Chapter 1
When Edward Grant became paralyzed, I saw him only as a burden. I pushed him into a divorce and remarried someone else right after.
I even left our infant daughter, Lily Grant, who was not yet a year old, in his care.
Drowning in grief and despair, he tried to take his own life more than once, but failed every time.
Years later, he fully recovered. The first day he left the hospital and came back to Yaniston, he searched the whole city to find me and get revenge.
He hated me so much that he wanted me dead.
Then my mom went to see him with a photo of a badly broken, disfigured dead body and begged him to fix up the body.
Edward let out a cold laugh and made a demand. "When it's done, have Olivia come collect it herself."
He had no idea that the body he was fixing was mine.
*****
I died on the exact day Edward came back to the country after his hospital discharge.
It was the middle of winter in Yaniston, and heavy snow was falling everywhere.
He had been stuck in a hospital bed for three years, but he was still the powerful CEO of the Grant Group the second he got back.
I was lying in bed covered in blood. My face was ruined, and I had lost my right hand and both legs.
My mom crouched beside me. Her hands shook as she held my only good hand and rubbed it gently to warm me up.
But my whole body was ice cold, and I was basically dead.
I was not going to make it, and she knew it.
Her voice shook with sadness and panic when she asked me, "Olivia, tell me, is there anything you want to say or do?"
I thought for a second, and then said what I'd been too scared to admit for three years. "I want to see Edward and Lily one last time."
My mom nodded quickly, her body trembling as she stood up.
She was desperate to fulfill my last wish, but when she glanced at the empty doorway, her eyes were filled with panic and confusion.
It was too late.
I managed a smile. "It doesn't matter. It's fine if I never see them again."
I couldn't hold on much longer.
Even if Edward was back in the country, he couldn't get to me this fast.
Besides, he hated me. He would never want to see me anyway.
I just felt really regretful.
I was freezing cold and so tired that I wanted to close my eyes.
My mom rushed back to my side. Her voice was rough and broken from crying. "Stay awake, Olivia. You'll see them. I promise you will."
She grabbed the TV remote with shaking hands and turned the TV on.
A variety show was playing, but she kept flipping through channels nonstop.
She thought there might be news coverage about Edward, the famous Grant Group CEO, returning to the city.
But after checking dozens of channels, there was no sign of Edward at all.
My mom kept muttering anxiously, "It has to be on somewhere. There's definitely news about him."
My vision got blurry, and I could barely stay conscious.
All of a sudden, I heard my mom's voice ring out. "I found it! Olivia, look. Edward and Lily are on TV."
I forced my eyes open with every bit of strength I had left.
Through my blurry vision, Edward's face came into view all at once.
The TV was broadcasting Edward's homecoming press conference as the CEO of the Grant Group.
The snow didn't stop crowds of reporters from showing up, and the venue was completely packed.
Edward sat on stage, looking calm and detached.
He was nothing like the young, reckless guy I once knew.
Edward was three years younger than me. He went to jail once for fighting to protect me.
But now, next to him sat a woman with a calm smile, holding our four-year-old daughter Lily in her arms.
Lily wrapped her arms around the woman's neck. That innocent move made it obvious how close Edward was to the woman.
My heart ached.
The press conference was almost over when a photo popped up on the big screen behind Edward.
It was a photo of me from three years ago.
In the picture, my face was fine, and I still had all my limbs.
I thought they'd put up the wrong photo, until Edward spoke in a cold, hateful tone, "I'm sure most of you have heard how my ex-wife left me and our child behind.
"I have unfinished business with her and plan to take legal action. But she's been hiding, likely because she knows she's in the wrong.
"I'd appreciate everyone's help finding her. You will be well compensated for your time."
My mom's face went stiff immediately. She tried to turn off the TV right away and scrambled to comfort me. "Edward has gotten it all wrong. He doesn't know the..."
I spoke softly and weakly, "Mom, it's fine."
When my mom saw me still staring at the screen, her face was full of emotion, but she finally put the remote down.
The TV camera cut to the crowd.
The crowd erupted in whispers and sneers.
All I heard were people mocking me, hurling insults left and right.
Everyone was talking trash about me, calling me a terrible wife and a terrible mother.
They said I was cruel and that I deserved to die right then.
I stared down at my broken, ruined body.
I knew they were right. My death would put an end to all of this. And I didn't have much longer to live, just as they wished.
Edward let the crowd badmouth me for a long time without stopping them.
Only after every camera was focused on him did he casually take the hand of the woman beside him.
The reporters looked shocked, and Edward finally spoke to confirm everyone's guesses, "I forgot to introduce her. This is Sophie Scott, my fiancée.
"Our wedding is set for the end of next month."
The crowd instantly burst into loud, surprised chatter.
"Oh my god, that's so sudden."
"It's not that surprising. I heard she took care of Mr. Grant the whole three years he was paralyzed.
"His ex-wife left him when their baby was barely a year old.
"Ms. Scott was the one who looked after him and the kid through everything."
"She's such a good person. She deserves happy endings. His ex must regret leaving him like crazy."
"I heard Mr. Grant's already hired a lawyer. He's definitely suing his ex once they find her."
A mocking smile tugged at Edward's lips as he listened.
My breathing grew weaker and harder.
I slowly closed my eyes and lost all sense of consciousness.
The last thing I heard was my mom's broken, desperate crying.