Chapter 1

When Ronnie Miller’s mistress showed up pregnant for the third time, I remained strangely calm.

I even had the leisure to admire the wedding photos they’d taken behind my back.

Ronnie frowned, his expression cold, subtly shielding Briar Stone.

“I know I promised you I wouldn’t have children with anyone else.”

“But Briar has been with me for so many years. Her body is already fragile after two abortions. This child *has* to stay. If anything happens to her, I won’t hold back.”

After speaking, he stepped back a few paces.

He probably expected me to lash out like a madwoman, just like before.

But not this time.

Three days ago, I’d already accepted his proposal.

I raised an eyebrow, glancing at Briar’s hands, clutching the wedding photos so tightly her knuckles were white.

“Nice wedding photos, but that dress doesn’t really suit you.”

If she hadn’t deliberately sent me the ultrasound, I wouldn’t have even known she was pregnant again.

Over the years, I’d grown used to her provocations.

The first time she confronted me, I felt like I’d been thrown into sub-zero water.

My entire being felt torn in half, my heart spasming with pain.

My eyes bloodshot, I’d shattered an ashtray over Ronnie’s head.

He merely licked the blood from his lip, looking at me with an exasperated yet protective gaze directed at her.

“Honey, you’re a real firecracker, aren’t you? So quick to ignite.”

“But I truly care for her. Don’t lay a hand on her, and everything will be fine. Was one hit not enough? Want to hit me twice to blow off some steam?”

Back then, my world crumbled. I lost handfuls of hair, suffered sleepless nights, tormenting myself until I looked like a ghost.

But now, I felt nothing at all.

Ronnie paused, then stared at me with a half-smile.

“Honey, new tactic?”

“But you know, even if you try to stop me, it won’t end well for you.”

He was right.

I agreed wholeheartedly, nodding.

“I won’t stop you. Do whatever you want.”

Seeing my lack of tears or drama, Ronnie finally let out a sigh of relief.

A flicker of guilt crossed his eyes.

“Whatever you want to buy, just use my card.”

With that, he walked off, cradling Briar in his arms, as if worried she might tire.

Watching their retreating figures, I felt a strange sense of unreality.

After I first discovered his cheating, I exposed him, laying it all bare for our friends and family to see.

I wanted him to back down, to come back to me.

But to my shock, the very next day, he doubled down, openly introducing Briar to everyone.

Someone spoke ill of Briar, and he knocked out their teeth.

Someone else mocked Briar, calling her a homewrecker, and he broke their leg.

Everyone instantly stopped disrespecting Briar.

I screamed, utterly devastated.

“Ronnie, what am I to you?! You swore you’d love me forever!”

“Let’s get a divorce!”

Ronnie chuckled, then kissed my lips.

“Honey, can you really bear to leave me?”

“I didn’t say I don’t love you anymore. It’s just been a while, and things get a little… stale. Just be a good girl, okay?”

“Divorce? Where would you even go?”

All my words caught in my throat.

It wasn’t until I learned Briar was pregnant that I completely lost it.

Before Ronnie was officially recognized by the Miller family, he was just a street kid, running with gangs.

When he was sixteen, he got into a fight, and I stepped in front of him, taking a knife wound that damaged my uterus. I was told I’d likely never have children.

After we married, his mother used to verbally abuse me, calling me a barren chicken.

To protect me, and spare me further pain, Ronnie got a vasectomy.

So, when I found out Briar was pregnant, I tracked her down, slapped her twice, dragged her to the hospital, and forced an abortion.

When Ronnie found out, he had people desecrate my grandmother’s grave.

In that moment, I felt like I died.

My heart felt pierced by countless needles, each beat bleeding.

My face was ashen, like a ghost, as I asked him if he was insane.

When he was at his lowest, hadn’t my grandmother given him food? Would he even be alive today without her?

Before she passed, my grandmother treated him like her own grandson.

She split her life savings, half for me, and half to help him start his business.

She believed he would make sure I had a good life.

But she never imagined that ten years later, Ronnie would bring people to dig up her grave.

I laughed, a sharp, bitter sound, coughing up blood.

Ronnie remained unmoved, casually smoking on the sofa.

“Honey, you’re the one who laid hands on her first.”

“I warned you, but you just wouldn’t listen.”

After that day, Ronnie never came home again. He spent weeks by Briar’s side, doting on her.

I withered away at home, like a dying flower.

Watching the news report that Ronnie had rented out an entire auction house for Briar, I slit my wrists.

Life drained from me, little by little, the sounds around me slowly fading.

A bone-chilling cold consumed me.

I felt only relief, and slowly closed my eyes.