Through the chaos, I saw the white dress I had loved trampled into the ground, the fabric ruined, stained beyond repair. My vision blurred, my body trembling from the beating and the horror.

Somehow, a mall security guard finally broke through the crowd and started to disperse them.

I barely noticed Lewis driving past later, seeing the chaos through the rearview mirror, hesitating for a second.

“Addison has bodyguards. She’ll be safe,” he muttered.

Cherry curled up beside him in pain.

“My stomach… It hurts so much. I don’t know if it’s because I fell…”

Lewis slammed the accelerator and tore out of the mall, heading straight for the hospital.

I stayed on the edge of consciousness, soaked in pain and humiliation, and all I could think was how alone I really was.

***

I got home from the mall alone, every inch of my body aching, bruised, and scraped. I didn’t call the police, I didn't go to the hospital. I couldn’t bring myself to care. Before leaving, I had picked up the white dress that had been trampled on the ground, stained and ruined, and tucked it away.

For two days, I just lay in bed, counting down the hours like my life was already over. Lewis didn’t show up. No calls, no messages. Nothing. It was like I didn’t even exist.

On the third morning, though, something weird happened. I felt… a little energy stirring inside me. I pulled the dress out of the closet and put on light makeup. Today, I decided, I would finally keep my promise to myself—no regrets, no looking back.

As I slid into the backseat of the car, my phone buzzed. It was Lewis. His voice was cold, and firm.

“Come over now, or I’ll send someone to drag you there. Your choice.”

I glanced at the location he sent. My chest tightened, but I understood. I had no real choice. At least… it was my last day anyway.

The driver took us to a hotel. The moment I stepped out, flashing lights hit me like a storm. I flinched, ready to dive back into the car, but Lewis’s hand caught my wrist, strong, unyielding. Without a word, he dragged me inside.

Inside the hall, Cherry was sitting in the front row. More than ten rows of media behind her, cameras, microphones, even a live broadcast. My stomach sank when I saw the three huge red characters on the screen: apology meeting.

Lewis pushed me onto the stage. Every step felt like sinking into cotton. A microphone was pressed into my hand, and he leaned close, voice low.

“Say sorry to Cherry. Right here, in front of everyone.”

I looked at Cherry. Her pink maternity dress hung loose, her smile faint but victorious. As the cameras scanned her, she went back to that scared, fragile pose she always played.

I straightened my back and said firmly, “I have nothing to apologize for.”

Lewis’s eyes narrowed. “Addy, don’t test me.”

He shoved the microphone closer. “Cherry’s been through hell. She’s almost lost her babies because of your actions. You humiliated her, bullied her, put her through fear she shouldn’t have felt. Don’t you think you owe her an apology?”

I froze, listening to his so-called fairness. It was all a show. His apology arrangement was just a way to hand Cherry the spotlight, make her children legitimate, and leave me stripped of everything that mattered.

I swallowed the bitterness and forced my voice out. “And what gives you the right to stand up for her over me? Lewis, you’re my husband, but you’re always thinking about her. Even the rumors online… Did you ever stop to ask me what was true? Should I even trust the babies in her belly aren't yours?”

His face paled, and he grabbed my arm, anger flashing. “Addison, this is your last warning. After this, the hospital can take the heart surgery off the table. Your choice.”

I let out a dry laugh.

His jaw tightened, then his voice lowered, steady, unshakable. “Addison Coleman, apologize.”

I gripped the microphone, and the cameras flashing like stars stabbing into my eyes. I looked out at Cherry below the stage, her hands brushing over her belly.

I clenched my jaw and held onto the dress I had chosen, thinking of the promise I made to myself. I had to get through this, for me.

I looked at Cherry and forced my voice to stay calm, steady. “I didn’t do anything wrong. She’s the one who destroyed everything. Cherry’s the killer.”

Lewis’s face twisted, anger so sharp it felt like he could crush me with a glance. My heart froze for a second, but I tore my hand free from his grip and kept my gaze cold, distant.

“My parents weren’t frauds. I’m not a bully. The only thing I regretted was letting my mother helping Cherry. Everything that came after… my family, my life… she ruined it all.”

The crowd erupted. Cameras clicked nonstop, reporters shouting over each other. Cherry’s face froze, then she forced that pitiful act back into place.

She stumbled toward the stage, voice trembling. “Addison, why are you doing this? I know you hate me, but lies like that can ruin my life and my babie’s life!”

I didn’t say a word. My eyes stayed icy, fixed on her.

Then, before I could even react, she lunged at me. I tried to block her instinctively.

“Ah!”

Her belly slammed into the edge of the table. She bent over, pale, shaking. Blood soaked her white skirt in seconds.

“My babies!” she gasped.

Lewis’s eyes went sharp, and he was suddenly in front of her. He shoved me aside and scooped her up in one motion.

“If anything happens to Cherry and her children, I swear you’ll pay with your life,” he spat, and without another glance at me, he stormed out.

The flashes from the reporters burned into my eyes. My mouth felt dry. I wanted to leave, but two of his bodyguards grabbed me.

“Mr. Hamilton says you’re coming with him. You’re going to the hospital.”

I didn’t fight. I let them lead me to the car, numb, exhausted.

In the hospital corridor, Cherry’s sobs shook the windows. “My babies! If something happens to them, I can’t live alone! Lewis, our twins are almost here. They're our twins… It's all my fault. Please, let me stay with them!”

Eventually, the ward quieted down.

The door opened, and Lewis walked out. His face was different, colder than anything I’d seen.

“Addison.”

I swallowed hard.

“I didn’t know you could be this cruel. Go outside. Kneel. Atone for the babies in Cherry’s belly. After that, you’ll get your punishment.”

My lips felt numb. I shivered. I was only in a thin white dress. The chill bit through me, straight up to my knees.

Before I could even process, the bodyguards grabbed me and dragged me outside. I hit the ground, knees pressed into the cold stone. I didn’t resist.

I looked up. The first snow of the year drifted quietly down, soft and cold, landing on my hair and shoulders. The world felt distant, like I was already halfway gone.

The snow was falling so hard I could barely open my eyes. My body felt like it belonged to someone else, heavy and numb. I fainted in the cold, and the last thing I heard was one of the bodyguards yelling.

“Mr. Hamilton, she’s out cold!”

Lewis didn’t even lift his head. “Wake her. Make her keep kneeling.”

I shivered violently as a bucket of ice water hit my face. My lungs screamed and I coughed until it hurt to breathe. My heart was done. Everything in me ached, but I kept counting the minutes silently, not wanting to waste the last moments I had left before the funeral home came for me.

Inside the ward, Cherry was clinging to Lewis like her life depended on him.

“O-our babies are gone,” she whispered, her body shaking.

Lewis ran his hand through her hair, gentle, soft, like she was the only thing that mattered in the world. “Don’t cry. There’ll be more. I won’t let your pain be wasted.”

She touched her flat belly and burst into more tears. “I have nothing. No name, no status, no child. What am I even living for? Maybe I should just—”

“You can’t say that,” he snapped.

She broke away and looked at him, sobbing. “Lewis, is there any way I can take Addison’s place? Be your real wife in this lifetime?”

I could hear him freeze.

The bodyguard knocked again. “Sir, she’s fainted again. She won’t wake up this time.”

Lewis finally stepped out of the ward and looked down at me sprawled in the snow. My face was pale, lips blue, and my thin white dress clung to me, soaked and heavy. I must’ve looked like a ghost.

“Get a doctor, now!” he barked. “Just don’t let her die.”

Even like this, he still had to punish me. All those years of gentle love had made me reckless, spoiled, and now it would all pay the price.

I was awakened by a needle, barely had time to gather myself before the bodyguards dragged me onto a small boat. My fingers were frozen stiff, but one of them shoved a small urn into my hands. Lewis’s eyes were ice beside me, and Cherry was bundled in a thick jacket, pale and trembling like she might collapse at any moment.

When we reached the middle of the sea, he said, “Start.”

I took a deep breath, legs shaking as I walked to the edge. The wind cut through me, whipping my hair into my face. I looked down at the urn and laughed softly to myself. My life had been so cruel, my body bruised, my soul exhausted. And now they wanted me to carry even this burden.

Cherry sidled up to me, her voice soft and almost sweet. “Addison, how does it feel to scatter our twin ashes yourself?”

I ignored her, lifted the lid, and just as I was about to let it go, she shoved me. The urn slipped from my hands and vanished into the waves.

“My babies!” Cherry shrieked and lunged forward, pretending she almost fell in after it.

Lewis reacted instantly, pulling her back. “Cherry, stop!”

He turned and glared at me. “You did that on purpose!”

I laughed quietly, the sound bitter. “Yes, I did. Just like she bumped into me on purpose.”

Cherry clutched him, tears streaming, about to faint. He held her tight, showing everyone they were untouchable together.

“Pick it up,” he ordered.

I shook my head. “It’s gone.”

“Then jump in and get it!”

I stared at him, calm, unafraid. “Fine.”

The next second, I stepped over the railing. The water swallowed me instantly, my white dress floating for a moment before sinking. Lewis’s shout tore through the air, but it was too late.

Cherry clutched her chest, pale, crying out. “Lewis, I feel so awful!”

He hesitated, looking at the dark sea, and then finally said, “Send a boat to get her. She can swim for now. Get back to shore and call an ambulance.”

I let the water take me. My body went numb. I didn’t struggle anymore. My consciousness blurred. Everything went black.

The sea burial, the punishment, all of it? I was done with it.

Finally, I could leave…