Chapter 1
After my brother-in-law Renaldo Gomez passed away, my husband Timothy Gomez cradled Renaldo's son in his arms and awkwardly broached the subject of divorce.
"For the sake of the Gomez family's only male heir, I have to step in for my brother and take proper care of Dolores and her son."
I smiled, nodded, and calmly agreed to it.
That was because in my previous life, when I was pregnant and couldn't cope with the shock of the divorce, I exposed his affair with Dolores Marsh to the whole world.
In the end, overwhelmed by the public backlash, she jumped into the river with her son.
Timothy spent many days and nights at her grave. When he came back, he started treating me with tenderness and care.
I assumed he'd let go of his old flame and was committed to being a good husband and father.
But on the day I went into labor, he shoved me—my belly huge with our child—into the icy river, where the temperature had plunged to twenty below zero.
"It's all your fault, you bitch—you got Dolores killed. Now you and that little bastard in your belly can pay with your lives!"
Timothy's demonic growl still echoed in my ears.
I couldn't stop trembling, as if the icy water's bone-chilling sting was still piercing my skin.
"Olivia, you know—it's because you can't have kids that my parents asked me to step in for Renaldo and properly look after Dolores and Javier..."
His hesitant tone yanked me out of the painful memories from my previous life.
Snapping back to the present, I caught the conflicted expression on his face.
Thinking of the tragic ending from my previous life, I tucked the pregnancy test into my hand, hiding the bitterness swelling in my chest.
"I get where you're coming from, and I support your decision. So, yeah, I agree to the divorce."
The words had barely left my mouth when the nephew Javier Gomez in his arms clapped with glee. "Yay, Timothy! Now I can call you Dad right out in the open."
Javier's innocent slip unwittingly revealed the truth.
Timothy quickly covered Javier's mouth. "Honey, he's just talking nonsense..."
I swallowed the bitter twist at the corners of my mouth and signaled that no explanation was needed. "Since we're getting divorced anyway, don't call me 'honey' anymore.
"Let's just go line up and handle the paperwork now."
Unlike in my previous life, I didn't cause a huge scene with Timothy at the city hall.
I was terrified of getting in the way of Timothy and Dolores's fated reunion, so I did my best to play it cool.
But once the papers were signed, Timothy looked guilty. "After Javier graduates college, we can remarry. You're the only one in my heart.
"Taking care of Dolores is just out of necessity. For the sake of what we had, could you keep the divorce quiet for now...?"
The phony remorse in his eyes only filled me with sorrow.
Clearly, he was so quick to soothe me because he wanted to keep my mouth shut and protect Dolores's reputation.
Seeing my head bowed, my face etched with dejection, Timothy stepped closer and grabbed my arm. "Let me take you home."
At that, Javier clung tighter to him. "Dad, don't touch that bad woman!
"Let's hurry home—Mom's waiting for us."
He kicked up a fuss, demanding that Timothy leave me behind.
When I stayed silent, Timothy casually muttered, "Gotta drop the kid off first," and left me stranded on the snow-swept street.
Each snowflake that landed on my skin pricked like a needle.
In the brutal weather, there were no taxis in sight to hail.
Clutching my faintly throbbing abdomen, I trudged on for a full two hours until exhaustion finally dropped me at my doorstep.
"She stripped down and climbed into Timothy's bed back then, forcing him to marry her..."
"Yeah, and all these years married, her belly hasn't even twitched. Marrying a woman like her is a real curse on the Gomez family..."
The hushed gossip pulled me back to consciousness.
Groggily, I opened my eyes to find the neighbors gathered around, pointing and whispering.
Not one stepped up to help; instead, they watched my downfall with cold detachment.
"I heard Timothy and Dolores are the ones truly in love, but this woman barged in, so out of spite, she ended up marrying Timothy's older brother..."
Amid the barrage of false accusations against me, some chilling truths were sprinkled in.
In my previous life, I only learned it all on my deathbed.
Timothy and Dolores had been childhood sweethearts all along.
Facing the neighbors' disdainful stares, I gritted my teeth against the sharp pain in my abdomen and staggered back inside.
As I was finally collapsing onto the warm floor for a moment's rest, Timothy walked in right then.
As he saw me sprawled out, a flicker of annoyance crossed his face. "You agreed to the divorce yourself—why play the victim now?
"If you're not feeling well, go see a doctor. No need to put on an act for me."
I took a deep breath, mustering every bit of strength to steady myself and confront him.