1

Elena

I had lost everything in my life. Every single thing. Even the only person I believed loved and cherished me above all else—my beloved husband. Now, my own body was failing me. I lay completely paralyzed on the cold hospital bed, the rhythmic, hollow beep... beep... beep... of the heart monitor the only sound keeping me tethered to the living world.

So when the door clicked open, I prayed to see Lucas, my husband's younger brother. A faint flicker of comfort touched my chest. I thought he was coming to bid me a final goodbye before my organs gave out completely—before I could finally slip away and reunite in heaven with my sweet Adrian.

But it wasn't Lucas who stepped into the room.

A woman walked in, her heels clicking softly against the linoleum. She was dressed in an expensive, tailored cream dress, her long brown hair falling flawlessly over her shoulders. But it wasn't her designer clothes that caught my fading sight.

It was her stomach.

She was heavily pregnant.

My gaze drifted down to the manicured hand resting protectively over her swollen belly. Nestled on her ring finger was a massive, blinding diamond ring. I opened my dry lips to ask who she was, but the door swung open a second time.

My eyes went wide. The air turned to ice in my lungs. I couldn't believe it.

Adrian.

My husband casually walked in behind her, sliding his arm around her waist. He lifted her hand and gently kissed the back of her palm right in front of my face.

"Hello, Elena," he said softly, finally turning his dark eyes toward me. His face wasn't filled with grief or worry; it was twisted with pure, unadulterated disgust as he took in the sight of my dying body. "I didn't expect to find you still breathing."

"A... A..." I choked, my throat working furiously, but my voice was barely a raspy whisper.

"Surprised to see them together?" another voice chimed in from the doorway.

"Mom," Vivian called.

My mother-in-law stepped into the room, a triumphant smile on her face as she lovingly patted the pregnant woman's hand. "How are you, Vivian?"

Vivian.

That name struck my brain like a lightning bolt. Hot, bitter tears spilled over my eyelashes and trickled down my sunken cheeks. Vivian was Adrian's infamous first love—the woman who had supposedly betrayed him, broken his heart, and abandoned him years ago because he was too poor for her.

"How... how can you do this to me?" I wept, forcing the words out through the suffocating tightness in my chest. "Adrian... you are my husband."

"Even now, on her deathbed, she still has the nerve to call my husband hers," Vivian sneered, rolling her eyes. "You are truly pathetic, Elena."

"Don't stress yourself, my love," Adrian purred, leaning down to tenderly kiss Vivian's temple before rubbing her belly. "You shouldn't waste your energy talking to a rotting corpse."

A rotting corpse. The words sliced through my heart like a jagged blade. How could he say that to me? He loved me. We had spent years building a life together before we got married. Or at least... I thought we had.

Adrian turned back to face me, a cold, ruthless smile spreading across his handsome face that made me shiver under the thin hospital blanket. "To be honest, Elena, you weren't supposed to live long enough to witness this."

"I thought..." I gasped, fighting for air as the heart monitor began to beep faster.

"Mother should have finished you off the moment you paid off my debt," Adrian continued casually, as if discussing the weather.

"I put the poison in everything she consumed!" my mother-in-law complained, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Who knew the girl had such a stubborn will to live? I can't believe her body held out for this long."

Another tear fell into my hair as I lay there, entirely helpless. I couldn't move my legs. I couldn't lift my arms. I wanted so desperately to leap off this bed and strangle the three of them with my bare hands, but my useless body wouldn't obey me.

"Adrian and I are happily married," Vivian said, stepping closer to my bed and holding up her sparkling ring for me to see. "I specifically asked to come here today to offer you my deepest thanks, Elena. Thanks to your stupidity, I was able to live the luxurious life of my dreams."

"What... what do you mean?"

Vivian burst into a high-pitched, cruel laugh. "Are you seriously asking me that?"

Adrian placed a warning hand on her arm. "Vivian, that's enough."

"No, darling, she needs to know the truth before she closes her eyes forever." Vivian slid her hand over his chest, turning her sweet, venomous smile back to me. "Your precious husband never loved you, Elena. Not for a single second."

She scoffed before talking again. "I left Adrian years ago because he had nothing. I married someone else and thought I had moved on. But after my divorce, Adrian came looking for me again. By then, he was already married to you. We began seeing each other in secret, and I became pregnant with his child. That's when Adrian decided he wanted to leave you behind and start a new life with me. So, he took out a massive loan using your name, swapped the debt onto you, and sold you out to Mr. Kane to cover it. We used every cent of that money to build our dream family... while you rotted away working to pay it off."

"You..." I gasped, my chest heaving as the terrifying truth settled into my bones. Three years ago? I stared at her swollen belly in utter horror. "That baby..."

"Oh, this?" Vivian giggled, stroking her stomach. "This is our second child, sweetie."

"You monsters!" I screamed with every ounce of strength left in my fading soul, my whole body shaking violently against the sheets. "How dare you do this to me? How dare you?!"

"Blame yourself for being a desperate, gullible fool," Adrian spat, his gaze burning with icy hatred. "I never loved you. I only married you because of the inheritance your parents left behind after they died. Vivian is my true soulmate." He pulled her tightly against his side. "She is the only woman worthy of bearing my children."

"What do you mean she's the only one fit to bear your children?" I sobbed, the memory of my endless failed pregnancies flashing before my eyes.

Adrian sneered down at me, leaning over the bed rail to deliver the final, crushing blow. "Because I made damn sure you could never carry my child, Elena. Those daily 'vitamins' I lovingly handed you every morning?" He chuckled sinisterly. "They weren't vitamins. They were specialized fertility-blocking drugs. I made sure your womb was a barren wasteland so you could never trap me with a child."