I thought it was some kind of rare antique. But when I took a closer look, it was just a scrunchie. It was yellowing around the edges, showing its age.The more I looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. It looked like the one I used to wear all the time as a kid but had lost.Xavier grabbed it from me in one swift motion. He said harshly, "This belongs to her. You're not allowed to dirty it with your hands!""That looks like a scrunchie I once had."The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them, and Xavier looked at me as if I had lost my mind. I grew more and more confused and couldn't help but try to grab it back from him to take a closer look.Xavier's expression became glacial, and he shoved me to the ground with one hand. My already injured hand hit the shattered glass again. The pain was so intense that my vision blurred.When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital bed.Upon seeing that I was awake, Maisie held my hand and said, "Don't worry, the baby
In Robert and Maisie's eyes, we were nothing more than lowly peasants they could beat as they pleased.When Xavier heard what my dad said, his anger flared even more. He picked up the kettle, lifted my dad's shirt, and poured boiling water onto his back ruthlessly.I grabbed Xavier's leg, begging him not to be so cruel. However, Elsa kicked me toward the door.My dad screamed in pain. He took one look at his own back and fainted out of sheer terror.Xavier left behind a check for ten million dollars and walked out with Elsa.After he left, Robert and Maisie reminded me that the marriage agreement that I signed was about to expire. They pressured me to sign the agreement renewal. Otherwise, they threatened not to treat my dad and let him fend for himself.The divorce agreement Xavier sent me sat quietly on the table in the hospital room. The Sullivans chose to ignore it and pretended that they didn't see it.As I touched my growing belly, I wondered how Xavier would treat this ch
The next day, the Sullivan family arrived at the hospital eagerly to welcome the newborn. To their utter dismay, the only thing they saw was my corpse.Vincent regretfully informed them, "She took two whole bottles of sleeping pills last night. We couldn't save her."Xavier glanced at me briefly and scoffed, feeling disgruntled. He then left with his parents with a gloomy expression.Only my mom, Esther Todd, stayed back with me. She wept mournfully by my bedside, keeping vigil over my body.I opened my eyes and gently patted her head to comfort her. I whispered, "I'm still alive. Don't cry."My mom's face blanched due to the extreme shock. With a smile, I explained everything to her. Vincent had injected me with a special drug that caused a state of apparent death. I slept for a full day and night. Then, I woke up perfectly normal again.After giving birth to my daughter, I left with her and settled down in Clearwater, a nearby city. Xavier had once said he would never set foo
The next day, I walked out of the airport alone, dragging my suitcase behind me. This place was too dangerous, so I left Athena in the care of a trusted friend.To avoid involving my mom, I didn't tell her I had returned. After renting a place, I spent day and night tailing Elsa and shadowing her every move.When she went on dates, I stood by a food stall helping an elderly lady grill skewers. When she went shopping, I hid behind billboards, observing her every step. When she went to try on wedding dresses, I borrowed a bear costume and pretended to hand out flyers from across the street.Suddenly, someone stood in front of me and forcefully tried to yank off my costume's headpiece. I resisted, ready to shout. But the moment I saw the familiar man, I froze.Xavier hadn't changed at all. He still had that sharp, hawk-like gaze that penetrated through everything.He sneered as he growled, "Stop hiding, Halyna!"I stood stiffened in place, allowing him to pull off the headpiece.Xa
It turned out that Xavier had a careful, nurturing side I never knew about. Whether a man loved a woman or not, his actions revealed everything.Elsa shot me a smug glance and boasted under her breath, "All you're doing is making Xavier feel even more sorry for me. Is any of this helping you?"Of course, it was.For the next few days, Elsa had to stay home, and that was the moment I'd been waiting for.As dusk approached, I saw her parents leave in their car. Soundlessly, I snuck into her room.Elsa was doing her makeup. When she saw me, she was so startled she almost jabbed the brush into her eye.I smiled darkly and said, "Don't recognize me? It's me—the one you killed."I had dressed myself in Maisie's clothes and hired a special effects makeup artist to make me look just like her.Elsa went completely pale in one second and started trembling all over. She panicked and threw whatever she could get her hands on at me. She muttered anxiously, "It's impossible. You're dead!"
"Just now, Xavier called me suddenly, asking where you were tonight," my mom said. "I sensed something was off from his tone, so I lied and told him we had just been on a video call for half an hour."I hadn't expected Xavier to figure it out so quickly.But did he not even suspect that the person he loved the most had killed his mother? How would he react once he learned the truth?The thought of Xavier's eventual breakdown made me feel a twisted sense of satisfaction.My mom seemed to have guessed much of what was going on but didn't press me for details. She simply said gently, "If you're back, come stay with me."Because of those words, I spent another half hour carefully applying makeup to cover up the cuts on my face and hands. I walked in front of the mirror ten times to make sure my limp wasn't obvious before finally heading back home.I greeted and hugged my mom, but she suddenly choked up and asked, "What happened to your leg? Why are you walking so weirdly?"I froze f
My hand froze mid-motion as I rubbed my eyes. Dread hit me like a bucket of ice-cold water.The voice recorder was in my bag. I had risked everything to get that piece of evidence—it nearly cost me my life to obtain it.My mom started listing places my dad often visited, but I couldn't focus on a single word she said.I immediately dialed my dad's number. As soon as the call connected, I demanded, "I'll give you 500 thousand dollars if you return my bag."My dad's voice came through the phone, sly and calculating. "If it's worth that much, maybe I should just sell it to Xavier."I suddenly exhaled in relief, laughing as I said, "That's exactly who it's meant for. You can be the free delivery service."There was silence on the other end for what felt like an eternity. I could almost hear the rusty gears turning in his mind over the phone.Then, he changed his tune and said, "If it's for Xavier, then you must have intended to use it against Elsa, right? Maybe I should sell it to h
I stepped forward and grabbed the microphone from the officiant's hand.The moment the guests saw me, they all gasped in shock because I was dressed in mourning clothes.Elsa wailed and shouted at me, "You already took Xavier from me before! How dare you come here to ruin my wedding now?"With that one sentence, she turned the entire room against me.However, she had dirtied her hands so much that she could never pretend to be innocent.The screen behind us started playing the text messages she had sent me, along with images of her vicious expression whenever she looked at me.With her back to the screen, Elsa squeezed out fake tears. She tried to convince everyone how I had threatened her over the years. But the guests had seen it all. It took a moment for Elsa to realize something was wrong. But by then, the guests were already looking at her with mocking smiles.In an instant, she went from the proud princess to a ridiculous clown.Xavier suddenly spoke up. "Have you cause