At twenty-five, I finally married my childhood sweetheart whom I had secretly loved for fifteen years.

After our marriage, she gave birth to a pair of adorable boy-girl twins and I helped her become a rising star in Paradise Hill's business world.

But on the day before the children's third birthday, just because they were too excited and stayed up half an hour late, she punished them by making them crouching outside all night in the freezing cold.

I stood in front of her, pleading bitterly, "The kids are still young. It's over twenty degrees below zero in Paradise Hill's winter. They'll freeze to death. I failed to teach them properly. If you must punish someone, punish me …"

She instead locked me in the basement and looked down at me, "Ten years ago, if it weren't for your parents, how would my dad have died so young? How would my mom have ended up a widow for so many years?"

She continued, "Five years ago, when my company was on the verge of bankruptcy, your parents used funding to manipulate me, forcing me to marry the son of their enemy! Now this is just karma. Sending the grandchildren down to accompany him, my dad would be very happy, wouldn't he?"

The next day, I was released by my mother-in-law, who came in a hurry, only to face the children's cold, stiff and bruised corpses.

I stared blankly at my mother-in-law, "Martha, the kids are gone. I don't want to live either."

——

I sat numbly at the morgue's entrance, not even having the courage to take a step inside.

Martha wept in large tears, trembling as she reached out to me, "Hendry … Helen surely didn't mean it. Don't worry, Grandpa and I are on your side. I will teach her a lesson …" Her voice grew fainter and fainter, buzzing in my ears, so much that I could barely hear her.

In my mind, the morning scene kept flashing. A thin layer of frost covered my children's faces, their lips black and purple and they wore strange smiles.

My son's arm was wrapped around his sister. Even in their final moment, my son had protected his sister, who was three minutes younger.

I slowly looked up at my mother-in-law and spoke word by word through gritted teeth, "Helen is a murderer. She killed my children. I want to call the police!" My voice was cold and terrifying.

Martha's face turned pale in fear, but she still choked back sobs, "Hendry, I know. I know everything. It's all Helen's fault, but I beg you … for her grandfather's sake, give her a break, just this once, please?"

"For the sake of her father saving your parents, spare her just this once, alright? She surely didn't do it on purpose. Don't worry, I will make her come and apologize to you …" Martha pleaded.

I shut my eyes tightly. My heart felt like it was being torn apart by a rusty blade. The pain made it hard to breathe. I couldn't say another word.

Seeing my expression soften, Martha quickly pulled out her phone, "I will call Helen now. I'll make her come and apologize …"

But the moment she said I was with her at the hospital, Helen's voice turned ice-cold, "I'm pregnant. It's Mateo's baby. Mateo is taking care of me now. Stop pestering me with that loser Hendry!"

Mateo Stoner was the man Helen kept outside.

Hearing this, I completely collapsed. My last bit of strength drained away and I fainted.

When I woke up, I was home. As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw Helen walking into the room. She walked straight to me and began undressing at the bedside.

I could no longer suppress the fury in my heart. I grabbed a pillow and hurled it at her with all my strength, "Get out!"

Helen caught the pillow effortlessly, looking at me with nothing but disdain and mockery, "Why pretend to be virtuous now? You had my Mom call me to force me home, weren't you just waiting for this moment?"

The taste of blood rose in my throat and my stomach cramped painfully, but Helen didn't care at all. She climbed onto the bed and sat down on top of me.

After a day and night without food or water, crushed both mentally and physically, I had already lost the last bit of strength to resist.

But I still used all my might to push her away and softly spoke before she could explode, "Helen, the kids are gone."

She froze for a moment, then sat up and looked me over before sneering, "Hendry, I really underestimated you. You'd even joke about the kids?"

I didn't look at her, my gaze fixed on the floor, "In weather over twenty degrees below zero, you locked me in the basement and made the kids crouching in the yard all night. Do you think they could survive …"

Before I could finish, Helen got up and began putting on her clothes, "You think I'll believe that crap? I told the nanny to punish them for only half an hour. How could she dare disobey me?"

"Hendry, drop the act. It only disgusts me more." With that, she left the bedroom without a backward glance.

The loud slam of the door echoed and I finally couldn't hold back anymore. I covered my eyes with the back of my hand and broke down in sobs.

Fifteen years of secret love, five years of marriage, twenty full years, I had loved Helen for twenty years.

The first time we met, I was ten. She came to visit with her parents. Ten-year-old Helen was half a head shorter than me and I thought, this girl is beautiful, just like a princess from a fairytale.

I pestered my parents to transfer me to her school. From that day on, I became her little follower.

At eighteen, just after coming of age, she stood in front of me, "Hendry, can I like you? Don't worry, I'll treat you really well."

Eight years of silent love finally came true. I nodded without hesitation. For two years after that, she truly kept her word and treated me wonderfully.

I cherished her like a treasure, wishing I could pluck the stars from the sky for her.

At twenty, both our parents went on a hiking trip together. But only my parents and her mother came back, her father had fallen off a cliff and remained forever in that mountain forest. From that day, she hated me and my parents deeply.

When I was twenty-five, her father's company, the Bale Group, was on the brink of bankruptcy. Her mother came to my house to propose marriage, begging my parents to save the Bale Group.

I quickly agreed, even though my parents repeatedly promised that they would help the Bale Group without a marriage.

But she was the woman I had loved for fifteen years. Even knowing she hated me, I dove in headfirst without regret.

Now, however, that blind determination had vanished completely with the loss of our children.

Weeping, I called my mother-in-law, "Martha, I really have nothing left. Please, let me go."

There was no response from the other end. After a long silence, I finally heard her sigh deeply, "Alright, I'll send someone to pick you up. Come to the old house and we'll talk."

Grandpa Bale was sitting in the main seat of the living room. The moment he saw me walk in, he waved me over, signaling me to come forward, "Hendry, I've heard everything. You've suffered a lot these years."

"Tomorrow is the children's funeral. After it's over, you can leave if you wish. As for Helen, I will make her give you an explanation," he said.

I turned to look at Martha who was sitting nearby. Her eyes were red and her gaze toward me was filled with pain and sorrow.

Just then, Helen's voice rang out through the room, "It's so late, what's so urgent that you had to call me back? I'm still pregnant, you know …"

Before she finished, she noticed me standing in front of Grandpa Bale. She sneered, "Huh, so it is you. What? Tried to trick me again with that lie about the kids being dead and now you're here complaining to Grandpa? I'm telling you …"

Grandpa Bale was so furious he panted heavily, slamming his cane hard onto the ground, "You ungrateful woman! Kneel before me!"

Helen looked indignant, "I just don't get it. What did Hendry do to brainwash you both into protecting him like this? Isn't it just about money? Just because the Pratt Family bailed us out five years ago, so what?"

She continued, "In your eyes, is money more important than my father?"

Her angry shout was cut off by a loud slap from Martha, "Shut up! Are you even human? Your own children's bodies aren't even buried yet and you're out there with your lover. Helen! Is this how your father and I raised you?"

Hearing her mother's words, Helen staggered, nearly losing her balance, but still raised her chin stubbornly, "You've all been bought off by that useless coward, haven't you? Making up this garbage to lie to me!"

Grandpa Bale's booming voice exploded through the living room, "Silence!"

Helen froze. Her face turned pale in an instant. She knew, even if her mother might lie, Grandpa Bale never would.

She let out a scornful laugh, though her eyes seemed to glisten with tears, or maybe I imagined it.

"So, they're really dead? Good. They paid for my father's life …" Before she could finish, Grandpa Bale rose and swung his cane, striking her again and again.

He shouted, "You monster! You animal! If not for Hendry's grandfather, I would've died on the battlefield years ago. And five years ago, if not for Hendry's parents, would the Bale Group still exist? They were your biological children, for god's sake! You're no better than a monster!"

Helen stood stiffly in place, tears streaming down her face, "So, because his grandfather saved you, my father had to die for it? Just because they have some damn money, you all think it's okay to forget about my dad?"

Grandpa Bale froze mid-swing, clutching his chest and gasping for air, looking like he might faint. Martha frantically pulled medicine from his pocket and helped him take it.

Only then did he catch his breath, trembling as he pointed toward the door, "Get out! Get out of my sight! The Bale Family has no place for an evil woman like you!"

Helen wiped away her tears harshly and left the house without looking back.

***

The next day at the funeral, as expected, Helen didn't show up.

Standing before the children's graves, Grandpa Bale's eyes were bloodshot. He stomped his cane on the ground with a loud bang, "That unfilial woman! Today's the burial of her own children, where the hell is she?"

Martha glanced at both Grandpa Bale and me, then spoke softly.