Chapter 1

Eight months pregnant, I went to find Julian, my husband, who was out fishing.

Instead, I stumbled upon him wrapped in the arms of my best friend, Bethany.

"Julian, when are you finally going to divorce that hag? My baby can't wait."

"Relax, I've got everything planned. Her delivery day will be her death day!"

"Then we'll take her fifty million dollars in lottery winnings and settle overseas!"

Their laughter echoed, and I felt like I'd been plunged into an ice bath.

My husband of ten years, my best friend of fifteen, both wanted me dead.

If that's the game they were playing, then they shouldn't blame me for packaging them up and sending them off first.

Back home, I dialed Isabella, the mob boss.

"Does your offer from last time still stand?"

Isabella ran a high-end club.

Once, a wealthy client offered a fortune to experience my husband.

Isabella could have easily kidnapped Julian and delivered him.

But because I'd saved her once, she'd held back.

Now, hearing I wanted to get rid of my own husband, Isabella asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty,

"I remember you telling me that you and Julian started dating in college. You gave up studying abroad for him, turned down an overseas promotion. You even went through ten rounds of IVF just to give him a baby. You loved him so much. Are you truly willing to… let him go like this?"

Her words made my nose prickle, tears threatening to fall.

It was true. We'd been together for ten years since college.

After my parents died in a car crash, he became my only family.

I sacrificed countless opportunities for advancement, all just to be with him.

Even this baby – he said he wanted to experience fatherhood, and because he had a low sperm count, I went through ten rounds of IVF to conceive.

Ten rounds of IVF nearly cost me half my life.

Before, I never felt the hardship, believing that love could overcome anything.

But tonight, I knew he didn't love me at all. He wished for my death.

"And Bethany, the woman you mentioned? I recall she's your best friend? You two grew up together. In middle school, you lost three teeth protecting her. She mentioned wanting to buy a house, and you shelled out fifty thousand dollars. Are you really okay with this?"

If it were before, I'd never be able to. But seeing her in Julian's arms on that hillside, scheming for my money and my life, any affection I had for her vanished.

Seeing my silence, Isabella thought she'd hit a nerve, her tone hardening.

"You're not actually regretting it, are you...?"

Hearing her voice grow serious, I quickly clarified,

"No regrets, Isabella."

"I didn't agree before because I considered them family."

"Now, they've cheated on and betrayed me, planning to kill me and the baby during childbirth to steal my assets. For the sake of my child, how could I ever go soft?"

At this, Isabella's tone softened, tinged with a shared rage.

"Damn it! My own husband and best friend screwed me over the same way!"

"Don't worry. That Mr. Ivanov, he's a cruel man. Anyone who goes to him usually leaves half-dead, if they leave at all. If your husband and best friend end up with him, it'll be a living hell!"

Hearing that, a weight lifted from my chest.

"Good. Then I'll trust you. When should we do this?"

"The day after tomorrow. I'll let you know the exact time."

Just as I hung up, I heard the lock turn on the front door.