Chapter 1

After being killed by my husband's first love, I begged the Lord of the Underworld for three months straight just to get a one-week return pass.

When I woke up again, I was back in the home I hadn't seen for three months.

Michael threw a cup at me.

He shouted, "Where have you been all this time? Ran off with some other man?

"Go make me lunch. I'm starving."

The shattered pieces cut my forehead.

But I couldn't feel any pain.

From the moment I came back, every bit of pain meant for me would be passed on to his beloved Emily.

One week was more than enough time to make them pay.

*****

I crouched down to clean up the mess on the floor when Michael's phone rang. Emily was calling.

"Honey, my head hurts so badly, and it's bleeding. Please, come quickly," Emily begged over the phone.

Michael didn't give me a single glance as he strode straight for the door.

Three months gone, and not even one bit of concern for me.

That's Michael Crane, cold-blooded and heartless.

I tossed the shards aside and trailed after him.

Not long after we got to Emily's building, Michael came out, pressing his hand to her forehead.

"There's not even a scratch on your forehead. How is it hurting all of a sudden?" he asked.

"Come on, let me take you to the hospital for a check-up," he said, already guiding her to the car.

Emily snuggled up to his chest and gave him a loving hug.

"Michael, you're so sweet to me," she purred.

He's so good to you; let's see how you pay him back.

I picked up a stick and brought it down hard on my own knee.

Emily's face turned beet red in an instant, and she collapsed to her knees right in front of Michael.

Her face ended up right at Michael's crotch level.

Michael froze on the spot, and an ear-piercing shriek rang out nearby.

An old lady taking her grandkid to school started scolding at the top of her lungs.

She shouted, "If you two want to fool around, take it home. Don't turn the sidewalk into your bedroom."

Michael's face went dark in an instant; he was always so concerned about his reputation.

I covered my mouth, barely holding back a laugh.

To Michael, Emily was his unattainable crush.

Even now, after she'd finally agreed to be with him, Emily still wouldn't move in together.

For her to throw herself at him like that, right out on the street, was the last thing Michael expected.

Emily's ears turned bright red as she clung to his shirt and hurriedly got to her feet.

"I honestly have no clue what's going on," Emily mumbled.

Before she could finish, I slammed the stick into my knee again.

With another heavy thud, Emily instinctively grabbed onto Michael's belt, ending up on her knees.

Michael's pants slipped right off, leaving him standing there in his gold-trimmed boxers for everyone to see.

His pride basically got obliterated in front of the whole world.

Grinding his teeth, Michael yanked his pants back up, fumbling in his panic.

He slammed the driver's door shut and got in, his face burning with embarrassment.

Emily, knowing she was totally at fault, ditched all her earlier cutesy airs and scrambled into the car in a complete fluster.

With the two of them gone, I headed straight into Emily's apartment to search for what I needed.

Three months ago, one evening, I got an SOS message from Michael.

It said, "Honey, please, come save me."

I freaked out and jumped into a cab straight away.

But instead of finding Michael there, it was Emily waiting.

She was clutching a little voice recorder in her hand.

"I only married her just to get myself a free maid," Michael's voice came through loud and clear on the recorder.

"You're the one I really love, Emily," he confessed.

"If you're loving the way she serves you, I'll just buy us a bigger place. I get the master bedroom with you, and she can sleep in the maid's room, ready to wait on you whenever you want."

That was the moment I had to finally stare the ugly truth in the face; my husband was cheating on me.

My hands shook so much with fury that I couldn't help it. I rushed at Emily, yanking her hair and ready to let all my anger loose.

But she slipped out of the way, and then I was plummeting straight off the platform of that half-finished building.

I died.

After I was gone, she ripped the pendant off my neck.

Inside was a tiny key, my most precious secret.

I tore the whole place apart, but it was nowhere to be found.

All the way there, I kept racking my brain, trying to figure out where she could've stashed it.

Then I got to the hospital.

I saw that both of them were staring at the doctor, waiting for answers.

The doctor went over the test results, scanning each item carefully.

"This is really strange," the doctor said, "What your girlfriend described doesn't match up with what we found in her tests at all."

"Her skin is softer than a baby's, literally not a scratch or mark anywhere," the doctor added.

Of course, nothing showed up on the tests.

The Lord of the Underworld hooked me up with a pain-transfer card, super rare.

All the pain hit her on the inside, but outside, she looked perfectly fine.

Emily's smile instantly vanished, her expression collapsing in an instant.

She gazed up at Michael with tear-filled eyes.

"Honey, I swear I'm not lying to you," she pleaded.

Michael frowned deeply, lifting the hem of her dress and inspecting her knees.

"Whatever, I guess I just spoil you too much," Michael said with a sigh.

"Remember how the skin on your hands was peeling before? I had to keep comforting you all night just so you'd finally fall asleep," he added.

His words let Emily finally relax.

Just as Emily and Michael were about to get up and head out, the doctor shuffled his glasses and snapped his fingers.

"Oh, I know what's up!" he announced.

"She's pregnant. Most likely, it's just some hormonal thing from all the early pregnancy jitters," the doctor explained.