” My heart burned with rage as everything faded. Then I opened my eyes—I was back. And the first thing I did was pour that tonic out for our golden retriever. … Watching the dog lick the bowl clean, the burning hatred from my past life finally found an outlet. Before I could even stand up straight, the fetus’s shriek pierced my thoughts. No! Mom! That idiot didn’t drink the potion! You have to make her drink it! I’m not going to be poor with you for my whole life! My body went rigid. I turned my head. Just as I expected, the nanny, Audrey, was standing in the kitchen doorway, staring at me intently. A cold sweat prickled my skin. Thankfully, the windowsill blocked her view; she hadn’t seen me feed the tonic to the dog. I steadied myself, set down the empty bowl, and walked straight to my bedroom. This time around, I would never let this venomous mother and son use my body as their vessel. The moment I sat down, Audrey appeared with another bowl of the dark liquid. I immediately frowned. “That last bowl was disgusting. I’m not having any more.” She froze for a second before her usual sweet smile returned. “Vivian, honey, the remedy only works if you drink both bowls. I promise, this will get you the son you’ve been wishing for.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “I had to carry this all the way from my hometown. Just pinch your nose and drink up.” Her soft-spoken persistence made my blood boil. In my last life, I had been completely fooled by her meek, honest facade. My father-in-law’s liver cancer diagnosis had only made things worse; he was desperate to see a grandchild before his time was up, pressuring me and my husband, Marcus, every single day. So, I had gratefully drunk her tonic. And when I got pregnant, I had rewarded her for her “tender care” with raises and gifts, only to bleed out on an operating table. The memory was so vivid it felt like fire. I swatted the bowl from her hand. “I said I’m not drinking it!” The potion splattered across the floor, releasing a sickeningly strange odor. Audrey’s eyes instantly welled with tears as she carefully picked up the broken pieces of the bowl. “Vivian, this is precious stuff. Why would you do that…?” Before she could finish, the fetus’s voice chimed in again. This bitch deserves to die, just like that old hag! If that suspicious old woman hadn’t insisted on a paternity test in our last life, I wouldn’t have ended up in an orphanage! Mom! You have to make this bitch drink the potion, and you have to get rid of the old woman before she gets suspicious again! I saw a flash of pure venom in Audrey’s eyes and a chill went down my spine. This woman had to go. “I said no. Don’t you understand English?” My harsh tone made her lip tremble. “Vivian, I’m only trying to help…” she whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears. “If you don’t want it, I’ll take it away.” She looked so pitiful, as if I had deeply wounded her. A knot of frustration tightened in my chest. I knew Audrey was behind this evil plot, but I couldn’t just fire her. Her mother had been my mother-in-law’s caregiver for most of her life. Out of respect for that long-standing relationship, my in-laws treated Audrey’s family with exceptional kindness. I needed a reason, a damn good one, to get her out of this house for good. I unclenched my fists. Even though the dog drank the tonic, I couldn’t relax. I told our housekeeper that Marcus wanted to switch to a lighter diet, so Audrey shouldn’t cook for a while. Then I spent the next few days making her do all the heavy lifting, hoping the physical strain might take care of the evil seed in her womb. But day after day, she remained perfectly fine, though the glares she shot me grew darker and more menacing. Then, the day my in-laws returned from their trip, she placed that same bowl of black tonic on the dining table. Right in front of me. “Mrs. Collins,” she said sweetly to my mother-in-law, “my mother sent this special remedy from our hometown. It’s for Vivian. It’s one hundred percent guaranteed to work!” At her words, my in-laws, who were desperate for a grandchild, beamed. They praised Audrey for being so thoughtful and urged me to drink it while it was hot. Seeing no way out, I pulled out a prescription I’d gotten from the doctor just for this occasion. “Mom, Dad, Marcus and I are already following a treatment plan from our doctor. I can’t mix it with other remedies.” Marcus looked confused but nodded along with me. Before my in-laws could respond, Audrey interrupted, her voice sharp with urgency. “Those doctors are just scammers! They take your money, but their treatments are useless!” As if to prove her point, she lifted her shirt to reveal a slightly rounded belly. “Look,” she said, a shy blush on her cheeks. “I was only home for the holidays and drank it for a few days, and now I’m pregnant.” She lowered her voice, her words hitting their mark. “Vivian has been trying for five years. If the doctors were any good, she’d have a child running around by now!” Her words struck a chord with my mother-in-law. My father-in-law sealed my fate. “If my daughter-in-law drinks this and it works, Audrey, I’ll let you pick any one of our properties as a gift!” I was about to refuse again when Audrey picked up the bowl and shoved it toward my lips. The fetus’s voice exploded in my head. Just one sip, Mom! If she swallows just one sip, I can transfer into her womb! We’ll be rich and famous for the rest of our lives! A wave of nausea washed over me. I shoved her arm away. “I’m not drinking it.” The bowl clattered to the floor. Audrey clutched her hand, which was now red from the hot liquid, tears glistening in her eyes. The atmosphere turned glacial. My mother-in-law frowned. “Vivian, Audrey was just trying to help. Was there any need for that?” Marcus squeezed my hand, his expression pained. “Mom, Dad, if Vivian doesn’t want to drink it, let’s just drop it. Or maybe I should drink it?” “It’s all your fault for spoiling her!” my mother-in-law snapped. “Whose wife is still childless after five years of marriage? I’m the laughingstock of my social circle!” On the verge of a full-blown argument, I claimed I was feeling unwell and escaped to my room. I drifted into an uneasy sleep, only to be jolted awake by a voice that chilled me to the bone. Yes! It worked, Mom! She drank it! My eyes flew open. Audrey’s face loomed over me. She was holding a dropper, squeezing the foul liquid into my mouth! My mind went blank. I scrambled to the bathroom, jamming my fingers down my throat, trying to vomit. The taste of that cursed potion was unbearable. The commotion brought everyone running. Audrey looked nervous. “Don’t throw it up, Vivian! I swear, there’s nothing wrong with it!” she pleaded. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll drink it myself!” And right there, in front of everyone, she drank the remaining contents of the bowl. But the fetus’s voice rang out once more, smug and triumphant. Don’t worry, Mom. I can only transfer to the first person who drinks the potion! My heart leaped. The first one? That was Rusty. I stopped trying to throw up. A cold, hard glare fixed on her. “You sneak into my room at night to force-feed me a potion. What’s next, trying to murder me for my money?” I turned to my husband. “Audrey is fired.” “You can collect your final paycheck tomorrow and leave,” Marcus added, his voice firm. Audrey’s eyes filled with tears as she turned to my mother-in-law. “Mrs. Collins… I was only trying to help.” My mother-in-law looked torn. “Her mother was with me for so many years,” she murmured. “We can’t just throw her out.” As they stood in a stalemate, the fetus’s voice chirped excitedly. Mom! The transfer was a success! A triumphant smile almost broke through Audrey’s pitiful facade. She quickly suppressed it and swore, “Please, just give me one more chance. If Vivian isn’t pregnant this time, I’ll leave immediately!” Seeing that my mother-in-law was about to plead her case again, I waved a tired hand. Fine. Let her stay. The dog was pregnant, not me. Audrey would be gone soon enough. With that settled, I finally felt a sense of relief. As an apology for the family drama, Marcus bought me a new designer handbag. I was in a good mood, so I dragged him to the grocery store. As we passed the seafood section, a wave of intense nausea hit me, and I threw up right there on the floor. A kind employee handed me a paper towel. “Oh, honey, looks like you’ve got a case of morning sickness.” Morning sickness? Impossible. I rushed to the nearest pharmacy and bought three pregnancy tests. Back home, the three minutes it took for the results to appear felt like an eternity. The first test: two pink lines. The second: two pink lines. The third: still two pink lines. I felt like I’d been struck by lightning. Rusty drank the potion. Why was I pregnant? Marcus burst through the bathroom door. He saw the tests, let out a whoop of joy, and pulled me into a kiss. “Vivian! We’re pregnant!” He spread the news to the whole family. I couldn’t even manage a smile. The house was filled with joy as they discussed what to buy, while Rusty wagged his tail and trotted around my feet. I stared at him, watching him jump and play. His belly wasn’t swollen at all. Could it be? The potion didn’t work on dogs? My last sliver of hope crumbled. I wanted to pound on my own stomach. Was I doomed to die at the hands of Audrey and her demonic offspring all over again? No! Absolutely not! The room started to spin. Nausea churned in my stomach. I turned to my family and shouted, “We can’t keep this baby! We have to get rid of it!” I grabbed Marcus’s sleeve, my voice frantic. “Take me to the hospital, now! We can’t keep this child!” Marcus pulled away, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Vivian! This is the baby we’ve been waiting for!” Tears streamed down my face. I was desperate. I grabbed the car keys and made a run for the door. My mother-in-law reacted instantly, wrapping her arms around me with surprising strength. “Vivian! Don’t do something foolish! This is a life! This is your baby!” Seeing the confusion and hurt on their faces, the last thread of my composure snapped. “This baby has to be aborted,” I screamed, “or it will kill us all!” They all stared at me, then at each other. “Vivian, did you have a nightmare?” “How can an unborn baby kill an entire family?” Seeing their disbelief, the fetus gloated inside me. You want to abort me? Not a chance! My mom has everything planned. Just then, Audrey rushed in, clutching a crumpled piece of paper. “I found this when I was doing the laundry…” she announced, holding up a medical report. “It says Vivian has an anxiety disorder! She must be having an episode, that’s why she wants to get rid of the baby!” Her words were like gasoline on a fire. My father-in-law’s face turned purple with rage, his finger jabbing at my nose. “This is a Collins baby! Who are you to say we should get rid of it?!” “Henry, don’t you dare!” my mother-in-law cried, jumping between us. She turned to me, her voice pleading. “Vivian, we’ve waited so long for this baby. Whatever you’re worried about, I’ll fix it, okay?” Tears blurred my vision. I knew how much this meant to her, how much it meant to me. But the agony of my last death was a fresh wound. I couldn’t go through that again. “Marcus,” I said, my voice shaking but firm, “either we terminate this pregnancy, or we get a divorce.” The color drained from his face. He held up a hand to quiet his parents and finally relented. “Okay, Vivian. Whatever you want.” Audrey rushed forward, her face a mask of concern. “She’s not in her right mind! If you let her do this, she’ll regret it for the rest of her life!” I slapped her hard across the face. “This is none of your business! You’re fired!” This time, I saw it. The undisguised hatred in her eyes. She looked at me as if I were already dead. No matter what my mother-in-law said, Marcus personally wrote Audrey’s termination letter. She cried a river of tears. My mother-in-law insisted on one last dinner, to part on good terms. Audrey stopped protesting. She was silent through the meal, through the cleanup. As she walked out the door, she looked up at me on the second-floor landing, her eyes burning with resentment. Somehow, even though I had an appointment for the abortion the next day, a deep sense of unease settled over me. That night, a commotion woke me up. My mother-in-law had collapsed in the bathroom from a sudden heart palpitation. The ambulance rushed her to the hospital. After emergency open-heart surgery, the doctor delivered the grave news. “She has idiopathic malignant arrhythmia. She can’t handle any stress, or her heart could fail. She needs 24/7 monitoring.” Looking at my mother-in-law’s pale, still face, my heart sank. She’d had a heart condition for years, but it had been stable. Why would it suddenly become so severe? Just then, two figures burst into the room. “Mrs. Collins! What happened?!” It was Audrey and her mother. Their grief seemed so genuine, but alarm bells were screaming in my head. Sure enough, they immediately offered to take over her care. “She can’t be left alone! Let me and Audrey stay with her! No one knows how to take care of her better than we do!” Despite my objections, my father-in-law agreed. Outside the room, Marcus stood in silence for a long time. Finally, he turned to me, his voice quiet. “Vivian. Let’s keep the baby.” I stared at him, incredulous. “We agreed to go tomorrow!” “My mother is in this state! And you still want to put her through more stress?!” It was the first time he had ever spoken to me with such coldness. I trembled, and his face crumpled in despair. “Do you really not want to have our child?” I couldn’t speak. A sharp, twisting pain shot through my abdomen. A vicious threat echoed in my head. You bitch! My mom already took care of the old hag. If you still try to get rid of me, I’ll kick you to death from the inside! It was him. He was doing this. I looked at Marcus, my voice a desperate plea. “This baby has to go. We can have other children, later…” My father-in-law suddenly clutched his chest and fell to his knees before me. “Vivian, I’m an old man with liver cancer. I’m begging you. Please, just grant me and your mother this one wish!” “Enough!” Marcus roared, his eyes red. He scooped me up and carried me out of the hospital. I was a prisoner in my own home. The bedroom door was locked. Bars were installed on the windows. The balcony door was sealed shut. And Audrey was back, under the guise of being my caretaker. She doted on me just like in my previous life, while the thing in my belly cursed me day and night. No matter how much I fought, it was useless. Marcus was torn with guilt and pain, but he just kept repeating the same plea. “Vivian, please. For me. Just have this baby.” I couldn’t bear to see him like this. It wasn’t his fault, or his parents’. The source of all this evil was Audrey and the thing she had put inside me. Once I calmed down, I called the most famous private investigator in our social circle. “Money is no object. I need it done fast.” I was certain that if Audrey was using poison, she must have left a trail. The days that followed felt like a death march. My hope dwindled. I even started to think that killing myself would be better than letting them kill me. Two months later, I was at my breaking point. Then, the evidence arrived.

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The yacht carrying my parents and sister exploded at sea. There were no survivors. Left with an empty house and a mountain of debt, my heart was hollowed out by grief. I was standing on the edge of a rooftop, ready to jump, when lines of text, like comments from some unseen audience, scrolled across my vision: [Actually, your parents won 300 million dollars in the lottery. They took your precious baby sister abroad to live in luxury.] [Hehe, and what the baby sister doesn’t know is that the poor, blind boyfriend she dumped is actually the heir to the Croft fortune. He was just playing a ‘pretend to be poor’ game with her.] [When she blows through all the money and comes back, the enraged Mr. Croft is going to lock her away and punish her.] [The cannon fodder needs to jump faster. Can’t wait for the real heroine’s return.] Suddenly, I decided not to die. That night, soaking wet and reeking of cheap whiskey, I stumbled into Donald Croft’s shabby apartment. … I woke to the faint light of dawn, my body aching all over. As I turned my head, Donald’s eyes fluttered open. He was blind. A car accident six months ago had stolen his sight. My sister, Mila, disgusted by his poverty and disability, had tried to break up with him countless times. His beautiful eyes, usually unfocused and empty, were always fixed on some distant, unseen point. But for a split second just now, I could have sworn he was staring right at me. Just as quickly, however, his gaze returned to its usual hollow vacancy. His voice was a low rasp. “Mila? Is that you?” The comments flooded my vision again: [What the hell? The cannon fodder didn’t die? And now she’s in bed with Donald?] [I’m so mad! Is she trying to impersonate Mila? Donald’s eyes have been fine for a while now. If she tries to deceive him, she’s going to die a horrible death!] So, he could see all along. I bit my lip, trying to calm the frantic beating of my heart. My voice was filled with a carefully crafted helplessness. “No, I… I’m her sister, Lena.” “My sister… she passed away.” “I came by yesterday to bring you some of her things, but I was drinking, and I… I don’t remember anything after that.” I glanced at the clothes on the floor, torn and crumpled into a ball, and awkwardly looked away. “Were you… thinking I was Mila last night? I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have been drinking, but I was just so heartbroken.” “After all,” I whispered, my voice breaking, “I’m all alone now.” I let out a small, choked sob. The comments swirled: [So stupid. She’s actually making excuses for him. Donald isn’t really blind. When she threw herself at him last night, all soaking wet, I saw him react instantly.] [What man could resist a bombshell throwing herself into his arms? This girl is a scheming bitch.] My body trembled slightly. The thin blanket slipped from my shoulder, revealing the red marks on my pale skin. Donald’s Adam’s apple bobbed. After a long moment, he finally spoke. “I’m sorry. I mistook you for someone else.” With red-rimmed eyes, I clumsily wrapped the tattered remains of my clothes around myself. “In that case,” I said, my voice thick with feigned dignity, “let’s just pretend this never happened.” “I should go. Please, try not to be too sad.” I stood up, but my legs gave way, and I nearly collapsed. Donald reached out to steady me. The moment his fingertips brushed my wrist, I flinched. More comments: [He’s not sad at all. He already found out Mila faked her death.] [He even hired those debt collectors himself. Forcing Lena to kill herself was his first warning to Mila.] [Mila has no idea her life has been hijacked.] [I hate her! Die, cannon fodder, die, die, die!] I kept my head down and hurried out the door. When I got home, the loan sharks who had been lurking downstairs were gone. My stomach dropped. They really were his men. I closed the door and sank to the floor, exhausted. My body ached everywhere. Of course, I hadn’t been drunk. My original plan, born of desperation, was simply to win a shred of his sympathy, to get him to call off his dogs. I never expected his reaction to be so… intense. We’d gone at it all night. A bitter smile twisted my lips. Donald had been injured in the car accident while saving Mila. But after he became a “disabled” blind man, she couldn’t stand the sight of him. She ignored his texts. She made him wait for three hours in the freezing rain while she video-chatted with someone else upstairs. She called his gifts cheap and threw them in the trash right in front of him. I used to feel sorry for him. But now I saw it was all just a game for a bored, rich boy. The comments erupted into an argument: [I think Mila made the right choice. Who wouldn’t want a rich guy? Who wants a poor, blind boyfriend? If Donald wanted to test her, this game was just cruel.] [Honestly, Mila might be selfish, but she’s lucky. When she gets back with Donald, she becomes the lady of the Croft mansion. And he’ll go right back to spoiling her rotten.] [Exactly. Good girls get a good reputation. Bad girls get everything.] Reading their words, I felt a surge of bitter absurdity. My parents had always favored Mila. She stole my toys, my clothes, my scholarship money. After I started working, they took my salary, earned from slaving away until midnight, to pay for her expensive dance classes and luxury goods. I was supposed to be her stepping stone, the foundation for her success. And now, they’d won 300 million dollars. Not only did they abandon me with their debts, but they were also willing to sacrifice my life to pave the way for hers. Why should she get everything, while I was left to die? Resentment coiled around my heart like a poisonous vine. I had spent my whole life picking up Mila’s scraps. Since she had thrown Donald away, too… I might as well pick him up and make good use of him. I ran into Donald again sooner than I expected. I was leaving the hotel where I worked part-time, bone-tired and weary. I looked up and saw him standing across the street. A cigarette dangled from his lips, his hand resting on a white cane. The boredom of the rich was truly something else. Even with Mila gone, he was still committed to the act. A man nearby seemed to recognize him and started walking over, his face plastered with a sycophantic grin. “Donald!” I suddenly called out, dashing across the street toward him. Before he could react, I grabbed his wrist. “Come with me.” I spoke quickly, my voice low. “I saw someone suspicious heading your way. It might be a debt collector.” “My sister took out huge loans before she… you were her boyfriend, so they’ll definitely come after you. You can’t see. It’s too dangerous.” “You were hurt trying to save my sister. I’ll protect you in her place.” “Don’t worry. As long as I’m alive, I won’t let them hurt you.” “I will never leave you.” My voice was so earnest it was almost reverent. “Will you trust me?” Something in my words seemed to get to him. Donald paused, then took a lazy step forward, letting me lead him away, back to my tiny apartment. And I, true to my word, devoted myself to him completely. When his stomach acted up, I’d crawl out of bed in the middle of the night to buy him medicine. Since he “couldn’t see,” I would take his hand and guide it over every object in the apartment, again and again, until he knew where everything was. I’d go hungry myself, saving every penny I had to take him to the eye doctor for follow-up appointments. Through it all, Donald would watch me with a cool detachment, a flicker of mockery sometimes crossing his features. At the hospital, the doctor shook his head, saying there was no improvement. My disappointment and pain were written all over my face. As we left the clinic, Donald let out a sudden, cold laugh. “I heard you sigh. Is it really that big of a deal? I’m the one who’s blind. What do you have to be sad about?” I stopped and cupped his face in my hands. The surprise in his eyes was, for a moment, completely unguarded. “You’re important to me,” I said, studying his eyes intently. “So when you’re in pain, I feel it too.” “Your eyes are beautiful. I’m not giving up on them.” Donald’s throat moved, and he “looked” at me with a complex expression. My face was a mask of sorrow, but I forced a smile into my voice. “Really. I was just thinking… if you could see again, I’d do anything.” When we got home, I led him inside, my eyes still red. As I poured him a glass of water, half of it spilled down my front. The thin fabric of my shirt became translucent, clinging to my curves. The look in Donald’s eyes changed. I saw the shift in his posture, the subtle tension in his body. Steeling myself, I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. He froze for two seconds before taking control, his kiss turning fierce and demanding. The next morning, I ached even more than the first time. I forced myself out of bed. Donald was already up. He tossed a necklace at me. “I got this at a street stall a while back. It’s not worth much, but it’s pretty. It’s yours.” The comments exploded: [I can’t believe this. Why is Donald getting tangled up with this cannon fodder? Doesn’t he know Mila was tricked into gambling and is in serious trouble?!] [Isn’t that the diamond Donald bought at auction? Why is he giving it to her? That was supposed to be a gift to appease Mila after he locked her away and she got mad!] [Get your hands off Mila’s man, you pathetic bitch!] I ignored their hysterical rage and stared at the necklace in my hand. A diamond from an auction… It had to be worth a fortune. If I sold it, would I be set for life? Just then, new comments appeared: [Calm down, everyone. Can’t you see Donald is getting ready to dump her?] [His grandfather heard he’s been messing around all year and is furious. He’s ordered him to come home immediately.] [Donald’s worried this cannon fodder will cling to him, so he’s planning to stage his own kidnapping. He’ll have himself thrown into the ocean in front of her to crush any hope she has.] [She’s so delusional. She doesn’t see the way he looks at her, like she’s a dog he’s about to abandon.] He was going back? I clutched the diamond, a surge of dissatisfaction washing over me. All my careful acting, and all I got was one small diamond? Mila had to do nothing, and she would come back to claim everything. It wasn’t fair. That afternoon, Donald said he needed to go out alone and told me not to follow. I knew what he was up to. And I had things to do as well. I went to a pharmacy and bought a pregnancy test. Thinking about how off my body had been feeling lately, my heart hammered against my ribs. When I saw the two stark red lines appear, I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. I still had a trump card to play. Just then, my phone rang. “Lena, is it? You don’t pay your debts, you pay the price. I’ve got your boyfriend. If you don’t want him dead, get to this address.”

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My wife’s sponsored student used my credit card to buy luxury cars as gifts and even tried to outbid me for the model I wanted, mocking me publicly. I froze his card and had him thrown out. Victoria wasn’t angry—that night, she was more affectionate than ever. As a holiday gift, she surprised me with a limited-edition Lamborghini. Overjoyed, I spun her around, but her nail accidentally scratched the car’s paint. She brushed it off, then hurried to the restroom, handing me her card to pay. At the counter, the manager looked apologetic. “I’m sorry, Mr. Pierce, but this card has been declined.” 1 “That’s impossible,” I said, my brow furrowing. “I just used it yesterday. Are you sure your machine is working?” The manager, trying to be helpful, swiped it again. And again. Each time, the result was the same. “You see, Mr. Pierce?” he said, his patience thinning. “It’s definitely an issue with the card.” He leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Now, do you have another way to pay? I should mention, a globally limited-edition model, especially one that’s been… damaged… is non-refundable.” My hand tightened around the useless piece of plastic, the heat of embarrassment crawling up my neck. I could feel the smug, mocking stares of the men at a nearby table. “Hah, look at this guy. Talk about all show and no go,” one of them snickered. “Acts like he can buy a limited-edition Lambo on a whim. Turns out he’s just here to make a fool of himself.” “Yeah, let him posture,” another added. “Let’s see how he gets out of this one.” I looked up at the manager, forcing a calm I didn’t feel. “It’s alright. My wife will be right out to pay. She’s just in the restroom.” We waited. An hour crawled by. The dealership was getting ready to close, but there was still no sign of Victoria. The manager’s attitude had soured, his initial warmth curdling into impatience, then into cold contempt. The way he looked at me now was laced with pure disdain. A knot of dread tightened in my stomach. I hurried to the back of the showroom. “Victoria?” I called out, pushing open the women’s restroom door without thinking. It was empty. She was gone. I walked back into the main hall like a man in a trance. My eyes fell on the deep scratch marring the Lamborghini’s perfect finish, a scar left by her fingernail. A terrible premonition began to form in my mind. I tried calling her, over and over, but every call went straight to voicemail. Slowly, I lowered my phone. I remembered her words this morning, insisting I not use my own cards. My darling husband should only ever use his wife’s money, she’d cooed. I’d believed her. I’d walked out of the house without a single card of my own, and now, I was trapped. Just as I was about to call a friend for help, my phone died. The manager was a seasoned vulture. He could smell desperation a mile away. Sensing I was broke, he subtly signaled a security guard to position himself by the main entrance, watching me like a hawk. “Mr. Pierce,” he said, his voice dripping with false politeness. “Do you have any other means of payment?” He paused, letting the silence hang in the air. “If not, then we have a problem.” He leaned closer, a cruel smirk playing on his lips. “You remember last week, don’t you? That young man who tried to buy this very car? Scratched it just like you did, then his card was declined. You were the one who had him thrown in a holding cell to ‘learn a lesson’.” His eyes glinted. “If you can’t pay for this car tonight, it’ll be your turn to be locked up.” Of course, I remembered. It was Cody, the scholarship kid Victoria sponsored. He’d come in here with my card, acting like a king, calling me a worthless freeloader who’d married into the Quinn family fortune. And then it hit me, a thought so cold and sharp it stole my breath. Was this all a setup? Did Victoria orchestrate this entire charade, a mirror image of last week’s events, just to get revenge for her little pet? “Heh. That look on your face,” a voice purred from behind me. “I think you’ve figured it out. This is for Cody. How does it feel?” 2 I whipped my head around. Victoria stood there, transformed. She’d changed into a tight, black dress that clung to her curves. Her neck, once flawless, was now a canvas of fresh, angry-purple hickeys. They looked like they’d been made just moments ago. My fists clenched, the plastic of the credit card groaning under the pressure. Standing beside her, his arm wrapped possessively around her waist, was Cody. He stared at me with an expression of pure, unadulterated hatred. The showroom, which had quieted down, erupted in whispers. “Whoa, is this for real? Is she cheating on him right in front of his face?” “I don’t get it. I thought the great Victoria Quinn adored her husband. What the hell is going on?” “Dude, have you never heard about the scandals of the super-rich? Nothing is sacred.” “So-called love has an expiration date, you know? And let’s be real, even a handsome guy gets old. Rich women always want the young, hot model on their arm.” “Serves him right, though. A good-for-nothing freeloader who married up. Relying on your looks to get into a rich family is a dead end.” The whispers were like knives, each one a fresh stab of humiliation. My gaze lifted, and I locked eyes with Victoria, my glare burning with rage. The only reason I’d agreed to marry into the Quinn family wasn’t for their damned money. It was because I loved her. And the power of my own family, a secret I’d kept from everyone, was more than enough to silence anyone who dared call me a freeloader. But Victoria didn’t know that. None of them did. She smiled, a slow, cruel curve of her lips, and sauntered toward me, leaning on Cody’s arm. The crowd parted for them like she was royalty. “Don’t worry, Cody,” she said, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “However Alan Pierce shamed you that day, you and your friends can do the same to him tonight.” Cody’s face lit up with malicious glee. Ignoring the gasps from the onlookers, and my own thunderous expression, he dipped his head and captured Victoria’s lips in a long, passionate kiss. “Really, Victoria?” he breathed, pulling back slightly. “But… I’m worried you’ll be angry with me afterward.” “Never,” she purred. “As long as you keep me happy in bed, anything is possible.” “Thank you, my queen.” After another lingering kiss, Cody signaled his friends. They surged forward, grabbing my arms and holding me fast. Then, he stepped up and slammed a fist into my face. The onlookers gasped again. “Damn, that’s bold. Making out with another man’s wife in front of him, and then hitting him? This kid has no shame.” The mockery was just another layer of pain on my already bruised ego. “Hahaha! What’s the matter, Alan?” Cody taunted, his face inches from mine. “You’re so high and mighty, aren’t you? Thought you were better than me?” He spat on the floor near my feet. “You’re nothing but a kept man, a piece of trash. What right did you have to cancel my card? I’m younger, better-looking, and Victoria loves me more. If I want, every car in this place is mine!” To prove his point, he pulled out a pocketknife and dragged its blade across the hood of another expensive car nearby. “Manager!” he barked. “Get over here and put this on my tab!” The manager, now completely subservient, scurried over with a bow. “Yes, sir. Right away, sir.” Victoria lit a slender cigarette, her eyes glinting in the showroom lights. “Alan,” she said, exhaling a plume of smoke. “The dealership closes in thirty minutes. Have you figured out how you’re going to pay for that Lamborghini yet?” I didn’t answer, just stared at her with murder in my eyes. “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” she chided, a playful smirk on her face. “You started this. Are we not allowed to finish it? That limited-edition Lamborghini is scratched. Whether you can afford it or not, you’re buying it tonight.” As soon as she finished speaking, the room erupted in laughter. “Hahaha! Like that freeloader has any money to buy it!” “He probably can’t even afford to fix the scratch, let alone pay for the whole car!” “His whole life has been about leeching off others. All his wealth, all his status, it all came from Ms. Quinn.” “And now that she’s kicked him to the curb, he’s less than nothing.” 3 I opened my mouth to speak, but Victoria cut me off, exhaling another cloud of smoke. Her voice, cold and commanding, swept across the room. “Let me make one thing clear to everyone here,” she announced. “Nobody is to help Alan Pierce. If you lend him a single dollar, you make an enemy of me. And you all know what happens to my enemies. Their endings are never pleasant.” Everyone in Crestview knew the power of the Quinn family. They were at the top of the food chain. No one in their right mind would dare cross them. Across the room, I saw a few business partners I’d worked with on past projects. They had started to move toward me, ready to help, but froze in place at Victoria’s threat. They exchanged nervous glances and melted back into the crowd. “Did you hear that? She’s dead serious about punishing him.” “Looks like Alan Pierce’s luck has run out. She’s clearly infatuated with that new boy toy of hers.” “We’d better just focus on sucking up to the new favorite.” “Man, it’s crazy. They were the golden couple just a few years ago. Their wedding was the event of the century. Three years, and it’s all turned to dust.” With Victoria’s decree, any glimmer of hope I had for assistance vanished. Everyone actively avoided my gaze. A surge of pure fury coursed through me. I broke free from my captors and lunged forward, grabbing Victoria by the arm and pulling her from her chair. “Victoria, tell me,” I snarled, my voice raw with pain. “Did you sleep with him? Are you really doing all of this, humiliating me like this, for him?” Victoria just laughed, a cold, sharp sound. She ripped her arm from my grasp and slapped me hard across the face. An assistant immediately rushed forward with a bottle of water, pouring it over her hand to wash away the spot where I had touched her. “Yes, I slept with him,” she said, her voice dripping with venom. “In the hour I was gone from this showroom.” I stared at her, my heart shattering. I couldn’t believe this was the same woman I knew. When I first arrived in Crestview, I didn’t know a soul. It was Victoria who took me under her wing, who showed me the city, who defended me from local thugs and even took a knife for me. At our wedding, she had sworn an oath, promising to be faithful forever, or else she would fall from grace into ruin. “Hahahaha!” A laugh, empty and broken, escaped my lips. Three short years. That was all it took for her to trample on everything we had. But what she, and everyone else in this room, didn’t know was that I wasn’t some freeloader living off her charity. I was Alessandro Wright, the sole mixed-heritage heir to the powerful Moretti family from Italy, one of the wealthiest dynasties in the world. Victoria settled back into her chair, a smirk playing on her lips. “Instead of wasting your breath yelling at me, Alan, you should be figuring out how to pay your bill.” Her eyes darkened with a cruel glint. “Because if you can’t, it’s going to be a long night for you. I’ll let Cody tear the clothes right off your back, and then we’ll auction you off to the highest bidder among these old crows. You can be their new, spineless boy toy.” The room buzzed with a sick, excited energy. A group of wealthy older women stared at me with predatory hunger in their eyes. “You heard her, girls! Ms. Quinn said it herself!” “Let’s just hope she doesn’t get sentimental and change her mind!” “What’s so great about that young kid anyway? Look at Alan. That face, that aristocratic air… and that body… I bet he’s incredible.” “Hahaha, the man slept with the queen of Crestview herself! I have to have him. I’ll pay anything!” A murderous rage, cold and absolute, washed over me. I had never been so humiliated in my entire life. “Every single one of you,” I said, my voice low and dangerous, “who laughed at me tonight, who dared to shame me… your end will be a painful one.”

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As teens, my childhood sweetheart Wyatt and I were in his room watching a forbidden movie. He kissed me just as the door opened—both sets of parents saw. Under their scolding, Wyatt vowed to marry only me. We became Crestview’s golden couple, but as the wedding neared, he vanished after taking down a Southeast Asian black market ring. I searched globally, found him—but he’d lost his memory. He kept his promise, and we married. Yet for seven years, our home was cold and silent. He eventually moved to a remote Zen retreat, leaving me alone in our mansion. Then my father was framed for fraud. Wyatt used all his influence to clear our name, and took a poisoned needle meant for me. Dying, he whispered, “In this life, I’ve failed no one but Evanna. I owe her a life. In the next, don’t look for me. Let me live simply with her in the Old City Tenements.” Through tears, I agreed. When I opened my eyes, I was back to the day I first found Wyatt. … The evening breeze from Victoria Harbor carried the damp, salty scent of the sea, and the city’s neon lights shimmered like scattered jewels. Beside me, Mrs. Quinn was weeping with joy. “Is Wyatt really here?” “Yes, ma’am,” an assistant confirmed. “A Miss Evanna Ross rescued him from the docks. They’ve been living together in this tenement building ever since.” “I’ll go up myself.” I snapped back to reality. The smart watch on my wrist cast a cool, blue glow in the fading light. Before me, the worn façade of the tenement building was a chaotic web of electrical wires. A cheap, festive wedding decoration was taped to one of the windows, its bright red color jarring against the grime. This was it. The place Wyatt had spoken of over and over again as he lay dying. The Old City Tenements. On instinct, I reached out and stopped Mrs. Quinn. “Wait.” She turned, her expression puzzled. “Autumn, what’s wrong?” In my past life, by the time I found this place, Wyatt had already fallen in love with the bubble tea girl who had saved him. They were about to get married. I had tried to reason with him, but he was adamant about staying in the tenements with her. To bring him back, I had called in Mrs. Quinn and a team of top neurologists. And it was on this very night that Wyatt, after seeing his mother, finally agreed to undergo deep hypnosis therapy. The next day, his memory returned, and he agreed to come back to our life on the Peak. But no sooner had we left, the bubble tea girl, Evanna Ross, committed suicide by overdose. Her death became an unbridgeable chasm between Wyatt and me, a knot that could never be untied. Even as he lay dying to protect me, his last wish was for another life, a chance to have a happy ending with her. Thinking of this, I suppressed the sharp pain in my chest and spoke in a low voice. “Mrs. Quinn, they’re about to be married.” Mrs. Quinn patted my hand reassuringly. “Silly girl. Wyatt has only temporarily lost his memory. Once he remembers, he’ll know who the most important person in his life is.” “You two grew up together. We’ve all seen the bond you’ve shared for over twenty years.” I took a half step back. “There’s something I’ve never had the courage to tell you. Seeing Wyatt fall in love with someone else because of his amnesia… perhaps it’s a sign from fate.” “I… my uterus is damaged. It’s very unlikely I’ll ever have children.” The only sound was the distant horn of a ferry. Mrs. Quinn’s face went white, her lips trembling. “You’re still so young. Modern medicine is so advanced…” “The world’s leading specialists have already confirmed it,” I said, my tone firm. For two years, I had traveled through the most dangerous parts of the world searching for Wyatt. The physical toll had been immense, and I’d never paid any mind to my irregular cycles. It wasn’t until our relationship thawed years into our marriage, when we started trying for a child, that the doctors told me my chances were almost zero. After a long silence, Mrs. Quinn let out a heavy sigh. “Even so, the Quinn family will not abandon you. And that boy, Wyatt, he wouldn’t care about that.” I bowed slightly. “My mother passed away when I was young, and you have always treated me like your own daughter. I am forever grateful for your kindness, but I cannot let the Quinn family line end with me.” In our past life, though Wyatt’s memory had returned, he always believed that his mother and I were responsible for Evanna’s death. He treated us with an icy indifference. He spent his years in that remote monastery, and during that time, not only did I lose a husband, but Mrs. Quinn effectively lost her son. Mrs. Quinn sighed again, a sound heavy with resignation. “Fine. We won’t disturb Wyatt today. We’ll reconsider our options.” When we returned, Mrs. Quinn immediately summoned her private medical team to examine me. The results confirmed what I had told her. The lead physician considered the charts. “With several years of intensive conditioning, there might be a slim chance, but… there are no guarantees.” I handed back the engagement gift, a ring that was also an encrypted chip. “My fate with the Quinn family has run its course. Since Wyatt no longer remembers, perhaps it’s best to let nature take its course. We can all go our separate ways and find peace.” Mrs. Quinn’s expression was a mix of sorrow and conflict. The next day, I continued to press my case. At first, she still refused to accept Wyatt’s marriage to the bubble tea girl. But then she saw it with her own eyes: the fierce, protective way Wyatt shielded Evanna. In the end, her heart softened for the son she had almost lost forever. We returned to the tenements. The iron gate creaked open. When Evanna Ross saw me, the color drained from her delicate face. My previous visits had already put her on high alert. She wore a cheap red dress, her eyes wary. “What… what are you trying to do now?” “I’ve told you, Wyatt’s head injury hasn’t fully healed. If you try to force him to leave, you’ll only hurt him.” “When did I say I was taking him?” I replied calmly. “Wyatt is the sole heir to the Quinn Corporation. His mother now approves of your relationship. There’s no need to rush the wedding.” During my previous attempts, Evanna had always used Wyatt’s injury as an excuse to keep me away, blocking me at every turn. Evanna bit her lip. “You’ve come to see my fiancé again and again. How do I know this isn’t some scheme to break us up?” Hearing this, Mrs. Quinn, standing behind me, bristled. “Are you suggesting I would lie about a promise I made myself? Besides, even if my son is injured, he has access to the best medical teams in the world. You don’t need to be so alarmist.” Mrs. Quinn came from a prestigious family and carried an aura of command. Evanna seemed intimidated, and tears welled up in her eyes. She stumbled backward and fell to the ground. “But… but his headaches… only my massage can relieve them. It’s a family technique…” “What are you doing here?” A tall figure strode forward, helping Evanna to her feet and pulling her behind him. He looked at us with the cold, unfamiliar eyes of a stranger. “I’ve said it before. I don’t care who you are. Evanna saved my life, and she is my wife. If you continue to treat her like this, don’t blame me for being rude.” At his words, Mrs. Quinn swayed. I had been prepared for this and quickly stepped forward to support her. “This is your mother,” I said, my brow furrowed as I met his deep, familiar yet alien gaze. Wyatt froze. His eyes scanned Mrs. Quinn’s face, noting the subtle resemblance in their features. After a moment, he spoke. “…Mom? I’m sorry.” From behind him came Evanna’s soft sobs. “Wyatt, so it’s true… Are you… still going to marry me?” The plan today had been to bring Wyatt and Evanna back to the Peak, but Evanna insisted on having a simple ceremony here first. Mrs. Quinn had no choice but to agree. Inside the cramped tenement apartment, two figures stood side by side, their every movement filled with a tender affection. I stood off to the side, my mind drifting far away. I saw a sun-drenched terrace at our villa in Repulse Bay. A boy with a bright smile tossed a custom USB drive to me. “Autumn Caldwell, I’m going to marry you someday. This is my promise.” I looked up, but his face was a blur against the backlight. Only his voice remained, warm and resolute. I snapped back to the present just as the two of them exchanged cheap, simple wedding bands. The ceremony was complete. The next day, we set off for the Peak. Along the way, Mrs. Quinn, seemingly unwilling to give up, deliberately brought up stories from Wyatt’s and my childhood. “At your first birthday party, you weren’t interested in the keyboard or the model gun. The first thing you reached for was Autumn’s hand.” “When you were seven, you stole the original Bitcoin wallet from your father’s safe. You got a thrashing for it, but we later found out you’d given it to Autumn.” Mrs. Quinn was getting animated, but I noticed Wyatt’s expression growing darker and darker. I quickly cut in. “There’s a coffee shop up ahead. Why don’t we take a break?” Mrs. Quinn nodded. After we got out of the car, Evanna looked at me, her voice small and hurt. “Mrs. Quinn… she doesn’t like me, does she?” “You’re overthinking it,” I said flatly. Evanna mumbled a quiet “oh” and turned back to the car. From inside, we heard Wyatt’s voice. “My head is starting to hurt again.” “I’ll massage it for you,” Evanna said, her tone full of concern. A flicker of suspicion sparked within me. I didn’t remember him having this problem in my past life. Before we set off again, Wyatt approached me alone. Before I could react, he pulled me into a dark alleyway nearby. “Did you put my mother up to saying those things?” he demanded, his deep-set eyes narrowed, his expression cold. I was stunned. “I didn’t…” “It doesn’t matter if it was you or not,” he cut me off. “From now on, please don’t let my mother do anything that upsets Evanna again. As for you and me, whatever was between us in the past… Evanna is the only one in my heart now. Please… just forget it all.” Wyatt gave a slight, formal nod, his posture distant. I opened my mouth, then closed it. Finally, I gave him a serious answer. “Alright.” I turned and walked out of the alley first. Evanna, waiting by the car, saw Wyatt emerge right behind me. Her eyes instantly turned red. Wyatt lost all of his previous composure. He rushed past me to her side. I got back in the car. For the rest of the journey, I could faintly hear Wyatt’s low voice, coaxing and reassuring Evanna. “There’s nothing between us.” “If you’re worried about me recovering my memories, I’d rather have amnesia forever.” … The weather was clear when we arrived at the Peak. At the entrance to the Quinn estate, I helped Mrs. Quinn out of the car. Just as I was about to follow her inside, Evanna’s voice rang out from behind me. “Speaking of which, I still don’t know who this young lady is. Is she allowed to come and go from the Quinn household as she pleases?” I paused and turned around. Evanna was clutching Wyatt’s sleeve, looking at me with undisguised resentment. Wyatt’s gaze was calm as he looked at his mother. “Mom, Evanna is right. I’m a married man now. It’s not appropriate to have other women coming and going freely.” Mrs. Quinn’s anger flared. She shot a sharp glance at Evanna. “And since when do I need your approval to decide who can and cannot enter my home?” Evanna’s face flushed. “That’s not what I meant… It’s just that Miss Caldwell clearly has feelings for Wyatt, and Wyatt has promised to love only one person for the rest of his life. I just don’t want to see her waste her time.” “It was my idea,” Wyatt added. “I have a family now. I shouldn’t be involved with people from a complicated past.” Twenty years of friendship, erased by amnesia, reduced to a “complicated past.” The irony was laughable. Wyatt truly hadn’t changed. He was fiercely devoted in his affections. As a boy, he had made me a solemn vow. “After we’re married, I will be completely devoted to you. I will never get involved with any other woman. I will never fail you.” But now, I was the “other woman” he was so desperate to distance himself from. Mrs. Quinn’s expression was grim. She was about to speak again, but I gently squeezed her hand. I turned and said calmly, “Mr. Quinn, you’re worrying for nothing. Our families have been friends for generations, and Mrs. Quinn has always treated me like a daughter. I only think of you as an older brother, and I respect Mrs. Quinn as I would my own mother.” Mrs. Quinn’s eyes reddened. She grasped my hand. “Alright. Today, I am officially making Autumn my goddaughter. From now on, anyone who bullies her will be making an enemy of the Quinn family.” Evanna’s eyes flashed with resentment, but Wyatt, upon hearing his mother’s words, seemed momentarily lost in thought. I paid it no mind. I accompanied Mrs. Quinn into the house and then made an excuse to return to my own family’s home. One problem was solved, but another remained. Seven years from now, my father would be framed for stock market manipulation by a once-trusted subordinate, a man who was currently a senior executive at our company. Ever since I woke up in this new life, I had been using my hacking skills to monitor him. Recently, I had finally detected suspicious activity. After gathering all the evidence, I took an encrypted hard drive to my father’s study. We talked late into the night. I laid out all the information I had on the traitor. My father, a veteran of the business world for decades, would not be caught off guard like he was in the last life. As for my marriage, my father sighed, his eyes filled with sorrow. “I never imagined that one international operation would lead to so much trouble. Since it’s come to this, there’s something I should tell you.” “Before you were born, your mother and her best friend arranged a marriage between you and her friend’s son. Later, when you grew up and fell in love with Wyatt, I politely declined their offer. We were in the wrong, really. The boy’s family is in San Francisco, a very good environment.” “Why don’t you… take this opportunity to go away for a while, clear your head?” Having lived one life already, I had seen through the illusions of marriage. I shook my head. “I don’t want to leave Crestview, and I don’t want a new relationship.” My father looked at me with concern. “Are you staying in Crestview because you still can’t let go? I know you’re a sentimental person. If you just say the word, I won’t let Wyatt get away with breaking the engagement.” I shook my head again. “I was the one who called it off. I’m over Wyatt.” My father sighed softly. “He’s not the only good man in the world. I just want you to be able to move on.” I gave a faint smile and changed the subject. “I heard you had some contact with a hypnotic investigation team from Southeast Asia years ago. I’d like to invite a few professionals to Crestview to look into Evanna Ross.” My father was taken aback. “You think there’s more to Wyatt’s change in behavior? Then you…” I looked up, my gaze steady. “Whether there is or not, I don’t care. This is just a precaution.” My father nodded. For the next half month, I lived a quiet life—coding, drinking coffee, and diving. It was a rare period of peace. Then, I received an invitation to a yacht party from the daughter of the Lu family. I had heard the rumors swirling during my seclusion: that I was heartbroken after being jilted, a recluse who couldn’t face the world. Now that I was rested, it was time to reappear. I gladly accepted the invitation. The party was a swirl of champagne and chatter. The other socialites treated me as they always had, but now there was a hint of pity in their eyes. When they saw my calm demeanor, that pity quickly turned to curiosity. “You have no idea. That Evanna girl is acting like the lady of the manor now. She’s the one who doesn’t know the rules, but she always acts like we’re the ones bullying her.” “Exactly! Last time, she accidentally spilled wine on my dress, and I didn’t even make a fuss. But she dragged Wyatt over to my house to apologize, making it seem like I was deliberately giving her a hard time.” “So petty. I don’t know how Wyatt puts up with her.” As they were talking, a figure dressed in the latest designer fashion walked in. The chatter immediately died down. I looked up. Evanna Ross, wearing a diamond hair clip and a lavish gown, had shed the rustic air of the tenements. She looked refined, almost elegant. I deliberately ignored her. Halfway through the party, I found an opportunity to leave, but she caught up with me on the deck. I stopped. “Is there something you need?” Evanna bit her lip. “Miss Caldwell, you’re still waiting for Wyatt, aren’t you?” I frowned. “Where did you hear such a ridiculous rumor?” “If you weren’t waiting for him, why haven’t you left Crestview? Why have you turned down all the marriage proposals you’ve received?” I was silent. Not leaving was, in a way, an obsession. Wyatt had died for me. I wanted to see with my own eyes if he would truly be content after getting his heart’s desire. My silence, however, was taken as an admission. Evanna pressed on, her voice sharp. “And my struggles in high society… you’re the one secretly telling people to target me, aren’t you?” “My marriage is my own business, and your situation has nothing to do with me,” I said calmly. “I admit, I didn’t like you from the moment I met you. But I wouldn’t stoop to targeting you. It was just a relationship. To me, it’s something I can take or leave.” From the moment I found Wyatt, I had decided that if he was in love with someone else, I would not interfere. But I had sensed something strange about Evanna. She was frail, yet she insisted that she alone had rescued Wyatt from a gunfight at the docks. She seemed vulnerable, yet she harbored an inexplicable hostility toward me, which was why I had been so insistent on restoring his memory in my past life. I understood now that whether Evanna was a good match for him or not, it was Wyatt’s choice. I had no right to intervene. But now, a flicker of a cunning smile crossed Evanna’s face. “Miss Caldwell, so you finally admit you hate me.” I sensed something was wrong. I started to step back, but I saw Evanna lean backward, her body going limp as she plunged into the cold sea.

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The elite circle of Washington, D.C. is full of strange people. As the reigning queen of interviews, people always asked me why I never sat down with the business tycoon, Sebastian Croft. After all, he was the scion of a powerful D.C. family, the uncrowned king who’d left the political world to conquer the private sector. My boss, David, flipped through my interview proposals, shaking his head in disappointment. The usual sneer crept onto his face. “Isn’t Sebastian Croft your man? Five years. Over two thousand days in his bed, and you can’t even land one interview? Did he finally dump you?” He gestured across the office. “That new intern has only been here a week, and she’s already got a titan to come in and save her segment. And you…” His voice trailed off, his eyes fixed on something behind me. I followed his gaze, and the smile on my face slowly froze. The man who hadn’t answered my calls, my supposedly missing boyfriend, was right there. But the hand intertwined with his belonged to the intern. I picked up my glass of water, my steps measured as I walked toward them. With a flick of my wrist, I flung the icy contents in their faces. “Sebastian,” I said, my voice dangerously calm, “you’re so handsome. How did you go so blind?” … David gasped. He tried to pull me back. But it was too late. Nina looked up, saw it was me, and her eyes immediately welled with tears. “Cassie,” she whimpered, “what did I ever do to you? Why would you throw water on me?” David shot me a look of pure exasperation. “Sebastian was never that into you to begin with! Now you’ve publicly humiliated him? This is it. You’re really getting dumped this time!” I ignored him, my eyes locked on the man striding towards me. I wondered what flimsy excuse he would spin this time. By the time Sebastian reached me, he had already dabbed the water from his forehead with a handkerchief, his usual air of cool, aristocratic indifference perfectly restored. His brow furrowed as he stared down at me. “Cassia. I expect this will be the last time.” He didn’t even bother with an excuse. A bitter acid churned in my stomach. I grabbed his sleeve, my voice tight. “You’re wrapped around the charity case I’ve been sponsoring for years. Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?” Perhaps it was the redness rimming my eyes that finally got to him. Sebastian, who had been silent until now, gave Nina a slight nod before pulling me aside, his voice a low hiss. “I’m just pretending to be her boyfriend to help her land this interview.” Pretending? For five years, Sebastian had been a master of secrecy. He never appeared in public with me. If we happened to be at the same event, we had to act like strangers. Aside from our innermost circle, no one knew we were a couple. And now he was volunteering to be Nina’s fake boyfriend? A crushing weight settled on my chest. I looked at him, my gaze unwavering, my voice hoarse. “Then what about me?” Sebastian paused for a fraction of a second, then his expression softened. He gently traced a line on my palm, his tone shifting into the familiar, seductive cadence he used to coax me. “Cassie, how about we do our interview next time, okay?” “No. I want this one.” From the side, Nina chimed in, her voice trembling with manufactured fear. “Mr. Croft, maybe we should let Cassie go first. It’s okay… I can wait.” She said it was okay, but her eyes were already red-rimmed and brimming with tears. Sebastian’s face hardened. He slowly pried my fingers from his sleeve and took a step back. His voice was cold. “Be good, Cassia. Don’t make a scene.” He ignored the tears gathering in my eyes and turned to lead Nina toward the studio. But Nina wasn’t about to let an opportunity like this slip by. She broke free from his grasp and stepped closer to me, her voice a venomous whisper only I could hear. “I’m sorry, Cassie. I know I shouldn’t be stealing your boyfriend, but Mr. Croft insisted on helping me when he heard I needed this interview to get a permanent position…” “I tried to refuse, really. But he said he wasn’t busy these days and had plenty of time for me.” My nail snapped, digging painfully into the flesh of my thumb. I couldn’t count how many times I had begged him for an interview over the years. His answer was always the same: I’m busy. I had even told him this particular interview would secure me the director position. He’d agreed over the phone. But now, he’d stood me up, broken his promise, all for her. I could feel the mocking stares and contemptuous glares of my colleagues without even looking up. Seeing my silence, Nina leaned in even closer, her whisper turning sharp. “You’re old news, Cassie. He wouldn’t even bother looking at you anymore, not even if you spread your legs for him.” I turned my head and stared right at her. A derisive smile touched my lips. “Is that so?” “You’re just begging for a lesson, aren’t you? Fine. I’ll give you one.” I raised my hand and brought it down, hard, across her smug face. SMACK! Amidst her shriek, Sebastian’s expression transformed into pure fury. He rushed forward and shoved me, hard. His eyes were like chips of ice. “Cassia, what the hell is wrong with you? Just because you’re her sponsor doesn’t give you the right to bully and hit her!” I stumbled backward before I could even reply. The sharp corner of a desk jabbed into my stomach, a brutal, stabbing pain that stole my breath. I couldn’t tell what hurt more, my body or my heart. My rivals in the office, smelling blood in the water, immediately jumped in. “That’s not right, Cassia. We all know you bully the junior staff because you’re a senior reporter, but this is too much.” “Now that she has a powerful backer, you think you can still get away with it? You got what you deserved. You should get on your knees and apologize for being a petty, jealous bitch…” Nina, catching her cue, immediately started crying. “I wouldn’t dare ask her to…” Sebastian pulled her into his arms, his gaze on me turning glacial. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.” I sucked in a shaky breath, forcing back the burning in my nose as I looked at him. “You’re really going to protect her? Like this?” He saw the moisture in my eyes and hesitated for a moment. But then he glanced at Nina’s tear-streaked face. That flicker of pity vanished. “Apologize to Nina, and we’ll forget you hit her. Otherwise…” “Otherwise, what?” Sebastian tilted his head, lighting a cigarette. After a long drag, he finally looked at me, smoke curling from his lips. “I’ll make sure her name is on the door to your office.” Nina’s eyes lit up, though she quickly tried to mask it with a look of demurral. A firestorm of rage erupted inside me. I clenched my fists, my knuckles white, staring at the cold, handsome man before me. “Sebastian, you can’t do this! You’re the one who stood me up, who humiliated me in front of everyone, and now you’re blaming me?” He narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint in them. “Nina may have benefited from your charity for a few years, but that doesn’t mean she deserves to be abused by you. You’re her sponsor and her senior colleague. You, of all people, shouldn’t be hitting her.” “I’m giving you a chance to apologize. Don’t make me say it again.” I thought I was hallucinating. But the pain in my chest was terrifyingly real. Every word he spoke dripped with concern for Nina, as if she were the woman he loved. Humiliation and fury surged through me like a tidal wave. I took a step forward, feigning an apology. Then my hand shot out again, swinging towards the other side of Nina’s face. Now both her cheeks were swollen, perfectly symmetrical. “Cassia!” Sebastian’s roar echoed through the office as he lunged forward, his fingers clamping around my wrist like a vice. Just then, the executive producer arrived. “What is the meaning of this? Arguing like this right in front of Mr. Croft!” His tone immediately shifted to one of fawning deference as he bowed and scraped. “Mr. Croft, perhaps you’d be more comfortable in my office?” Nina seized the opportunity, sobbing as she tattled. “Director! Cassia couldn’t get an interview with Mr. Croft, so she took it out on me! I could handle her hitting me, but then she started insulting him… she even threw hot water at him!” “I don’t want to cause trouble, but I feel so bad for Mr. Croft… He’s such a good person, he doesn’t deserve to be publicly attacked like this!” Her wail drew a crowd. Colleagues gathered around, their eyes dripping with scorn. “Is Cassia insane? How dare she insult Mr. Croft? Everyone knows he’s the station’s biggest benefactor!” “Some top interviewer. Throws a tantrum when she can’t compete. With that kind of attitude, I bet she slept her way through all her past interviews. No wonder her boyfriend won’t go public.” “Who’d want to admit they’re with someone who’s been passed around so much? Ugh, step away, the air feels dirty!” Their curses were like needles, piercing my skin. Sebastian just shot me a fleeting glance before positioning himself in front of Nina. His protective stance was all the confirmation they needed. I bit the inside of my cheek, the taste of blood doing nothing to stop the tremors wracking my body. Nina, seeing my state, put on a show of magnanimity. “Thank you, everyone. It’s just a small misunderstanding between me and Cassie, it’s nothing… I’ll apologize to her later, and we can put it all behind us.” Her words earned nods of approval from both the producer and Sebastian. The producer glared at me, his eyes full of menace. “Cassia, as a senior employee, you should learn from her! Look at her grace. You’re not only unprofessional, you’re a conniving snake!” If I didn’t clear this up now, my reputation would be destroyed. The man didn’t matter, but I refused to let him destroy the career I loved. Taking a deep breath, I looked straight at him. “Sebastian. Tell them. What are we?” During our last date, I had whispered in his ear, “If you don’t make us public soon, I’m just going to go home and get married.” He had been on top of me at the time, and a low chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Alright, alright. You’re that desperate to marry me? We’ll go public after this interview.” I actually believed him. I had even secretly noted his ring size, already preparing to buy our wedding bands. Looking back, David was right. I was desperate. Pathetic. My stubborn refusal to cry seemed to sting Sebastian. He sighed, his voice dropping to a low murmur. “Just listen to me, Cassie. Apologize, and I’ll propose to you tonight.” A dagger twisted in my heart. I stared at him, numb. I had imagined his proposal a thousand different ways, but never, not once, did I imagine it would be a bargaining chip used because of another woman. A woman I had personally sponsored. Sebastian’s words left everyone stunned. David finally stepped forward, raising his hand as if taking an oath. “I can vouch for it! Sebastian is Cassia’s boyfriend. They’ve been in a secret relationship for over five years. They were supposed to go public after this interview.” The crowd exchanged confused glances, unsure who to believe. Nina just sobbed harder. “It’s okay, whatever Cassie says, is true! I’m fine with anything!” This only made Sebastian’s heart ache for her more. He dabbed at her tears, handing her his handkerchief. The tide of opinion turned against me again. Someone shouted, “You say they’re a couple? Where’s the proof?” The woman held up her phone, showing Nina’s social media profile to the assembled colleagues. “This is from last year, when Mr. Croft took her to see the snow in the Swiss Alps. He flew her there on his private jet. I was there, I saw it myself.” “And here they are, sailing on the Mediterranean… and deep-sea diving…” Photo after photo, trip after trip, all evidence of Sebastian taking her on lavish vacations. So this was what he meant by busy. Busy cheating on me. Busy taking my sponsored student on romantic getaways. Finally, the woman grabbed Nina’s wrist, pulling up her sleeve to reveal a diamond ring on her finger. She grinned triumphantly. “And just a few nights ago, I personally witnessed Mr. Croft get down on one knee and propose. It wasn’t just me, other colleagues from the live broadcast were there too.” Several others behind her nodded in agreement. The woman’s gaze returned to me, her smile dripping with sarcasm. “Cassia. You claim he’s your boyfriend? Do you have any photos of you two being so in love? Do you have a proposal? Do you have any proof at all?” My face was a frozen mask. My throat felt like it was filled with cement. I couldn’t utter a single word. Sebastian looked at me, his eyes pleading, mouthing the words I’ll explain at home. David’s face was flushed with anger. He tried to grab my phone to show them my social media accounts. But no matter how much he scrolled, how much he searched, my profiles were barren. Nothing. “Cassia, where’s the evidence of your dates? Your photos together? Why isn’t there a single one?” Yes. I wanted to ask the same thing. Over the years, Sebastian and I had tried every position imaginable, used every brand of condom on the market. But in the end, we didn’t have a single ring, not one photo together. Even the ones I took secretly were always deleted by him later. He said his family was sensitive, that it wasn’t the right time to go public. So I was understanding. But it was never about his family. He was never too busy. He just didn’t want to go public. He didn’t care about me. David’s gaze fell on my message history with Sebastian, and he froze. It was a wall of text, all from me. Sebastian’s replies were few and far between, curt and distant. Ok. Fine. Later. The last message I’d sent was: “I bought a new toy, want to try it with me tonight…?” Nina, feigning innocence, read the entire message out loud. A roar of laughter erupted. It was as if they had found their smoking gun. They swarmed me, jabbing their fingers in my face, hissing curses. “Shameless whore.” “This is proof she seduces her interview subjects!” Someone grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed my head against the wall. Someone else picked up a potted plant from a desk and smashed it over my head. Nails dug into my arms, trying to tear strips of flesh from my body. They were a pack of wild animals, their faces twisted with rage, unleashing all their pent-up resentment on me. One word from Sebastian would have stopped it all. But all it took was one look at Nina’s tear-streaked face, and the foot he had lifted to step forward fell back into place. All he could offer me was a pair of guilty eyes. I curled into a ball, gritting my teeth against the waves of pain. Then, through the mob, I saw a familiar, stooped figure. My grandmother. My heart seized. I had wanted her to see Sebastian today, to see the man I loved, during the interview. Instead, she was seeing me at my absolute lowest. My grandmother was fiercely protective. She couldn’t stand to see anyone bully me. She raised her cane and charged into the fray, trying to shield me. But the mob was in a frenzy. Someone snatched her cane and brought it down on her frail body, again and again. After a few blows, my silver-haired grandmother crumpled and fell backward. “STOP!” I scrambled forward, catching her just before she hit the floor. Blood seeped from a gash on her forehead, her body trembling uncontrollably. I whipped my head around and screamed at Sebastian, “What are you staring at? Call an ambulance!” Sebastian, jolted out of his stupor, fumbled for his phone. But Nina slapped it out of his hand. She tugged on his sleeve, her voice a pitiful whine. “Old people are always pulling scams like this. She’s probably just faking it to get sympathy!” “If you call a doctor, she’ll never let it go. Not only will our interview be canceled, but you might not even be able to leave this building…” Hearing this, the flicker of concern in Sebastian’s eyes died out. The panic on the faces of my colleagues melted away, replaced by annoyance. Someone even lifted their foot and brought it down, grinding their heel into my grandmother’s face. “Damn old grifter! The granddaughter sells her body, no surprise the whole family is trash!” I went feral, launching myself at the person, scratching and biting. “Get off her!” But my reward was a series of stinging slaps across my face. David, unable to watch any longer, tried to make a call. His phone was snatched away, thrown to the ground, and stomped into a thousand pieces. They beat him, too, leaving him half-conscious on the floor. I tried to crawl to him. But a foot slammed down on my back, pinning me to the ground. I lifted my bloodied face, my eyes meeting each of theirs in turn. “She needs a doctor. Let her go, now.” “If you don’t, I will make every single one of you pay.” Nina walked over and loomed above me, her expression one of condescending pity. “Oh, Cassie. You look so lovely right now…” “I’ve been taking your money for ten years, but I’ve never seen you looking so… spectacular.” I gasped for air, staring at her coldly. My lips moved, but no sound came out. She answered my unasked question with a sweet, cruel smile. “You became the top host at this station because of Mr. Croft. If you could do it, why can’t I?” She held up her phone and wiggled it. “From this moment on, your reputation is ruined. You’ve gone from the queen of interviews to a common whore who trades her body for favors. Are you satisfied with how I’ve repaid your generosity?” Her voice was a whisper. Sebastian couldn’t hear. Perhaps our pathetic state finally broke through his indifference. He turned, his dark eyes finally focusing on me. “Stop being stubborn. Apologize to Nina, and I’ll get you both out of here.” Nina could barely contain her triumphant smirk. I lay on the floor, staring at him blankly. My heart felt like it had been ripped in two. I glanced at my grandmother. My pride was no longer a luxury I could afford. I crawled on my hands and knees until I reached Nina’s feet. I pulled myself up, onto my knees. Facing the woman looming over me, I gritted my teeth and lowered my head.

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1 My husband said he was working late. Lying in bed with nothing to do, I was scrolling through videos when I saw a post from a girl from my college, uploaded just ten minutes earlier. “My college crush wants to take me on a trip abroad, but he’s worried his wife and family will get suspicious.” “Anyone have any good ideas for us?” I opened the comments. There were plenty of helpful people. The top-voted comment suggested her “crush” fake a cancer diagnosis, ask for a divorce, and then use the excuse of seeking treatment abroad alone. After all, his wife would still be at home to look after his parents. Once he was done having his fun, he could just go back. I gave a tired smile and swiped away. At three in the morning, my husband came home, looking exhausted and utterly devastated. “Honey,” he said, his voice hollow, “we had a company health screening today. I… they found liver cancer. It’s terminal.” “I don’t want to be a burden on you. Let’s get a divorce.” … I stared at Mark for a long, silent moment. His words… Why did they sound exactly like that “brilliant idea” from the comments on Zoe’s video? Could it be… Was he the “college crush” she was talking about? I immediately dismissed the thought. In all our years of marriage, Mark had been the perfect husband—handsome, kind, and loyal. He would never cheat on me. I was just overthinking things. I took a deep breath and stepped into his arms. “Mark, we’re husband and wife. We took vows. For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, we promised to stand by each other, no matter what.” “I don’t care what illness you have. I will never, ever leave you.” He shoved me away. “Anna, can you please face reality?” “I have cancer! Terminal cancer!” “I don’t have much time left.” “Just… think of it as my last wish.” “Please?” Tears streamed down his face, and seeing him cry broke my heart. In a situation like this, I knew I couldn’t argue. I pulled him into a tight embrace again, my own voice choked with emotion. “Mark, just tell me. What do you want me to do?” “Whatever you want, I’ll do it. Without hesitation.” Mark wiped his tears away, cupped my face in his hands, and said softly, his eyes red-rimmed, “Honey, I wasn’t really working late tonight.” “Then why are you back so late?” “I went to see a friend’s sister. She went to the same college as us, a few years younger. She told me about a new laser therapy abroad that can supposedly eliminate 99.99% of cancer cells in a patient’s body.” “I didn’t know if it was true, so I went to meet her in person to get the details.” Hearing him mention a younger girl from college… It made it impossible not to suspect that the “college crush” in the video… …was almost certainly him. But I didn’t expose him. I didn’t question him. I just played along. “And? What did you find out?” “She told me the new therapy is real, but it’s very expensive. So, I was thinking of using the money in our joint account for the treatment. Even if there’s just a sliver of hope, I don’t want to give up.” “Honey, you’ll support me, won’t you?” 2 “Yes, of course I’ll support you!” I nodded, then placed a gentle kiss on his lips. “I can drop everything to go with you for the treatment.” “If it’s about money, I’ll sell everything we own. I’d even sell a kidney if I have to!” At that, Mark took two quick steps back. “You don’t know your way around over there. Besides, the girl from college will be with me. You should stay here and look after my parents for me.” “This new therapy has its risks. I might not make it. So I need you to lie to my parents for me.” “Just tell them I died from cancer. If the treatment works and I get better, I’ll come back and give them a huge surprise.” I frowned. “Do you think they’ll believe that?” “Don’t worry, my parents are easy to fool. If they insist on seeing my body, just tell them I was worried they’d be too sad, so I had you take me directly to be cremated. And that my final wish was to have my ashes scattered at sea.” “Wow. You’ve really thought of everything.” “We’ll get the divorce tomorrow, and then I’ll leave for my treatment.” “You’re just going for treatment, it’s not a final goodbye. Do we really have to get a divorce?” “She said there’s a new policy over there. Single men get a discount on this new therapy.” “Honey, I’m just trying to save you money. Can you understand? It’s a fake divorce, not a real one. If I get better, we’ll remarry the moment I come back.” “As long as it’s what’s best for you, I have no objections.” “Thank you, honey. I love you the most.” Seeing that I’d agreed, Mark’s face broke into a happy smile. He cupped my face and gave me a quick peck on the lips. The next morning, we went to the courthouse and filed for divorce. He said he needed to go meet the girl from college to plan the trip. And then he was gone. Less than half an hour later, she posted a new video. “Thanks for all the great suggestions, everyone! My crush successfully faked his illness and escaped his wife’s clutches. We’ve booked our tickets and we’re off to Hawaii for a vacation!” “I’ve waited so long for this day. Once we’re in Hawaii, I’ll post daily updates of our life together.” “You can all witness our happiness!” The video was accompanied by a few pictures. There were no faces, but two hands were tightly clasped together. I could clearly see the watch on the man’s wrist. The same watch I had personally picked out and given to Mark for his birthday. If yesterday was just a suspicion, now I was absolutely certain. The “college crush” she was talking about was my husband, Mark. In that moment, it felt like a giant boulder was crushing my chest. I could barely breathe. We had been married for years, and our love had always felt real. I never imagined that one day he would betray me for another woman. Mark didn’t come home that night. He sent me a text saying he was planning the trip with his “friend” and that they were flying out early the next morning. I asked if he wanted me to see him off at the airport. He said there was no need. When I messaged him again, there was no reply. I put down my phone and took a deep, shaky breath. Right now, he was probably tangled in a passionate embrace with her. If I kept bothering him, I would just look pathetic. 3 I tossed and turned all night. The next day, Mark and his girl, Zoe, were at the airport. They were all over each other, laughing and talking. Sharing a single cookie between them. They couldn’t even walk without clinging to each other. The way they were stuck together, you would think they were the married couple. The worst part? They walked right past me. Mark didn’t even see me. With a calm expression, I filmed every moment. Only after they had boarded the plane did I go home. Meanwhile, Zoe had already posted an update. It was a picture of their hands, intertwined, as they boarded the plane. “We’re on our way, everyone!” “Destination: Hawaii.” “I think I might be the happiest woman in the world right now.” The comments were filled with envy and well-wishes. Zoe replied to each one. When someone asked, “What about your crush’s wife?” Zoe replied: “Who cares about her? She’s just some washed-up, middle-aged woman who probably smells bad.” “My crush was miserable lying next to her every night.” “It’s so much better now that they’re divorced. From now on, he’s all mine.” “He’s finally free!” Because Zoe’s profile had videos of her face, everyone knew she was young and beautiful. So no one called her out for destroying a marriage. Instead, they all wished her and her “crush” a lifetime of happiness. I was burning with rage. I created a burner account and left a comment: “Does it bother you that your ‘crush’ got another woman pregnant and then heartlessly abandoned her?” Less than two minutes later, Zoe replied. “Haha, that just proves how amazing he is. Women throw themselves at him because he’s so desirable. She deserved it!” “Aren’t you worried he has kids?” “I don’t care. Whether he has kids or not doesn’t change how I feel about him. Besides, his wife got pregnant once, but I had him convince her to get rid of it.” Reading that reply, a tidal wave of fury crashed over me. So that was it. All those years ago when I was pregnant, Mark kept coming up with excuses for me to have an abortion, saying we could have kids later. All this time, it was because someone was pulling the strings, telling him to force me to get rid of our child. I never dreamed Mark could be that kind of person. He hadn’t just betrayed me. He had killed our child. Fighting the urge to commit murder, I typed: “You told him to make his wife have an abortion. Aren’t you afraid of karma?” Zoe’s reply came instantly: “Karma? Haha, don’t make me laugh. There’s no such thing.” “As long as I can have him all to myself, I’ll take whatever comes.” “Even if I get struck by lightning, I’d have no regrets.” “Gotta go, my man and I are about to enjoy our private paradise in Hawaii. Bye, see you in the next video!” After that, she stopped replying. And in that moment, I made a decision that would change everything.

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The first time our parents met. We were all seated at a long restaurant table, and I was making polite small talk with my boyfriend’s parents when his sister-in-law had a moment of what looked like sudden realization. “Beth, you look so familiar! Oh my god, I know where from,” she exclaimed, her voice a little too loud. “I was the doctor for your abortion procedure!” She clapped a hand over her mouth in mock horror, but the words were already out, hanging in the air like poison. The table erupted. Just moments ago, Mark’s parents had been showering me with warmth. Now, their eyes were filled with judgment. “Well, young people these days certainly know how to live, don’t they…” “No wonder she was in such a hurry to meet the family. Now it all makes sense…” A tide of crimson shame washed over my parents’ faces. Beside me, Mark stared at me, his eyes blazing with fury. As for me, I slowly set down my fork, my movements calm and deliberate. “It’s perfectly normal that you’d find me familiar, Sophia,” I said, my voice even. “After all, I manage the security system at The Azure Heights. I see you coming and going from Building 6 every day.” 1 It was the first time our parents were meeting. To make sure the occasion felt significant and to avoid any awkward silences, my parents had invited my talkative aunt and my godmother to join us. Mark’s family, however, had shown up in force. Besides his parents, his grandparents and his older brother, Henry, with his wife, Sophia, were there. They’d also brought a whole clan of relatives who spilled into the private dining room, forcing the staff to squeeze in four extra chairs just to fit everyone. The food arrived, and the first round of wine was poured. I did my best to keep the conversation flowing, chatting with Mark’s parents. Mark sat beside me, occasionally placing a piece of food on my plate. The atmosphere was a bit strained, but stable. Then, Mark’s aunt turned the spotlight on me. “Beth, you’re just stunning. And so stylish! You have to teach my daughter your ways. She’s so plain, she can’t find a date to save her life!” My own aunt jumped in smoothly. “And Mark is so handsome! With such a great job, too. They make a perfect couple.” The relatives exchanged pleasantries, a volley of polite, meaningless words. I was about to offer a modest reply when Sophia, sitting across from me, fixed me with an intense stare. “Beth, even though this is our first time meeting, I just can’t shake the feeling that I know you from somewhere.” I gave her a polite smile. “I guess I just have one of those faces.” But Sophia shook her head, her eyes scanning my features. Suddenly, she gasped, her voice piercing the low hum of conversation. “I remember now! I was the doctor on your abortion procedure, wasn’t I!” The words landed, and the air in the room instantly turned to ice. Sophia feigned a sudden grasp of her mistake. “Oh, this mouth of mine… I really shouldn’t have said that in front of everyone…” She pressed her hand to her lips, her face a perfect mask of someone who had just let a terrible secret slip. My mind went blank. I couldn’t believe she would fabricate such a lie on the spot. “What are you talking about?” I said, my voice barely a whisper. She immediately adopted a wounded, apologetic expression. “Oh, Beth, I’m so sorry. I’m just too blunt for my own good! I didn’t think… I really didn’t mean to!” But the damage was done. The smile vanished from Mark’s mother’s face. His father’s brow furrowed. The aunt who had just complimented me now looked away, her expression curdled. A chorus of whispers started to ripple across the table. “These young women, a pretty face is all it takes for them to run wild…” “So that’s why she was rushing to meet the parents. There was a reason, after all.” “Tsk, tsk. She looks so quiet and innocent, who would have thought…” My parents’ faces were beet-red, but they stammered, unable to form a single sentence to defend their daughter’s honor. Mark’s aunt didn’t hold back. “You can forget what I said earlier. I don’t want my daughter associating with that kind of person!” My own aunt and godmother, however, were furious, slapping their hands on the table. “Beth would never do something like that! You watch what you say, or you’ll have to deal with us!” And Mark… he whipped his head towards me, his eyes a storm of shock and rising rage. “Beth, is what my sister-in-law said true? Did you go behind my back and…” “No!” I cut him off, my voice sharp and certain. “I have never had that kind of procedure.” But a seed of doubt, once planted, grows with venomous speed. Mark’s mother spoke, her voice cold as steel. “People don’t just make these things up, do they.” 2 I stared at the woman who had just assassinated my character, a knot of fury tightening in my chest. This was the first time we’d ever met. I had done nothing to her, yet she had manufactured this lie out of thin air. I fought to keep my voice steady. “Sophia, you can’t just say things like that. Slander is illegal, you know.” My sharp tone seemed to wound her. Her eyes welled up. “Beth, I really didn’t mean any harm… I’m just a straightforward person, I say what I think without any filters.” Her words were a masterclass in manipulation—vague, defensive, and full of insinuation. She could have cleared it all up with a simple sentence, but she chose to dance around the truth, leaving a trail of suspicion. I had no idea what I’d done to earn her malice. But for Mark’s sake, I tried to keep my cool. “Sophia, you must be mistaken. It wasn’t me. It couldn’t have been.” I was offering her an easy way out, a chance to gracefully retract her statement. But she took it as an attack. Her voice broke into a sob. “Beth, don’t be so harsh… I just said you looked familiar, it was just a thought. How can you accuse me of slander?” She kept repeating the same lines, each one subtly reinforcing the idea that I was hiding a shameful secret. I finally lost my patience. “Sophia,” I snarled, “I have no quarrel with you. Why are you targeting me like this?” My outburst brought on a flood of tears. She shrank back, hiding behind Mark’s brother, Henry, as if I were a monster. Even then, she didn’t stop her performance. “Please, don’t misunderstand, I’m not targeting Beth… Mark, please don’t let this come between you.” Henry immediately wrapped an arm around her, his tone disapproving as he looked at me. “Sophia made an honest mistake. Beth, don’t you think your reaction is a little extreme?” Mark was even worse. He turned on me completely. “Beth Finch! Do you have to be so damn aggressive? If you had a clear conscience, why would she make something like this up out of nowhere? Don’t you know what you’ve done?!” The questions hit me like a barrage of stones, with no regard for my feelings. Three years together, and our relationship was so fragile it could be shattered by a few ambiguous words from a stranger. He didn’t even bother to seek the truth; he just immediately took their side against me. Mark’s relatives chimed in, eager to pile on. “Well, the truth always comes out!” “Sophia is such a sensible person, and she’s a doctor. She has professional ethics. She wouldn’t just say something like that for no reason!” “Exactly, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. No one would target you without a reason!” Mark slammed his hand on the table, pointing a finger at my face. “Beth, I want a straight answer! Did you or did you not do something disgraceful behind my back?” I took a deep breath and repeated myself. “I did not.” Then I turned to Sophia, my voice low and dangerous. “You said you performed my surgery. Fine. Tell me which hospital, and on what date. Because making false accusations has serious legal consequences.” A flicker of panic crossed Sophia’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a look of profound hurt. “Beth, why are you pushing me like this… I didn’t want to say anything.” Her voice was thick with false sorrow. “I was trying to protect you, trying to keep it from Mark. But when you accuse me like this, it just… it breaks my heart.” “To prove I’m not lying,” she declared, her voice ringing with phony righteousness, “I’ll get the procedure records from the nurse in my department right now!” She pulled out her phone, her fingers flying across the screen, pulling up a chat history she had clearly prepared. She paraded the phone around the table for everyone to see, finally shoving it in my face. The triumph in her voice was unmistakable. “See for yourself, Beth. I’m not making it up. The name on the patient form is yours!” 3 I would never admit to something I didn’t do. Not in a million years. The way Sophia had so quickly produced the “evidence” on her phone already felt staged. “A picture of a screen proves nothing,” I said, my voice cold. “With modern AI, you can fake anything.” I saw a flash of panic in her eyes, but she held her ground. She put on her pitiful act again, her voice choked with emotion. “Beth, you can’t just tarnish my name to save your own! You’re supposed to be my future sister-in-law! Why would I make this up? I wish I’d never come today! None of this would have happened if it weren’t for me!” Her performance was so convincing that the room turned against me again. For Mark, it was the final nail in the coffin. A vein throbbed on his temple, and his eyes burned with disgust. “Beth Finch, what more do you have to say for yourself? No wonder you were always claiming to ‘work late’ on weekends… So this is the kind of filth you were dealing with!” Filth? After three years together, this was how he saw me. His mother’s voice, sharp and shrill, cut through the air. “If a woman like that marries into our family, what will happen to our reputation? We’ll be a laughingstock!” The others joined the chorus, their words growing uglier by the second. “Shameless! All that education wasted!” “If she were my daughter, I’d have slapped the life out of her by now!” “What a disgrace to her family, raising such a degenerate!” My own mother, after seeing the so-called evidence, felt her last shred of hope collapse. She pointed a trembling finger at me, her face contorted with rage. “Beth! Did you do it or not?! If you did something this disgraceful, I’ll pretend I never gave birth to you!” “I didn’t!” I shouted back, my body shaking uncontrollably. My aunt and godmother opened their mouths to speak, but faced with “proof,” they fell silent. Every eye in the room was a needle, pricking my skin. Contempt, mockery, morbid curiosity… And the people who were supposed to be closest to me—my family, my partner—not a single one believed me. Just then, Sophia spoke again, her tone now condescendingly gentle, urging me to confess and repent. “Beth, it’s okay to admit your mistakes. What matters is that you learn from them. A sullied body doesn’t mean a sullied soul. Don’t worry, we’ll keep this between us.” Her words were so absurd, so sanctimonious, that a laugh escaped my lips. It was a cold, bitter sound. “Sophia, you and I both know whose name is really on that form,” I said, my voice dangerously low. “And as for being sullied… you’re the filthiest person in this room.” I locked my eyes on hers, wanting to see just how deep her depravity went. The venom in my gaze startled her. She flinched, her voice trembling. “You… you’re lying! How dare you! You’re the one who had the abortion, not me!” Mark looked like he was about to explode. He lunged forward, his face inches from mine, spitting words laced with pure hatred. “My sister-in-law exposed you for what you are, and you have the audacity to attack her? I don’t have a shameless tramp for a girlfriend. We’re done. You disgust me!” Looking at his twisted face, the whole situation felt utterly surreal. And in that moment, I saw everything with perfect clarity. “We’re not even engaged yet,” I sneered. “Only an idiot like you would be so easily manipulated by her. You trust her over the woman you’ve been with for three years.” My words hit their mark. He completely lost control. With a roar of fury, he grabbed a ceramic bowl from the table and hurled it at my head. “Shut your mouth!” he screamed. “It’s not your place to lecture me, you cheap tramp! Go crawl back to whatever gutter you came from!” I didn’t have time to react. The bowl crashed against my temple, and a warm trickle of blood immediately ran down my face. The room fell silent. Everyone just stared. I raised a hand to my head and brought it away, slick with red. I looked at Mark, then let my gaze sweep slowly across the stunned faces of his family, and finally, to my own parents, who were frozen in shock but had made no move to help me. Suddenly, the whole thing seemed like a sick joke. “Well done, Mark,” I said softly. A flicker of panic crossed his face, quickly swallowed by a wave of defensive anger. “You brought this on yourself!” he spat. Sophia, ever the actress, rushed to his side, gently pulling on his arm. “Don’t be angry, Mark. It’s all my fault. I never should have brought it up.” She bit her lip, looking every bit the noble peacemaker. “This is our first time meeting, and I’ve caused such a scene… I… I should just go. Please don’t let me ruin things between you.” With that, she made a show of grabbing her purse to leave. Henry quickly stopped her, cooing gentle reassurances. The others, snapping out of their stupor, begged her to stay. Then, as one, they all turned to me, their expressions demanding. They wanted me to apologize to Sophia. Mark raised his chin, his voice dripping with venom. “Beth Finch! Look what you’ve done to Sophia! And she’s still trying to defend you! You will apologize to her. Right now. You won’t get up until she forgives you!” My parents, seeing this as their chance to salvage the situation, eagerly chimed in. “Beth! Just do it! Listen to Mark! It was your fault to begin with, what’s so hard about saying sorry? Do you want to ruin this engagement and humiliate us all?!” I stared at them in disbelief. My parents. My partner. My heart felt like it had been plunged into a bucket of ice. “She slanders me, and you want me to apologize to her?” “You’re still being stubborn!” my father’s face was flush with anger. “The proof is right there! The doctor and nurses can prove it! If it weren’t for your kind sister-in-law exposing you, we would have all been deceived! How could we show our faces in public? You should be grateful to her for saving you, not arguing! Apologize!” The relatives all agreed, chanting that I owed Sophia an apology. They spoke with such conviction, as if I were the villain in a play they were all watching. And I was. A dark, twisted comedy. “Me, apologize to her? Not in this lifetime.” Seeing my defiance, my parents became enraged. My father picked up a pair of chopsticks and threw them at me, screaming about how he had raised such a shameless creature. Sophia, now the cherished victim at the center of everyone’s concern, glanced at me over their shoulders. Deep in her eyes, I saw it: pure, unadulterated triumph and provocation. But her words were soft as silk. “Beth, please don’t be like this. I’m your elder, I would never truly demand an apology like that. As long as you admit you were wrong and promise to be a better person, I’ll forgive you. The most important thing is that you can change for the better, isn’t it?” Hearing this, everyone praised her for being so “magnanimous” and “understanding.” Their contempt for me only deepened, and the pressure to confess intensified. I, however, slowly set down my own chopsticks. I looked at Sophia’s hypocritical face and smiled. “It’s perfectly normal that you’d find me familiar, Sophia. After all, I manage the security system at The Azure Heights residential complex. I see you coming and going from Building 6 all the time.” “And if I remember correctly,” I added, my voice cutting through the stunned silence, “the name on the title for that apartment isn’t your husband, Henry, is it?”

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1 I was waiting for an ad to finish on my show when I scrolled past a viral video. The caption was about an ex-boyfriend. “It’s been five years since we broke up, and he’s never once let my streaming subscription lapse.” The top comment was from a burner account: “I’m the poster’s ex. The subscription is linked directly to her phone number, so it renews automatically. She’s never asked me for a cent.” “She was an amazing friend and partner. It was always my pleasure to spend money on her.” “This is my choice and has nothing to do with her. Please be kind in the comments. It hurts me to see people speak ill of her.” The replies flooded in: “OMG, he saw people hating on her and exposed his own secret account just to protect her! I’m crying!” On impulse, I clicked on the burner account’s profile. A wave of profound, chilling absurdity washed over me. This devoted, romantic man was Eric, my fiancé. I stared at the screen, and the love I had clung to so desperately for five years suddenly evaporated. If I can’t have what I want, then I don’t want it at all. ……….. The video’s likes kept climbing. Soon, someone dug up information on Eric’s account. “WHOA! I know these two! Eric was so good to Molly!” “They were high school sweethearts until their sophomore year of college and almost never fought! He would’ve given her the moon and stars! We were all so jealous!” “I think they broke up because Eric’s parents didn’t approve!” “But I heard Eric has a girlfriend of five years now. They were set up, I think. It’s not about love, just about being ‘suitable.’” As I read that last comment, the show I was watching cut to a “subscribe now” screen. It hit me then. Eric had forgotten to renew my subscription. Again. He could remember to pay for his ex-girlfriend’s for five years straight, but he couldn’t remember mine. My knuckles whitened around my phone. A tight knot formed in my chest, making it hard to breathe. The comment was right, in a way. From Eric’s perspective, we were set up. What he didn’t know was that I’d been in love with him for years before that. When we met on that setup, I was so thrilled that we set a wedding date almost immediately. I kept telling myself that, given time, love would grow between us. But now, I could see I was only fooling myself. The front door clicked open. Eric walked in, his brow furrowed with a familiar weariness when he saw I was still awake. “I wasn’t looking at my phone, that’s why I didn’t reply to your messages.” Normally, I would have just shaken my head and said it was okay, that I understood how hard he worked. But his comment on that video was posted just a few minutes ago. He was replying to people attacking his ex right before he walked through the door. Meanwhile, our chat history was a sea of one-sided green bubbles. My messages, unanswered. I looked up at his face, his expression as blank as always, and spoke softly. “You forgot to renew the subscription again. I had to sit through a 30-second ad just to watch my show.” He paused, a flicker of annoyance in his eyes. “Can’t you just pay for it yourself?” His voice was sharp. “I’m swamped with work. Do you really expect me to keep track of whether your streaming service is active?” A familiar wave of sadness washed over me, but this time, it was followed by a bitter, hollow smile. The same excuse. It was the reason he forgot our anniversary, the reason he missed meetings with our parents, the reason he had zero involvement in planning our wedding. I used to be naive enough to believe he was genuinely that busy. Now I knew the truth. He didn’t have time for me because he didn’t love me. So this time, I didn’t argue. I didn’t fight. I just nodded calmly. “Fine.” “I’ll pay for the subscription myself. And you don’t need to show up for the wedding.” Eric stared at me, stunned. The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. “What are you talking about?” Our eyes met. There was no panic in his gaze, only irritation. The last shred of hope in my heart withered and died. Before I could answer, he sneered. “You’re breaking up with me because I forgot to pay for your streaming subscription?” “Audrey, you’re becoming more and more unreasonable.” He sighed, exasperated. “Whatever.” He turned and strode into the bedroom, slamming the door so hard the walls shook. I stood frozen for a long time, then wiped the cold tears from my face. A moment later, I heard his voice from the balcony, his tone casual as he spoke on the phone. “Yeah, we had another fight.” “Don’t worry, Mom. The wedding is still on. She’ll get over it in a couple of days. It’s been the same for five years, hasn’t it?” My hands clenched into fists, then relaxed. I picked up my phone, a self-mocking laugh escaping my lips. I canceled the wedding. Then, I booked a one-way ticket to California. 2 We slept in separate rooms that night. It was the first time after a fight that I didn’t grovel for forgiveness. Eric seemed thrown off by it. The next morning, he looked at me with disbelief. “You didn’t make me breakfast?” I nodded, my voice flat. “I have to get to work, too. I don’t have time to cook for two.” He stared at me for a moment, then let out a short, harsh laugh. “Fine, Audrey. Have it your way. Keep playing these games.” He slammed the door on his way out, and a faint scent of cologne lingered in the air. It was a scent I didn’t recognize. In the five years we’d been together, he had never once worn cologne. He must have had an important date. I forced down the lump in my throat and went to the office, where I submitted my transfer papers. The relocation to the head office would be effective in three days. That evening, my colleagues insisted on a team dinner to celebrate my promotion. Halfway through the meal, I got a text from Eric. “Working late tonight. Don’t wait up.” I didn’t reply. I stepped out to use the restroom. As I was drying my hands, ready to head back, I heard a roar of laughter and cheers from the private room next to ours. “I can’t believe we’re seeing Eric and Molly together again after five years! My ship is sailing again!” My feet stopped moving. I peered through the crack in the door, and the blood in my veins turned to ice. Eric was sitting next to Molly, and they were both smiling. Genuinely smiling. It was a look I had never once seen on his face when he was with me. A soft, delicate female voice drifted out. “Don’t say that. Your girlfriend will get upset if she hears you.” Molly turned to Eric, her expression a perfect picture of innocent concern. “Does your fiancée know you’re out with us tonight? Why didn’t she come?” Before he could answer, one of his friends scoffed. “Please. Don’t call her that. If it wasn’t for Eric’s mom insisting on this match, she wouldn’t even be in the picture.” “Molly, you know Eric has been waiting for you all these years.” “Why do you think he’s been working himself to the bone? To get out from under his mom’s thumb so he could finally marry you, of course! Hahaha!” I blinked hard, forcing back the sting in my eyes. Eric just sat there, smiling, saying nothing. His silence was an admission. I remembered all the times his coldness had made me want to give up. But then there was that one night, after he’d been drinking, when he held me tight, his eyes red-rimmed, and swore to me. “The reason I’m working so hard is to give you a better life.” Lost in thought, I didn’t notice the door in front of me swing open. Molly stood there, her face a mask of feigned surprise. A knowing smile played on her lips. “Oh, excuse me, ma’am? Are you with the waitstaff? We don’t need anything in our room right now, thanks.” The room behind her went quiet for a beat, then erupted in jeering laughter. “Hahahaha, Molly, you’re so cute! That’s Eric’s girlfriend.” “Well, I mean, Molly’s not wrong, is she? Audrey is basically the Reed family’s servant.” They didn’t even bother to hide their contempt anymore, their laughter dripping with malice. In their eyes, I was just some pathetic woman who had managed to snag Eric by sucking up to his mother. My nails dug into my palms, the sharp pain the only thing keeping me from turning and running. Molly gave a sheepish little laugh. “Oh, Audrey, I’m so sorry. Did you come here because you saw my video?” I frowned, confused. She pulled out her phone, opened her profile, and showed me her latest post: a photo of her and Eric, smiling together. I shook my head. “I haven’t seen—” Before I could finish, Molly tapped on the viral video from the night before, her eyes wide with faux innocence. “Last night, I set this video so that only you could see it, Audrey.” She tilted her head. “And overnight, the view count went from a hundred thousand to a hundred and ten thousand.” “Were you watching it all night? I hope it didn’t keep you from getting any sleep!” 3 For a moment, my mind went completely blank. It felt like a giant hand was squeezing my throat, choking the words before they could form. A hot wave of shame washed over me as the laughter from the room grew louder. My feet felt like they were nailed to the floor. Just then, Eric stood up and walked over. He playfully tapped Molly on the nose, a fond, exasperated smile on his face. “Playing your little tricks again?” Molly laughed, carefree and triumphant. “It’s fun, isn’t it?” She turned back to me. “For five years, I’ve posted so many videos that only he could see. And he’s watched every single one hundreds of times.” She put on a concerned face. “Oh, Audrey, please don’t get the wrong idea. I only posted that video to reminisce a little. Eric and I are just good friends now—” Before she could finish, Eric glanced at me and cut her off, his voice flat. “Don’t bother explaining. People with dirty minds see dirt everywhere. She’s throwing a fit over a single video.” I watched them, a perfectly rehearsed duo, my body rigid. From behind me, I heard a familiar voice. “Audrey? What are you doing here?” One of my colleagues had come to find me. “Hey, isn’t that your boyfriend? Does he know you’re about to—” “Let’s go back,” I said, cutting her off and turning away. Molly hurried after us. “We were just leaving, too! Let’s go together!” She got to the front desk before we did and paid for our table. I tried to stop her, but she just turned and beamed at me. “It’s okay! I’m just using the supplementary card Eric gave me, hahaha!” My mind flashed back to the day I’d playfully asked him to add me as an authorized user to his account. He’d shaken his head, his face a blank mask. “A supplementary card? What’s that? I don’t know how to do it.” “If you need money, I’ll just transfer it to you.” At the time, I thought he was just a typical, clueless guy. It turned out he knew exactly how to do it. He’d just already done it for someone else. I nodded, said nothing, and walked out. It was hard to get a cab on a cold winter night. One by one, my colleagues found rides and left, while I stared at the rideshare app on my phone. 100 drivers ahead of me. Just then, a sleek, black Bentley pulled up to the curb. Molly smiled and opened the passenger door, then paused dramatically. “Oh, I almost forgot! Audrey, you first!” I looked at Eric, who refused to meet my eyes. My voice was barely a whisper. “You told me your father died in a car crash. You said you were too traumatized to ever drive.” Molly looked from me to him, her expression one of theatrical disbelief. “Eric, you really told her that?” I was completely lost. She explained with a long-suffering sigh. “Five years ago, when we were dating, I didn’t want him giving rides to other girls, so I told him to make up that lie. Hahaha, that way everyone would think he didn’t have a car and couldn’t drive them.” She shook her head, as if in pity. “I can’t believe he never told you after five years together. His father died of natural causes. There was no car crash.” Eric looked away, a flicker of guilt on his face. “I just forgot to tell you I had a car. I don’t drive it much.” He cleared his throat. “Molly lives on the south side, it’s out of the way. You should just get a cab home.” Molly gave me a quick, insincere “sorry” and hopped happily into the car. The Bentley sped off, leaving me choking on a cloud of exhaust fumes. As if on cue, the sky opened up. A cold, hard rain began to fall on the normally dry city. The restaurant staff locked the doors, leaving me with nowhere to shelter. The cold seeped into my bones, and the pain became a dull, spreading numbness. I stood there, drenched to the skin, for two hours before I finally got a ride home. Eric wasn’t back yet. His mother, however, had been texting me nonstop, asking how the plans for the wedding in two days were coming along. After a moment of hesitation, I told her the truth. Minutes later, my phone rang. It was Eric, his voice seething with rage. “Audrey, are you insane?!” “What the hell do you think you’re doing, dragging my mother into your little tantrum?” “Now she knows about Molly, and she’s demanding I cut off all contact with her! She even called Molly and screamed at her!” “Have you completely lost your mind?!”

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After I found out my husband, Finn, was cheating on me. To get back at him. I went out with no less than 10 different men in six months. The night I broke up with number 10, a sweet college kid. I asked Finn for a divorce. “Oh, darling.” “How many times have we been here?” Finn finally looked up from his phone. “What’s the matter? Not happy with the latest boyfriend?” He smirked, a cruel little twist of his lips. “Did he disappoint you so much that my usually placid wife has to come bother me with her little tantrums?” He laughed and reached for his jacket. “I’m afraid I don’t have time for this, darling. I have plans tonight.” I stared at him, still trying to understand. How could a man separate love and sex so completely, as if they were two different countries with a hard border between them? “Finn,” I said, stepping in his way and holding out the divorce papers. My voice was calm. “I’m serious.” “Let’s just let each other go.” 1 “Darling.” Finn’s expression was still infuriatingly casual. “I really don’t have time to play these games with you.” He held up his phone, showing me his open messaging app. “The kid’s going to get upset.” He smiled, but the warmth didn’t reach his eyes. “And you know how it is. She’s not easy to placate.” The screen showed a profile picture. It was one half of a matching set. His was the other half. The girl was complaining, sending an angry emoji. [How much longer do you have to spend with that old hag?] [You said she had a boyfriend now anyway. Or have you decided you prefer older women after all? Are you trying to patch things up with her?] She was shamelessly mocking my age. Finn just thought it was cute. He typed back: [Don’t be jealous.] Suddenly, a video call notification popped up on his screen. The jarring ringtone shattered the tense silence between us. Finn gestured to his phone. “See, darling? I’m a very busy man.” He answered the call, right there in front of me. The girl’s voice was a playful pout. “Finn. I’m already at your gate.” “I’ll give you three seconds.” “If you don’t come out.” “We’re breaking up!” I listened to her confident, demanding tone and watched the flicker of annoyance on Finn’s face melt back into a fond smile. “You little troublemaker.” His voice was a low murmur, meant only for her. “My wife’s home, you know. Aren’t you afraid she’ll come after you with a kitchen knife?” “And if she does, don’t you dare come crying to me.” He was flirting with her, right in front of me, as if I wasn’t even there. The girl on the phone just laughed. “You wouldn’t let her.” “You promised you’d protect me!” I knew what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to stay silent. I was supposed to let him leave, to give him his space. Everyone told me the same thing: as long as I was Mrs. Thorne, I would have a life of unimaginable luxury. I would want for nothing. My mother, who was seriously ill in the hospital, would continue to receive the best possible care. But I just couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t stand it for one more second. I snatched the phone from his hand. His eyes widened in shock as I spoke into the receiver. “You’re right. The wife is very mean. If you dare set foot inside this house, I’ll make sure you’re carried out.” I ignored the girl’s shrieks on the other end, her accusations that I was shameless. I smashed the phone on the ground, strode to the front door, and threw it open. The girl stood there, her face red with fury. I raised my hand and slapped her, hard. “Do you know what you are?” My voice was sharp, but my face was a mask of cold calm. “As long as I am in this house, as long as I hold the title of Mrs. Thorne, you are nothing but a cheap little homewrecker.” I grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head against the door. The loud thud was followed by her terrified scream. “You’re crazy!” “Finn!” “Finn! Are you just going to stand there and let her do this to me?!” “Finn!” I raised my hand to strike her again. A hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. From behind me, I heard Finn’s voice, a lazy drawl that was somehow both amused and threatening. “Darling. Don’t you think you’re being a little… undignified?” 2 His voice was still light, still laced with that mocking amusement. But I heard the warning underneath. “The kid is at an age where looks are everything,” Finn said. “If you mess up that pretty face of hers, you’ll be the one who has to deal with the consequences. Why make things harder on yourself?” His tone was casual, but his grip on my wrist tightened, forcing me to let the girl go. “Let’s just say the kid was being impulsive tonight and overstepped,” he continued, his gaze shifting to me, his eyes hardening. “But if there’s a next time, darling… my patience has its limits.” I watched as he gathered the sobbing girl into his arms, murmuring comforting words. “It’s okay.” “Shh, you’re okay.” She clung to him, her tears soaking his shirt. He lifted her into his arms as if she weighed nothing and turned to leave. But I called out to him. “Finn.” He didn’t stop. I ran after him, blocking his path. “If you really like her,” I said, my eyes on the girl’s tear-streaked face, “then you should make it official.” I leaned in and whispered in her ear, my voice a soft poison. “It’s not me who won’t step aside.” “It’s your dear Finn who refuses to let me go and make room for you. If you’re really so special,” I said, my voice dropping, “then you get him to agree. Just like he did for me, all those years ago. You make him bring you into the Thorne family.” The girl’s body went rigid. Her expression changed. She looked up at Finn, her eyes wide and uncertain. Finn sighed, a long, weary sound, and gently set her down. He walked over to me. “Chloe.” His voice was cold. “Don’t regret this.” He took the divorce papers from my hand and signed his name on the dotted line. Then he turned back to the girl, his voice soft again. “Happy now?” Tears of joy streamed down her face. She threw her arms around him, but her eyes were on me, a silent, triumphant challenge. She had won. I didn’t look at either of them. The enormous weight that had been crushing my chest for so long had finally lifted. I couldn’t name the feeling. I just sat in the empty villa, watching as the movers carefully packed up every trace of me. My phone buzzed. It was a video from Finn’s new fiancée. In the video, Finn was on one knee, kissing her hand, his expression as reverent as if he were holding the most precious treasure in the world. “Lily,” he was saying. “My love for you isn’t just words.” “You wanted a grand gesture, a promise. I’m willing to give you all of it. So,” he said, pulling out a diamond the size of a pigeon’s egg and slipping it onto her finger, “are you happy now?” Lily was crying and laughing at the same time. She sent me a text. [Chloe, everyone talks about how much Finn loved you. How he defied his entire family just to marry you. How he knelt in the family shrine for seven days without food or water, even endured the family punishment, just to get them to agree.] [And your mother, the one who’s barely hanging on? The only reason she’s still alive is because Finn hired the best team of specialists in the country for her.] [But here’s something you don’t know.] She sent another video. [It’s not what you think.] The video was dark, filmed in the private club Finn always went to. I recognized the faces of the men with him. I heard someone ask, “Finn, what’s the deal with you and Chloe? This has gotten messy.” Finn sat in the middle of the group, toying with his wedding ring. The man continued. “Chloe’s been running around town with at least five different pretty boys. Aren’t you worried she’ll catch something? That she’s… dirty?” “She’s out of control. And you’re just going to let it happen?”

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1 Just after our son’s hundred-day celebration, my husband of seven years asked me, with a faint smile, “What do you think about a man having two wives?” Before I could respond, my stepsister Sophie entered, holding a three-year-old boy’s hand. Nicholas had invited them. “This is my son with Sophie,” he said calmly. He explained they had been together for four years. “I know you resent Sophie because of your mother, so I kept them hidden out of consideration for you. Now, I want them by my side openly.” As I trembled, he continued, “Be generous. Don’t interfere when I’m with them on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.” His tone turned cold. “Or, you can divorce me. Our baby stays. But if I stop caring for you, I can’t promise to care for the child you gave me.” He looked at my pale face and asked casually, “So, have you decided?” … My throat was so tight it ached. I stood there, stiff as a board, and asked mechanically, “Why did you have to tell me today?” Just hours ago, at the party, he had kissed me with such joy, thanking me for giving him a beautiful son. Nicholas sighed. “Honestly, I was planning to hide this from you forever.” “But the day you went into labor… I was with Sophie and Liam, picking out a puppy.” My eyes, sore and dry, blinked slowly. I remembered. That day, I was on the delivery table, writhing in the agony of contractions. The nurses called him again and again, but his phone was off. I told myself he was tied up with a difficult client. Though I was terrified, I summoned the last of my strength and signed the consent forms myself. His voice was a soft whisper, as gentle as the sweet nothings he used to murmur in my ear. “Do you know what I was thinking? When I got back to the hospital and saw you, saw how you’d nearly died giving me a child… I actually felt a pang of pity. For Sophie.” I stared at him in disbelief, certain I had misheard. “I was dying… and you felt sorry for her?” Nicholas nodded. “I felt sorry that Sophie had to give me Liam without any recognition, that she had to hide our relationship for four years. I felt like I owed her.” My nails dug deep into my palms. I fought to hold back the flood of tears, my voice choked with bitterness. “You know my mother was driven to jump from a building because of Sophie and her mother. Why, of all people, did you have to cheat on me with her?” Nicholas glanced at Sophie, a look of helplessness on his face. “What could I do? My mother dislikes you, and you could never manage your relationship with her. I was stuck in the middle, torn apart.” “Only when I’m with Sophie can I forget all my troubles.” It was true his mother didn’t like me. For six years of our marriage, I couldn’t get pregnant. She found fault with everything I did. Every time we visited the family estate, she’d pick on me, even making me kneel in the old family chapel as punishment. Nicholas would always comfort me afterward, telling me how much it hurt him to see me suffer. But I went through six rounds of IVF for him. I endured countless injections, my stomach a canvas of purple bruises, and never once complained. I risked my life to give him a child. And all this time, while he watched me suffer, he was off somewhere in a world I couldn’t see, playing happy family with Sophie and their son. A giant fist clenched around my heart, squeezing the air from my lungs. I gasped for breath. Nicholas’s eyes tightened, and he moved to hold me. “Amelia, if you can accept this arrangement, you don’t have to leave.” The dam of my emotions finally broke. I shoved him away, hard, and slapped him across the face. “Have you forgotten what you promised me?” Before the words were even out of my mouth, a force slammed into me, sending me sprawling to the floor. Pain exploded behind my eyes, and my vision went black for a second. Through the ringing in my ears, I heard Sophie’s tearful voice. “Amelia, Nicholas has already sacrificed so much for you these past four years! He loves you so much, why can’t you be more understanding?” “Or is it that you only love yourself? You never cared about what Nicholas needs, did you?” The man who had sworn to protect me for life had cheated on me with my own father’s illegitimate daughter. They had a secret child, forced me into the same impossible choice my mother faced, and now they were asking me to be understanding? The cruelty was breathtaking. A hysterical laugh, laced with tears, escaped my lips. Nicholas froze, reaching for me before his face hardened with impatience. “Just think about it. Let me know what you decide.” He took Sophie and their son by the hand and left, the slam of the door echoing like a gunshot. Our sleeping baby, startled awake, began to wail, his cries piercing the sudden silence. The sound, mixed with the bone-deep agony in my heart, was like a knife twisting in my gut. I held my son and wept, completely lost. After the chaos subsided, I had barely caught my breath when my phone rang. It was Nicholas. His voice was low, laced with anger. “Amelia, who gave you the right to tell my mother about Sophie and Liam?” “It wasn’t me…” He cut me off sharply. “Get over to the estate right now and calm her down. If you can’t learn how to be a proper wife in this family, then you can forget about raising our son, too.” The phone shook in my hand. Right after our son was born, his mother had tried to take him away to be raised at the estate. It was Nicholas who, seeing my heartbreak, had physically blocked the bodyguards she’d sent. “He is my son,” he had declared. “No one has the right to raise him but Amelia.” Now, for Sophie, he was using our child as a weapon against me. Nicholas had already betrayed me; I couldn’t lose my son too. Wiping my tears, I handed the baby to the nanny and rushed to the family estate. In the old chapel, Sophie sat to one side, holding her son. The moment I walked in, my mother-in-law slapped me across the face. “Nicholas knelt in this chapel for three days and three nights to get my permission to marry you,” she hissed. “I thought you had some substance. I can’t believe he could have an affair with an illegitimate girl and father a bastard child right under your nose without you noticing. Are you trying to bring utter disgrace to this family?” When my father brought Sophie and her mother home, my own mother didn’t throw them out. Instead, she threw herself from the top floor of our house. My mother-in-law always thought my mother was weak, and by extension, she looked down on me. But I never imagined she would blame me for Nicholas’s affair. Nicholas glanced at me, then turned to his mother. “Didn’t you used to complain that Amelia couldn’t give you a grandchild? I just gave you one ahead of schedule. What’s so bad about that?” His voice was nonchalant, as if he’d done something commendable. Then, he shot me a cold smirk. “You made this mess, Mrs. Hayes. You fix it.” “As long as we are married, it is your duty to please my mother and solve my problems.” Sophie moved to his side, linking her arm through his. She looked at me with triumph in her eyes. “Oh, Amelia, I’m just a simple girl. I’m not very good at handling these complicated family dynamics. I’ll be counting on you from now on.” “Unless… you’re no longer part of this family.” I bit the inside of my cheek, my eyes locked on Nicholas. I knew, rationally, that I shouldn’t cling to a man who no longer loved me. But I couldn’t let my son end up like me, living at the mercy of a stepmother. “Don’t you dare think I’ll make this easy for you, Nicholas.” As long as we were married, Sophie and her son would never be officially recognized. Sophie’s taunt enraged my mother-in-law. She ordered the bodyguards to force Sophie to her knees. “If you want to enter this family, you’ll take ninety-nine lashes first. We’ll see if our ancestors approve.” My mother-in-law despised Sophie, and I should have felt a flicker of satisfaction. But what Nicholas did next nearly made me lose control. He kicked away the two bodyguards and wrapped Sophie in a protective embrace. He shot a look at his mother, but his final, disgusted gaze landed on me. “It’s just ninety-nine lashes. I’ll take them for her.” “But after this, Sophie is to be allowed to come and go from this house as she pleases.” Every crack of the whip on Nicholas’s back felt like a sharp blade carving into my own heart. In our third year of marriage, after two failed IVF attempts, my mother-in-law grew furious. She claimed the family ancestors disliked me and dragged me to the chapel to be whipped ninety-nine times to atone for my “sin.” Terrified, I had huddled in Nicholas’s arms, trembling. I selfishly wanted him to fight for me, just as he had fought to marry me. But he had only kissed my forehead and whispered, “Amelia, I know she’s just letting off steam. For our future, please, just endure it.” Then, the guards pulled me from his arms. Before him and the entire family, I took every single lash. The last thing I remembered before passing out was the raw, searing pain of torn flesh that seemed to penetrate my very bones. The memory of my own blood merged with the horrific sight of the blood now on Nicholas. It was like a vicious slap, leaving my cheeks burning with shame. With nine lashes left, his mother couldn’t bring herself to continue. She looked at Sophie, but before she could speak, Nicholas’s weak voice cut through the air. “Let Amelia take the last nine.” My blood ran cold. Me? Take them for her? Pain contorted Nicholas’s face, sweat beading on his forehead, but he managed a faint smile. “Amelia, Sophie was raised delicately by her parents. She can’t even handle a single lash. But you’re different. You took all ninety-nine last time. You can definitely handle nine.” When I didn’t move, his expression darkened. “If you can’t even do this much to help your husband, then maybe you shouldn’t be raising our son after all.” I staggered back, a smile more painful than tears spreading across my face. To keep my son, I endured nine more lashes. I thought my submission would be met with some decency, but Nicholas went on to have Sophie’s son officially added to the family registry. I hated him. I hated him for no longer loving me yet dragging me into this impossible situation. I hated him for turning my son, barely a hundred days old, into a laughingstock for the sake of his other child. I cast aside my dignity as his wife and leaked the story of him and Sophie to the media. But since he was already planning to go public, my actions only made them more brazen. I became the joke of our social circle. Furious and out of my mind, I wrote a long, detailed post exposing how Sophie and her mother had driven my own mother to her death. But before I could post it, Nicholas intercepted it. To punish me, he threw a lavish, high-profile party to officially introduce Sophie’s son to our circle. For reasons I couldn’t understand, his mother didn’t object. On the day of the party, I locked myself and my son in our home. For his sake, I wanted to stop fighting. But Sophie wouldn’t let me. She sent me a video. In it, Nicholas held her tightly, their kiss passionate and desperate. His heavy breathing was disgustingly loud. A text followed: “Nicholas said that even if you two divorce, I won’t ever have to feel wronged in front of his mother again.” My fists clenched. What about all the times I had been wronged? Then came another picture, this one of her son. It shattered the last remnants of my sanity. Around the boy’s neck was my locket. It was the one my mother left me, the one I had placed around my own son’s neck. I stormed into the party. I ignored the mocking, pitying stares and walked straight up to Nicholas. The moment he saw me, a satisfied smile spread across his face. “Amelia, so you’ve finally come to your senses…” “Give me back my locket.” I cut him off, my voice shaking. “That was from my mother. What right do you have to give it to someone else?” As I said it, I felt myself breaking. After my mother died, Sophie had snatched that locket from me once before. I had cried and begged for it back, but my father had beaten me severely and locked me in a dark closet for a day and a night without food. When Nicholas, not yet twelve years old, found out, he stormed into my house and set a fire. He was just a kid, but he stabbed my father three times. He got the locket back and warned Sophie with a chilling ferocity that if she ever touched my things again, he’d stab her next. Sophie had fainted from fear. But eighteen years later, she hadn’t just stolen him from me. Now, all she had to do was say she wanted something of mine, and he would take it for her. Nicholas pulled Sophie and her son behind him protectively. He stared at me, his voice cold. “It’s just a locket. What does it matter who wears it? Besides, Liam can call you ‘mother’ too. What’s wrong with giving it to him?” His entitled tone destroyed my last shred of self-control. “I am not his mother, and I will not give my son’s things to a bastard.” At that, the little boy lunged at me, his small fists pounding against the still-tender scar from my C-section. Pain shot through me, and I instinctively raised my hand. But before I could touch him, Nicholas shoved me violently. I stumbled backward, the back of my head cracking against the sharp corner of a table. An explosion of agony, and then darkness. The last thing I heard before the world went black was Nicholas screaming my name in terror. When I opened my eyes again, Nicholas was sitting by my hospital bed, his expression weary. Seeing me awake, a flicker of irritation crossed his face, and his first words were a reprimand. “Look at you. You don’t look like the wife of a magnate at all, fighting with a child over a trinket in front of everyone.” A bitter smile touched my lips. I said nothing. He seemed to lose interest and left after muttering a few more words. I didn’t see him for two days. On the third day, Sophie came. She was toying with the locket, an amused look on her face as she tossed it onto my bed. “Making such a scene over a piece of metal, getting yourself all banged up. Too bad it still belongs to my son in the end, doesn’t it?” My fingers froze. The numbness that had enveloped me began to recede. “What are you talking about?”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “390197”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel