"Everyone knows you're the burger girl at that late-night diner—his beloved crush who stayed by Elijah's side through his three years of downfall. He treats you like you matter more than his own life.

"I could help you fake your death and disappear, but the risk is enormous. What's in it for me?"

Elijah Tuckett's archrival, Casper Keeton, took a slow sip of brandy, his eyes gleaming with mockery as he looked at Nathaly Bowden.

"What you've always wanted—30% of the Tuckett Group shares under my name."

Nathaly's voice was hoarse but steady, as if she were discussing some trivial supermarket discount.

"And one more thing. Before I leave, you'll arrange another abortion for me."

Her words froze him in place. His smirk vanished, replaced by stunned silence.

"You're insane! Elijah's been seen with that little songbird lately—his former fiancée, right? I heard her family went bankrupt, and she ended up working as a hostess.

"But in our circles, everyone has a pampered lover or two. She's no threat to your position as Mrs. Tuckett. Why even care?"

Why even care?

Nathaly's lashes trembled. Images of her mother, Brenda, bleeding out on the operating table, dying in agony just last night, flashed through her mind. Her heart twisted like it was being cut open.

"If you won't do it, I'll find someone who will."

A chill swept over her. She stood to leave.

Casper scrambled, pulling out the stock transfer agreement.

"Eight billion dollars! It'll hit your account in a few hours. I'll stage an accident to help you disappear. As for the abortion..."

Nathaly signed her name with a quick, practiced stroke and walked out.

Her hand gripped the doorknob when Casper finally voiced the question gnawing at him.

"It's your own child. How can you bear it?"

The words hit Nathaly like a sledgehammer, leaving her heart a bloody mess.

She froze, her face pale with pain, but in the end, said nothing. She pushed open the door and left.

The composure she'd forced herself to hold shattered as soon as the elevator doors closed.

Five years ago, the Tuckett family went bankrupt. Elijah's parents died tragically.

Elijah himself was nearly killed by enemies and fled to the slums, where Nathaly, flipping burgers at the diner beside her mute mother Brenda, saved him.

Later, at the Tuckett Group's relaunch party—

A socialite mocked Nathaly for her persistent greasy burger scent. Elijah cut off the woman's words right there, all because Nathaly feared marriage, and he'd proposed 99 times, chipping away at her anxiety bit by bit.

Even Brenda was moved to tears, using sign language to urge her daughter to accept.

For two years after the wedding, Elijah spoiled Nathaly like a princess.

Even his buddies teased, "Good thing Nathy doesn't like stars—otherwise Eli would be learning rocket science!"

Nathaly thought her happiness would last forever.

Until six months ago, when she stumbled upon Elijah kissing his ex-fiancée, Nicole Fridley, at the club.

When she confronted him, Elijah's handsome features were hidden in shadow, his voice low and unhurried.

"Nathy, people like us need to mix things up once in a while."

Nathaly couldn't stop the tears.

"Let's get divorced."

Elijah just laughed, his lips curling into a possessive, wicked smile.

"Honey, not a chance. You're mine—always."

Nathaly tried to send him divorce papers three times.

The first time, Elijah locked her in the primary bedroom for five days and nights, going through ten bottles of lube.

The second time, the Tuckett Group pressured every lawyer in town until none dared take her case.

The third time, she drafted her own agreement, but crashed her car on the way to deliver it.

When she woke up, the doctor told her she was three weeks pregnant. She touched her belly and finally gave in.

Elijah returned to his old, loving self. Nicole vanished from his side.

"It's just something trivial," Elijah said coldly, feeding Nathaly peeled grapes.

But during Brenda's heart surgery, Elijah pulled every doctor in the city away—for the sake of that "trivial thing"—and Brenda died on the table.

Nathaly broke. She staggered to find Elijah, only to overhear the truth outside his hospital room.

"Eli, it's just cramps. You don't have to go all out. Today's your mother-in-law's heart surgery—shouldn't you be with Nathaly? She's pregnant..."

Nicole's voice faded, her eyes misty. "After all, Nathaly's carrying my first baby, too."

Nathaly's mind exploded.

The usual cold edge in Elijah's eyes had melted away, leaving only tenderness as he held Nicole and soothed her softly.

"If Nathy weren't so hard to get pregnant, you wouldn't have had to donate your eggs and go through IVF with me just to help me keep her around. The Tuckett family owes you a favor.

"As for Brenda, I already arranged for the best doctors. Don't worry, today I'm all yours."

Nicole squealed with delight, throwing herself into his arms, pouting playfully.

But outside the hospital room, Nathaly felt like she'd fallen into an icy abyss, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.

So... the child she'd cherished for four months was actually Elijah's and Nicole's?

All of Elijah's efforts to keep her had been only so she could carry a child with no blood ties to her at all.

"Elijah, how could you be so cruel?" she thought, her heart splintering with every beat. Staggering, Nathaly forced herself to leave.

As she followed the nurse escorting Brenda's shrouded body to the morgue, she brushed past Elijah, who was whispering into Nicole's ear.

Nicole instinctively tried to glance her way, but Elijah didn't even turn his head. He gently covered Nicole's eyes, his voice cold and dismissive.

"Dead people are filthy."

Those words stabbed straight through Nathaly's heart.

She didn't even have the strength left to question him. It felt as if her heart had stopped the moment she learned the truth.

She never wanted to feel love for Elijah again.

When the elevator reached the first floor, the alert for eight billion dollars hitting her account jolted Nathaly from her memories.

She wiped away her tears and stepped outside.

But before she could steady herself, the cold barrel of a gun pressed against the back of her head.

Elijah's voice, rough and dark, sounded behind her. "Honey, you went behind my back to meet my most hated rival. I think you owe me an explanation."

Nathaly lowered her gaze, a bitter mix of resentment and irony welling up inside her.

So, he hates being betrayed, too?

But he knows everything.

Back in her senior year of high school, Nicole's brother, drunk behind the wheel, killed Nathaly's father. The Fridley family used their influence to keep him out of prison.

Nicole herself, relying on her family's power, spread rumors about Nathaly at school, accused her of sleeping around, targeted her at every turn, and even threatened to run Brenda over.

In the end, Nathaly was forced to give up her stellar grades and drop out.

And yet Elijah still chose Nicole.

After the anger faded, a deep sense of helplessness took over. She lifted her eyes to him, her voice numb and flat.

"There's nothing to explain."

Elijah froze, her pale face and reddened eyes reflected in his dark pupils.

Suddenly, his expression softened. He tossed the gun to a nearby bodyguard.

"I was kidding."

He pulled her into his arms, his voice dripping with honeyed affection.

"I know my honey loves me most. You went to the Keeton Group today just to get back at me for not being there when Brenda had her accident, right?

"It's all my fault, babe. To make it up to you, I've arranged a grand funeral for Brenda. I'll take you there now."

Her gaze lingered on the love bites along his neck, and Nathaly's heart turned cold.

She wanted to spit out that he didn't deserve forgiveness, but in the end, she didn't cry or argue. She just got into the car with him.

She only wanted to say goodbye to Brenda in peace.

As for Elijah, she was done with him forever.

The funeral was already crowded with mourners.

In the center of the gathering, Nicole stood out—her hair adorned with a white flower, dressed in a long black dress, clutching Brenda's portrait to her chest, her almond-shaped eyes rimmed red from crying.

Nathaly's teeth chattered as she strode forward and snatched the portrait from Nicole's arms.

"Who told you to come? Get out."

Nicole shrank back, her shoulders hunched, her voice timid. "Nathaly, I just wanted to apologize again to Mrs. Bowden and you for what happened years ago..."

Her voice trembled, but her eyes gleamed with mockery as she looked at Nathaly.

"Mrs. Bowden lived her whole life in poverty and barely had any happiness before she passed. It's really a shame."

Nathaly's tone was ice-cold. "If you're so sorry, then get on your knees and bow to my mom 99 times."

Nicole's face went rigid, her lips pressed tight as she glanced at Elijah for help. "Eli..."

Elijah's voice was cold and detached. "Didn't you hear what my wife said? Leave. Now."

He sounded annoyed, but completely ignored Nathaly's demand.

Nicole's eyes sparkled with triumph, her gaze at Nathaly full of challenge.

Nathaly let out a bitter laugh.

"Elijah, I said 99 bows! Isn't she pretending to seek forgiveness? I'm giving her the chance!"

She looked Elijah straight in the eye, her voice firm.

Elijah gazed back, his eyes a mix of resignation and irritation.

"I told you, don't make it too hard on her. You don't want Brenda's funeral turning ugly, do you?"

He was threatening her—for Nicole's sake.

Nathaly felt her heart squeezed tight, but she swallowed the bitterness.

"Fine."

Seeing her relent, Elijah quickly signaled his assistant to escort Nicole away.

The other guests, unaware of the real story, whispered among themselves, marveling at how much Elijah adored his wife.

Each word stabbed Nathaly's heart, leaving her bleeding inside.

Throughout the entire ceremony, Nathaly didn't exchange a single word with Elijah.

Even after it ended, she deliberately avoided riding in the same car with him. But to her surprise, Elijah followed her.

He waved off the driver and took the wheel himself.

"Honey, remember how we used to love driving by the river after closing up shop at three in the morning?"

The setting sun cast a golden glow on his handsome profile, making Nathaly's heart skip as memories surged back.

Back then, they had nothing, yet life felt warm and full.

One night after closing, a torrential downpour stranded their minivan. Nathaly, dealing with menstrual cramps, had fallen asleep in the passenger seat.

Elijah didn't wake her. He placed a heat pack on her stomach, wrapped her tightly in a raincoat, and carried her four kilometers home through the storm.

When Nathaly woke up, she found him burning with fever from the rain and scolded him for being reckless.

"There was an umbrella in the van. Why didn't you go home first?"

His cheeks were flushed, but his eyes sparkled like a puppy's.

"Elijah would never leave Nathy behind. Not ever."

A screech of brakes jolted Nathaly from her half-doze.

Before she could open her eyes, the car fishtailed sharply to the right.

The passenger side slammed into a truck that was barreling toward a pedestrian up ahead.

After the violent crash, Nathaly sluggishly lifted her head, blood streaming down her forehead.

Through her blurred vision, she saw Elijah—the man who'd once promised never to abandon her—not even glancing her way.

Instead, he rushed from the driver's seat, his face frantic, and scooped up Nicole, who had fainted in the chaos.

Nathaly's already numb heart clenched painfully. Fighting the stabbing ache in her abdomen, she staggered out the driver's side, skirting the crushed passenger door.

The truck driver, who'd been furious moments before, was startled by the blood pouring from her head.

"Miss, are you okay?"

Even a stranger cared enough to ask, but her own husband had forgotten all about her.

She watched Elijah's retreating figure, her voice dry and hopeless.

"Could you please call me an ambulance?"

As soon as the words left her lips, her strength gave out, and she collapsed.

When Nathaly woke up, her bandaged forehead still throbbed with a dull ache.

She lowered her gaze, gently touched her slightly swollen belly, then absentmindedly pulled out the IV and got up to leave.

As she passed the stairwell, she overheard Elijah's close friend—the hospital's deputy director—speaking to him in a hushed, urgent tone.

"Eli, Nicole only fainted from low blood sugar today, and you left Nathy behind to take care of her. Do you realize if Nathy had arrived even half an hour later, she would've lost the baby?"

"Are you really falling for Nicole? Have you forgotten that the Bowden family was ruined by the Fridleys? How can you do this to Nathy?"

Elijah's tall frame was hidden in the shadows, the burning tip of his cigarette flickering in the dark, making his already narrow eyes look even colder.

"I can't let Nikki go. She's the baby's biological mother."

His voice was chillingly calm.

"I love Nathy, but Nikki's been in love with me for eight years. Yes, she made mistakes when she was young, but now the Fridley family is bankrupt. They've paid the price.

"And Nikki never wanted to compete with Nathy for anything. I gave Nathy the status and power of being Mrs. Tuckett, and Nikki's child will be my heir. It's fair."

His friend was at a loss for words.

"So before you had Nathy undergo IVF, you deliberately ordered the doctors to perform five consecutive curettages?! Any miscarriage would cause massive bleeding—she'd lose her uterus."

"That way, even if she found out the truth later and wanted to terminate the pregnancy, it would be impossible."

"But did it ever occur to you that, when Nathy finally learns the truth, even if she can never have children again, she'll leave you forever?"

Another brutal truth slammed into Nathaly's already shattered heart, leaving it raw and bleeding.

She froze, mind blank.

She hadn't expected Elijah to block off even her final escape.

She shook with rage, wanting to confront him, but stopped short when she heard Elijah's next words.

"Nathy won't leave me."

Elijah's lips curled in a twisted, confident smile.

"Her mom is gone. I'm the last family she has left in this world. And unless I die, I'll never let her go."

A chill raced from Nathaly's feet to the top of her head. Suddenly, she realized Elijah truly was insane.

She had to pretend she didn't know anything—and get away, fast.

She forced herself back to her hospital room, just as a nurse arrived to change her bandages.

"Ma'am, your wound has stopped bleeding, but we need to do a CT scan to double-check everything."

Nathaly didn't think twice.

She followed the nurse to the MRI room, but as soon as she lay down, the nurse locked her onto the table.

Then she stuffed a wad of gauze into Nathaly's mouth, pushed her into the narrow, claustrophobic machine, and left without another word.

Nathaly's heart sank. Something was wrong.

She struggled desperately, trying to call for help, but heard the nurse lock the door and warn others that the room was under maintenance and not to approach.

In an instant, Nathaly was left alone in the vast, shadowy room.

The suffocating terror of claustrophobia wrapped around her like a tidal wave.

Her body, rigid and bound, began to tremble uncontrollably, panic carved into her bones.

It felt just like senior year, when Nicole and her clique had stripped her, drenched her in filthy kitchen waste, and locked her in the metal casket of the school's basement biology lab.

She'd been trapped there for three days and nights.

After that, Nathaly developed severe claustrophobia.

Four years ago, Elijah spent half their savings on therapy for her, finally helping her escape the trauma of her youth.

Now, she felt herself back in that suffocating casket, her breath coming in rapid, damp bursts that were nearly choking her.

And worst of all was the throbbing pain in her belly—and the humiliating, urgent need to pee that she couldn't ignore.

It wasn't until Nathaly had been trapped for seventeen hours that a suspicious on-call doctor finally unlocked the door and rescued her.

Under the harsh, blinding lights, Nathaly—severely dehydrated—felt the room spin.

Her legs were so numb she couldn't even stand upright, forced to brace herself against the wall for support.

The room was filled with noise, voices overlapping, and then someone snickered.

"Oh my god, she wet her pants. That's disgusting!"

A shrill, familiar female voice slapped Nathaly awake from her daze.

She looked up and met Nicole's triumphant gaze.

Nicole stood before her, makeup flawless down to every hair, her smile dazzling and cruel.

"When you were sobbing and begging for help like a dog, Eli and I were together."

With those words, Nathaly instantly understood Nicole was behind it all.

Shame and rage burned in her cheeks, and her eyes reddened as she turned fiercely toward the gawking doctors and nurses.

"I'm the wife of the CEO of Tuckett Group, your hospital's largest shareholder. Call the police immediately. I demand a full investigation into last night's gross negligence!"

Nicole's smug expression faltered, panic flickering across her face.

But at that moment, Elijah arrived with his bodyguards. In seconds, the crowd cleared out.

Elijah shielded Nicole behind him, watching as Nathaly was forcibly pressed into a wheelchair by the guards.

His eyes were dark, a hint of violence beneath his brows, but also a trace of helplessness.

"It was just a girl's prank. Why take it so seriously?"

Nathaly, already disillusioned, felt that final sentence pierce her to the core.

She laughed, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Elijah, today you have to choose—me or her."

After five years together, it was the first time Elijah saw such hopelessness and exhaustion in her face.

It was as if she had nothing left to hold onto in this world.

Elijah's pupils trembled, but his reply came cold and dismissive.

"Come on, don't be childish. As long as I'm here, no police station will dare take this case."

That single sentence shattered the last shred of hope in Nathaly's heart.

She let out a furious, bitter laugh. "What if I demand an answer today?"

A flash of frustration passed through Elijah's deep eyes.

"You wouldn't dare."

As soon as he finished speaking, one of his bodyguards stepped to the window, pulling back a black cloth to reveal Brenda's urn.

Nathaly's fingers dug into her palm so hard that it felt like her soul was trembling with pain.

"You're threatening me with my mom?!"

Elijah's gaze was dark as he walked over with a blanket, his movements gentle as he draped it over Nathaly.

"Don't touch me!"

Nathaly slapped him hard across the face, her voice raw and broken.

"Elijah, I should never have saved you. I regret ever loving you."

But Elijah didn't get angry; he continued to tuck the blanket around her as tenderly as before.

Only when he heard Nathaly's words did his expression turn icy, his whole presence growing so cold it seemed to freeze the air.

"Honey, just be a good Mrs. Tuckett. Never even think about leaving me."

Nathaly heard Elijah whisper in her ear, his voice soft as a lover's murmur.

"As punishment, you're grounded for a week. Rest and recover at the villa.

"Take Mrs. Tuckett home!"

All of Nathaly's electronic devices were confiscated.

Twenty-four hours a day, bodyguards shadowed her every move, reporting Elijah and Nicole's whereabouts to her in real time.

As if to provoke her, Elijah and Nicole spent the entire week flaunting their romance, doing everything a couple would do.

Nicole loved roses, so Elijah ordered 99,000 roses from around the world to build her a castle made entirely of blooms.

The Tuckett family's rules forbade tattoos, but when Nicole merely liked a tattoo design on social media, Elijah had that exact pattern inked over his heart.

They kissed on a windswept shore at the edge of the world.

Deep in the rainforest, Elijah bought the naming rights to a newborn elephant and christened it "Nikki."

As the bodyguards reported all this, Nathaly was busy tearing apart the villa.

On the first day, she dragged out all of Elijah's custom suits—worth millions—and burned them.

On the second, she ordered the peach tree in the courtyard—the one hung with their love knot—chopped down, and had the lily field Elijah had planted himself dug up.

On the third day, she threw every gift they'd exchanged over the years into the shredder.

That night, Elijah returned to the villa.

He swept in, tall and imposing in his trench coat, a chill clinging to him. His eyes were icy as he tossed a diamond necklace onto the dining table.

With a mocking tone, Elijah said, "Nathaly, Nicole, and I are just having fun. When I'm done, I'll come back to the family. Why do you have to throw a tantrum and force me home now?"

Nathaly finished the last ravioli Brenda had made before she died, her voice calm and distant. "This is the necklace Nicole didn't like, isn't it?"

Nicole had added her on a burner account, so Nathaly knew more about their relationship than even the bodyguards did.

She had just posted on Instagram, complaining that the necklace was old-fashioned and only suited for middle-aged women. Right after that, Elijah brought it home and gave it to Nathaly.

"So what?"

Elijah scoffed, his dark eyes cold and bottomless.

"Have you forgotten you're just a burger-joint girl who never even finished high school? You only got to live this life as a society wife because of me. What are you still being so dramatic about?"

Her heart, already lifeless, was pierced once more, the pain draining all color from Nathaly's face.

Her lips trembled, but her throat tightened so much she couldn't get a word out.

Back then, when the rich kids mocked her background, Elijah had sworn it never mattered to him.

But now, this was how he really felt, wasn't it? He'd never respected her—she was just a caged songbird to him.

The phone rang, shattering the suffocating silence between them.

The moment Elijah saw the caller ID, his expression softened.

"Nikki?"

Nicole's syrupy, babyish voice came through the phone loud and clear.

"Eli, my knee still hurts so much. I just checked and it's all scraped up... It's your fault for wanting to get wild, insisting we do it in front of Nathaly's mom's grave—"

The last thread in Nathaly's sanity snapped.

Shaking with fury, she grabbed the vase from the table and hurled it to the floor.

"You filthy bastards! Get out!!"

The thought that even after death, Brenda was being humiliated by the son-in-law she once loved filled Nathaly with utter despair.

"If only I'd known..." Nathaly thought to herself.

"I should have let you die in that alley that night..."

Her eyes were bloodshot, her thin body too weak to stay upright.

In the next instant, as Elijah stared at her in shock, Nathaly collapsed and lost consciousness.

Nathaly had only fainted from low blood sugar and emotional exhaustion, but Elijah summoned every doctor in the city for her.

Watching the all-too-familiar scene unfold, Nathaly felt nothing but contempt.

For the next two days, Elijah barely left her side.

When Nathaly ignored him, he forced Nicole to come and apologize.

"Nathaly, I'm sorry. I was just joking around with Eli that day," Nicole said, her voice reluctant and insincere.

Nathaly shot her a cold glance and walked straight out to the car.

Elijah didn't dare stop her, so he simply followed in another car.

Nathaly sold all the jewelry Elijah had given her for anniversaries, pawning it off for cheap.

Casper had told her, on the day she'd fake her death, she couldn't take anything that could link back to her current identity—so she needed cash.

As Nathaly sold each piece, Elijah trailed behind, buying them back one by one.

It wasn't until he saw the engagement ring he had designed two years ago in the hand of a beggar that he finally realized something was wrong and blocked Nathaly's path.

"Honey, are you short on money lately?"

Nathaly replied coolly, "Charity work."

May it bless me with a life in which I never have to see you again.

Elijah breathed a sigh of relief.

"Perfect timing. There's a charity gala tonight at seven at Blue Mountain Resort. I'd canceled your invite, but some of your close friends will be there. Do you want to go catch up with them?"

Nathaly wanted to refuse, but those women were among the few who'd been kind to her since she entered high society.

She owed them a proper goodbye.

That evening, Nathaly and Elijah arrived at Blue Mountain Resort together. During the ride, Nicole sent Elijah hundreds of messages.

He glanced at Nathaly's face, ignoring Nicole's texts.

At the gala, Elijah stuck to Nathaly's side, completely disregarding Nicole, who watched him from across the room with silent tears.

Nathaly didn't care; she went straight to her friends to reminisce.

The event ended late, and on the way home, Elijah got a call from the resort staff.

"Mr. Tuckett, there's trouble—Ms. Fridley got drunk and fell into the pool. She's unconscious!"

Elijah's expression changed instantly.

"I'm coming right now."

He hung up, turning to Nathaly. "Honey, I'll send another driver for you. Wait here for a bit."

He reached to help her out of the car.

Nathaly stared at him. "Is there really no room for me?"

A flicker of guilt passed through Elijah's eyes, but he remained firm.

"You've never liked Nicole. She's drunk now, and I don't want her to throw up and upset you. Another driver will be here in five minutes. You go home and rest."

With that, he forcibly pulled Nathaly out of the car, shut the door, and sped away.

Nathaly stood there, her eyes full of bitter irony.

He thought he was being discreet, but half an hour earlier, Nicole had sent Nathaly a taunting message from a burner account.

"Eli only pretends to care about you to keep me safe from your bullying. Tonight he's working with the resort staff to ditch you halfway and come back for me—our first anniversary."

Attached were dozens of intimate photos of Nicole and Elijah kissing, tangled together.

"These past few days, Eli only comes to me when you're asleep. Sometimes we even do it right by your bed after you take your sleeping pills... You're so lifeless in bed, only I can make him lose control."

Seeing these messages, Nathaly felt nothing but cold amusement and disdain.

But in the next moment, a tall masked man grabbed her, clamped a hand over her nose, and dragged her into the towering bushes nearby.

He was ruthless—before she could cry out, he raised a hammer and brought it down on her swollen belly.

The first blow left Nathaly speechless with pain, hot blood gushing under her skin.

But the man didn't stop. He kept swinging—13 times in all.

By the end, Nathaly's stomach was nearly caved in, broken ribs puncturing her skin. Only then did the man seem satisfied.

He leaned close to Nathaly's lifeless face, laughing maniacally in her ear.

"I was the one who ran down your old man years ago. Now I get to crush the little bastard in your belly myself—what a rush, hahaha!

"I'm letting you live as a warning. You were born poor, born to suffer. You'll never be a society wife, and you'll never steal my sister's man. The Tuckett family's heir will only come from her!"

Through the haze, Nathaly heard sirens and frantic voices, growing louder and fainter all at once.

She was rescued by a passerby and rushed to the hospital.

She didn't know what the doctors said—only Elijah's hysterical screams echoed in her ears.

"...Save them both! The baby and Nathaly!"

His face was wild with panic, sweat soaking through his perfectly styled hair.

Nathaly hadn't seen him so desperate in years.

When Elijah saw her looking at him, his eyes reddened, and he moved to check on her, but a bodyguard rushed in and blocked him.

"Bad news, Mr. Tuckett—Ms. Fridley was so distraught after hearing about Mrs. Tuckett that she overdosed in a suicide attempt!"

Elijah's face changed again. He didn't hesitate—he turned and ran.

As soon as he was gone, Nathaly grabbed the doctor's coat with all her remaining strength and whispered, just before slipping into darkness, "No... I don't want the baby or my uterus... Take them both..."

When Nathaly woke from the pain, Elijah's close friend—Steven Robinson, the hospital's deputy director—had just finished changing the bandages on her wounds.

Her gaze drifted calmly over the jagged 30-centimeter scar across her now-flat stomach. Nathaly's voice was hoarse as she spoke.

"Does Elijah know?"

Steven looked guilty, searching for an excuse, but the moment he met her clear, lucid eyes, he gave up.

He shook his head.

"...Nicole swallowed an entire bottle of sleeping pills. After they saved her, she hasn't stopped crying. Eli's been so worried she might try again, he hasn't left her side."

"Can't come, can't even ask?" Nathaly thought bitterly.

She found it laughable, but didn't care enough to argue.

"About the baby... could you wait until the day after tomorrow to tell him?"

She had just received word from Casper—the plan was set. She would fake her death at midnight tomorrow.

Steven didn't think much of it and agreed before leaving.

Not long after, Elijah burst in, breathless, and pulled Nathaly into a fierce embrace.

"Honey, I thought I was going to lose you!"

He was shaking with relief, his voice trembling with joy.

"Thank God, you and the baby are both safe!"

As he spoke, he reached to lift Nathaly's hospital gown to check her wounds, but she pushed him away.

He thought Nathaly was just being stubborn, so he tried to explain patiently.

"I know I've neglected you these past few days, so I've cleared my schedule for the next month. I want to take you on vacation, help you recover. Is there anywhere you want to go?"

Nathaly remembered the options Casper had given her for the fake death and made up her mind.

"I want to take the cruise we went on for our honeymoon."

She gazed out the window, her dark hair clinging to her pale, thin cheeks, and her voice barely above a whisper.

The next evening, Elijah wheeled Nathaly onto the ship.

The cruise had been custom-built for Nathaly by Elijah, and now, aside from the essential staff, there were over a thousand professional performers on board, all there to entertain her.

Knowing she'd soon be free, Nathaly found herself in good spirits, watching every show with genuine enjoyment.

Seeing her happy, Elijah generously handed out $20,000 bonuses to every performer.

The entire theater erupted in cheers.

At 9:30 that night, Elijah pushed Nathaly's wheelchair back to the penthouse suite. On the way down the corridor, they ran into the captain, who had been waiting for them.

"Mr. Tuckett, to make it in time for the fireworks show you arranged for Mrs. Tuckett, we need to depart now."

Elijah nodded. "Let's go."

But before they could continue, his bodyguard rushed over, phone in hand, face grim, and whispered urgently in his ear.

"...Ms. Fridley is missing. The suspect matches the description of the man who attacked Mrs. Tuckett. A nurse saw people from the Keeton Group lurking near the hospital..."

Elijah instinctively turned to leave, but stopped short when he remembered Nathaly behind him.

"Go find her," Nathaly said softly.

For the first time in a long while, she gave him that bright, radiant smile—the same one she used to wear when they were deeply in love.

Elijah's eyes reddened, his Adam's apple bobbing as he finally made a promise.

"This is the last time. Once you're well, I'll send Nicole overseas. From then on, it'll just be the two of us."

Nathaly nodded.

But as soon as Elijah left, the smile vanished from her eyes.

"Elijah, there is no future for us," she thought.

Elijah mobilized nearly the entire city's police force and finally rescued Nicole from a cabin in the woods, 40 kilometers from the port.

Minutes later, photos of him carrying Nicole onto a helicopter, cradled in his arms, shot to the top of the trending searches.

Ten minutes before departure.

Nathaly asked her bodyguard to leave, saying she was hungry.

Five minutes before.

Nathaly neatly placed the abortion paperwork, a torn-up marriage certificate, and the USB drive containing the truth about Brenda's death on the coffee table in the suite.

Three minutes before.

Nathaly recorded a video on her phone, set to send to Elijah on a timer.

One minute before.

Nathaly stepped onto the empty deck, the sea breeze whipping her black hair around her face.

She lifted the hem of her white dress and climbed barefoot onto the railing.

Looking down at the dark, churning waves, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief.

As the clock struck midnight, Nathaly leaned back and let herself fall into the sea.

At that exact moment, fireworks exploded across the sky.

The dazzling bursts and Nathaly's slender, falling figure were reflected in Elijah's eyes as he raced toward the cruise ship in a speedboat nearby.

In that single instant, his soul shattered.

"No—!"