Chapter 1
Someone threw acid in my face at my wedding.
The one who did it was my husband's first love.
As I screamed, clutching my face in agony, my husband rushed over, not to me, but to protect her.
He shouted at the security guards, "Don't touch her. She's pregnant."
My left cheek was burned to the bone, but all he cared about was the woman who destroyed me.
The divorce cooling-off period was thirty days. I didn't wait even a day longer.
On the thirty-first day, I went to the airport.
Ten minutes before boarding, I posted a recording online.
An hour later, he called me forty-seven times.
*****
Someone threw acid in my face at my wedding.
The moment the liquid splashed onto me, there was no pain, only a cold chill.
Then, a burning sensation exploded like fire.
I clutched my face and collapsed to the ground, screaming in a voice that didn't even sound human.
The smell of melting skin, mixed with the sickly sweetness of champagne and roses, was nauseating.
The one who did it was Ava Sinclair.
My husband, Daniel Shaw, had kept his secret first love hidden for three years.
She stood there in a white dress, her eyes wild and triumphant.
"Emily, you don't deserve him!" she screamed.
I writhed on the ground in pain, my vision blurring.
I saw Daniel, my new husband, rush over immediately.
Not to me.
He stepped over my body on the ground and shielded Ava.
The security guards rushed forward to restrain Ava, but Daniel pushed them away.
"Don't touch her. She's pregnant." he roared at the guards.
To my surprise, he finally turned to look at me.
At my face, which was being eaten away.
There was no sympathy in his eyes, only endless irritation and blame. "Emily, can't you endure it? She's unstable, stop provoking her."
My left cheek, along with my heart, was burned through.
The only one he cared about was the woman who ruined my life.
When the ambulance took me away, I was already losing consciousness.
The last thing I saw was Daniel holding the frightened Ava tightly, whispering to comfort her.
I was a joke.
A huge joke.
When I woke up again, I was in the hospital.
Everything was white, and the smell of disinfectant filled my nose.
My left cheek was wrapped in thick bandages, but the burning pain was a constant reminder of what had happened.
The doctor stood by my bed, his tone heavy.
He said, "Mrs. Shaw, your left cheek has third-degree chemical burns. We've done everything we can to clean the wound, but there will be permanent scarring.
"Even with skin grafts, it won't be the same as before."
Permanent.
I was only twenty-six.
I didn't cry. It felt like I'd already cried all my tears on my wedding day.
I asked calmly, "Where's my phone?"
The nurse handed me my purse.
On the phone screen was the wallpaper I'd set before the wedding.
It was a photo of Daniel and me under the Eiffel Tower, grinning as he kissed my forehead.
I stared at that photo for a long, long time.
Then I unlocked my phone and opened the photo album.
I deleted that photo, and then every single memory of us from the past five years, one by one.
After I finished, the door to the hospital room swung open.
Daniel and his mother, Linda Ford, walked in.
Linda strutted in on high heels, dressed head-to-toe in Chanel, her makeup flawless.
She didn't even bother to greet me. Her first words were an accusation. "Emily, what do you say to Ava? Why would she do something like that?"
Her tone made it sound like I was the one to blame.
Daniel frowned and tugged at her arm. "Mom, Emily's still hurt."
"Hurt? If she hadn't provoked Ava, would Ava have done this? I know Ava, she's a good girl." Linda's voice was sharp and cutting.
I looked at them and suddenly felt like laughing.
So they'd known Ava all along.
So they all knew.
Only I, the real wife, was the fool.
I didn't have the strength to argue with her.
I turned to Daniel, my husband.
I waited for him to give me an explanation.
Daniel avoided my gaze and poured me a glass of water. "Emily, drink some water. I hear what the doctor say. Don't worry, whatever the treatment costs, I'll pay for it all."
He paused, his voice dropping even lower. "As for Ava, she is really upset. I've already calmed her down and hired a lawyer. Don't worry, she won't spend a single day behind bars."
Under the covers, my hand clenched into a tight fist.
My nails dug into my palm, sending a sharp pain through me.
But that pain made me clearer than ever.
He never cared about me.
Not before, and certainly not now.
"Why?" I finally asked, my voice rough and hoarse. "Daniel, tell me, why?"
Daniel stayed silent.
But Linda let out a cold laugh and spoke up first. "Why? Because Ava's pregnant with Daniel's child. The Shaw family's precious first grandson."
Her words blew up in my head like a bomb.