Savannah Cox was my husband's first love. When she got divorced, my husband, Alex Stewart, was the lawyer who handled her case. Then he moved her into our home after getting rid of Mochi, my cat, because she was allergic to cats.

Because she lost a necklace, he forced a pregnant me to jump into an icy pool to retrieve it.

By the time I lost our baby and ended up in the hospital, Alex was posting Savannah's prenatal checkup report—the first post he'd made all year.

"The cherry blossoms are blooming at Cherrywood Park. She arrived with spring."

I quietly liked the post, feeling unwell and numb with grief as I spent the day in silence.

Alex only looked at me with disgust, a cruel sneer creeping onto his lips.

"Autumn, people like you deserve to lose their children. If you love kids so much, why don't you go die with the baby?"

What he didn't know was that I was already dying.

The day Savannah Cox moved into our home, her belongings filled the entire living room as though she were staking her claim.

Alex Stewart had an arm wrapped around her waist as he carefully draped a knit cardigan over her shoulders.

"She just got out of the hospital and can't handle the cold," he said. "Besides, she has nowhere else to go right now. Taking her in is the least we can do.

"She's had no one to rely on all these years. She's been through enough already."

I almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over my head.

"Alex, this is our home..."

"Autumn, since when did you become so unreasonable?" he cut in. "Savvy's only staying here temporarily. She just got divorced. This is when she needs support the most."

He gently took Savannah's hand, his promise carrying the weight of an oath.

"Savvy, don't worry. As long as I'm here, no one is going to make you leave."

After settling her in, he stood by and watched while Savannah shredded my dresses and slashed the paintings I'd carefully preserved for years.

She claimed my cat had scratched her, so she grabbed Mochi by the neck and hung her upside down from a tree.

When I confronted her, Alex answered with a hard slap across my face. The blow landed directly on the scar beside my eye, making it look even more jagged and ugly afterward.

I remembered that scar. It was a reminder of the accident three years ago.

Over the years, Alex had handled plenty of disputes and made enemies everywhere he went. More than a few people wanted him dead.

I was the one who took the fatal blow meant for him.

The scar beside my eye wasn't the only reminder. There was another one on the bones of my right hand.

Back then, his hands had trembled harder than mine, and he'd cried even more than I had.

"Autumn, I'm sorry," he'd said. "I destroyed your dreams."

He told me he loved me and wished he could have taken the injury in my place. He said it broke his heart to think about everything I'd endured. Again and again, he pressed kisses to that scar.

Now, it was his hand that struck the same scar.

Alex's eyes widened slightly, as though he hadn't expected the slap to actually land. He started to reach for my face.

However, Savannah stopped him with a single sentence.

"Alex, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. If it weren't for me, you and Autumn wouldn't be fighting. If she really doesn't want me here, maybe I should just leave..."

Alex's fists tightened, and the guilt in his eyes quickly faded. He rose to his feet and pulled Savannah into his arms.

"Savvy, that's not what Autumn means. Don't worry. No one is going to make you leave."

Just moments earlier, he'd looked like he felt sorry for me. Now that concern was gone.

When Alex came home again later that night, the chill of the evening still clung to him. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, and I caught the faint scent of tobacco on his clothes.

"Autumn, I've been busy lately. I've neglected you, but you should understand. How about I go with you to your prenatal appointment tomorrow?"

He lowered his head to kiss me, his hands drifting over my stomach. Desire flickered in his eyes.

I turned away from his kiss.

"Alex, I'm pregnant."

He froze for a moment, clearly surprised by my rejection. Then his brows drew together, and impatience crept into his expression.

"Autumn, what are you doing now? Savvy is my client. There's nothing going on between us..."

I looked at him as he rushed to defend himself, a bitter feeling welling up inside me.

"Alex, I never mentioned Savannah."

Alex's expression froze. After a brief silence, embarrassment turned into anger.

"Autumn, you'd better not come crawling back and beg me to return."

...

Over the next few days, Alex stopped coming home at night. He had taken over Savannah's divorce case and spent all his time running around for her.

Whenever her emotions spiraled, he'd jump into his car in the middle of the night and drive for hours to bring her best friend over to keep her company.

When she wanted pastries from her favorite bakery, he'd speed through red lights all the way there just to make her happy.

He said he owed Savannah a favor. What he didn't know was that the night she returned, the name he drunkenly called out over and over again had been hers.

Men are experts at saying one thing and meaning another.

The day Savannah's divorce was finalized, Alex drank himself into a stupor.

When I got home, he was already passed out on the couch, holding a worn, tattered stuffed doll.

I recognized it immediately. Savannah had given it to him.

I'd always assumed he'd thrown it away years ago. Instead, it had been carefully preserved all this time.

He stared at it in silence, murmuring Savannah's name again and again.

I struggled to help him up. The moment I touched him, he pulled me into his arms.

"Savvy, you came back. I knew you wouldn't leave me."

He mistook me for Savannah and refused to let go.

As I stared at him, a memory suddenly surfaced. He'd looked exactly the same that night in the private karaoke room.

Drunk beyond reason, he had poured out every secret he'd kept buried inside.

He'd said to his friend, Garrett Richardson, "Garrett, I didn't get to marry the woman I loved most. Autumn reminds me of her, but she'll never be Savannah. Autumn's pregnant. I'm going to be a father. But somehow... I'm not as happy as I thought I'd be."

I don't remember how I managed to walk out of that room. I only remember how my legs felt like they were filled with lead. Tears blurred my vision.

That was the day I got into a car accident. When Alex arrived at the scene, he still had an unfinished phone call in his hand.

Savannah's voice came through the speaker, along with the sound of breaking glass and a string of loud crashes.

"Autumn, are you stupid? How do you manage to crash into another car on a road that wide? I'm a lawyer, not a doctor. I'm busy. I don't have time to deal with your ridiculous little problems."

Then he turned and left without a trace of hesitation. The moment he resumed the call, though, his voice softened into the warmth and tenderness he once showed me.

Back when he would wait downstairs in the pouring rain just to see me.

I was an orphan. My grandmother had found me abandoned beside a dumpster and raised me herself.

Alex had promised her he would take care of me and that I would be the only woman in his life.

Somewhere along the way, he broke that promise.

Drunk, Alex lost the cold indifference he usually wore like armor. For a moment, I saw that reckless young man again.

The boy who had appeared when my life was at its darkest and shone into my world like a beam of light.

The boy who promised he loved me and wanted to give me a home.

Now I finally understood that it was only because I reminded him of Savannah. He had been looking at her through me all along.

He agreed to marry me because he couldn't have the woman he truly wanted. Since he'd lost her, it no longer mattered who he married instead.

My nose stung, and tears streamed down my face.

Finally, I thought, 'Forget it, Alex. I'm letting you go.'

...

The lawyer, Zachariah Levine, finished drafting the divorce papers, but an entire week passed without me seeing Alex.

He and Savannah went everywhere together, just like a perfect, loving couple.

Then, during a party, Savannah stopped me outside the entrance. After making sure no one else was around, she pulled off her necklace and tossed it into the pool, smirking maliciously.

"Who do you think Alex will believe? You or me?"

The second before Alex arrived, she deliberately threw herself to the ground.

When he rushed over, she looked utterly pitiful. "Alex, don't blame Autumn. I'm sure she didn't mean to throw my necklace into the pool."

"Autumn didn't mean to push me."

Savannah's performance was laughably unconvincing, yet Alex believed every word.

Or maybe... he had simply never believed me.

Holding Savannah in his arms, he turned to me with anger blazing in his eyes.

"Autumn, why can't you tolerate Savvy? Do you have any idea she's dealing with depression? Why would you deliberately upset her?"

To give Savannah the explanation she deserved, he demanded that I retrieve her necklace. Ignoring the fact that I was pregnant, he shoved me into the swimming pool in front of everyone.

Voices erupted from the shore. Their comments tangled together as they drifted into my ears.

"I told you Alex never got over Savannah. If Autumn hadn't chased after him back then, there's no way he would've agreed to be with her."

"I know the real story. Alex only ever treated Autumn as a substitute. Now that the real thing is back, who cares about a stand-in?"

"Everyone knows Alex once swore he'd never marry anyone but Savannah."

Pool water flooded my eyes, and the cold cut straight to the bone.

Suddenly, I remembered the day Alex confessed to me. After scraping his knees raw, he'd gone through all that trouble just to get me a one-of-a-kind good luck charm.

He'd entered a marathon and given me the medal he'd won. He told me it was proof of his sincerity and that he would take care of me for the rest of my life and love me forever.

I knew all about his history with Savannah. I'd believed that if I loved him with everything I had, one day I would matter more to him than she did.

The truth was, some people win simply by existing.

Looking back now, it was painfully ironic.

By the time someone pulled me from the pool, I'd swallowed enough water to leave me coughing.

A jacket settled over my shoulders as the man stood against the light.

"You're going to catch a cold."

Even in the dim lighting, I recognized him immediately. It was Robbie Carpenter, my childhood friend. We promised to get into Northridge University together and become outstanding doctors.

Then we lost contact. I'd heard he had gone on to become an accomplished doctor. As for me, the accident three years ago had permanently taken away my ability to perform surgery.

Alex had already left.

For once, I found myself feeling awkward.

I was afraid Robbie would ask why I'd disappeared and why I'd given up the dream I'd spent years chasing.

I was even more afraid of my answer.

However, Robbie simply took me to the hospital. He stared at me for a long time.

"Autumn, you..."

Before he could finish, Alex interrupted him, "All she had to do was retrieve a necklace, and she still managed to make herself sick. Pathetic."

He took the medication from Robbie's hand and shoved it into his pocket.

Then he looked at Robbie with undisguised hostility. "My wife isn't your concern, Dr. Carpenter."

...

On the drive home, Alex seemed unusually irritable.

Savannah was asleep in the passenger seat. The blanket that belonged to me had been carefully draped over her.

Neither of us spoke, or perhaps there was simply nothing left to say.

When we got home, I finally learned the truth. Alex had given Mochi, my cat, away because Savannah was allergic to cats.

Every trace of Mochi had been erased from the house. I searched everywhere but couldn't find my cat.

Instead, I found the divorce papers Alex had torn to pieces and thrown into the trash. I'd left them on the table the day before, but the first thing he brought up wasn't the papers. It was my cat, or rather, our cat.

His tone was casual, as if it were completely insignificant. "Savvy's allergic to cats. I already gave Mochi away. Don't worry. She'll have an owner who's far more responsible than you."

I was stunned for a moment as my heart sank.

"What did you just say?"

I'd found Mochi as a stray three years ago. A violent storm had left her soaked through and barely clinging to life.

I took her to every veterinary clinic in Southport, but every vet told me she wouldn't survive the night. I had already started preparing to bury her.

Instead, she pulled through. Little by little, she grew into the round, affectionate cat I adored.

Alex lit a cigarette. Whatever he was feeling was impossible to read. Then he changed the subject as if the conversation had never happened.