The Illusion of Love

“What do you mean?”

Richard finally stood and walked toward her. His expression was no longer gentle. No longer loving. It was cold. Cruel. Unfamiliar.

“You were never more than a stepping stone,” he said flatly.

Katherine felt as though she had been struck.

“A--- stepping stone?”  Richard smiled faintly.

“Did you really think I married you for love?”

Every word felt like a knife twisting in her chest.

“You’re lying,” Katherine said weakly.

“You loved me--- you said you did---”

Richard chuckled. “You’re naive, Katherine.”

He stepped closer, his voice lowering.

“I married you because you were the easiest way to gain power.”

Katherine’s breathing became uneven.

“You used me----” Richard nodded casually.

“And now that everything belongs to me. I no longer have any reason to pretend.”

At that moment, the woman walked over and slipped her arm around Richard.

“Tell her the rest,” she said smugly. Richard sighed as if he were bored.

“Your parents,” he said calmly.

“That car accident wasn’t an accident.” Katherine’s blood ran cold.

“What!?”

“I arranged it,” Richard said without hesitation. The world seemed to stop.

“You’re lying----” Katherine whispered.

Richard simply smiled. “They were in the way.”

Katherine staggered back as if the air had been knocked from her lungs.

“You killed them? My parents. They treated you as a family. How could you----”

“Yes.” The single word shattered her completely.

Then Richard pulled a document from the table beside the bed and tossed it toward her. It landed at her feet.

“Sign it,” he said. Katherine slowly picked it up. Her hands trembled violently as she read the words. Divorce Agreement.

“You’re divorcing me?”

Richard shrugged. “You’re no longer useful.”

Katherine’s vision blurred with tears.

“You destroyed my family, stole everything from me--- and now you’re throwing me away?” Richard looked at her with absolute indifference.

“You should be grateful I’m letting you leave alive.” The woman beside him laughed.

“Honestly, Katherine,” she sneered.

“You were never meant to sit on that throne.” Katherine felt something inside her break.

Her parents were dead. Her company was gone. Her husband had never loved her.

Everything she had believed in had been a lie. Richard turned away dismissively.

“Sign it and get out of my house.”

My house. Not theirs. His.

At that moment, Katherine realized the cruelest truth of all.

She had lost everything.

That night, after Richard forced Katherine to sign the divorce agreement, she thought her suffering had finally come to an end.

She was wrong.

Katherine suddenly woke up with a gasp.

Her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

She had just seen her parents again in her dream.

They were trapped inside the wreckage of their car, blood covering their faces as they begged Richard for mercy.

But Richard only stood there, smiling.

Thunder roared across the sky.

A flash of lightning illuminated the dark room as rain pounded violently against the windows.

Katherine sat up, breathing heavily.

“It was just a dream----” she whispered to herself.

But the uneasiness in her chest refused to disappear.

The storm outside only made the mansion feel colder and emptier.

Unable to calm herself, Katherine decided to go downstairs for a glass of water.

The hallway was dimly lit.

The house was eerily silent.

But as she stepped closer to the staircase. Her foot suddenly froze.

Something was lying on the floor.

Another flash of lightning lit up the room.

Katherine screamed. Bodies.

Several bodyguards were sprawled across the staircase, their uniforms soaked in blood. Their eyes were open.

Lifeless.

Katherine felt her entire body turn cold. Her legs trembled violently as fear crept into her chest. Then she saw it.

A shadow standing at the bottom of the stairs.

Lightning flashed again.

Revealing the man holding a gun.

Katherine’s breath caught in her throat.

“Ri---Richard?” It was him. Her ex-husband.

Richard raised the gun. A gunshot exploded through the house.

Katherine screamed and ducked as the bullet struck the wall behind her.

She stumbled backward, panic flooding her veins.

“Richard! What are you doing?!”

Richard slowly began walking toward her, his expression calm.

Too calm.

“You shouldn’t have stayed alive this long,” he said coldly.

Katherine’s heart stopped.

“You---you’re trying to kill me?” Richard smirked.

“Just like your parents.”

The words shattered her.

“No----” Katherine shook her head violently. “You’re not—”

“I told you already,” Richard interrupted. “They were in my way. And so you are---” Another gunshot rang out. Katherine turned and ran.

Her bare feet pounded against the floor as she fled through the dark hallway.

Behind her, Richard followed slowly.

His footsteps echoed through the house.

“Katherine!” he called mockingly.

“You can’t escape.”

Her breath came out in ragged gasps. Her vision blurred with tears.

Suddenly. Her foot struck something.

A body. She tripped.

Before she could regain her balance, her body tumbled down the staircase.

Her scream echoed through the mansion.

Pain exploded through her body as she crashed onto the floor below.

Her head struck the marble. Warm blood trickled down her forehead.

Katherine tried to move. But her body wouldn’t respond.

It felt as if every bone had shattered. Then she heard footsteps. Slow. Deliberate.

Richard descended the stairs. Lightning flashed again.

His face twisted into a chilling smile.

There was no trace left of the gentle man she once loved.

Only a cold-blooded murderer stood before her.

Katherine’s body trembled.

“Richard---please---” she whispered weakly. But he only raised the gun.

“You should have died with them.”

Another pair of footsteps echoed behind him. A woman appeared beside Richard.

Hayden. Richard’s mistress.

She looked down at Katherine and laughed softly.

“What a pitiful sight,” Hayden said mockingly.

Katherine felt tears slide down her face. “Why?” she whispered.

Hayden wrapped her arms around Richard’s arm.

“You were just too easy to fool,” she said.

The storm outside slowly began to calm. The rain softened.

And through the window, the clouds began to part.

The moon slowly emerged from the darkness.

Richard pointed the gun at Katherine’s forehead.

“Sweet Katherine,” he said with a smile.

“Don’t worry.”

“I’ll take very good care of your family’s fortune.”

The gun clicked. Katherine stared at the moon through the window.

If there is another life. She closed her eyes.

I swear. I will never make the same mistake again.

The gunshot echoed through the silent mansion.

And the moon became the only witness to the end of Katherine Sutherland’s life.