Chapter 1

When I was 14, my father beat me so badly that my ears rang. It was my sister and Micheal Lane who stood in front of me with knives in hand, protecting me.

When I was 18, they had fought their way into the court, determined to put our father behind bars and take me away from him.

When I was 21, on my wedding day to Micheal, my sister forced him to kneel before me and said, “You will never betray Chloe. If you do, I’ll make sure you leave with nothing, and I’ll kill you myself.”

In our eight years of marriage, he truly was the perfect husband. He did not have late-night business dinners, he was never home late, and his phone password was my birthday.

Even our son, Tristan, said his dad loved me the most in the world.

However, on Tristan’s seventh birthday, he made a wish with his eyes closed, “I hope Daddy stops going to his other home. Daddy sneaks out every night after Mommy falls asleep. I don’t want to lie anymore.”

I thought he was joking, so I crouched down and asked, “Who lives at your daddy's other home?”

Tristan hid behind me and pointed into the distance. I followed his gaze. The cake knife slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor.

Standing there was the woman I loved most in the world—my sister. Yet beneath the table, I could clearly see her hand intertwined tightly with Micheal’s.

Chapter 1

Chloe's POV

Tristan Lane’s clear, innocent voice was not loud, but it carried far enough for everyone to hear. The moment they noticed me watching, they hurriedly let go of each other’s hands.

Micheal Lane walked over, scooped Tristan into his arms, and pinched his cheek.

“What are you talking about? I just went to work. I didn’t want to wake your mommy.”

My sister, Camellia Hales, followed behind him, twisting his ear hard as she warned him, “If you ever dare betray Chloe with another woman, I’ll kill you myself!”

The familiar laughter gently swept away the doubts that had begun to take root in my heart. How could it be possible?

Camellia and Micheal had never gotten along growing up. She was obsessed with protecting her little sister, and he was obsessed with his wife. They were constantly fighting over who got to spend more time with me.

These were the two people who valued me more than their own lives. How could they ever betray me?

However, when I looked at Tristan’s serious little face and remembered what I had seen beneath that table, a chill crept through me. I stepped forward instinctively and straightened Micheal’s collar, then my fingers froze for a moment.

A faint trace of perfume lingered on him. It was the exact perfume I had given Camellia yesterday. Caught on the collar at the back of his neck was half a lipstick mark.

My hand moved. I reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a lipstick. “Whose is this?”

Micheal’s face went pale, and his eyes flicked toward Camellia.

Camellia calmly took the lipstick from my hand and slipped it into her purse. “It’s mine. I asked him to hold onto it for me and forgot to take it back.”

Her tone was perfectly natural, just like all those times she covered for Micheal back then.

Whenever I asked whose hair was on his suit, Camellia would say, “I must’ve gotten it on him by accident.”

Whenever I asked about the scratches on his back, she would laugh and joke, “I scratched him when we got into a fight.”

I had always believed her. I even joked once, “If it weren’t for you, I’d probably think Micheal was cheating on me.”

Camellia responded by kicking him in the leg. “He wouldn’t dare, not in a million years.”

Still, what if the woman he was cheating with was Camellia? What if all those explanations had been nothing more than excuses to hide their affair?

The chill turned bone-deep, surging through every inch of my body.

I stared at Camellia. She looked startled, and her voice suddenly became uncertain. “Chloe, you don’t believe me?”

I neither nodded nor shook my head. I simply picked up Tristan in my arms. “I’m taking Tristan upstairs to change.”

I could feel two pairs of eyes locked onto my back behind me.

What Camellia and Micheal did not know was that the lipstick was mine. I had casually slipped it into his pocket last night and forgotten to take it out.

Now, it had become the evidence that would expose their betrayal and every lie they had ever told me.

Chapter 2

I held Tristan in my arms and fled the scene. Every step I took felt like I was walking on clouds. My legs were so weak that they could barely carry me.

I instinctively reached for my ring for comfort, only to realize my wedding ring was gone.

I put Tristan in his room and then hurried back to the hallway to look for it. That was when I heard two familiar voices approaching.

I quickly ducked into the nearest room. As I peered through the narrow gap in the door, I saw Micheal pin Camellia against the wall, kissing her with desperate abandon.

Camellia melted into him and parted her lips, but she suddenly came to her senses and shoved him away. “Are you crazy? What if Chloe sees us?”

“So what if she does? You’re the one I’ve always loved!”

Micheal’s eyes were bloodshot as he pulled Camellia into his arms. “I wanted to tell her the truth so many times today. If she’d just let us be together, I’d do anything she asked…”

Camellia broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Micheal, we can’t keep hurting Chloe like this! When I was kidnapped as a child, Chloe was the one who found me and carried me out of that pit. I swore I’d protect her for the rest of my life.

"And yet I ended up sleeping with her husband. Even the money you used to start your company came from Chloe. She drank so much that she got a miscarriage just to gather the funds for you. How could we be this cruel to her?”

“And what about you? What about everything you’ve sacrificed?” Micheal’s hands trembled as he cupped her face and kissed away her tears.

“How many nights have you spent alone all these years? How many times have you pushed me away, even when it broke your heart? The night she gave birth, you had a fever after I kept you up all night, but you still sent me to the hospital and forced yourself to stay behind to take care of her.”

Camellia’s tears flowed even harder. She pressed her lips to Micheal’s, silencing him.

“Don’t…”

His answer was a kiss even more desperate than the last.

I slid down the wall and collapsed onto the floor, one hand clamped over my mouth as tears poured down my face.

On the night I nearly died giving birth, my own sister and my husband had been in bed together.

When they came rushing to my side, fighting over who would care for me, was it out of genuine concern or guilt for the betrayal they were hiding?

The footsteps outside eventually faded away. I staggered to my feet, only to realize I had dug my nails so deeply into my palm that they had drawn blood. However, I could not feel the pain anymore.

I picked up the wedding ring glinting on the floor. That was when I noticed two letters engraved inside—'M' and 'C'.

It came to me that it stood for Micheal and Camellia. Not Chloe.

I gave a bitter laugh through my tears. Even my wedding ring revolved around someone else’s love story.

I remembered the day he proposed. Micheal’s eyes had been red with tears, while Camellia had cried so hard that she could barely speak.

Back then, were they celebrating my happiness or mourning the love they could never have?

Tristan came looking for me after changing his clothes. He reached up with his chubby little hands and awkwardly wiped away my tears. “Don’t cry, Mommy. I’ll always be here with you.”

I pulled him tightly into my arms. “Tristan, did your daddy ever tell you anything?”

He remained silent for a few seconds before finally speaking.

“Daddy touched Aunt Camellia’s belly and asked me if I wanted a little brother or a little sister when we were at that house… Daddy said if I told you about it, you wouldn’t love me anymore. But I don’t want to lie to you, Mommy.”

His little arms tightened around me. I gently patted his back through my tears. “Tell me, where is that house?”

Chapter 3

Tristan could not remember where it was. However, I found the address through the location tracker in Micheal’s car. It was a villa in the southern part of the city, more than 30 miles away. Micheal had been making that round trip twice a day, every day.

At the door, I entered Camellia’s birthday date into the keypad. The lock clicked, and the door swung open. The first thing I saw was a pair of matching slippers, then matching mugs, gloves, hats… Almost everything came in pairs.

I dug my nails into my palm as a dull ache twisted through my chest.

I had once suggested buying matching things for Micheal and me. Yet he called it childish and told me that we did not need those meaningless rituals after years of marriage.

It turned out that it was not that he disliked them. He had simply saved every ounce of romance and every meaningful gesture for Camellia.

I walked farther inside. Photos of the two of them filled the walls, capturing every season of their life together.

Last March, when I broke my leg in a car accident, they were in Swizor, admiring the snow-capped mountains.

In July, when Tristan was hospitalized with the flu and hooked up to an IV, they had been by the sea, wrapped in each other’s arms.

On New Year’s Eve, the two of them had claimed they could not make it back to the country. In reality, they had spent the night here, toasting with champagne and watching fireworks together.

I gripped one of the picture frames so tightly that my hands began to shake violently.

I stumbled backward and knocked over a vase. The pollen scattered into the air, and my throat began to close within seconds. I was allergic to pollen, yet fresh flowers were everywhere in this house.

Fighting through the pain, I fled and drove straight to the hospital.

After buying some medicine, I called Micheal. I called him 12 times, and not once did he answer.

I lowered my phone, laughing bitterly at how deeply I had grown accustomed to depending on him.

Then, I lifted my head.

The man who had ignored all 12 of my calls was standing outside the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, gently holding someone else in his arms and feeding her water.

Our eyes met across the hallway. For half a second, my heart seemed to stop.

Panic flashed across Micheal’s face. He hurriedly pulled Camellia against his chest, shielding her face as though terrified I might recognize her.

“Micheal!” I chased after them.

I grabbed Camellia by the sleeve, but I could not bring myself to pull hard. Tears began streaming down my face. “What are you two doing here?”

Micheal pressed his lips together, refusing to meet my eyes. “You’ve got it wrong. She’s an important client of mine…”

Camellia buried herself against his chest, too afraid to look up.

I grabbed her hair and forced her face toward me. “Tell me, Camellia. How much longer are you two planning to keep this from me? Are you already pregnant with Micheal’s child? Tell me!”

“Chloe…” Camellia shook her head again and again. Tears spilled down her cheek, but no words came.

Micheal shoved me away. “Chloe, whatever you’re angry about, take it out on me. Leave her alone!”

I raised my hand and slapped him across the face with every ounce of strength I had. “Micheal, how could you be this disgusting? You could've cheated on me with anyone, but her? She’s my sister!”

My hysterical accusation echoed through the entire hallway.

People began gathering around, staring and whispering as they watched the two of them clinging to each other.

“Oh my goodness. He’s sleeping with his own sister-in-law? That’s sick.”

“Her belly’s already showing. If the wife hadn’t caught them at the hospital, she probably never would’ve known."

“He won’t even stay with his own wife, but he comes here to accompany his mistress to her prenatal appointment. Those two deserve whatever hell is coming for them!”

“I didn’t! It’s not like that…” Camellia screamed, covering her ears as she collapsed to the floor in agony.

“Camellia!” Micheal’s eyes reddened with anguish. He dropped to his knees and reached for her, only to feel the warm trail of blood running down her thigh.

His face went deathly pale. Like a man possessed, he scooped her into his arms and bolted toward the emergency room. “Where’s the doctor? Somebody help her!”

I watch Camellia writhing in pain. Concern and resentment warred violently inside me. In the end, I clenched my teeth and chased after them. I wanted to stay by Camellia’s side.

However, the moment I reached for her arm, Micheal turned around and kicked me hard in the stomach. “Stay away!”

He glared at me through clenched teeth, resentment burning in his eyes. “I’m never letting you touch her again.”

I went tumbling down the stairwell beside me, hitting each step hard on the way down. A searing pain tore through my lower abdomen. Warm blood streamed down my thighs.

I had miscarried.

When I woke up, the miscarriage report lay beside my bed.

I was seven weeks pregnant. When I finally found Micheal, he was gently wiping Camellia’s body with a towel. His touch was so tender that it made something inside me ache.

When he learned that I had lost our baby, he merely glanced at my stomach with cold indifference. “You brought this on yourself. You’re the one who killed Camellia’s baby.”

I stared at him, stunned for a moment. Tears silently slipped down my cheeks. This was not the first child I had lost for him.

Eight years ago, desperate to secure investors for his company, I forced myself to drink bottles of hard liquor. I bled so heavily that the ground behind me was stained red while I made my way home.

Micheal rushed me to the hospital like a madman. He sobbed until he could barely catch his breath beside my hospital bed. Back then, he told me he could not bear to see me suffer. He swore he would never let me endure that kind of pain again.

Yet now, he told me I deserved it.

I could not find my voice for a long while. When I finally did, it was barely a whisper.

“Micheal, let’s get a divorce. I’ll take Tristan and leave. You two can have each other.”

Chapter 4

Micheal’s expression darkened. He opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something.

Camellia suddenly let out a pained moan. Micheal’s attention snapped back to her, and he gently wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead. He only offered two words to me, “Suit yourself.”

I took the hint, quietly walked out of the room, and closed the door behind me.

I wandered down the street like a ghost. The temperature was pushing forty degrees, yet I could not stop shivering.

I found a lawyer and had the divorce papers drawn up, then I packed our things as quickly as I could and picked Tristan up from his after-school lesson.

I asked Tristan, “Tristan, I'm going to separate from your dad. Will you live with me from now on?”

He warped his little arms tightly around me and nodded. “Wherever you go, I’ll go!”

At last, a flicker of warmth reached my shattered heart. Whatever else I had lost, I could at least take comfort in knowing I had not lost everything.

The moment Tristan and I stepped out of the villa, a car pulled up and blocked our path. Camellia burst out of it, still wearing her hospital gown. Her face was pale white, her eyes swollen and red. Without a word, she stormed over and slapped me across the face.

“Chloe Hales, the entire internet is tearing me apart. Are you happy now?”

She pulled out her phone and hurled it at me.

Only then did I realize a video of our confrontation at the hospital had been posted online. It had instantly gone viral.

“It’s all because of you! Someone trashed my law firm, and my business partners are terminating their contracts! You killed my baby, and because of you, everyone’s calling my child a bastard! Chloe, I hate you!”

She grabbed me by the collar, her sharp nails scratching angry red lines across my neck.

I staggered backward, staring at my sister in disbelief. Those eyes that had once looked at me with nothing but tenderness were now filled with hatred.

Almost instinctively, I shot back, “Aren’t these the consequences of your own choices? If you want someone to blame, blame yourself!”

“Shut your mouth!”

Camellia grabbed a fistful of my hair and jerked my head back. “I'm just in love with Micheal. What did I do wrong?! Chloe, I fell for him before you ever did. I’m prettier than you, and I’m better than you in every other way.

"So why were you the one who got to marry him? Do you really think I studied law for you? I did it for Micheal. I wanted to stand beside him for the rest of my life. You’re the one who destroyed my happiness!”

Her words hit me like a blow to the head. I froze for a moment. Every inch of my body went numb, as though even my breath had been ripped away.

This was the truth…

It was not just my love that had been a lie. Even the sisterhood I had once cherished was nothing but an illusion.

“Don’t hurt my mommy!” Tristan came running toward us, crying as he raised his little fists and pounded against Camellia’s thighs.

“Get out of my way!” She spun around and shoved him with all her strength straight to the middle of the road.

A sharp horn pierced the air.

Tristan was thrown through the air. A truck rolled over him, blood splattering across the crosswalk.

My heart shattered, and I collapsed onto the pavement.

“Tristan!”

“Camellia!”

Micheal rushed to Camellia’s side and pulled her into his arms. His face was frantic with panic and concern. She immediately went limp against his chest, as though she had fainted.

I crawled toward him in desperation and grabbed onto his pant leg, pointing frantically at the road. My voice broke, and the words tumbled out in fragments. “Tristan… He’s been hit… Please, take him to the hospital!”

However, Micheal would not even look at me. He simply scooped Camellia into his arms.

“Stop pretending, Chloe. I thought you wanted a divorce. Turns out, you were just using public opinion to force us apart. And now, you’re even using our son? If I’d known you’d turn out like this, I would’ve rather watched you die at your father’s hands.”

I screamed and sobbed, trying to explain, but he would not listen. He would not believe me.

The driver had already fled.

I stumbled to the side of the road and knelt beside my son. Blood poured from his mouth. His little leg was twisted at an unnatural angle.

“Tristan, hold on. I'm here. I'll save you. I promise!”

I called every emergency number I could think of. I begged strangers for help and dropped to my knees before them, but no one would take us to the hospital. Anyone who helped me would be making an enemy of the entire legal community.

I forced myself to lift my son into my arms and ran toward the hospital.

Somewhere along the way, I lost my shoes. My bare feet split open against the pavement, blood mingling with sweat and leaving crimson footprints behind me.

When I finally reached the hospital, I dropped to my knees before the doctors and begged through my sobs. “Please, please save my son…”

However, the doctor could only shake his head with a heavy sigh. “You came too late. There’s nothing we can do.”

A deafening ringing filled my ears. The world around me seemed to fade into darkness. All that remained was hatred burning inside my chest.

I lost both of my children in a single day.

I forced my broken body to move. Step by step, I made my way to Camellia’s hospital room. The moment they saw me, Micheal shot to his feet and positioned himself between us.

“What are you doing here? Are you trying to hurt her again?”

I laughed. Two streams of tears mixed with blood ran down my face.

I rushed forward, grabbed the fruit knife from the bedside table, and raised it.

“Chloe!”

Micheal reacted as though I was a threat and shielded Camellia with his entire body.

However, I turned the blade toward my own heart.

Then, with all the strength I had left, I drove it into my chest. Word by word, I whispered, “You two saved my life back then. Today, I gave you two lives in return. Isn’t that enough?”