She wore an expression of regret and gloating.Nicole’s pupils flushed red,anger and hatred welling up in her.She frantically grabbed her neck.“Britney,die!Die!I want you to pay with your life!I want you to die!”

With a snap,Nicole’s face pierced with intense pain.She regained consciousness from her daze and saw John standing in front of Britney,protectively,looking at her with a look of deep disappointment.

“What are you doing?!Believe it or not,I’ll send you back to the mental hospital!”The words that had frightened her before couldn’t stop Nicole for a second now.

She walked towards John,a tear of blood falling from her red eyes.“John,you were the one who arranged for someone to cyberbully my parents and killed them,weren’t you?”

John froze at that word.He turned to look at Britney with an unsettling expression.“How did she know?”

Britney huddled behind her in fear."It was her.She somehow saw the news.”

John remained silent.Britney sobbed,“She just wanted to kill me,John.I’m so scared.”

She clung to John’s waist tightly,her face filled with fear,but John didn’t look at her.

Nicole repeated her words.John took a deep breath and said,“I know you’re sad,but calm down.”

He looked a little guilty.“You caused Britney to be cyberbullied.I just wanted to get back at you.I didn’t expect your parents to be so upset.”

With a bang,the vase shattered at their feet,startling them both.Nicole's eyes were bloodshot and she screamed hysterically,“Why?Isn’t it enough that I’m already in a mental hospital?Why are you harassing my parents?Why are you protecting the woman who killed our child?Why have you never believed me?”Her questions were heartbreaking and she was trembling with anger.

John was horrified and a sharp pain stabbed to his heart.For the first time,he panicked and tore Britney’s tight embrace away.A flash of pain flashed in his eyes as he walked towards her.

“Nicole,listen to me.What happened to your parents was an accident.”The moment he approached,Nicole raised her hand and slapped him hard.John,reckless,held her tightly in his arms.

Feeling her trembling body in his arms,he comforted her over and over again.“Don’t be sad.This is my fault,Nicole.Please don’t be sad,okay?You can hit me,you can scold me.I’ll let you.You lost your parents,but you still have me.I’ll always be by your side.”

Nicole struggled,unable to break free from his grasp.In the distance,Britney gave her a smug smile.In anger and fear,she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.Her vision darkened and she fainted.

When she regained consciousness,she saw John’s stubbled face,looking extremely disheveled.Seeing her awake,his eyes filled with joy.“Nicole,you’re finally awake.”

Nicole’s eyes were hollow and she remained silent.He continued,“I’ve already arranged for your parents’bodies to be properly buried.When you’re better,I’ll take you to see them,okay?”

She remained silent.John held her hand,which trembled slightly.“Nicole,do you know how scared I was when I saw you vomiting blood?Please don’t be angry,okay?I’m just mad at you for refusing to admit your mistakes.Nicole,I promise you,I won’t marry Britney.This child is just an accident.Britney named her Nicole because she misses you.She promised me the child will recognize you as her mother.She’s your child,too.”

Hearing the word child,Nicole’s lips curled,her eyes numb.“Child?She killed my child a long time ago!”

In the mental hospital,she was forced to bear seven children.At first,she endured inhumane torture.Later,Britney wasn’t satisfied with physical abuse.

She found countless sick men and impregnated her countless times,forcing her to watch their children die at her hands over and over again.

The first child,born in a mental hospital,was brutally murdered by Britney herself.As she did so,Nicole knelt at her feet,begging repeatedly.

But it was no use;the child died anyway.She gave her second child to a man who loved little girls.

The third,suddenly seized by Britney with a craving for human flesh,became her delicacy.She said human flesh was sour and unpalatable,so she fed it to the dogs.

Britney claimed that John loved her cleanliness and gentleness,so she defiled her and drove her into a hysterical madness.

Nicole hated her.If John had believed in her even a little,she wouldn’t have ended up like this.He and Britney were both the murderers who had killed her and her parents.How could he have the nerve to appear before her now?

Nicole stared at him with numb eyes,saying word by word,“John,I regret it.Perhaps I shouldn’t have saved you back then.Your mother was right.We shouldn’t have been together.”

John was struck by lightning,his pupils trembling.He gripped her wrist tightly,“What are you talking about?!”The force was so strong that her wrist turned purple,but Nicole showed no reaction.

For several days,John encountered obstacles at every turn.Britney repeatedly provoked her under various pretexts.

But Nicole seemed to have lost her soul,remaining completely unresponsive.John’s pride cooled after this setback,unwilling to continue his efforts.

As a result,Nicole refused to eat or drink,fell into a coma and could only survive with a nutrient solution.

John panicked,threatening her word by word,“If you die,I’ll dig up your parents’graves and our children’s too.Nicole,you know I can do it.If you die,they won’t be able to rest in peace.”

Because of these words,Nicole was filled with hatred,yet she had no choice but to live.

John was completely terrified,even kneeling on one knee to put the ring on her finger.“Nicole,your birthday is in a few days.How about we go to Olkmore?Or maybe you want to see the ocean?I’ll take you.”

Nicole sneered,“What about Britney?”

John was silent for a few seconds,then spoke with some difficulty.“Britney is worried about you too.I won’t let her go that day.”

Nicole looked at him with a pale face.She pulled up her sleeves,revealing countless needle pricks and cigarette butts on her arms.

She was covered in scars,but she looked at him with a last glimmer of hope.“John,do you believe me?”

John held her hand and said,“I do.”

“If I say Britney isn’t a good person and that all the injuries on my body are her fault…”

Before she could finish her words,John’s face darkened.“Nicole,you know I don’t want to hear that.Why can’t you admit your mistakes?Britney said these were signs of depression and self-harm.Why do you keep picking on her,repeatedly trying to frame her?”

John left.Nicole covered her lips,staring at him with a somber gaze,her throat clenched with coughing.

John,you’ll regret this.

The phone rang and Nicole answered.Andrea’s voice came from the other end.“In three days,I’ll have someone arrange a new identity for you and send you away.”

Seven years ago,when they married,Nicole was a commoner and wasn’t allowed in or out of the house.

It was John who insisted,until a conflict arose three years ago,when John’s mother seized the opportunity to ask for a divorce.She refused then.

Now,three years later,she agreed.Nicole’s fingers caressed the wallpaper on the screen as she dialed the phone number of John’s rival,a company he’d always been on bad terms with.

A cold smile curved her lips.“I have some information about Britney here.I’m sure you’ll be interested.”

The next day,John arrived as usual,his expression as if nothing had happened.“Nicole,I’ve prepared a surprise for you.It’s definitely going to make you happy.”

Nicole’s smile was vague.“I also prepared a surprise for you.”

John’s eyes lit up,a look of surprise on his face.“Really?”

He kissed the back of her hand,his eyes curved with a smile.“I’m looking forward to your surprise.”

He seemed to love her deeply,but Nicole knew Britney was his bottom line.Whenever she mentioned Britney,his expression would instantly change.

After he left,Britney arrived,holding a wedding invitation and looking at her with a smile.“Nicole,did John promise to spend your birthday with you?What a shame!He just wanted to get you out of the way.Three days later,he and I are getting married.Oh and he also said he wants a divorce from you.He’ll have you sign the divorce agreement soon.”

Nicole had no reaction,only a bored pout.Soon after,John,eyes full of guilt,approached Nicole and asked her to sign the agreement under the pretext of making amends.

Nicole looked up at the divorce agreement,which lay beneath the surface.Did John take her for a fool?

She looked up at John.John hid the guilt in his eyes and smiled.“Nicole,after your birthday,can we have another wedding banquet?”

Back then,they hadn’t done anything wrong and John wanted to make amends.Nicole sneered.

Did he think of her as a fool?He tricked her into signing the divorce papers and then kept her in the dark,even though he was clearly planning to marry Britney.

Now,was he trying to have two women at once,making her his mistress?The love she once had made now made her feel utterly disgusted.

But she pulled a smile and said lightly,“Okay!”

However,once he knew Britney’s true identity,that she had murdered the Griffith Family’s child,would he still be able to love her?Nicole didn’t want John’s money;she felt it was dirty.

She used her own savings to buy groceries and a change of clothes.Britney,however,was causing trouble,deliberately using the child to frame her.

Nicole looked at her and smiled slowly.“Don’t worry,you’ll get what you want soon.”And she would leave completely.

John returned home exhausted from work.Seeing her packing,he panicked.“Nicole,what are you doing?”

Nicole was looking at a photo of her and John in their youth,in a dilapidated house.

Back then,Nicole had saved him from a murder plot and allowed him to recuperate at home for a year.

It was because of this that John was able to fight his way through the Griffith Family’s illegitimate children.

When his father passed away,he quickly took control of the Griffith Family and brought his murderer to court.

John saw that she was clearly remembering something and his eyes softened slightly.“Nicole,we’ve been together for seven years.”

He hugged her from behind,tightly.For some reason,perhaps out of guilt,he felt a tinge of unease.

Nicole remained silent.Seven years had passed and the man who had promised to truly love and protect her had long since changed.

She remained silent,but John felt uneasy.He glanced at the luggage on the floor and asked anxiously,“Why are you packing so suddenly?”