Jinglerella

"Hurry, Dr. Jones! Mr. Dylan is getting worse!"

My body shuddered uncontrollably as the butler Levi's voice boomed in my ears, as the agony of being consumed in a blaze still lingers on every inch of my skin.

Even now, I could still hear my twins' screams of despair echoing in that basement.

On top of that, I was caught by surprise. "Dr. Jones…?"

No one addressed me as that ever since I married Dylan Sullivan.

That was when Levi sighed. "It's supposed to be his birthday. Heaven knows how this happened…"

I stopped in my tracks.

So I had been reborn.

Taking a deep breath, I turned toward Levi and said, "Get Lily Bright."

That left Levi stunned. "But, doc—"

"Get Lily Bright!" I repeated bluntly. "Or Dylan might die."

I then watched as Levi hurried away, clutching my chest as my heart pounded.

In my past life, the instant I opened that door, Dylan would leap on top of me like a raging beast, pinning me down.

Levi had been right outside, but completely ignored my cries.

Later on, I got pregnant and married Dylan.

While I believed it was the beginning of a blissful life for me, it turned out to be the continuation of a nightmare instead.

Dylan hated me for 'taking advantage' of him, for taking away his one true love.

That was why he neglected and humiliated me, forbidding our children from calling him daddy.

Then, on our tenth wedding anniversary, he locked up me and the twins in the basement and set fire to the house.

"Mommy!" The twins' cries amidst the inferno broke my heart.

Hence, at the present, I fought back my swelling hatred and lowered my collar, turning in the direction of the study.

If I remembered correctly, John Sullivan—Dylan's father—had been drugged as well.

The Sullivans always had problems producing heirs, and as the only son, Dylan's place was secure even though he was conceived through IVF.

But what if he wasn't John's only child?

As I opened the door of the study, I found John sitting limply on the armchair made of genuine leather, his face flushed and his necktie dangling loosely from his collar.

His eyes lit up like he found salvation when he saw me, and he pulled me over to him…

-

The next morning, my clothes were in tatters as I left the study, and ran headlong into Lily Bright as she left Dylan's room, whose face was bright as a button.

She paused when she saw me, and soon grinned in contempt, "What's the hurry, Dr. Jones? Perhaps your conscience hurts? I guess it is a little too much, seducing a geezer for the sake of wealth and status."

I shot her a cool look. "Funny, since I could say the same about you."