Chapter 1 Three years into my captivity, I stumbled upon a thread online. The topic was: [Can teenage love really last?] The OP, Dreamer_1998, wrote about a boy who fought for her, who bought her breakfast every morning. Who plastered love letters all over the school bulletin board. Every word was soaked in obvious infatuation. But when I saw the posting date and the username, I froze. That post was from me, ten years ago. Ten years later, the boy who wrote those love letters is my husband. He has chained my ankles to the floor. Scattered around me are explicit photos of him and a rising starlet. I swallowed the handful of sleeping pills I’d been hoarding for months, and typed a cynical reply. [Don't say yes. Love like that always ends the same way.] ... The bitter taste of the pills hadn’t even faded when the door slammed open. Julian slapped the bottle out of my hand, his teeth clenched. "Are you crazy?!" Before I could speak, he scooped me up and ran to the car. He ran countless red lights, a chorus of horns and curses trailing behind us. After the cold stomach pump tube was finally removed, he grabbed me by the collar. "What are you trying to pull now?" "You know Serena is accepting an award today. Did you stage this just to embarrass her during her interview?" My face was pale, but I smiled. "She sent me photos of you two in bed just to see me lose it, didn't she?" "You love her so much. Why not just let me die and make room for her?" He took a deep breath. "You know I won't let anyone replace you. Even if she has a child, if you want..." "I don't want it!" I cut him off sharply. "Julian, don't talk to me about children!" It felt like I was back in that night of despair, suffocating. In an instant, I lost the strength to argue. I touched my stomach with trembling hands. "Julian, let me go. Serena can give you many children. But we... we never will again." His cool fingers touched my cheek. Julian regained the composure of a man used to power. "You know I love you the most." The most, but not the only one. I laughed until tears came. He leaned down, as if to kiss the corner of my eye. I turned my head away, and his movement froze in the air. After a long time, he sighed softly. "Promise me, no more stupid things, okay? Or your reporter friend might get very worried about you." I understood his threat. Don't try to die again, or he'd hurt my friend. When he finally walked out of the ward, I collapsed on the bed. I had had enough of this mutual torture. My phone vibrated in my hand. [Ends the same way? Why do you say that?] My numb heart suddenly pounded violently. I stared at the words. I finally realized the post I just replied to wasn't a hallucination. [Do you... know Julian?] Another reply popped up. I felt like I had grabbed a lifeline. Tears crashed onto the screen as my trembling fingers typed furiously. [He is your future husband. And I am you, ten years from now.] [Don't go near him! Run!] Chapter 2 After a brief silence, a simple reply came back. [Proof.] I stared at the phone blankly. For a moment, I couldn't think of anything to prove I was the wife who had walked beside Julian for ten years. The five hundred love letters he wrote me? I burned them all the night I found him in bed with Serena, throwing the flaming papers onto their naked bodies. Our marriage certificate? I stuffed it into the bouquet Serena received at her movie wrap party. She got dragged by the media for months. In the end, the scraps of that certificate landed on my face, along with Julian's slap. They say love is armor. But the proofs of our love became the blades I used to try and hurt him. Except he had new armor now, and my old blade was useless against him. Only I was left scarred. Finally, I lifted my shirt and sent a photo of a faded tattoo on my left side, over the fifth rib, closest to the heart. A red koi fish. Julian had the same tattoo. Ten years ago, I was harassed by thugs on the street. Julian fought them alone until his shirt was soaked in blood. The worst wound slashed diagonally across his chest. An inch deeper, and he would have died. Later, that deep scar became a vibrant red koi. The boy smiled recklessly at me in the setting sun. "Lily, I want you in my heart forever." I cried until I couldn't breathe, moved by his fiery love and my own hopeless infatuation. That day, after posting on the forum, I accepted Julian's confession. And I got that tattoo branded on myself too. When my strict parents found out, they were furious and demanded we break up. For the first time, the obedient daughter rebelled. I ran away from home and went to the city where my dream university was located, with Julian. Maybe my family gave up on me, because they never looked for me again. I felt lost, but with Julian by my side, everything seemed worth it. Julian didn't have the grades for college, so he gave up on school to work and support me. We huddled in a cramped rental, sharing a cup of instant noodles. In the freezing winter, we kept each other warm. Under a dim light bulb, I blew out the candles on a cheap cake and made a wish to become a famous screenwriter. Julian rested his chin on his hands, smiling at me. "As you wish. Your personal genie has received your request." He took off his construction vest and became a bodyguard for a powerful man. After five years of living on the edge, his suits got more expensive, and our apartment got bigger. Finally, he handed me a project proposal. "Wife, go pick the actors for your story." And Serena was the heroine I chose. She had just come out of the mountains, covered in dust and grit. But her eyes shone with a terrifying light, a stubbornness to seize any opportunity. She said: "Mrs. Vance, I won't let you down." That aura perfectly matched the heroine in my script. We were the same age and shared similar interests. Soon, we talked about everything. Countless nights, we revised the script together, too busy to go home. Julian would bring hot meals to the set, watching us devour them like starving wolves. The doting look in his eyes warmed me like the sun. But tragically, it also shone into Serena's heart. Chapter 3 A month before filming ended, I got pregnant. I went home early due to morning sickness, only to find clothes scattered on the floor leading to our bedroom. Two familiar figures were entangled on the bed. When I slapped Serena, Julian only held my hand, frowning and asking if my palm hurt. I slapped him backhand across the face. He pushed his tongue against his cheek, then smiled and hugged me. "Don't get upset, it's bad for the baby. I was just having some fun." But the man who said he was "just playing" chased after Serena the moment she ran out, pale-faced. The next day, headlines screamed that the CEO of Vance Group sent dozens of cars to search every street in the city for his love. That night, alone in the hillside villa, I couldn't find a ride to the hospital. I lay in despair as my child slipped away from my body. Later, I cried, I screamed. I sold the news of Julian's affair to his rivals. I added scenes where Serena had to jump into freezing water. Julian didn't even look up as he had the snitches thrown out. He just fed me chicken soup. "Stock prices will rise again. Serena's cold will heal. As long as you're happy, anything goes." Until the wrap party. Reporters swarmed. I exposed the fact that Serena was Julian's mistress. Serena was gaining some fame from leaked photos. Overnight, the internet attacked her, nearly destroying her career. I thought I won. But I couldn't see clearly then. Thinking someone doesn't love me anymore isn't losing. It wasn't until Serena jumped into the river due to the backlash that I realized I had lost completely. Julian's slap hurt more than a knife. He carried the soaking wet Serena away. "Lily, I didn't save you back then just for you to become such a vicious woman." Julian, who now controlled the city, found it easy to protect someone. And just as easy to destroy someone. He released news that I forced Serena into the freezing water by changing the script. He told the story of how he dropped out of school to support me. Unsurprisingly, I became the ungrateful, blood-sucking wife. Julian's cheating became a justified release after years of sacrifice. And Serena became Julian's true salvation. I don't remember how many times I cried or cursed back then. I only remember that in the end, I gave up. I only asked that Serena not star in the script I poured my heart and soul into. I thought it was dirty. But Julian was gentle, his words colder than the moonlight. "This story suits Serena perfectly. She could win Best Newcomer with it." "You owe her. Consider this script your compensation." That broke my last line of defense. Why? I asked myself repeatedly in the dark. I wasn't the one who did wrong. Why was everyone laughing while only I cried? I never slept well again. I hated too much. I hated how the person I loved became unrecognizable. I hated losing my child, my work, while the thief was smug and unharmed. I hated until I was hysterical, crying all night. Hated until I could only pick up scissors and cut my wrists, just to relieve the unbearable pain in my heart. When I finally stopped hating so much, I told Julian: "Let's divorce." He refused. I wasn't surprised. I knew his possessiveness. A director once thought I was a nobody and tried to touch me. Julian dragged him out personally. I never saw that director again. I should have fought him angrily again. But I was too tired. I didn't want to fight anymore. I just smiled, and then jumped off the roof without hesitation. But fate is cruel. I couldn't even die. After being saved, Julian locked me in bed to recover. Numbly, I watched him on TV, clapping with a smile as Serena accepted her award. Looking back, these ten years felt like a lifetime. If I hadn't seen that post, the rest of my life would have been no different. The other side was silent for a long time after reading my story. My heart sank. Until the phone dinged again. [I understand. How can I help you?] It was like the sun breaking through clouds. I held the phone, weeping with joy. Just as I was about to reply, the phone was snatched away. "What are you looking at? So excited?" Julian's gaze fell on me. Then slowly turned to the phone. My heart seized in an instant. Chapter 4 Julian looked confused. After a moment, he put the phone aside. "You can be this happy looking at a phone with no signal?" "Are you bored staying home? I'll take you out tomorrow." I glanced at the screen. It was blank. I didn't dare show anything on my face, so I nodded gently. The next day, he took me to a secluded valley. Quiet, elegant. A good place for mental recuperation. But I was obsessed with avoiding Julian to reply to the post. I used the bathroom as an excuse to pull out the phone. But no matter what I did, I couldn't find the thread again. I felt like I'd fallen into an ice cave. Hope shattered again. I walked out in a daze. And ran into Serena. She was no longer the dusty girl from before. The diamond ring on her hand screamed Julian's favor. Her exquisite styling made her look like a star. Her fingers traced the countless scars on my wrist. "Lily, how have you been these years?" I didn't want to deal with her fake concern. Maybe three years ago, I would have fought her. But after three years of captivity, I was like burnt wood—no spark left. I pulled away and kept walking. Serena started sobbing. "It's right for you to blame me. But I came today to help you escape." I stopped dead and looked up at her. She bit her lip and touched her belly. "I don't need your forgiveness. But I'm carrying Julian's child. I have to think about his future." "I can't let him be called a bastard. Only if you leave can I become Mrs. Vance." I believed her. I wanted freedom too much. She led me step by step around the patrolling bodyguards. As the exit got closer, my steps quickened involuntarily. But Serena stopped. She smiled, the look of a hunter trapping prey. "Julian! Lily is trying to escape!" I turned, staring at her in disbelief. Serena dropped the act. She hung up the phone, her eyes cold and calculating. She walked up to me and scratched my face with her ring, drawing blood. "Lily, I can finally take revenge for three years ago." I closed my eyes, finally realizing Serena wanted to send me into a deeper hell. If I was caught now, Julian would never let me out again. As for the title of Mrs. Vance... a wife who never appears in public doesn't matter. So what if she occupies the title? My body is ruined. Her child will be Julian's only heir anyway. Understanding everything, hate surged in me uncontrollably. I had nothing left. Why couldn't I even have freedom? I looked at Serena and laughed maniacally. "Then let's die together." I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the deep pool behind us. "Lily!" Julian arrived and jumped in without hesitation. But the struggling Serena grabbed his arm. "Julian, save our baby..." Hesitation flickered in Julian's eyes, but vanished. He swam toward Serena. "Lily, hold on! I'll be right back for you!" I watched his back and smiled. No need, Julian. You don't need to come back. I never want... to return to your side again. I opened my mouth, letting the icy water rush into my lungs. My body grew heavier and heavier. The sound of rushing water wrapped around me layer by layer. I closed my eyes. Everything faded. Just at the end of consciousness, I thought I heard two frantic shouts. "Lily!" "Miss!"
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