The house that once housed a family of three became the setting for a cold drama when Darius brought in another woman, Clara Gomes, who had been Gwen’s classmate and the fiancée of Darius’s best friend—a man who had died in an accident just before their wedding day.

The woman was deeply depressed because she had been abandoned twice by her first husband, who was abusive, and had become pregnant before her marriage to her second fiancé.

She attempted suicide but failed because Darius saved her. When she woke up, she suffered from selective amnesia and recognized only Darius, believing him to be her husband.

To preserve Clara’s fragile sanity, Darius pretends to be her husband. He takes over the identity of his own wife, Gwen, and their daughter, then moves them to the back room of the servants’ quarters.

“Clara has suffered too much, Gwen. She’s been dealing with long-term depression due to domestic violence from her first husband, and Leon left a final message for me to protect Clara and her baby. Until the baby is born, I have to pretend to be her husband for now. As her close friend, you have to understand, Gwen,” Darius said without asking for Gwen’s opinion at all. His gaze then shifted to their little daughter.

“And Laina… she’s just a servant’s child in our house. She can call me ‘Uncle,’ but never let the word ‘Dad’ come out of her mouth.”

From that moment on, he brought Clara into their home and made his wife and daughter serve as maids in the house they had built together. Gwen and her daughter had to hide in front of Clara, treated like a mistress and a shameful illegitimate child.

Gwen endured in silence, for the sake of her husband’s best friend’s wife.

But it still hurt when Clara—whom she had once embraced and saved from the clutches of domestic violence at the hands of her first husband—treated her like a servant. She threw a pile of used clothes in her face.

“Take these. They’re too good for a servant like you. My husband just bought me new clothes that are more suitable for my pregnancy.”

Gwen struggled to restrain herself as she stared at the woman. Clara, wearing Gwen’s clothes and jewelry, twirled around the living room with a cheerful smile, showing off the gifts from her “husband.”

Before Gwen could respond, she saw Darius appear in the doorway and give her a sharp, warning look.

Gwen took a deep breath, trying to ignore the tightness in her chest as she clutched the used clothes in her arms.

“Thank you, Mrs. Reeds,” Gwen replied with her head bowed. Her throat felt like it was on fire.

Clara nodded proudly, as if she had just given a valuable new gift to an obedient maid. She looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. She smiled brightly and immediately rushed into Darius’s arms.

“Honey, you’re home!”

Darius’s expression froze for a moment, but a second later, he relaxed and returned Clara’s embrace with tenderness.

“Be careful not to fall. You’re pregnant; don’t move too energetically.”

“Hehehe, I’m just happy to see you.” Clara stood on tiptoes and planted a kiss on Darius’s lips.

Gwen’s face immediately tensed, her hands clenching into fists. The look in her husband’s eyes seemed to pierce her heart, commanding her not to make a scene.

Gwen quickly lowered her head, unable to bear watching her husband return another woman’s kiss.

Suddenly, the sound of small footsteps came from the side door.

Laina, their four-year-old daughter, stood there with droopy eyes from a fever. She hugged a shabby rabbit doll, seeking refuge in the only figure she recognized as a protector.

“Daddy…” the little voice called softly.

Darius and Clara immediately broke their embrace. Clara’s expression turned sour. She furrowed her brow, staring at the little girl in confusion.

“Dad? Who is she calling ‘Dad’?”

Before Clara could think further, Darius stepped forward. He didn’t pick up his daughter, but stood at a painfully formal distance.

“Laina, how many times has Uncle told you not to wander off while your mother is working?” Darius’s voice sounded cold, devoid of even a hint of affection. “Go back to your room.”

Gwen’s heart shattered into pieces as she watched the sparkle in Laina’s eyes fade, replaced by fear.

Her daughter was being forced into orphanhood right in front of her still-living father.

“Please forgive my daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Reeds. She’s delirious from a high fever. I’ll take her back to her room.” Gwen immediately pulled Laina into her arms. She glanced briefly at Darius before turning toward the darkness of the backyard.

That night, Gwen tended to Laina, who was shivering. Her daughter would sometimes wake up from nightmares and cry softly while clutching the hem of her mother’s shirt.

“Daddy… Uncle, please don’t be angry anymore… Laina is scared….”

Gwen’s heart was breaking. She began to wonder if enduring this silence was worth her daughter’s suffering.

Her eyes closed as the image of Darius returning Clara’s kiss right before her eyes—without hesitation and with such tenderness—flashed through her mind. He wasn’t acting; that tenderness was too real for a charade.

Gwen’s eyes snapped open as she realized the bitter truth she had been denying all along: Darius loved Clara. She had known it long before the fire even happened.

When Clara was first introduced, her cheerful nature easily charmed anyone. Darius could never take his eyes off her, describing her as a little bird that loved to chirp. The quiet man who never flirted with women suddenly loved to joke around with Clara.

Darius had even said that he hoped the baby Gwen was carrying would look just like Clara.

At the time, Gwen thought it was just a joke. She believed in their seven-year bond and their struggle to win the Reeds’ family’s blessing to marry.

She remembered that years ago, as an orphaned and impoverished student who’d received a scholarship from the Reeds, she’d caught the eye of the Reeds’ elite young master, who'd chased after her for years.

The Reeds didn’t like it and were worried that Darius’s interest was growing deeper, so they sent Gwen abroad on a scholarship. Unexpectedly, the young master—who was lazy about studying and spent his time playing video games—pursued her seriously, even following her abroad to study.

Darius demonstrated his commitment by graduating at the top of his class from Harvard University so that his family would see how seriously he loved Gwen, and he proposed to her on graduation day.

But seeing how things were now, Gwen realized that Darius’s heart had truly changed completely.

Darius’s attention toward Clara has gone beyond what is reasonable for a friend helping his best friend’s wife. He has completely taken over his best friend’s role.

As she stroked her daughter’s little face, Gwen no longer hesitated. She stood up and grabbed her phone from her vanity table, calling a lawyer she knew.

“Hello, Mr. Charles. I’d like to ask for your help in handling my divorce.”

[“Alright, Ms. Romano. Leave it to me; I’ll contact you once I’ve processed your divorce.”]

“Alright, thank you.”

“How is Laina?”

Darius’s voice suddenly came from behind her, startling Gwen. She calmly put her phone away before turning around.

The man finally appeared after the main house had gone dark. He stood in the doorway of Gwen’s cramped room, looking around cautiously like a man sneaking in to meet his mistress.

How ironic that reality was, considering Gwen was his lawful wife in the eyes of the law.

“Laina’s already asleep. She had a nightmare after you yelled at her earlier.”

“That’s why I’ve warned you to always remind Laina not to call me ‘Dad’ in front of Clara. It’ll make her suspicious and trigger her trauma, then her condition will worsen,” Darius replied flatly, glancing at his daughter sleeping soundly.

Gwen closed her eyes, her hands clenched into fists. She no longer expected an apology to come from Darius’s lips.

“I understand. This won’t happen again,” she replied coldly.

Darius stepped closer, embraced her from behind, and rested his head on Gwen’s shoulder. He exhaled gently into the hollow of his wife’s neck.

“Thanks for understanding, Gwen.” Darius smiled slightly and kissed her temple. Gwen gently turned away. She pretended to organize her students’ research journals.

“Go on. If Clara wakes up and finds you’re not by her side, this charade will fall apart, won’t it?”

“Uhm, you’re right.” Darius gazed at the side of Gwen’s face for a moment. For some reason, he felt his wife was now so cold and indifferent.

“Gwen, you….” Darius’s words trailed off as he heard the sound of a twig snapping outside the window.

When he looked out, he saw only the shadow of a cat passing by.

“I have to get back before Clara wakes up. She’ll worry if I’m not by her side.”

Darius didn’t realize that behind the tightly shut window of Gwen’s room, a pair of eyes was peering out with rage. Clara, who had woken up because she was thirsty, had apparently been following Darius’s shadow.

In her unstable mind, the sight of Darius entering the “maid’s” room was a betrayal against her.

The next morning, just as Gwen was about to leave for campus, her bedroom door was kicked open. Clara appeared, with the maids close behind.

“You insolent bitch!”

Without warning, Clara grabbed Gwen by the hair and yanked her until Gwen fell, landing on the cold floor.

The maids held her body down so she couldn’t fight back as Clara slapped and yanked her hair.

“Clara, what are you doing?!” Gwen screamed, trying to pry the woman’s grip from her hair. Her head ached as if her scalp were being torn from her skull.

The maids who had once respected her now helped Clara and held her down, letting her take every blow Clara landed.

“I saw you last night! You were seducing my husband in this very room, weren’t you? You took advantage of my kindness in letting you stay here and crawled into his bed!” Clara screamed hysterically, mercilessly striking Gwen’s face. “I gave you clothes, gave you and your child a place to live, and you repay me by stealing my man?”

Darius rushed in after hearing the commotion. Seeing the scene, he froze. Instead of defending his wife, he panicked at the sight of Clara, who had begun to sob while clutching her stomach.

“Clara! Calm down!” Darius immediately embraced Clara without glancing at Gwen, who was sitting on the floor with a bruised and injured face.

“Kick her out, Darius! She’s defiling our marriage!” Clara burst into tears.

Gwen stood up, her body trembling and in pain, “This is my home… I won’t leave. She’s the one who should leave—”

“Gwen!” Darius snapped, cutting her off with the coldest stare Gwen had ever seen. “Get out of here! Now!”

“Darius… are you serious?”

Darius snapped in overflowing impatience. “Just leave, okay? Before I actually drag you out!”

Gwen froze, her eyes burning until tears streamed down her face.

Why was she the one who had to leave her own home like a mistress caught cheating?

Seeing that Gwen wouldn’t budge, Darius ordered the maids to drag her out. She was roughly shoved out the front door. Her belongings were thrown onto the ground.

Not only her, but her daughter, who was still running a fever, was woken from her bed and forced out.

Laina cried, her face flushed from the rising fever, and was handed over to her.

Gwen’s heart trembled with anger and pain as she hugged her daughter tightly. A maid stood before her to announce Darius’s orders.

“Mrs. Gwen, Mr. Reeds says you must find temporary lodging. He will contact you again once Mrs. Clara’s condition stabilizes. You are not permitted to return to this house.”

Yet this was the home she had built with Darius from the very beginning of their marriage.

But now, her husband had kicked her and her daughter out for the sake of another woman.

Gwen bit her lower lip so hard it bled. Only Laina’s crying kept her from exploding and running inside to fight with Darius to defend her place in her own home.

She would only lose against Darius and end up hurting herself and her daughter if she stayed in that house.

Gwen had given up on her marriage. She was tired of pretending to satisfy her husband’s desire for redemption—a desire that only hurt her and her daughter. All she wanted now was a divorce and full custody of her daughter.

“I understand, I’ll leave and won’t show my face in this house again,” she said sarcastically to the maid, gazing at the house one last time before turning to leave with Laina in her arms.

Gwen finally found a temporary place to stay in a rented house.

Seeing her daughter, who was so vulnerable and running a high fever, constantly muttering “Daddy” was heartbreaking for Gwen to witness.

She paused for a moment before finally picking up her phone and calling an agency that helped her create a new identity.

“Hello, Mr. Smith, this is Gweneth Romano. I need help getting a fake ID and a plane ticket.”

[“Alright, Ms. Romano, I’ll get everything you need ready. We’ll call you back once everything is set.”]

“Thank you so much.”

Gwen ended the call.

Her eyes closed as memories from years ago flooded her mind. She was sobbing uncontrollably—pregnant hormones making her emotional—while watching a drama about infidelity. Darius sat beside her, massaging Gwen’s swollen feet on his lap. He sighed and handed her a tissue.

“What a heartless man!”

“Honey, stop crying. It’s just a drama.”

Influenced by the movie, Gwen asked a question. “If you ever betray me, I’ll leave you forever and take our child with me. You’ll never see us again.”

Darius chuckled, kissing her stomach. “How could I let you two go? I’m the last person who would ever betray you. And even if that happened, I’d kneel before you and beg you to come back. Even if you disappeared, I’d chase after you to the ends of the earth. Because you and Laina are my world. I can’t breathe without you.”

Gwen sneered softly, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Darius, I want to see if you’ll truly regret it if Laina and I disappear from your life.

Gwen wearily climbed into bed and hugged her daughter. “Sweetheart, you’re all I have now.”

Laina shifted in her arms, her tiny hands wrapping around Gwen’s neck as she patted her mother’s back as if she understood. Her small gesture tugged at Gwen’s heart. She hid her tears in the pillow as she hugged her daughter tightly.

A few days later, Gwen sent her resignation letter to the university.

Darius hadn’t contacted her at all since the expulsion.

After Laina had fully recovered from her high fever, Gwen took her daughter to the city park to lift her spirits after the little girl realized they weren’t in a home that felt familiar to her.

Laina was wearing her favorite white dress. Around her neck was a silver necklace with an angel wing pendant—a birthday gift from Darius a year ago. The necklace was a custom piece that Darius had designed himself as a symbol of his love, long before that nonsense turned his best friend into a husband and father to another family.

“Mom, look! Laina can climb up by herself!” the little girl shouted as she scaled the slide with a laugh that hadn’t been heard in a long time.

Gwen smiled slightly as she waved at her daughter, while her other hand held her phone, reading a message notification from her lawyer.

[Ms. Romano, your lawsuit is being processed. You are expected to wait for a one-month grace period.]

She was about to end the call when she noticed a black car she recognized well. The car stopped abruptly, screeching its tires near the park entrance, drawing her attention away from her phone.

Clara got out of the car. Her face was deathly pale, her eyes red and wild, as if she had just woken up from a nightmare.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding?” Clara stepped closer, ignoring the questioning stares from the people around the park. “Darius said you’d left town, but it turns out you’re still here, plotting something with this bastard!”

Gwen immediately stood in front of the slide, shielding Laina. “Clara, please stop this. We’re in a public place. Don’t drag a little girl into your delusions!”

Clara’s eyes were fixed on Laina’s neck. The silver glint from the pendant triggered an explosion in her head. “That necklace… It’s the same design as the ring my husband prepared for our baby! Did you steal it? Or did you seduce my husband into giving it to you?”

“I didn’t steal anything from you,” Gwen hissed sharply. “This necklace was given to me by Laina’s father—”

“She’s a thief! This bastard child has no right to wear my baby’s necklace!” Clara’s scream broke into hysteria. She lunged forward, shoving Gwen aside with unexpected strength for a pregnant woman.

Clara began climbing the slide. Her voice sounded terrifying to Laina’s ears, making the little girl cry in fear.

“Give it to me! Give me that necklace, you little thief!” Clara screamed as she yanked the chain from Laina’s neck at the top of the two-meter-high slide.

“It hurts, Mom! Dad… it hurts!” Laina screamed, her hands trembling as she tried to free herself from Clara’s grip.

Gwen climbed the slide and grabbed Clara’s legs, but Clara kicked her head, shoulders, and face without releasing her grip on the necklace around Laina’s neck.

In that rough, uneven tug-of-war, Clara shoved Laina’s tiny body hard so the child’s grip on the guardrail would slip.

Laina lost her balance. Her body hung in the air before crashing onto the concrete landing below the slide, landing awkwardly on her feet.

CRACK!

The sound of the fracture was so terrifying that it made the people in the park gasp.

Laina’s scream erupted, piercing the air, before finally fading into a faint whimper.

“Laina!” Gwen roared. She crawled over to embrace her daughter, who had turned deathly pale.

Laina’s left leg was bent at an unnatural angle. The skin on her neck was scraped and bleeding from the necklace that had been yanked off.

At the top of the slide, Clara stood, panting. She laughed as she clutched the necklace. There were traces of blood on the silver chain she had snatched from the innocent little girl’s neck.

“Look, Gwen! God isn’t sleeping! God is punishing this illegitimate child born of her mother’s sin!”

The roar of another car broke the silence. Darius arrived at the scene after being contacted by the driver who was escorting Clara. He ran into the playground with a face full of anxiety.

“Darius! Help!” Gwen screamed, tears streaming down her face. “Laina… her leg… please call an ambulance now!”

Darius froze for a moment, watching his daughter whimper in pain on the asphalt. But at that very moment, Clara slumped down and fell to the ground.

She clutched her stomach while moaning, “Darius… my stomach… she attacked me, she wants to kill our baby…”

Darius immediately pulled Clara into a possessive embrace.

“Darius! Are you blind?!” Gwen screamed, her voice hoarse from crying. “Open your eyes! It’s your own flesh and blood who’s been hurt by this crazy woman!”

“Gwen, I’ve told you time and again to watch your mouth,” Darius hissed, his jaw clenched, while the crowd began whispering and staring at them.

“Is that all you care about when your own daughter is seriously injured?! Fine, from now on, we don’t need you anymore. I’ll report this and take Laina to the hospital myself.”

With trembling hands, Gwen reached for her phone to call an ambulance.

But as soon as he heard the word “report,” Darius grabbed Gwen’s hand, snatched the phone, and smashed it on the ground until it was shattered. He gripped Gwen’s hand so tightly that she felt her wrist crack.

Darius stared at Gwen with eyes as cold as ice. “Shut up, Gwen. Don’t act like you’re the victim,” he hissed under his breath. He stood up, lifting Clara into his arms to leave.

However, the crowd immediately surrounded them, holding their cell phones up toward him and Clara.

Camera lenses pointed like gun barrels, their flashes blinding Darius.

“This woman pushed an innocent little girl until she was seriously injured!”

“How could you just walk away and leave that little girl hurt?!”

“That’s right, poor little girl—her leg looks broken!”

Insults began to rain down on Clara. Clara buried her face in Darius’s chest while clutching her stomach, her face pale. She glanced at Darius with a pleading and panicked look.

“Darius… ugh, my stomach hurts so much… will our baby be okay?”

Fearing that Clara’s condition was worsening, which could affect the fetus in her womb, Darius let out a heavy sigh.

He glared at the crowd blocking his path, then spoke in a low voice. “Don’t blame my wife. She’s the victim! And this woman…” Darius pointed at Gwen with an expressionless face, “…is my mistress. That child… is the result of an affair I had while my wife was struggling to recover from trauma.”

Gwen, who was clutching Laina’s body without paying any heed to the pain in her own wrist, looked up. She stared at the man who had been her husband for seven years.

“Darius… what are you saying?”

Darius didn’t look at her at all. His back seemed so cold and indifferent.

“Please make way; I need to take my wife to the hospital. If she has a miscarriage, you’ll all be held responsible for blocking our path!”

The crowd quickly dispersed and made way, letting the man pass while carrying his ‘wife.’

The narrative in the air did a complete 180. The atmosphere fell silent for a moment before murmurs filled with hatred began to shift direction and point at Gwen’s face.

People were taking brutal photos of her face. Some even started pulling her hair and hitting her with overflowing rage.

“Turns out she’s the mistress! No wonder the legal wife came and taught her a lesson!”

“She must be using her child to blackmail the pregnant legal wife!”

“That’s what a woman who ruins another woman’s life deserves!”

“Poor child, she has to suffer because her mother is a mistress!”

Gwen hugged her daughter tightly. She tried to cover Laina’s face and ears so the child wouldn’t hear the cruel insults that reduced them to mistresses and illegitimate children—a status created by the lies of the men who were supposed to be their protectors.

“That’s not true! We aren’t—”

Gwen’s defense was drowned out by the roar of the crowd that continued to insult her.

Seeing her daughter hurt and crying in her arms broke Gwen’s heart even further. She desperately searched for someone who could save her, but all she saw was her husband’s cold back growing increasingly distant as he carried another woman in his arms, shielding her as if she were a fragile porcelain vase.

Darius didn’t look back even once and immediately got into the car, leaving them behind.

Finally, the park guard arrived to disperse the crowd and called an ambulance to take Gwen and her injured daughter to the hospital.

Inside the cramped ambulance, Gwen held Laina’s hand as she continued to whimper in pain.

“Mom… it hurts…”

“I know, sweetie. The pain will go away once we get to the hospital, I promise…” Gwen wished Laina’s pain could transfer to her own body so her little girl wouldn’t have to suffer. She wiped the sweat and tears from her daughter’s cheeks.

“Daddy… Mom, why did Daddy leave me? Does he not want me anymore? Is it because I’m naughty?” Laina’s eyes were wet with tears and a sadness no child her age should have to feel.

Gwen kissed the back of her tiny hand. Her voice sounded hoarse as she was forced to calm her daughter with a lie. “Daddy just had to go because of an urgent job. Mommy will be with Laina…”

But the little girl’s gaze grew even more dim, as if she couldn’t be fooled.

Upon arriving at Reeds Central Hospital, the administrative staff member stared at the computer screen with a furrowed brow.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Romano. Your medical access has been suspended.”

Gwen’s eyes widened, and she screamed so loudly that people around them turned to look. She didn’t even notice the pain in her wrist, which she had fractured while slamming her hand on the reception desk.

“What do you mean?! This is an emergency! My daughter’s leg is broken!”

“We’ve received a report from the Reeds Foundation. You’re accused of insurance fraud by using their family name. All healthcare facilities under the Foundation have blocked your access.”