As I was being rushed onto the operating table, I clearly heard his conversation with his friend.

"David, isn't this a bit too much?"

"Come on, everyone in our circle knows Annes is allergic to sleeping pills. Back when you were chasing her, you even posted about it on social media and warned everybody."

"You're actually going to use this on her? How is this any different from killing your wife for insurance money?"

David let out a cold laugh, his voice laced with hatred and resentment.

"So what? She always looked down on me, acting like she was better than everyone. That child is mine, yet she insisted on giving them her last name—humiliating me in front of the whole world."

"Her dying is perfect. She was the only heir to The Brassies anyway—sooner or later, it’s all coming to me. Besides, Ellie just found out she’s pregnant a few days ago. Now I can finally bring her back and make her the rightful lady of The Brassies."

Memories from my past life flooded my mind and instantly numb my body to coldness. I shivered, the fear coursed from my head to toe.

"Dad, Mom, let him kneel if he wants to. Even if he jumps into the river and begs me to come back, this marriage is over," I said it coldly.

My parents sighed, but they didn’t argue.

My parents witnessed me growing up, I was stubborn as hell. Once I had set my mind on something, not even a team of wild horses could drag me back.

The same thing happened when I decided to marry David. This time, my decision to divorce him wouldn't be any different.

Mom was terrified I’d suffer after the divorce, she wiped away tears she couldn't hold back. I stared at my parents' faces, lined with age. Weariness was clear in their eyes—and that made my heart ached more.

In my past life, my parents went mad trying to uncover the truth after my death. It wasn’t that long when they, too, were gone—killed in a car crash just like that.

The entire Brassie family was wiped out in a matter of months. The company, the family fortune—hundreds of millions—ended up in David’s hands.

He put on a show of mourning, acting like a grieving widower. Behind closed doors, however, his mistress was already pregnant and he had the audacity to move her into my house, sleeping in my bed.

The thought of it made my fists clench.

I turned to my mom and reassured her. “Don’t worry about me. Leaving David is the best thing I can do—for me and for my child.”

“And besides…” I pause, then dropped the real bombshell. “In two weeks, I’m marrying Elijah.”

Mom’s head snapped up, her face frozen in shock. “What did you just say?”

“Sweetheart, marriage isn’t a game. And why Elijah all of the sudden?”

My mom looked at me, worry deep in her eyes. “We raised you to be loyal in love. Don’t mess around with something this serious!”

My mom was so anxious that her face turned pale. She thought I was the one who had cheated and now I was getting divorced because of Elijah.

In truth, Elijah was just helping me out.

I smiled and said, “Mom, if I told you the baby was Elijah’s, would you hit me?”

My mom lunged at me with a feather duster, almost swinging it at me, but a strong hand grabbed it in mid-air.

It was Elijah.

Dressed in a sharp suit, he looked confident and poised, standing tall and handsome. He glanced at me, then smiled warmly at my mom and said, “Auntie, if you’re going to hit someone, hit me. It’s all my fault, don’t blame Annes.”

He stood protectively before me, looking like he was ready to shield me from anything. Something about the way he did it somehow made my mom’s anger fade halfway.

“You two are unbelievable... I tried to get you together from the start, but neither of you would listen. Now look at this mess... sigh!” she lamented.

Elijah had been my childhood best friend, the boy next door who grew up with me. Three years ago, my mom was adamant about getting us together, but I was stubborn and set on marrying David.

To this day, Mom still believed that David was the one who caused the rift between us. What my mom didn’t know though... was that David not liking women.

If anything, David was less of my childhood friend and more of my best girlfriend.

I need to get rid of David as soon as possible. That was the reason I had to come up with a drastic plan—having Elijah play the role of my so-called “lover.”

It had been a bit chaotic, but the moment my mom realized I finally ended up with Elijah, she was overjoyed. She practically skipped off to start planning our wedding.

Elijah came with me to register Parry’s birth certificate sorted out. On our way to the General Registry, he glanced at me and asked, “Are we really doing this? What’s the plan if it backfires?”

I waved him off impatiently. “First, I get the divorce. Then, I take back everything David took from me. We’ll figure out the rest later.”

Elijah didn’t seem too concerned. Instead, he held Parry close, completely smitten, rocking him gently the entire ride.

“Be good, Parry. Say ‘Daddy,’ let me hear it.”

I punched him in the arm. “Hey! Don’t corrupt my son.”

Elijah scoffed. “Annes, don’t be ungrateful. I’m putting in the hard work playing your husband—if nothing else, I at least deserve some credit. What’s the harm in letting your kid call me ‘Dad’?”

I stared in disbelief as Elijah tried to hoist my son onto his shoulders for a ride. This man was supposed to be a suave, powerful CEO. He usually looked so cool. But the moment he saw a kid, it was like his brain short-circuited.

I handed over Parry’s birth certificate to the government agency. The staff asked for my son's name.

I answered, “Parry Brassie.”

Hearing that name, my heart suddenly felt hollow. Memories of my past life, of what happened after my death, came rushing back.

Back then, David had agreed to let the baby take my last name. At least on the surface. But not long after I died, he dumped Parry in an orphanage.

Someone had tried to reason with him. “Come on, David, he’s still your son. Do you really have to be this heartless?

He’ll be treated like a real orphan. Kids like that get bullied. He’ll have a miserable life!”

David just scoffed, his voice ice-cold. “A kid with someone else’s last name isn’t my son. He’s just a bastard.”

Then he turned, wrapping his arm tenderly around Elinor. Resting his ear against her swollen belly, he smiled, full of affection.

“My son will only come from Ellie.”

I had seen it all, in my soul form, unseen yet boiling with rage. I wished I could tear him apart right then.

That was when I finally understood: whether Parry carried David's last name or mine, he was always destined to be discarded.

Because the woman David truly loved—the one he had been hiding all along—wasn’t me. It was his so-called “distant cousin.” His first love.

Parry and I had never been anything more than stepping stones in his climb to the top.

After finishing the paperwork for Parry’s birth certificate, I dealt with everything else on call with my lawyer. To my surprise, when I stepped outside, I walked straight into David.

David’s arm was linked with a young woman in a way that was unmistakably intimate, as if they were shopping together in the mall.

I could already feel the bad vibes and as I walked past them, holding Parry in my arms, Elinor called out.

“Well, if it isn’t Annes! My cousin-in-law!”

Elinor approached with a forced cheerfulness but gave me a pointed look before turning her gaze toward Elijah.

“Annes, you and my cousin haven’t even gotten divorced yet and here you are with someone else? Found a new man already?”

I didn’t want to play in her game, so I tried to just leave with Elijah. However, in the blink of an eye, David stormed up, his face pale with rage and started swinging punches and kicks at Elijah.

The thing was, Elijah had been practicing self defense since he was a kid. He easily dodged David’s attack and landed two solid punches in return.

“I’ve been wondering why my wife suddenly wants a divorce! So it’s you who’s been seducing her! You piece of trash! You shameless fox!”

David’s eyes were bloodshot as he yelled at Elijah.

“The kid is mine! My wife is mine! Stay the hell away from her, or I’ll break your legs if I ever see you with her again!”

I couldn’t help but click my tongue. “Seems like we’ve run into a mad dog on the way.”

“David, if you keep acting like this, I won't hold back and called the police!” I warned, unable to hide my frustration.

I signaled my stationed bodyguards to move. They immediately stepped in to block David’s path.

The moment he realized the bodyguards moved in my order, David immediately changed his acts. His anger vanished, replaced by a desperate, pleading tone.

“Anne, I looked into it. That paternity test was fake, wasn’t it? Parry is my son, right? You faked the test just to keep him from taking my last name, didn’t you?”

“You didn’t have to go through all that trouble. I told you before—I love you. If you had just stood your ground, I would’ve agreed.”

“What’s the big deal? Parry can have your last name, fine! Just stop this nonsense. Don’t make a scene and embarrass us. Come home with me.”

David spoke as if he were being the bigger person, as if I were the one making a fuss. He even reached out, trying to take my hand.

I lifted my gaze to Elinor. A flicker of resentment flashed in her eyes, too quick for most people to notice, but I caught it.

She quickly masked it with a sweet smile. “She’s right, Annes. My cousin loves you so much—he’d pull the stars from the sky for you. Why can’t you just see things from his perspective?”

I let out a sharp laugh.

“From his 'perspective'? You mean the part where he was secretly sleeping with you and keeping you tucked away in another apartment?”

The words had barely left my mouth when the entire room fell into stunned silence.

David’s face went deathly pale as he stared at me. “My dear, what are you even talking about? Elinor is my cousin!”

He had fed me the same lie in my past life.

He told me Elinor was just a distant relative from his great-aunt’s side, that she had no family in this city and had come to the capital city looking for support. He even asked me to be kind to her, to help her settle in.

I believed David—right up until the day I died.

I remembered how, after my death, Elinor had shredded my wedding photos. How she had dumped my ashes down a drain. And how, in the end, she finally spoke the truth.

"Annes, you really were pathetic in this life. While you were pregnant, excited for your baby, your husband was in my bed every single night, unable to get enough of me.”

“The 500,000 you gave him? He handed it straight to me as an engagement gift. He promised me that if I gave him three years, he’d be rich enough to marry me instead.”

“You’re pitiful, really. You spent your whole life trusting the wrong man. Lost everything—your money, your life, even your child.”

That was when I finally understood. From the very beginning, they had planned everything. They had always intended to drain my family dry and leave me with nothing.

“Cousin? Do you really think I don’t know the truth?” I scoffed, my voice cold. “David, do yourself a favor and drop the act. If you keep scheming for things that don’t belong to you, don’t come crying to me when you end up losing everything.”

***

For days, David kept showing up outside my parents’ house, insisting on taking me back.

They told him, over and over, that my mind was made up—I was divorcing him. But he refused to believe it.

I was beyond frustrated with his harassment, so I finally posted on social media, officially announcing my divorce.

Moments later, I got a message from Elijah.

[Check the local news right now—David just overdosed. He tried to kill himself!]

My heart skipped a beat. I quickly opened the news. The bold headline hit me like a slap, making my head spin for a moment.