Chapter 1
On the day I was kidnapped, Ethan Wright was celebrating his new flame's birthday.
The kidnappers called him demanding a ransom, threatening to kill me if he didn't pay.
But he just said, "Too bad she isn't worth my money. I should actually thank you for getting rid of that troublesome woman for me."
Three days later, I lay on the autopsy table.
Even though Ethan was the most brilliant forensic examiner around, he didn't realize that the body he was examining belonged to the wife he hated the most.
On the autopsy table, I was stark naked.
Strictly speaking, it was the pieces of my flesh scattered across the table, arranged in my shape.
Even though Ethan was wearing a mask, I could still see his deeply furrowed brows.
He must be furious about being called back to work while celebrating Victoria Sterling's birthday.
I'm so sorry to be a burden again.
Wearing rubber gloves, Ethan pieced my body parts together one by one.
But my body was too fragmented, and the process was visibly making him irritable.
"The killer is truly vicious. Didn't they find it tedious chopping the body into so many pieces?"
He lowered his head to examine the wounds on my remains, speaking to the recording assistant:
"Judging by the bone age, the victim was under thirty."
"She suffered inhuman torture before death, for at least ten hours, and she was conscious the entire time."
Ethan's analysis was professional.
It was exactly as he said.
Those ten hours were indeed excruciating.
Because I was waiting, hoping that at any second, I would see Ethan push open the door.
And save me.
I was afraid he would be disappointed if he finally found me only to discover a corpse.
So I didn't dare to die; I just held on with everything I had.
Sadly, I never waited long enough for him to come.
While examining the remains of my lower body, his expression suddenly shifted.
My heart tightened; sure enough, the secret had been discovered.
Ethan's professional tone betrayed no emotion.
"The victim was brutally sexually assaulted before death. There are bodily fluids remaining; send them to the lab for DNA comparison later."
The young female assistant paused upon hearing this.
"Ten hours of brutal assault... she must have been in such despair."
"Yeah, those bastards. They're damn animals. How could they be so cruel!"
He spoke with indignation, but I felt a sharp pain in my heart.
If he knew this person was me, would he still say that?
Or would he feel that I had disgraced him?
His own wife, enduring ten hours of sexual torture, and she actually held on?
Why didn't she just die to atone for the shame?
But I wanted to live. Not just for Ethan.
If he continued his examination, he would surely discover the secret behind my will to survive.
Just as Ethan reached my lower abdomen, my heart raced.
I wondered, once he knew the secret, would he be happy or sad?
His phone rang. It was Victoria.
She asked why Ethan hadn't finished work yet, and why he hadn't come back to be with her.
The assistant, thinking it was me, teased, "What is it?
Are you henpecked? Is the wife rushing you?"
"How could it be her?
She'd better never contact me again. She makes me sick."
The assistant realized she had misspoken and tried to smooth things over: "Dr. Wright, you and your wife... I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"
Ethan continued the grim task of piecing my corpse back together.
His tone was ice-cold, dripping with disgust.
"You didn't know, so I don't blame you. That bitch better disappear from my world. I never want to see her again. I wish the person lying on this table right now was her!"
My Ethan is a smart man. That's right—the person lying on that table is me.
Then, his fingers pressed down on my lower abdomen. He found it.
Inside me lay another little life, though it had only just begun to take human form.
Ethan and I had been married for seven years. Finally, we had a child of our own.
Fate plays cruel tricks; I had planned to tell him the good news on his birthday.
Ethan was my only family in this world, the absolute love of my life.
I had firmly believed that even if every other man in existence cheated, he never would.
He was with Victoria only because I couldn't conceive. I refused to accept any other reason.
Ethan carefully extracted the tiny fetus and handed it to his assistant, ordering her to send it to the lab along with the other samples.
Soon, he would know he was a father. It just wouldn't be me telling him.
Chapter 2
It didn't matter anymore. He would have other children. I'd heard Victoria was pregnant, too; her baby was probably about the same size as mine had been.
The phone rang again. Ethan's jaw tightened as he suppressed a surge of rage. I knew better than anyone how much he hated being interrupted while he worked.
It was my best friend, Jessica Davis.
I hadn't shown up for work in days, and I hadn't answered any of her texts.
She couldn't find me; she must have been worried sick.
"Emily Carter? Yes, that's my wife,"
Ethan said, his voice clipped. "What? She didn't show up for work? What does that have to do with me? She's a grown woman. Does she need a babysitter now?"
Ethan was clearly impatient, but his upbringing kept him from simply hanging up. "Pregnant?
That's impossible. Isn't she..." He trailed off, likely about to mention my infertility, then sighed.
"Fine, I get it. I'll go check on her when I have time."
I'm so sorry to trouble you again, I thought. I really hadn't expected Jessica to call him.
But then again, who else could she call? I didn't have any other family left.
As I watched Ethan work through the night, a heavy sense of guilt settled over my heart.
It was a pity. Even Ethan, the most brilliant forensic doctor, couldn't completely piece my body back together after a whole night.
Actually, I can't blame him.
The killer was inexperienced at dismemberment, and with the rain, many fragments of my body were lost forever.
Plus, my head had been severed from my body. Even Ethan would find it hard to realize it was me right away.
Impatient as ever, Victoria had already come to the Police Department looking for Ethan.
Come to think of it, this must be the first time I've actually seen this woman.
Yet, she felt so familiar. Where had I seen her before?
Ethan finished his work and walked out, bumping right into Victoria, who had come to offer comfort.
Everyone at the Police Department was busy with their own tasks. No one welcomed her, but no one chased her away either.
It was as if they had all made a silent pact to ignore the warning signs.
"Ethan, you didn't come home all night," Victoria said softly. "I made you some chicken soup. It's still hot."
Victoria was so thoughtful—far more attentive, at least, than I had ever been.
I tried my hand at cooking once, but I was a disaster in the kitchen. Ethan had despised the result.
"Why are you here?"
Such a gentle voice. I hadn't heard that tone in a long time.
It reminded me of the beginning. When Ethan and I first got together, he used to treat me with that same tenderness.
But as time went on, everything between us had just turned ice cold.
The chicken soup looked delicious; even I found myself craving a taste.
If I were a man, I'm sure I'd be drawn to someone as warm and gentle as Victoria, too.
"Don't you realize you're pregnant?" Ethan chided, though his tone was thick with doting affection.
"You should be lying down and resting right now."
A bitter ache spread through my heart.
Victoria offered a shy smile.
"My husband has been working hard all night. It's just a little soup; it's no trouble at all."
They really looked like a perfect match.
In that moment, I even felt that my death was justified.
I was the obstacle standing between them.
I blamed myself for not disappearing from their world sooner.
The funny thing is, I used to think Ethan had some unspeakable reason for being with Victoria.
If Ms. Sterling is there to keep Ethan company after I'm gone, that's not so bad. At least he won't be lonely.
The assistant took the evidence collected from my body to the lab.
On her way out, she accidentally knocked over the chicken soup Victoria had served for Ethan.
The assistant looked apologetic. Even though she was the one who got scalded, her first concern was whether Victoria had been burned.
In that split second, I saw the rage on Victoria's face.
Especially in those eyes, wide and piercing with fury.
My mind exploded with a loud boom.
Chapter 3
That expression, that woman—I had seen her before.
I remembered now.
As I was dying, through the haze, I saw that look. I could never forget it.
In that pitch-black room, I was tied to a chair, being violated and tortured.
The door opened, shooting a beam of light inside.
That woman stood silhouetted against the light.
The leader of the gang leaned toward her, his posture deferential.
"Boss, listen... the boys haven't had any action in days. We couldn't help ourselves, so..."
Even though the woman was heavily disguised, I knew who she was. It was Victoria.
"It doesn't matter. You did well," she said coldly.
"Defiled like that, she won't have a scrap of dignity left to haunt Ethan, even in death."
"Boss, what do we do now?"
"Make her disappear. Disappear forever!"
That was the last thing I saw before I died.
The murderer was standing right there, next to Ethan!
Panic flared in my chest—would Victoria harm Ethan, too?
Then, almost immediately, I felt stupid.
Victoria would definitely be good to Ethan, as long as no one found out she killed me.
If my disappearance could trade for Ethan's safety and happiness for a lifetime...
Then what was there to lose?
In that second, I actually made a wish: I hoped my head would never be found.
I hoped the DNA results wouldn't come through.
I hoped they wouldn't discover the murderer.
That way, I would have just vanished into thin air.
Victoria left. Ethan looked at the chicken soup, then put down the bowl.
He sat there quietly, lost in thought.
"Where did this bracelet come from?"
David from Forensics was packing up my belongings when Ethan, snapping out of his daze, happened to see it.
Ethan picked out that bracelet from the messy pile of items in the cardboard box.
The bracelet had been corroded beyond recognition by concentrated sulfuric acid.
"Is this the victim's bracelet?"
David from Forensics was startled by Ethan. After all, Ethan was usually gentle and refined; he never got this agitated.
"Yes, Dr. Wright. Why?
Have you seen it before?
Can you provide any clues?"
But when he noticed a trace of glue on the bracelet, he set it back down.
Ethan smiled. "Oh, it's nothing. My eyes must be playing tricks on me."
Sure enough, he didn't recognize it. That was mine.
He knew I was allergic to glue.
But what he didn't know was that, allergy or not, I could never bear to take it off.
He gave me that bracelet when we first met.
It cost him three months' salary. For those three months, he lived on nothing but instant noodles.
Thinking of this, the corners of my mouth lifted involuntarily.
But that was nearly a decade ago, wasn't it?
It's only normal that he doesn't remember.
Ethan glanced casually at the other items in the evidence box.
The few belongings I had left in this world.
There was a lab report that hadn't completely dissolved yet.
It was my pregnancy test report.
But the spot where the name should be had been corroded away.
It was because of that paper that I had so desperately wanted to live.
It was proof of the vibrant life inside me.
When Ethan saw it, there was a genuine look of pity in his eyes.
If he knew these things were mine, would he look at them with pity then?
After all, he never touched my things.
That included me, of course.
We were married for seven years. In the beginning, he was good to me, doting even.
But starting from the third year, Ethan changed.
He treated me with all kinds of disdain.
He never touched me again.
That was when Victoria appeared.
At first, I thought Ethan was just chasing the thrill, that he'd come back to me in a few days.
But ever since Victoria entered the picture, Ethan had been devoted to her.
So had my mother-in-law.
The moment she realized I couldn't conceive, she turned on me. She openly urged Ethan to divorce me and bring Victoria into the family to take my place.
Ethan had actually tried to reason with me about it. He swore he still loved me, insisting that Victoria was nothing more than a vessel to carry on the family line.
He claimed he was dealing with difficulties he couldn't speak of.
But behind my back, he promised Victoria that he would definitely divorce me.
Ethan wasn't a player, but I could no longer tell which of his words were true and which were lies.
Soon, the DNA results came out, and the assistant took the report.
But the name listed in the victim column on the report was Alice Green.
But this body was clearly me, Emily!
Chapter 4
I looked at the corpse, feeling a bit dazed myself.
It was definitely me.
How could I not recognize my own body?
Yet the autopsy report stated clearly in black and white that the owner of this body was Alice.
Ethan clearly froze when he saw the deceased's name.
I didn't know what he was thinking, but his brows were tightly knit.
Captain Wilson, who was in charge of the case, patted Ethan on the shoulder.
The two men stood in silence, yet they seemed to be exchanging information.
They locked eyes, their gazes filled with emotions I couldn't decipher.
"Dr. Wright, you've been grinding away at this for days. Why don't you go home and get some rest? I'll call you the second anything comes up."
The Captain's tone was thick with concern, but beneath it lay a distinct layer of apprehension.
He sounded afraid that Ethan might snap, or do something irrational in the heat of the moment.
It was strange. I had never once heard Ethan mention the Captain's name before. Were they really that close?
Then again, it made sense. There was so much I didn't know.
A bitter smile touched my lips.
After all, Ethan spent more time with Victoria.
It was normal that I hadn't heard about it.
I followed Ethan home.
Back to the home he shared with Victoria.
The decor here was exactly to my taste; even the placement of every item was identical to how I would have arranged it.
Victoria was lounging in front of the TV, wearing gym shorts and a simple T-shirt that accentuated her curves, cradling a half-eaten bag of chips.
Potato chips.
It had been so long since I'd allowed myself one.
Terrified of losing my figure and earning Ethan's disdain, I had never dared to touch such greasy, salty indulgences.
Besides, Ethan had said that he hated obese corpses the most.
All that greasy fat was a real test of a medical examiner's patience.
The stench of rotting fat was nauseating.
That fear had ruled my life.
I never relaxed, never dared to let even a single extra pound settle on my frame.
Starving myself for days on end became my routine.
And yet, in the end, my reward was Ethan calling me "flat as a board," looking at me with utter disgust.
Victoria's face lit up the moment Ethan walked in. She sprang up from the sofa and threw her arms around his neck.
"Hubby, you're finally back! If you'd stayed away any longer, I would've forgotten what you look like."
She punctuated her greeting with a loud kiss on his cheek.
I silently turned my face away.
If it were me, I'd prefer Victoria's personality too.
Fiery, passionate, and full of life.
Unlike me, always gloomy and depressed.
They looked like a match made in heaven, so perfect for each other.
Ethan stroked Victoria's hair affectionately.
"You've gotten thinner while I was away. I can tell you haven't been taking care of yourself."
"No way, how could that be?
I'm a grown woman, I know when to eat. I'm thin because I've been lovesick."
Victoria playfully bit Ethan's lip.
"My Lord, you look delicious. Why don't I just eat you up?"
"Is that so?
My Lady, cannibalism is against the law."
Ethan was beaming, the air thick with sweetness.
Victoria leaned in, pretending to take a bite.
Ethan didn't dodge; instead, he pulled her waist tighter against him.
He met her lips, planting a soft kiss on Victoria's mouth.
Just as Ethan was about to deepen the kiss, Victoria pulled away.
"You rogue! Trying to take advantage of me? No way!"
A scene like this had never occurred in the home I shared with Ethan.
As a bystander, I almost wanted to applaud their love.
Whenever Ethan came home to me, he would either crash immediately or busy himself with work.
It was as if I were air, left out in the cold by him.
Sometimes I wanted to talk to him, but the moment I got the first word out, I'd be met with his cold stare.
He hated being disturbed when he was focused.
So, at home, I gradually became a mute.
I even started to feel relieved that I was the one who died.
As long as the police didn't discover the truth, they could live happily ever after.
And I, the superfluous one in this world, could leave without any lingering attachments.
Just as they were getting intimate, Jessica called.
Chapter 5
Victoria snatched the phone first.
"Hello? Ethan is busy right now. He's not available."
"Victoria, put Ethan on the phone. I have business with him."
"What business?
You can tell me first. I am the love of his life, after all."
Ethan looked at Victoria's antics with a mix of helplessness and affection.
He made no move to stop her.
"Cut the crap. Put Ethan on the phone."
Victoria's face darkened as she handed the phone to Ethan.
She turned her back and muttered a curse.
I was foolish enough to think Jessica didn't know Victoria existed.
Now it seems Jessica was just pretending not to know her every time we met, all to protect my fragile pride.
"What is it?"
Ethan was visibly annoyed by the interruption, but civility won out. He swiped to answer.
"Do you even realize your wife is missing?"
Jessica’s voice pierced through the speaker.
"Aren't you worried at all? Or are you too busy messing around with other women?"
"Ethan, do you have a heart?
Emily gave up everything for you.
A living, breathing human being is gone, and you don't even care?"
"I really misjudged you," she spat.
"I don't care how reluctant Emily was; I should have forced her to divorce you years ago."
Jessica's relentless barrage of accusations made Ethan’s scowl deepen.
"Who knows where that woman is?" he snapped.
"She's probably out fooling around with some guy!"
She ran away for a month last time and came back eventually, didn't she?" Victoria leaned into Ethan's embrace, listening to their conversation.
She couldn't hide the smug look on her face.
"She takes my money but can't be a decent housewife, messing around outside thinking I'll come looking for her? Keep dreaming.
She'd be better off dying out there. It would end everything once and for all!"
I knew Ethan hated me, but hearing him actually say those words still brought a suffocating wave of sadness.
My heart had already been gouged out, yet I still felt the ache.
Victoria seized the chance to chime in: "Ethan, stop wasting your breath on her. I saw Emily hugging some man on the street the other day. She probably ran off with him. You can't be soft this time—you have to divorce her."
Jessica must have been furious on the other end, screaming into the phone.
Ethan's face went pale, then dark.
After hanging up, Ethan slipped out to the balcony while Victoria was cooking in the kitchen.
He held his phone, hesitating for a long time.
Finally, he dialed my number.
But it rang and rang with no answer.
He called several times in a row, but still, no one picked up.
"Where the hell did that woman go?"
Ethan cursed under his breath.
To my surprise, I actually saw worry in his eyes.
An illusion. It had to be an illusion.
Why would Ethan care about me?
He lit a cigarette.
Watching the last light of the sunset fade away.
His cigarette burned down slowly.
After a moment of hesitation, he called a colleague in forensics.
"Lucas, I need a favor. Could you please track Emily's location for me?"
Lucas Miller. I had a vague impression of him. He was Ethan's junior in college.
They had a falling out a few years ago and hadn't spoken in a long time.
I never thought I'd see the day Ethan would swallow his pride and ask Lucas for help. Especially not for me.
"Ethan?" Lucas’s voice dripped with mockery.
"I didn't think there was anything the famous Dr. Wright couldn't handle. I thought you were untouchable. Yet here you are, begging a 'useless' guy like me for a favor."
Ethan's expression went cold. I could see the rage simmering behind his eyes, but he forced it down. When he spoke, his tone was low and controlled.
"Yeah, I'm out of options. Please. Help me find Emily's location. I'd appreciate it."
"Husband and wife fighting so bad it's come to this?"
Chapter 6
"Ethan, what did you promise me? Have you forgotten your vow to treat Emily right?
And now you don't even know where Emily is?
Is this your idea of being a husband?"
Facing Lucas's accusations, Ethan chose silence, finally speaking only after a long pause.
"Lucas, I'm begging you. Please help me find the last place Emily was seen."
The sigh on the other end of the line was deafening.
"Fine. But this time, I hope you treat Emily right. If you dare hurt her again... Ethan, I'm warning you.
If there's a next time, I won't step aside."
Ethan wanted to say more, but any words at this moment felt pale and powerless.
With Victoria's urging in the background, Ethan hung up the phone.
He took one last hard drag on his cigarette.
He stubbed out the butt and casually jammed it into a flowerpot.
That move of Ethan's would have definitely enraged me.
In the past, I would have absolutely screamed at Ethan for that.
But when Victoria saw it, she simply picked up the butt with care and tossed it in the trash.
Not a single word of complaint to Ethan.
It turns out that in places I couldn't see, Ethan was under so much pressure.
And the wife who should have been the most understanding and tolerant chose not to accommodate him when he faced that pressure time and again.
Instead, I offered endless accusations.
It was such a trivial thing in life, hardly worth mentioning.
Yet I used every single one of those trivialities to corner him.
I couldn't help him in his career, yet in our personal life, I demanded he do everything my way.
In this moment, I even found a reasonable justification for his affair.
Ethan's drifting away wasn't solely one person's fault.
Born with a weak character, I found an outlet for my frustrations in Ethan.
Pushing him further and further away.
Victoria was like a spring breeze, blowing open the doors to Ethan's heart.
What right do I have to demand love from a man I pushed to the brink?
After dinner, Victoria nestled in Ethan's arms.
I had fantasized about a scene like this countless times.
But in the end, it was always just a pipe dream.
I've heard people say that what men truly crave really comes down to just a few things.
If he doesn't get them at home, he'll find them in another woman's home.
How true that is.
But I'm glad. Ethan is truly happy when he's with Victoria.
So what do I have to regret?
As the police continued their search, most of my dismembered body parts had been found.
However, they hadn't found my internal organs.
Because those valuable organs had long been spoken for.
If they hadn't found two of my limbs, my death might never have been discovered.
At midnight, Ethan woke up beside Victoria.
He had to go back to the Police Department for overtime, to process those body parts that once belonged to me.
Victoria rolled over, a bit grumpy from being woken up.
She mumbled, "Overtime again? Is it so hard to just want my wonderful husband to hold me while I sleep?
I'm going to blow up the Police Department tomorrow."
Moments later, the soft, steady rhythm of Victoria's breathing filled the room.
In the past, whenever Ethan had to work overtime in the middle of the night, I would be up instantly, having everything ready for him.
I never complained. I never asked him to stay.
Because I didn't dare.
All I could do was quietly watch his retreating figure.
I used to count the seconds it took for him to get downstairs.
Then, standing at the window, I would wait for that one certainty—knowing he would always look back at me once and wave goodbye.
Chapter 7
But all Victoria had to do was lie in bed and complain a little, and Ethan didn't get angry in the slightest.
Instead, he gently tucked her in, got dressed, and went to work overtime.
At the Police Department, Ethan stared at the severed arm, lost in thought.
Based on the anatomy, the professional and brilliant Ethan would realize that these were clearly parts from two different bodies.
So the name in the initial autopsy report wasn't wrong after all.
It was just that my body had been mixed up with Alice's.
The newly discovered limbs forced the forensics lab to re-examine every single body part.
Processing so many fragments would take time.
Ethan must be working so hard right now.
My heart ached; if I hadn't died, Ethan wouldn't be working overtime late into the night.
Why couldn't I have just died without a sound?
Why couldn't the last traces of me in this world just vanish along with me?
I stayed with him for as long as he worked.
Even a thankless little task like this would have been a luxury for the old me.
After staying up all night to finish the autopsy report, Ethan rubbed his eyes as he walked out of his office.
He ran right into Lucas.
"Ethan, you really know how to put on a show. Emily's phone is clearly at your house, yet you still asked me to help find it?
What exactly is your game?"
Lucas was fuming, feeling as though Ethan had played him for a fool.
But from his words, I picked up on something else.
It turned out that in the department's personnel records, Ethan had long since changed his address to the one he shared with Victoria.
Ethan, I knew you didn't love me, but I never imagined that to the outside world, I wasn't even worth mentioning.
It was as if the whole world knew Ethan didn't love me, and I was the only one deluding myself.
"What did you say?
Emily's phone is at my house?
But she doesn't even know..."
Ethan seemed to realize something and stopped mid-sentence.
He glanced at his watch; Victoria probably wasn't home at this hour.
Ethan rushed home as fast as he could.
After searching for a while, he found my phone.
It was in Victoria's bag.
The battery was dead.
It wouldn't turn on.
Ethan sat on the sofa for a long time clutching the phone, his eyes rimmed with red.
I had used that phone for eight years.
Ethan had bought it for me before we got married.
Even though it lagged and the battery drained fast, I could never bring myself to replace it.
Ethan had shown me so little kindness.
How could I not cherish every bit of it?
He murmured, "Emily, please be okay. I beg you, wait for me. Just wait a little longer."
I didn't know what he wanted me to wait for.
Since my death, I realized I didn't understand Ethan at all.
He was like a riddle, and I had only seen the tip of the iceberg.
At the sound of the lock turning, I knew Victoria was back.
Ethan quickly regained his composure.
Holding up the phone, he demanded, "Where did you get this?"
Victoria glanced at the phone, seemingly not recognizing it as mine.
She answered casually, "I found it on the street. I haven't had a chance to tell you the good news yet. I was shopping the other day and just happened to spot it, so I picked it up. I figured the owner must be worried sick, but unfortunately, the battery is dead."
"Where did you find it?"
Ethan's tone had never been so icy; it sent shivers down the spine.
Chapter 8
Victoria dropped her playful expression, looking up at Ethan with wide, innocent eyes. "Why are you being so mean? It's just a phone. It's not like I stole it."
Victoria draped her arms around Ethan's neck, her voice dripping with coquettish charm. "What? Is the great Dr. Wright going to have me arrested? Just over a cell phone?"
Panic flickered in Ethan's eyes. He couldn't admit that he had asked Lucas to track the phone's location, nor could he reveal that the phone belonged to me.
"This phone belongs to the victim. The GPS signal led right to our house. Where did you find it? That location could very well be the crime scene."
Ethan had merely invented a pretext, unaware that his words would turn out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"That case? You mean the dismemberment case?"
Ethan froze. "How do you know about that?"
The atmosphere instantly turned ice-cold.
Victoria couldn't meet Ethan's gaze, looking as though her deepest secrets had been laid bare.
Realizing her slip of the tongue, she quickly tried to cover her tracks. "Oh, I saw it on the news the other day. I was just guessing. Why are you taking it so seriously?"
"The dismemberment case is highly sensitive. We haven't released a single detail to the media. How could you possibly have learned about it from the news?"
Ethan yanked Victoria up from the sofa, enunciating every word.
"Where exactly did you get this phone?"
Victoria had never seen Ethan look so ferocious; I could even hear the thumping of her heart.
She looked like a frightened little rabbit. After being roughly hauled to her feet by Ethan, she stood there in shock, her eyes rimmed with red.
"Ethan, I... I was wrong. Please, just let go of me first, okay? You're hurting me."
Ethan released his grip on Victoria's arm. She rubbed the spot tenderly, looking utterly pitiful.
"That day, Emily came to see me. She tried to force me to leave you, and we got into an argument. She hit me. The phone... she must have dropped it and forgotten it in the chaos. I wanted to tell you, but I'm the one in the wrong. I knew you had a wife and a family, yet I insisted on being with you. If Emily hits me, I have no right to complain."
Victoria wept with the delicate beauty of a pear blossom bathed in rain, evoking pure pity.
She knew I was dead. Now, with no witness to testify against her, as long as no one discovered my body, she could deceive everyone with her lies.
I had never even met Victoria, so how could I have gone to see her, let alone force her to leave Ethan?
Yet now, I actually hoped Ethan would believe her nonsense.
I didn't want him getting dragged into any more conflicts because of me.
"Ethan, I really can't live without you. I'm willing to pay any price, even if people spit on me and call me a homewrecker. Please, just don't leave me."
Victoria buried her face in her hands, sobbing. "Ethan, I know I've wronged Emily, but the chances of finding true love in this life are so slim. Meeting you was my greatest stroke of luck. How could I possibly stand by and let another woman take you away from me?"
She had voiced the very words I never dared to say to Ethan.
Having been introverted since childhood, I never had the courage to express my feelings to Ethan.
I was afraid—afraid that I would become a burden to him.
Ethan was my true love, too.
But I never dared to beg him to stay in such a way.
I was terrified that it would only make him despise me more.
That he would see me as clingy and difficult.
Now, it seemed, I might have been wrong.
Ethan gently pulled Victoria into his arms.
Chapter 9
He spoke gently: "Silly, I promised you I would divorce her. Can you just give me a little more time?"
Standing behind Ethan, I saw Victoria smile a wicked smile.
It looked as if her scheme had succeeded.
So be it.
Now that I was dead, I wouldn't have to be the discarded "starter wife"—the woman who had struggled alongside him through the hard years only to be tossed aside when success finally came.
In the future, when he married Victoria, no one would whisper behind his back.
No one would brand Ethan an ungrateful scumbag who abandoned his loyal wife and child.
Remarrying as a widower carried no moral stain. It was clean.
There was no doubt in my mind that Victoria would destroy my phone soon.
That way, Ethan would never discover the true depth of my feelings for him.
The evidence of my pregnancy would be crushed right along with the device.
No one would ever know.
I was just breathing a sigh of relief at all these coincidences.
Then new information came in from the forensics lab.
I had forgotten—the unborn child had also been sent for testing.
Undoubtedly, the child's DNA showed a match with Ethan.
This was a major development.
The unborn fetus inside the victim belonged to Dr. Wright.
The impact of this news was enough to destroy Ethan's career.
Ethan was summoned back to the Police Department once again.
But this time, it wasn't for overtime.
It was for interrogation.
Inside the interrogation room, Ethan was given preferential treatment.
He wasn't strapped into the interrogation chair like other suspects.
Judging by Ethan's expression, he was just as confused and stunned.
"What is your relationship with Alice?"
The officer across from him asked; even as colleagues, they had to follow protocol.
"I don't know Alice."
"Then how is she carrying your child?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?
Dr. Wright, the evidence is irrefutable. Don't try to deny it."
Ethan wasn't that kind of person at all. This was all a misunderstanding. I never imagined my death would bring him so much trouble.
The young officer pressed him hard, seemingly eager to pin the crime on Ethan.
But aside from saying he didn't know, Ethan couldn't offer any defense.
The young officer took a deep breath; inexperienced as he was, he didn't know how to proceed with the questioning.
The more experienced officers didn't want to wade into this mess either.
With the interrogation yielding nothing, Ethan was temporarily detained.
But this wasn't a solution.
After Ethan had been held for three days, he was interrogated again.
This time, the man sitting across from him was Lucas.
"What, are you out for my blood?
Did they send you to interrogate me?"
Ethan still had the heart to crack jokes.
But I knew it was just helplessness.
I'm sorry.
Once again, I've dragged you into this mess.
"I know it wasn't you, but you need to tell me what you know."
Lucas's words seemed to offer Ethan a glimmer of hope.
But Ethan just shook his head and said helplessly, "But I really don't know anything."
"Ethan, is it possible that you got drunk and had inappropriate relations with Alice, and you just don't remember it because of the alcohol?"
In Lucas's eyes, Ethan was never a decent man, because he had abandoned me to be with Victoria.
But those words felt like a mockery, and they enraged Ethan. "Heh... Hahahaha! Lucas, are you trying to kick me while I'm down?
You're framing me. You clearly just want to pin this on me."
Ethan impulsively tried to rise from the interrogation chair, but the officers at his side held him down.
He seemed to radiate an unspeakable mix of grievance and rage.
Lucas signaled the officers with his eyes, telling them not to be too rough on Ethan.
"Lucas, don't think I don't know you've been secretly in love with Emily for years, coveting another man's wife. But you can't frame me for this. I don't know anyone named Alice, and I have no idea why she has a child with my DNA!"
"Instead of investigating the truth, you just want to force a confession out of me?
You bunch of incompetent cops. If it weren't for your incompetence, how could..."
The secret was on the tip of his tongue.
But at the very last second, Ethan regained his composure.
He slumped back into the chair, like a deflated balloon. "I'll say it one more time: I don't know any Alice, and I don't know why she has my child."
As his words trailed off, the light of hope in his eyes dimmed.
How I wished I could speak in his defense.
But as I was now, there was nothing I could do.
Except cause him trouble.
"Ethan, think carefully. If it wasn't you, can you provide any proof?"
Lucas's words drew a laugh from Ethan. "Lucas, so now people who haven't committed a crime have to prove their innocence and provide evidence that they didn't do it?
Don't you find that ridiculous?"
Lucas lowered his gaze. After a long pause, he spoke slowly, "Ethan... brother, please, just think. Can you provide an alibi?"
When it comes to the rules, insignificant people can only adapt; they cannot fight back.
Trapped within this massive cage, even he had to bow his head now.
Seeing Lucas acting so uncharacteristically, Ethan tried hard to recall his alibi for that day.
He realized now that within these absurd rules, Lucas was just an insignificant individual too.
Lucas wasn't mocking or ridiculing him; he truly wanted to clear his name.
"That day, I was following Victoria. Unfortunately, I lost her."
Ethan's shoulders slumped. He knew Lucas was someone he could trust.
Telling him this secret was better than being detained.
"You were following Victoria?
Isn't she your... Why?"
Lucas couldn't believe it. He wondered just how many secrets the Ethan standing before him actually held.
I was equally shocked.
He clearly loved Victoria so much. Why on earth would he be stalking her?
"Ethan, can you explain in detail?"
"Lucas, it's best if you don't know about this. I don't want to get you involved. The less you know, the safer you are."
"Ethan, did you... are you involved in... Alright, I understand. I'll go get Captain right now."
Lucas knew about this too?
I asked myself this: even though I'd been married to Ethan for seven years, it seemed I was just an outsider.
I knew absolutely nothing.
Soon, Captain and Lucas entered the interrogation room together.
Under Captain's orders, everyone except the three of them was cleared from the room.
Except, of course, for me—whom they couldn't see.
Captain sat down, looking very serious. "Lucas, Ethan, this matter is of grave importance. Only the three of us know about it."
Lucas nodded, his gaze steely and determined.
Ethan, however, gave a bitter smile. He was trapped in this game with no way out.
"Ethan, your wife, Emily, is dead."
