LOGINIt felt like a reprieve after surviving a storm.I was staring blankly out the window when Julian walked over, carrying a glass of water and a few capsules from the coffee table."Elena, you're doing better now, but you still need to take your medication on schedule."Sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows, warm and bright.I nodded obediently and took the glass, swallowing the pills with the water. For a moment, it seemed like everything was back on track.I was well again. My husband hadn't betrayed me. He still loved me.The sudden happiness felt almost unreal, like a fragile dream.Yet, I couldn't shake the faint sense that something was off, like a puzzle finally complete, but one piece was slightly out of place.Julian must have noticed my distraction. He wrapped his arms around me. "What are you thinking about?"I shook my head and forced a smile. "Nothing… It just feels like a dream.""This isn't a dream. We'll never be apart again." He held me closer an
When I came to, the faint smell of disinfectant hovered at the tip of my nose, subtle but unmistakable.I blinked. I had been asleep in the office chair, hadn't I?The ceiling above me was a flat, clinical white. A blue-and-white striped blanket covered me. At the foot of the bed sat a man in a white coat.I knew that face all too well.I sat bolt upright and felt blood rush to my head.It was Julian."Elena, you're awake," he said, reaching out as if to take my hand. "How do you feel?"My mind was a tangle. What was happening? Wasn't I in the office? Hadn't Julian been dead?I recoiled in panic, my back slamming against the headboard."You're a ghost!" I cried."Don't be afraid," he replied, stopping and speaking softly, a sadness I couldn't read in his eyes. "It was only a dream. You had a very long, very bad nightmare."A dream?No. Julian had been killed—stabbed by Jayden. Blood everywhere. I had seen it with my own eyes."You're lying," I said, clutching the blanket a
Julian's body collapsed like a lifeless heap, crumpling onto the floor.Blood spread quickly beneath him, soaking into the wood until half the room was red.It was over.Jayden stared at the corpse, then at his own hands dripping with blood. He stood frozen, as if his soul had been ripped out.I, on the other hand, once certain that Julian was truly gone, didn't hesitate. I pressed the call button on my phone.The line connected.I drew on every ounce of strength I had left in this life and let out a piercing scream into the receiver."Help! Somebody help! My brother-in-law's gone insane! He just killed my husband!"The police arrived in minutes.The scene was flawless.I curled up in the bathroom corner, blood splattered across my clothes, half-dried and sticky. Only when I heard the knock of authority did I unlock the door.Two officers dragged Jayden out. His body sagged like it had been stripped of bones.When he saw me, his lips trembled, desperate to speak.I beat hi
"And then what?""Then, you wait right here for him. The moment he walks in, when his guard is down…"I didn't need to finish. He understood.Jayden's eyes locked on mine, wary and conflicted. "Why should I trust you? What if this is just your setup, your way of stalling for time?""Because we're stuck on the same sinking ship." I held his gaze, steady and sharp. "I don't want to die, and you don't want to rot in prison. And besides…"I paused, reached into my pocket, and pulled out my phone. On the screen was the photo of the insurance policy I had just taken."I've got the evidence and the recording. If I send this out, you and Julian are both finished. So, Jayden, you don't have a choice but to believe me."He went silent.A few seconds later, he picked up his phone and, just as I told him, dialed Julian's number. He put it on speaker."Julian! It's bad. She got away! She… She took the insurance policy and said she's going to the cops!"Jayden's voice trembled perfectly, e
At that moment, Jayden's phone buzzed in his pocket.When he saw the caller ID, he sucked in a breath. I didn't have to look to know who it was.He shot me a conflicted glance, then snatched up his phone and hurried out of the bedroom. Worried I might try to run, he locked the door from the outside with the key.I sprang up and rifled through every corner of the room. In the topmost compartment of the closet, I found a small safe. I tried Julian's parents' birthdays, and it opened.Inside lay a personal accident insurance policy. I was the insured; he was the beneficiary.I took the policy out and photographed it with my phone.When I was done, I sat on the bed and waited for Jayden.He came back in rigid, all coiled anger. He barely said a word before lunging at me.I didn't dodge. I let him pin me to the mattress.The knife rose. At that instant, I asked, "Is your brother starting to suspect you?"He froze."Has he been calling you useless, telling you not to get any ideas
The sting of such a huge betrayal swallowed me whole.Tears fell without my control, and I trembled so badly I could barely stand. "Why?" I whispered."Why?" Jayden's face went soft with pity and hard with cruelty. "Because he loves you, Elena. He loved you so much he couldn't bring himself to do it. That's why he let me do it for him so you could be freed."He stepped closer, the blade in his hand flashing cold light."Now you can leave in peace. Your death will save the husband you love. You should be happy about that, shouldn't you?"I looked at him. The tears in my eyes dried up, and my heart turned to ice.To hell with love.Even if I had to claw my way back from hell itself, I would. I would personally drag those two demons down.It was the fifth time I'd been reborn.I didn't cry or make a scene. I lay in bed and waited quietly for that familiar blade.My enemy was no longer just Jayden. It was both of them, Jayden and Julian.I was outnumbered. Trying to fight them h







