Chapter 1 When I married Ethan, I knew about the woman in his past. The one he grew up with. The one who wouldn't let go. She’d plastered his photos all over the city, publicly confessing her love. She’d stormed into his office wearing lingerie, begging him. She’d even livestreamed herself on a rooftop, wrist bleeding, threatening to jump if he didn’t marry her. But Ethan never wavered. He gave me absolute security. Or so I thought. One year into our marriage, she showed up at our door, pregnant. I was shocked. Heartbroken. I couldn't fathom how the man who loved me so fiercely could betray me. Everyone knew our story. Ethan fell in love with me at first sight and pursued me relentlessly. At every piano recital, he was in the front row. Afterward, he’d be waiting backstage with a bouquet of roses. He rented billboards across the city, playing loops of my silhouette at the piano with the caption: Evelyn, I like you. For ninety-nine days straight, he hand-delivered a love letter to me. But back then, I only cared about my music. I turned him down. Until that day. A rival pianist, bitter over losing to me, came at me with a knife. In that split second, Ethan stepped in front of me without hesitation. The blade pierced his abdomen. Blood soaked his expensive white suit. The crimson stain burned into my retinas. My body went cold, my mind blank, as I watched the color drain from his face. But Ethan held my trembling hand tight. His voice was weak but steady, repeating: "Evelyn, I'm here. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid..." Even as he lost consciousness, his grip never loosened. In that moment, looking at the wound in his stomach and feeling his hand holding mine, I fell for him. Not long after, we were married. After the wedding, Ethan treated me like a queen. He built me a private piano room that rivaled concert halls. He bid an astronomical sum at an auction for a manuscript by a master composer simply because I mentioned I liked it. Tone-deaf Ethan secretly practiced for months until his fingers blistered, just to play "Für Elise" for me on my birthday. And now... he had betrayed me. I asked for a divorce. Ethan knelt in the pouring rain for three days and three nights. Pale, voice hoarse, he begged: "Evelyn, I was drugged. I thought it was you... It was an accident. I can't live without you. I'll make her get rid of it. I'll send her abroad immediately! Please, don't leave me. I can't live without you!" Watching his swaying figure in the rain, remembering his years of devotion, I softened. Six months later, I ran into him at the mall. With her. And a baby. Ethan's face went white when he saw me. He ran over, grabbing my wrist in a panic, babbling: "Evelyn! Listen to me! The doctor said she couldn't have the procedure! It's true! As soon as she recovers, I'll send them away!" His parents found out about the grandson. They were adamant: "A Song family child cannot be raised outside the family!" Ethan insisted on sending them away. For this, he took ninety-nine lashes from his father's whip. His back was a bloody mess. He knelt before me, eyes full of desperate pleading. "Evelyn, trust me one last time. I will send them away." I cleaned his wounds, tears streaming down my face, my heart bleeding with his. I chose to believe him again. After that, Ethan was even more careful with me. If the maid said I had a slight fever, he would drop a multi-billion dollar deal, fly back from overseas overnight, and sit by my bedside till dawn. My heart softened again. I tried to forget them. Until three years later. A woman's screams and a child's crying shattered our peace. "Ethan! I didn't want to disturb you, but Liam has leukemia! The doctor says only cord blood from a sibling with the same parents can save him! Please, save our son!" Chloe knelt outside our villa, holding the child, banging her head on the pavement until blood stained the ground. Ethan's parents rushed over. His mother, eyes red, took the child from Chloe. Weeping, she threatened Ethan with her life: "Ethan, this is your son! If you don't help, I'll die right here with him!" Ethan's face turned gray. He fell silent. He surrendered. Chloe and the child moved into our home. Ethan held me tight, his voice trembling. "Evelyn, it's a life... he's my son. I can't ignore him. Don't worry! I'll only do IVF. I won't touch her! As soon as the boy is cured, I'll send them away. Please... don't leave me. I can't live without you..." I couldn't watch a child die. I nodded numbly. At first, Ethan kept his distance. But slowly, the child's cries, his mother's nagging, Chloe's weak, pleading eyes... they wove a net that trapped him. Mornings, I'd walk into the dining room to see a happy family of three: Ethan clumsily feeding Liam. Chloe watching tenderly, wiping the child's mouth. Nights, I'd hear Ethan reading bedtime stories from the next room. Chloe's soft agreement. The child's innocent laughter... Like poisoned needles, piercing my heart a thousand times. I felt like an outsider in my own home. I prayed for it to end. One afternoon, Liam ate a dessert I had left on the table. Soon, red spots covered his body. He gasped for air, convulsing in pain. Chloe rushed at me, hysterical, eyes bulging with rage: "Evelyn, I know you hate me! I accepted my fate, I only wanted to take Liam away forever! If he wasn't sick, I never would have come back! You want revenge, take it out on me! He's just a child, he's innocent! How could you be so cruel?!" I was shocked. "I didn't! How could I hurt a child?!" I looked at Ethan, face ashen, hoping for support. "Ethan, believe me. I didn't do this." Ethan avoided my gaze. He glanced at the pastry on the table, sighing with suspicion. "Evelyn... I remember... you never eat mangoes." I felt like I'd fallen into an ice cave. I held up my phone frantically: "It was a gift from a client! I don't eat them, that's why I left them there, look..." "Enough!" Ethan slapped my phone away. "Does that matter now?! Saving him matters! I told you a million times, it's just for the treatment! They'll leave when he's well! Can't you be sensible?!" His mother rushed in, glaring at me like I was a viper. "What a vicious woman! Can't bear a child for four years, so you try to kill my only grandson! Trying to kill him with allergies? Then you taste it too!" She screamed at the servants: "Hold her down! Pour the peanut butter down her throat!" I struggled desperately, looking at Ethan in despair. "It wasn't me! Ethan! Help me!" Ethan didn't respond. He picked up the child and rushed out with Chloe, not looking back once. I heard his anxious voice fading: "Driver? To the hospital! Now!" Peanut butter was forced down my throat. My breath caught. Darkness crept in. In my last moment of consciousness, I remembered how he used to kiss a papercut on my finger, heartbroken. Now, knowing his mother was killing me, he didn't even turn his head. Chapter 2 I woke up to the sharp smell of disinfectant. Through blurred vision, I saw Ethan's bloodshot eyes and haggard face. He was sitting by my bed. Seeing me move, he grabbed my hand tight, voice trembling with fear: "Evelyn! You're awake! You scared me to death... Mom... she was too impulsive. She just loves the kid too much, she was confused... she just wanted to teach you a lesson... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" He leaned in to kiss my forehead. I turned my head away. "A lesson?" "I almost died..." I looked at him, eyes empty. Tears slid silently down my pale cheeks. My tears stung him. He promised frantically: "It was an accident! I swear! It won't happen again! When you're better, I'll take you to the auction. Whatever you want, I'll buy it for you. To make it up to you, okay? Anything you want!" Compensation? My near-death experience was just a "lesson" he could pay off? I closed my eyes. My heart was dead ash. A shrill ringtone cut through the air. "Ethan! Liam is awake! He's crying for his daddy, he keeps calling for you! Come quick!" Chloe's sobbing voice came through the phone, mixed with the child's heart-wrenching screams. Ethan's face changed instantly. He looked at me, eyes full of cautious probing and anxiety: "Evelyn, Liam is awake, he's crying really bad. I have to go check on him. I'll be right back to keep you company... you rest well, wait for me." I kept my eyes closed. I didn't answer. I just listened to his hurried footsteps fading away. He never came back. I didn't see him again until the day I was discharged. "Evelyn, come on. Let's go to the auction. It'll cheer you up." Ethan looked at me with a pleasing smile. I got into the car silently. The whole way, he tried to make conversation. I barely responded. As the car pulled up to the auction house, I saw Chloe waiting there with Liam, smiling expectantly. Ethan paused, then explained awkwardly: "Liam was throwing a fit at home, insisted on coming... kids, you know, they're curious." In the private box, I sat next to Ethan. But his attention was entirely on the child and Chloe on his other side. He patiently explained the auction process to the boy, smiling indulgently. He whispered with Chloe. A warm, cozy atmosphere flowed between the three of them, shutting me out completely. That gentleness used to be mine. Now, sitting right next to him, I was invisible. Like I was air. When a ruby necklace came up, Chloe's eyes lit up with blatant desire. Liam shook Ethan's arm, his baby voice stabbing my heart: "Daddy! Mommy likes the shiny thing! Buy it for Mommy, please?" Ethan patted his head, voice warm: "Of course." He bid without hesitation, winning it for an astronomical price. When the auction ended, Ethan seemed to remember I existed. He looked at me apologetically: "Evelyn, sorry, I was busy with Liam. Is there anything you want?" I looked up slowly. I stared at him. The last light in my eyes went out. The only thing I wanted was to leave him. To leave this suffocating place. I forced a pale smile, my voice light as a sigh: "Yes. I'll tell you... when we get home." Ethan thought I was finally accepting his "compensation." He relaxed instantly, promising: "Don't worry, Evelyn! Anything you want! I'll pluck the stars from the sky for you!" Back home, I walked straight to the study. I opened a drawer and took out the divorce agreement that had been gathering dust for three years. When I found out Chloe was pregnant back then, I was devastated. I prepared to leave. But in the end, I couldn't do it. I gave our marriage another chance. I don't know why I didn't destroy this paper. I just hid it. Maybe subconsciously, I knew this day would come. I put the agreement in front of him. "What is it you want?" he asked casually. I didn't answer. As he reached for the document, his phone rang. He answered immediately, voice gentle and concerned: "Chloe? What is it?" "Ethan, the clinic is ready! Come quick!" Chloe's voice. Ethan glanced at me. I was expressionless. I flipped the document to the last page, to the signature line. "Evelyn, I..." he tried to explain. "She's waiting." My voice was flat. No emotion. Ethan didn't hesitate. He picked up the pen, signed his name quickly, and turned to leave. I watched his eager back disappear. My lips curled in a mocking smile, but tears flooded my face, falling onto the paper. Ethan, do you know what you just signed? Maybe it doesn't matter. What matters is that by signing it, you can run to her. I looked down at the bold characters of "Ethan Song." Even his handwriting looked rushed. I laughed at myself. Then, stroke by stroke, I signed my name next to his. Chapter 3 I went back to the bedroom and opened the nightstand drawer. I took out two red booklets. Our marriage certificates. When we got them, Ethan looked at them over and over, grinning like an idiot. He pressed them to his chest, voice full of happiness: "I'm going to carry this every day! It's my lucky charm!" Now, they lay silent in the corner. Just like our love, silently ending. With the signed agreement and the certificates, I drove alone to the Civil Affairs Bureau. Last time, I came here with Ethan. I was full of hope and sweetness then. Now, I was alone. Here to put a cold period on a marriage riddled with holes. "You can pick up the divorce certificate in thirty days." The clerk's official voice woke me from my memories. I whispered thanks and left. I opened my phone and bought a ticket to Vienna for the day the divorce would be final. That was where my dreams used to be. Before I met Ethan. Before I gave up everything for him. Now that it was ending, it was time to find myself again. Back at the villa. A knock on the door. Chloe walked in. Her face was apologetic, but her eyes were triumphant. "Miss Lin," she said softly. "I know recent events have upset you. But really, it's just to save Liam... Between me and Ethan... it's just for the child. Nothing else." She walked closer, voice earnest. "Please understand a mother's heart. I promise, once the baby is born and Liam is saved, I'll disappear!" She bowed deeply to me. Her hair slipped, revealing a fresh, red mark on her neck. My pupils shrank. My heart felt like it was being squeezed by an icy hand. It stopped beating. "I'll only do IVF. I won't touch her!" Ethan's firm promise echoed in my ears. Now, it was a cruel joke. Chloe saw my face change. She smiled a victor's smile and left. The moment the door closed, I pulled out my phone. My hands shook as I dialed a private investigator. "Find out everything about Ethan and Chloe's recent movements. Money is no object. I need it fast!" An hour later, my phone buzzed. An email. I stared at it. Hesitated. Clicked. High-definition photos filled the screen. Ethan holding Chloe's waist, intimate. Chloe leaning into his chest, smiling shyly, sweetly... I stared at the photos. My eyes burned. I forced myself to look at every single one. Then I started laughing. Laughing until tears streamed down my face. Ethan Song. You lied to me again. Every promise was a lie! And your love? Was that just a lie too? Chapter 4 In the following days, I quietly packed my life away. I was erasing Ethan from my heart, bit by bit. Ethan was busy with Chloe and their "IVF." He just repeated on the phone: "It'll be over soon," "Wait for me, Evelyn." I was sick of his empty words. I would never believe him again. The day before the divorce was finalized, the villa was unusually lively. Ethan's parents sat on the sofa, faces glowing. His mother held Chloe's hand, grinning ear to ear. Chloe leaned against Ethan, gently stroking her flat stomach. She couldn't hide her shy happiness. I stopped. I felt sick. I turned to leave. "Evelyn!" Ethan saw me. He rushed over and hugged me, voice bursting with joy: "Chloe is pregnant! Evelyn! As soon as the baby is born and we get the cord blood for Liam, it's over! She'll take both kids and leave! We can go back to how we were!" It felt absurd. The last time I saw him this happy was our wedding day. He trembled as he put the ring on my finger, voice cracking with emotion, eyes full of love: "Evelyn, marrying you is the happiest thing in my life!" Now, he was ecstatic about another woman carrying his child. He wanted to share that joy with me... I pushed him away. I looked at his confused face and spoke calmly, without emotion: "Congratulations." The next day was his mother's birthday party. The house was decorated, festive. His mother stood in the center of the hall, holding Chloe's hand, voice loud with pride and favoritism: "Chloe is the hero of the Song family! She gave us Liam, and now she's pregnant again! This is the best birthday present ever!" Then she glared at me in the corner, voice sharp as a knife. "Unlike some people. Been here for years, and nothing happening! Useless thing! How can you compare to our Chloe!" Her words stabbed my ears. I walked to the backyard. By the pool, the water shimmered. It reflected my pale face. Footsteps behind me. Chloe walked up slowly. Her voice was soft but provocative: "Miss Lin, hiding here all alone? Is it too loud inside? Or... too bright? Can't stand the sight?" I didn't turn around. "Stay away from me." She laughed lightly. She walked to my side, stroking her stomach, showing off. "You know... to get this baby, Ethan and I worked very hard." She emphasized "hard," her tone suggestive. The hotel photos flashed in my mind. My stomach churned. I didn't want to deal with her. I turned to leave. "Can't take it?" She grabbed my wrist. Her grip was shockingly strong, nails digging into my skin. "Let go!" I tried to shake her off. But she pulled me. Without hesitation, she fell backward, toward the pool. Splash! "Help! Help me! Save my baby!" Her screams pierced the air. Panic and terror. Ethan was the first to run out. He saw Chloe struggling in the water and jumped in without a second thought. He didn't even glance at me, also in the water, choking. He swam to Chloe, lifted her out, voice anxious and soft: "Don't be scared! I'm here! You and the baby are safe." I watched him hugging her, comforting her. My heart felt like it was being pierced by a thousand needles. The cold water filled my lungs, and my heart. My body felt heavy. Once, if I just choked on water while drinking, he would be terrified. He would hold me, pat my back, comfort me. I struggled, barely managing to climb out. I was soaked, shivering. My eyes were full of sorrow. "Ethan! She pushed me!" Chloe leaned into him, crying. "She said I deserve to die! She said I stole you! She said Liam shouldn't have been born!" Ethan looked up at me. His eyes were ice cold. Disappointment and anger radiated from him. "Evelyn! You pushed her?" My voice was hoarse. "I didn't! She jumped! She pulled me in!" "She jumped? And pulled you?!" Ethan looked like he heard a joke. "Why would she do that?! That baby means more to her than her life! It's Liam's only hope! Evelyn, when did you become so vicious?" Vicious? His word was a knife in my heart. Is that what I am to him now? Suddenly, a small figure cannonballed into me! Liam. His face full of hate. He pointed at me, screaming: "Bad woman! You're a bad woman! You pushed my mommy! You want to kill her! You're evil!" He rammed into me with all his might! I was caught off guard. My ankle twisted with sharp pain. I lost my balance. Splash! I fell back into the freezing water. It went over my head. The pain in my ankle drained my strength. I tried to swim, but I kept sinking. "Help... Ethan! Help me!" I struggled, terrified. Ethan held the shivering Chloe. He looked at me struggling in the water. His voice was dead. "Leave her. She's acting. She'll come up when she's done." He turned and walked away with Chloe. Despair filled me along with the water. He taught me to swim. Once, I held my breath for thirty seconds and he pulled me out, terrified I was drowning. Now, my cry for help was just "acting." Darkness swallowed me.
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