Chapter 2

As I stood at the familiar front door, I suddenly remembered what had happened four years ago.

That day was supposed to be the day Steven accompanied me to my prenatal checkup.

But when I pushed open the bedroom door, I saw Steven and Natalie tangled together on our bed.

My smiling face in the wedding portrait seemed almost mocking now, smeared with the ugliness of what they'd done.

The portrait fell to the floor and shattered from the force of their movements.

The sound woke them up. And it shattered my heart, too.

Steven ran toward me like a madman. His eyes were filled with pain.

Then I felt warm blood running down my legs.

That day, I lost the three most important people in my life.

My husband, who had grown up with me. My best friend, who had been like family. And my seven-month-old baby.

That suffocating feeling came rushing back. My hands shook uncontrollably as I tried to enter the door code.

I tried my birthday and Steven's birthday, but both were wrong.

I had only one chance left. My hand trembled before I finally entered Natalie's birthday.

The lock clicked open.

I pushed the door open in a daze. Then I froze.

The house I'd destroyed in a breakdown four years ago had been completely restored.

Steven had taken the home design I'd spent six months carefully planning for our marriage and used it to build a home for Natalie.

The wall where our wedding portrait once hung was now covered with pictures of Natalie.

There were pictures of her eating, sleeping, and wrapping her arms around Steven's neck while she playfully clung to him.

Each photo captured his unmistakable tenderness toward her.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

For the past four years, Steven had video-called me every time he went somewhere to tell me where he was.

I had no idea how he'd managed to spend every day with Natalie behind my back.

The woman on the phone couldn't help but sneer. "Four years ago, Steven was afraid you'd be heartbroken, so he moved the baby's ashes here. Then he used visiting the baby as an excuse to spend time with Natalie and build a new home with her. Look closely at the pictures on the wall. The oldest one was taken ten years ago."

I froze. My eyes locked onto the photograph.

It was a picture of Steven and Natalie kissing on my birthday ten years ago.

Back then, Steven and I had only just started dating. We had also just rescued Natalie after her boss tried to sexually assault her.

On my birthday, the two of them had ordered a cake for me at the same restaurant.

Then, while they were rushing back to surprise me, a heavy storm trapped them on the road.

That night, I ran all over town with two umbrellas, desperately searching for them.

They talked about everything from love and romance to their dreams for the future. Little by little, they fell for each other.

Back then, I was only worried about whether they would catch a cold. I was too stupid to notice the restrained longing in their eyes.

I had always believed our broken love could somehow be repaired. But it had been rotten from the very beginning.

It wasn't just the last four years.

My heart ached. The cold spread through my body until I was trembling.

I couldn't stay in that house any longer. I held my baby's ashes tightly against my chest and prepared to leave.

But just as I reached the door, I suddenly heard laughter and lively voices coming from downstairs.

Our mutual friend of ten years, who had also grown up with me in the orphanage for 20 years like a sister, Aurelia Vane, was surrounding Natalie. Natalie was holding a baby in her arms. Aurelia showered her with congratulations.

Steven was smiling, but he kept looking down at his phone.

Natalie pressed her lips together before smiling and linking her arm through his. "Steven, we're married now, and we have a child. I think we should find a chance to tell Melody the truth. She's been fooled by us for ten years. It's kind of sad."

Steven immediately tightened his grip around his phone.

Then he said firmly, "If we tell her the truth, we'll be pushing her over the edge. She already had a breakdown four years ago. Besides, all we need is a fake marriage certificate to keep her quiet. There's no reason to tell her."

His casual words hit me like a slap across the face.

I walked out slowly, my voice hoarse. "There's no need to go through all that trouble. I don't want to be your wife anymore."