Chapter 3

When life got really hard, Alexander approached me with a deal.

He'd make me his wife, cover every need, and even give Ryan a job. I just had to act the part.

Without a second thought, I agreed.

I never expected him to love me, but after all these years of marriage, at least he was willing to be with me. On the day Ryan died, I happened to be at the hospital for a check-up and unexpectedly found out I was pregnant.

I wanted to tell him the news right away, but then Ryan's accident happened.

The only family I had left in this world were Ryan and the baby inside me.

Now Ryan was gone, and as for the baby inside me...

Honestly, I didn't even want the baby anymore.

I used to love Alexander in the most pathetic way, just hoping he would show me a little affection.

But after all these years, it finally hit me.

Alexander's heart always beat for Daniella. He'd move mountains for her.

From that day on, I wanted nothing more to do with him.

This place never belonged to Ryan and me. It was always his.

I swept the ashes from the floor and walked out, empty.

Before I left, Daniella cooed fake pity. "Alex, isn't that too much? She's still your wife."

Alexander scoffed, "She doesn't deserve it. Once I own the company, you'll take her place."

Alexander's words turned my blood cold.

I held Ryan's urn tight and left his villa for good.

Outside, I remembered the police had rung about Ryan's death.

The call was gone from my log. I missed it.

I dialed them back, and they told me to come down to the police station if I wanted to find out what happened.

I had nowhere else to go, so I headed straight there.

When I got there, I saw a few stray dogs. The cops told me the property management had put them down after getting complaints.

One of them was Rocky, the dog Daniella had mentioned before.

According to the police investigation, these weren't just random stray dogs. They'd all been kept and trained by someone.

In other words, they were specifically trained for a purpose.

So, the cops suspected Ryan's death wasn't just an accident.

Ryan used to do manual labor just to help pay for my education. After I married Alexander, he set Ryan up with a job as just a regular security guard in the fancy neighborhood where he lived.

A few days ago, Ryan mentioned that all of a sudden, there were many stray dogs hanging around the place.

He was terrified of dogs, so he wouldn't even get close to them.

The day before Ryan died, he offhandedly said Alexander and Daniella wanted him to feed the stray dogs.

And that was when it happened. He was gone.

Could it really be Daniella and Alexander behind all this?

The thought made me even more furious. I immediately called Alexander, but it was Daniella who picked up, her voice laced with provocation.

"Kylie, what's up? Have you regretted your decision? Did you change your mind and want to apologize?" Daniella mocked.

"Daniella, was it you who asked Ryan to feed those stray dogs?" I demanded, my voice trembling with anger.

"Oh, Kylie, why so dramatic? He's just a guard. Feeding the dogs is part of his job, right?" Daniella said, voice dripping sarcasm.

"By the way," Daniella said, sounding completely entitled, "he seems loyal. Alex just got me a new villa, but it's kind of remote. Might as well put him on guard duty there."

Rage was pounding in my ears. I couldn't even hear her anymore.

I screamed, my voice shaking with fury, "Ryan was terrified of dogs. Why did you have to make him feed them? How could you do that to him?

"Do you even get that you got him killed?"

"Oh, really? What a pity. So he's actually dead, huh?" Daniella snickered.

Hearing Daniella's cold, mocking laugh, I instantly realized that she'd set this up from the very start.

Thinking about how horribly Ryan died, I screamed into the phone, "Daniella, you did this on purpose. Why would you do this to him? He never even had any beef with you."

On the other end, Daniella started sniffling, her voice trembling with fake tears.

She said, sounding all innocent, "Alex, I really don't get why Kylie's blaming me. I was just being nice, asking Ryan to help feed Rocky and the other dogs.

"I mean, it was just feeding some dogs. How could that possibly get him killed?"

I said, my voice icy and unwavering, "Alexander, you want to know why I lied to you? Fine. Tomorrow, meet me at Greenhill Cemetery.

"Weren't you the one who insisted Ryan should mourn that dead stray dog? You and Daniella both show up. Let's see if you have the guts to face Ryan together."