The Perfect Wife Walked Away のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 71 - チャプター 80

[David’s POV]These words were like a key, suddenly opening some dusty box in the depths of my memories.I have a memory from many years ago, not long after we were married. Once I took her to Paris, to a renowned jeweler called Vendôme, where I wanted to buy her a gift of sapphires to match her enchanting, lake-blue eyes. The clerk enthusiastically explained the provenance, cut, and meaning of each jewel, but she remained distracted.Finally, she pulled me out of the shop and we stood in the Paris street. Pointing to a distant pleasure boat on the Seine, her eyes shining, she said to me, “David, let’s not buy the jewelry, let’s go on that boat, okay? I want to see the used book stalls by the river.”At the time, I only thought she was childish, not understanding the value of those jewels we were shown. I eventually bought her a set of sapphires and personally put them on her at the banquet that night. She accepted, smiling politely and thanking me, but still her gaze seemed to linger

[Alice’s POV]It wasn’t a gentle kiss. It was predatory, like an irresistible force, as if declaring ownership. My hands pressed against his chest trying to push away, but his arms held me in place like steel. The entanglement between lips and teeth was fierce and desperate, as if we weren’t kissing, but waging a silent war.Then, slowly, something changed.Maybe the night was too cold, and his body temperature was too warm. Maybe I was too tired, too tired to resist anymore. Maybe... it was that familiar touch that awakened deep memories in my body, of those days when we had truly loved each other.I felt my tension gradually easing, and the hand pressed against his chest lost the strength to resist. A small sigh escaped me. I don’t know if it was resignation or something else.He noticed, and the kiss became deeper and gentler. The hand that was caressing my cheek moved to the back of my neck, gently kneading the tense muscles.When I finally realized I was responding to this kiss,

[Alice’s POV]The ambulance siren sounded particularly harsh, blasting the disastrous night scene at our villa.“Ma’am, please cooperate, we need to check your vital signs. You have numerous superficial burns, an injured hand and an impact wound on your abdomen.” The intensive care paramedic approached me with a stethoscope and blood pressure gauge.“No need, I’m fine.” I took a step back, my hands tightly covering my stomach, my voice sharp. “I’m okay. You can check my daughter again, she inhaled a lot of thick smoke!”My rejection was almost pathological. This horrific fire that destroyed half of our villa also burned away my composure. I know that if I let them perform a full-body examination, the secret hidden in my body — the tiny embryo doing battle with that deadly uterine tumor — would be revealed.I wasn’t ready yet for David to find out.“Alice, don’t be ridiculous!” David had been helped onto a stretcher next to me. The extensive burns on his back, shoulders and upper arms

[Alice's POV]The harsh morning light revealed the stark, blackened ruins of the Newcombe villa. Once our home.Lily’s screaming accusations echoed across the empty lawn; her face twisted with jealousy and rage. Her carefully manicured fingers trembled as she pointed at me, her voice so shrill it almost pierced my eardrums.“Alice! You parasite! How much longer are you going to use him, and hurt him?”She brandished her taloned finger in my face like a madwoman. “Remember, you were the one who snatched David from me! You coerced him into marrying you when he really wanted me. I’m the true Mrs. Newcombe. I’ve had to put up with what you did! But now, you left him to die in that fire! Do you know what he means to his family? Do you know what he means to me?”Her words were a string of poisoned grapeshot, each word trying to nail me to the moral pillory.Ignoring the raging pain deep inside me, I told her the cold hard facts. “I didn’t take anything, Lily. Stop clinging to your victim me

[Alice's POV]The narrow space inside the ambulance was crowded, containing two stretchers, one each side. The hissing sound of the oxygen mask was particularly jarring, making me feel irritated. I was holding Camilla, who was still softly sobbing, but my gaze fell on Lily on the other stretcher.She was still pale, and her forehead was sweaty, sticking hair to her cheeks. Her right hand was wrapped in layers of white gauze. Vivid red blood had seeped through the outermost layer, like a glaring red flower in the clinical white all around us.“Aunt Lily...! Mommy, Aunt Lily is bleeding.” Camilla’s small hand was tugging on my shirt; her voice was wracked with quiet sobs.I could only hold her tightly, stroking her back and her hair. “It’s okay, baby, Uncle Adam will save her. She’s a brave Superwoman.”David, who was sitting at the head of the stretchers, in a seat behind the ambulance driver, remained silent. His newly ‘recovered’ legs were squeezed uncomfortably into the narrow space