Chapter 4

The days that followed were no different from the one when Alison first uncovered the truth.

The three of them went out together during the day, then came home and pretended silently that nothing was wrong.

Every night, Ivan would slip downstairs to vent his desires on Jessica, only to quietly return at dawn.

Alison watched their little performance in silence. Eventually, unless absolutely necessary, she stayed in the upstairs bedroom.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for another of Alison's treatments.

That morning, Ivan followed his usual routine—gently waking her with a kiss and helping her downstairs for breakfast.

Just then, Jessica, who had always been careful to keep up appearances, suddenly started gagging.

Ivan and Josh both froze.

Ivan lunged toward her, trying to cover her mouth.

Josh, on the other hand, looked worried. He mouthed silently, "Jessica, what's wrong?"

Alison stared at her panicked husband and son, and calmly played along. "What's going on?"

"One of the maids," Ivan blurted out, grasping at straws. "She just started vomiting out of nowhere."

To make it more convincing, he even turned toward the empty air and scolded the imaginary maid.

But Alison saw everything clearly—when Ivan mentioned the maid, a flicker of jealousy and resentment passed through Jessica's eyes.

Breakfast ended in an awkward rush. The three of them retreated into Jessica's room.

Alison didn't know what they discussed inside, but a moment later, Josh let out a cheer—quick and restrained, as if worried someone might hear.

Then the three of them reemerged.

Josh ran up and kissed Alison on the cheek. "Mom, I'm off to kindergarten!"

Ivan crouched in front of her with a smile. "I have to head to the office again today. I'm going to miss you, my love."

If she couldn't see, if she were only listening to his voice, she might have believed it and kissed him back and scolded him for acting like a child.

"You promised last time you'd come with me to my treatment today," she said.

She saw it in his expression that he had completely forgotten the appointment and his promise.

"Oh, right!" Josh suddenly slapped his forehead. "There's a parent-teacher meeting at kindergarten today. Dad has to attend!"

"Yes, yes, I completely forgot," Ivan echoed quickly.

Looking at the father and son putting on such a seamless act, Alison smiled. "Alright. You go."

The moment they walked out the door, Alison sent all the maids to the annex, saying she wanted to be alone.

Then she hailed a cab and followed Ivan's car.

What she saw was Ivan and his son accompanying Jessica… into the obstetrics and gynecology department of the hospital.

So he hadn't come to her treatment because Jessica might be pregnant. And of course, that was more important than Alison was.

They hadn't gone to Hardman Medical Hospital. They chose a different facility, somewhere they could celebrate without restraint.

"Oh! Jessica is going to give me a little sister!" Josh shouted excitedly.

Ivan stood protectively at Jessica's side, his hand brushing gently over her stomach as though it were something sacred. His face lit up with uncontainable joy.

"Jessica, you're incredible!" he beamed.

Hearing those familiar words, Alison bit back her tears, but they still slipped down her face.

She remembered the day she told Ivan she was pregnant. He had reacted the same way—hugging her so tightly, then letting go like she was something fragile and precious.

"Alison, you're incredible!" he had said.

One of the deepest regrets of her life had been not seeing her own wedding, not seeing the look on Ivan's face when he found out he was going to be a father.

Now, she had seen it.

Ivan, Jessica, and Josh went off to an auction later, spending lavishly on gifts for Jessica.

Meanwhile, Alison arrived at the hospital morgue.

Elise had told her that the body that would replace her had been found. Someone was already performing cosmetic surgery on it.

Not that it mattered.

What Alison wanted to leave the Hardman family was not a lifelike replica, but a mangled, unrecognizable corpse.

She wanted to leave them a nightmare—one that would haunt them, night and day, for the rest of their lives.