Mixed in with the breathless sounds were faint fragments of conversation.

"Daniel, that supplement you bought really did the trick. You… you're stronger than you used to be."

The man let out a low, smug laugh. "You cling to me every day. I have to improve somehow. And ever since we used all of Mia's salary to buy supplements to nourish the baby, your skin has gotten softer too."

I froze. A wave of nausea rose hard and fast within me. Once I understood what I was hearing, I bolted from the room and leaned over in the front yard, retching until my stomach cramped.

Anna suddenly stepped out and laid a hand on my shoulder. "Mia, what's wrong? Did you eat something bad tonight?"

I looked up at her worried face and forced down the bitterness tightening in my chest.

"I'm fine, Anna."

In this whole house, Anna was the only one who truly cared about me. I didn't want her to worry.

Remembering that I would be leaving for the island in three days to be married, I reached into my pocket for the wages I had saved and was about to hand them to her.

But Anna hesitated. She slipped a folded sheet of paper into my hand, and said, troubled, "Mia, I know this promotion means a great deal to you. But Ale— Daniel said Lily is pregnant. She… she needs the promotion more."

The banknotes in my hand scattered to the floor like confetti.

'Alexander, are you even a man? You covet my promotion, wear your brother's name to please your brother's wife, and push your own mother to deliver the news,' I thought.

I had reached my limit. I marched inside and knocked on the door next to my room, where soft moans were still drifting out.

"Daniel, come out. I have something to say."

I left him the last shred of dignity by not calling him by his true name. Anna tried to stop me, but the door opened before she could speak.

Alexander and Lily stepped out, clothes disheveled, faces tight with annoyance.

"What are you doing, Mia?" Alexander asked sharply. "Knocking this late. Don't you know you're disturbing us?"

I laughed coldly in response. "Did you tell your mom to ask me to give my promotion spot to Lily?"

At the question, he instantly grew evasive. He lowered his head and said nothing.

Lily and I worked in the same department. Each cycle, only one promotion slot was available, and competition was intense. This time, only the two of us were shortlisted.

In every metric—evaluations, performance, reputation—I outranked her. The promotion was always meant to be mine.

I stared straight at Alexander. He kept his head bowed, refusing to meet my eyes. When he finally spoke, his voice faltered. "Mia, Lily is pregnant. If she misses this chance, it'll be even harder for her to be promoted once she has a child. She isn't like you. You have no children, no burden."

His plea was thin and weak. He knew why.

Because we once had a child.

After I received the news of Alexander's death, I made my first suicide attempt. When I was pulled back from the brink, Anna wept at my bedside and told me I had been two months pregnant. But grief had been too much for my body. The baby could not be saved.

I had loathed myself then for being so useless. I hated that I couldn't protect the only child I would ever have with Alexander.

I hurt myself again and again, starved myself, and tried to follow him into death.

And where had the man I loved been all that time?

Alexander was in the next room, creating new life again and again with his sister-in-law.

I tipped my head back, forcing my tears to stay where they were.

When I still didn't speak, Alexander grabbed my arm tightly and pleaded, "Mia, you're well liked and your performance is outstanding. You'll have other chances. Don't worry, we'll make sure to thank you properly."

He fully slipped into Daniel's identity, begging for Lily as if she truly were his wife.

Listening to those half-pleading, half-pressuring words almost made me laugh in anger.

I pulled my arm free, my expression calm. "I can give her the spot. But there's no need for any thanks. I wish you both a healthy child soon and a long life together."

The blessing sounded polite enough, yet the edge beneath it was unmistakable. Alexander froze, unable even to look at me.

Seeing him like that only made something cold coil tighter inside me. It didn't matter. I had already decided to leave with Charles.

The promotion meant nothing to me now. Once I was gone, the department would automatically award it to Lily.

I just hadn't expected Alexander would go this far for her. If I hadn't agreed to leave with Charles, would they have kept draining my salary for their baby and taken the promotion that belonged to me?

My nails dug hard into my palm as I fought back the rising storm inside.

After a brief stunned pause, Alexander's eyes lit with relief and excitement. "Really, Mia? You're really willing to give the spot to Lily?"

He hurried inside and returned with a cold boiled egg. I knew it was bought with my salary. I stared at it without taking it, then turned and walked back to my room.

The dim lamp stretched Alexander's shadow across the hall. He stood there for a long time. Lily had to call him several times before he finally returned inside.

None of it mattered. I was leaving. Still, Alexander, I hoped you would never regret this.

The next morning, after Lily successfully submitted her application, Alexander rushed to host a celebratory dinner for her.

At the restaurant, Lily clung to his arm, her expression smug.

"I told you shortcuts don't work," she said brightly. "You only get promoted by working hard. Isn't that right, Mia?"

She turned to me as she spoke, raising her glass deliberately. "And I should thank you, Mia. Without you, I wouldn't have gotten the spot."

With just a few sentences, she flipped the truth upside down. The expressions around the table shifted, eyes turning toward me with a strange mix of pity and judgment, as if I had done something disgraceful.

Whispers spread through the room. I sat stiffly, refusing to take the glass from Lily's hand.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Alexander. His face tightened with guilt. He quickly took the glass from Lily and smoothed things over with a smile.

"Lily, Mia looks tired. She probably didn't sleep well last night. Let her skip the drink."

Lily's smile faltered, though she said nothing.

Across the table, I watched the two of them serving each other food, while I slowly prodded the pasta on my plate.

The food tasted like cardboard. I forced down each bite until my arm began to break out in a violent rash.

Only then did I realize my dish contained a generous amount of nuts.

Alexander's face changed the moment he noticed. He grabbed my arm in alarm.

"What happened? You're allergic to nuts?"

I pulled my arm back. "I'm fine."

Once, Alexander could remember every preference I had, every food I disliked. If a waiter mistakenly added cilantro, he would patiently pick it out leaf by leaf. But now, seeing the dishes spread across the table, he needed a moment to recall that I was allergic to nuts.

Guilt flickered across his expression. He slipped an arm around my shoulders, trying to make up for it, and moved as if to pick me up.

"I'll take you to the hospital."

Behind him, Lily's face darkened with something malicious.

I stepped back and said quietly, "Daniel."

The weight in my tone snapped Alexander back to reality, and at that moment Lily clutched her belly.

"Daniel, it hurts," she cried.

Alexander faltered, torn. Then he said, "I'll take Lily to the hospital first. Mia, you…"

Lily suddenly burst into tears. Alexander didn't think further. He scooped her up and hurried out, throwing me a guilty glance before disappearing from the restaurant.

A waiter ended up sending me to the hospital.

For two days, Alexander stayed by Lily's bedside. He never came to see me. Through the thin walls, I sometimes heard nurses comparing the two patients.

One showered with care, the other entirely forgotten.

Their words made it sound as if my husband truly had died.

I chucked softly, letting it be. After all, the moment Alexander betrayed me, he was already dead.

Sunlight streamed through the hospital window. I squinted at the brightness, then went to handle my own discharge.

I will be leaving tomorrow. Soon, I would be on a boat with Charles, heading toward the island, toward a new life that belonged to me.

When I returned home, Margaret was already waiting in the front yard. She rushed to me, took my hand, and handed over a ferry ticket and a beautifully wrapped box.

"Mr. Gaslow heard you were hospitalized and asked me to bring these. He said they're for nourishing your body."

The box was filled with rare, expensive supplements. The weight of it stunned me. It felt far too valuable, and I immediately tried to refuse.

Margaret only smiled. "Why refuse? Once you marry Mr. Gaslow, you'll be his family. What is there to feel shy about?"

She had just finished speaking when Alexander appeared. His expression changed instantly. He grabbed my wrist. "Mia, didn't I tell you to stop letting people introduce you to men?"

He glanced sharply at Margaret. "I've said it before. Mia still loves Alexander deeply. She will not remarry. If I see you here again, I'll throw you out."

He spoke with righteous conviction, as if he were protecting me for my own good.

A bitter amusement rose in my chest.

Charles at least cared enough to ask after me when he learned I was hospitalized.

Alexander, on the other hand, cared only that I remain a lifelong widow for him.