“Sorry, Hazel, I bought it too small.”

I forced an ugly smile. I remembered that Naomi had a slender wrist and this bracelet should not be favored by Naomi.

If Naomi didn’t dislike it, Marty wouldn’t have given it to me.

Marty came over and hugged me in his arms.

“Hazel, the day after tomorrow is Naomi’s award ceremony. After all, there will be business cooperation in the future. I want to go and see it, okay?”

Marty’s words made me a little confused. Wasn’t it a birthday?

How did it become an award ceremony?

I turned on my phone and saw the news.

In the National Architectural Design Competition, Naomi’s name was at the top of the list.

I nodded silently and said, “It just so happens that I’m going abroad the day after tomorrow.” Marty was still struggling to find an excuse to stop me from going, but when he heard what I said, he was relieved and visibly happy.

Then he frowned, as if he had thought of something. “What are you going abroad for?”

I took a deep breath and pretended to be relaxed. “I received a notice for an academic seminar abroad.”

Marty didn’t doubt anything and went out excitedly. He didn’t show up until the day I left. On the day of my departure, I found the address in the news, just thinking of it as putting an end to the three-year marriage.

The award ceremony was very lively and Naomi was talking to the guests in high spirits. She was wearing a black fishtail skirt and had delicate makeup on her face. My husband, Marty, was holding her arm at this moment, watching her chatting and laughing with a smile on his face.

I suppressed the turmoil in my heart and walked toward them calmly. Marty saw a flash of panic on my face and then he returned to his usual gentle expression.

“Hazel, why are you here? Aren’t you on a flight today?”

I sneered and glanced at Naomi’s hand on his arm.

“What? Are you afraid of me seeing something shameful?”

Marty quickly pulled his arm back and said with some blame, “What do you mean by that! Naomi and I are just ordinary business partners!”

Naomi on the side hooked her lips provocatively and looked at me meaningfully.

The secretary ran over and told Marty that it was his turn to go on stage.

Marty patted my shoulder as if to comfort me, turned around and hurried to the stage.

I found a seat and sat down and Naomi followed and sat opposite me.

“Long time no see, Hazel! You actually followed Marty to find this place. Can you, a housewife, understand what he said? You’d better remember forever that only those I don’t want are worthy of your turn.”

Naomi seemed to touch her neck inadvertently and the necklace on it hurt my eyes a little.

That was the necklace I had been longing for, Marty knew it, but he had always refused it on the grounds that it was too expensive and flashy.

Now, it was worn on Naomi’s neck.

Naomi and I used to be very good friends, studying in the architecture department of the same university.

After my fiancé openly proposed to her, we completely fell out.

That period was the darkest moment of my life. Marty happened to appear at that time and said he wanted to marry me, giving me a ray of hope.

After marriage, I planned to continue studying architecture, but Marty suddenly stopped me.

“Hazel, architecture is too time-consuming, I don’t want you to be so tired. You can find a leisurely job, my salary is enough to support you.”

At that time, I was moved to tears and willingly gave up the design draft that I spent a year designing.

Now, Naomi had become a leader in the construction industry and I had become an idle housewife.

It seemed that Marty had been paving the way for her and the stepping stone was me.

The memories of the past made me a little suffocated. I didn’t want to look at Naomi’s face anymore, so I simply turned my eyes to the big screen.

On the big screen, there were the entries for this competition.

When I cast my eyes on the first-place work, my head hurt as if it was struck by lightning.

This design draft was the one I gave up that year.

I was struck by lightning and my heart seemed to miss a beat.

I was born in a poor family and it had always been my dream to design a Hope Primary School.

After getting married, Marty took away my design drawings on the pretext that he was afraid that I would be too tired.

After a year, how could my dream become Naomi’s work?

How did I win the grand prize for Naomi?

I looked at Marty in disbelief and stood up to question him, but heard Naomi’s screams.

“Ah!”

Before I could react, the red wine tower behind me fell toward me, spilling red wine all over me and breaking the wine glasses all over the floor.

Marty exclaimed, rushed down from the stage, pushed me away and went to help Naomi who had fallen to the ground.

“Naomi! Are you hurt?”

Marty was very strong and the fragments on the ground cut my hand and blood flowed out.

The guests and Marty next to me stared at me with anger.

“Call 120 quickly! How could she pull Miss Eland’s clothes and make her fall! Who invited her here? She has such a vicious mind!”

I ignored the pain in my hand and the cold eyes of the guests and looked at Marty in front of me with disappointment.

“Do you also think I did this?”

Marty ignored me, sent Naomi to the ambulance and turned back to slap me.

“Hazel, people around you are saying that you dragged Naomi down and you are still pretending to be wronged? I really don’t understand why I married you in the first place!”

My eyes were getting more and more sore, I held back my tears and asked the question I cared about the most.

“Marty, why is Naomi’s entry exactly the same as my original design?”

Marty looked at me and sneered, “What do you mean by yours? It’s not enough that you hurt Naomi and now you want to take the credit? We’ve been married for so long, how come I didn’t know you can design?”

The guests around seemed to have discussed it and echoed Marty.

I was not a fool. It was obvious that they were in collusion now. No matter what, I would be the only one who suffered.

I couldn’t help but smile bitterly and the last bit of affection I had for Marty was completely exhausted.

As if he was afraid that I would report Naomi, Marty softened his tone. “Okay, stop it. It was wrong of me to hit you just now. After all, there are too many guests here today. I’m afraid that this matter will spread and it will be bad for you. It will also affect the reputation of our company.”

Seeing that I still had a cold face, Marty came forward and hugged me and said softly with his chin against my head, “Okay, okay, are you on the plane tonight? Can I have dinner with you in the afternoon? I’ll take care of the venue.”

I didn’t want to continue to entangle with him, so I nodded.

I didn’t expect Marty to steal my design for Naomi.

That design drawing had always been my dream and Marty knew it.

With the purpose of saying goodbye, I came to the hotel address sent by Marty.

The view on the fifth floor was very good. I found a seat by the window and sat down, lowering my head and thinking about this ridiculous relationship.

Three hours later, Marty still didn’t come.

I was not surprised, but I felt a little sorry that I couldn’t see him for the last time.

I stood up and wanted to leave, but found that I was the only one left on the fifth floor of the hotel and the door was locked from the outside.

The situation around me made me feel that something was wrong, so I immediately called Marty and it was indeed his secretary who answered the phone.

“Miss Hanson, Mr. Howard said that Miss Eland finally fell asleep and no one is allowed to disturb her.”

At this time, a puff of black smoke floated out from the side, choking me and making me cough and my uneasiness became stronger.

“Please give the phone to Marty, something happened here, it seems to be on fire.”

The tablecloth behind me suddenly caught fire and I smashed the door frantically, but it couldn’t be opened at all.

“Miss Hanson, I hope you don’t use such a cheap method. Mr. Howard won’t answer anyone’s call now.”

The secretary hung up the phone and the fire behind me burned more and more fiercely. I didn’t know when 119 would arrive and my consciousness became more and more blurred.

On the other side, Marty looked at Naomi sleeping soundly on the bed, his eyes full of tenderness.

Suddenly, the secretary rushed in in a panic.

“Mr. Howard, it’s bad. The police just called and said that the fifth floor of the hotel where your wife went suddenly caught fire. At that time, your wife was the only one on the fifth floor. When the firefighters arrived, the fifth floor had been burned to ashes.”

Marty sat up suddenly from the bed and stared at the secretary in disbelief.

“What did you say?”

The secretary lowered her head with a guilty conscience.

“Mr. Howard, didn’t you say you were going to have dinner with your wife this afternoon? She waited on the fifth floor of the hotel for an afternoon and the fifth floor suddenly caught fire and she couldn’t come out.”

Marty grabbed the phone in disbelief.

“How is it possible? Didn’t she call me when I didn’t go there?”

The secretary was so scared that she broke out in cold sweats and her voice became smaller and smaller.

“You said Miss Eland was sleeping and nothing could disturb you.”

Naomi, who was next to him, took Marty’s arm.

“Marty, Hazel was burned to death because she was unlucky and you still have me!”

This time, Marty pushed Naomi away and drove toward the hotel.

Along the way, he was hoping that he would not see the body. Maybe Hazel escaped temporarily!

When he arrived at the scene, there was nothing recognizable on the fifth floor except the dark wall. The firefighters were doing the final finishing work.

Marty immediately stopped one of them and asked, “Have you found Hazel’s body? Is she still alive?”

The firefighter looked at him solemnly.

“Sir, please accept my condolences. The surveillance on the fourth floor shows that Miss Hanson did not walk out of the fifth floor or jump out of the building to escape. The preliminary judgment is that she is dead. On the lawn below the hotel, we found a mobile phone wrapped in layers. It should belong to Miss Hanson. Do you want to see it?”

Marty took the phone. At this moment, he only felt a buzzing in his ears and his hands were shaking so much that he could hardly hold the phone.

The firefighter next to him looked pitifully at him, so he helped him hold the phone. Marty opened the phone and saw a recording.

“Marty, when you hear this recording, I have been burned to death. Your secretary said that I used despicable means to attract your attention. Didn’t expect that the fire was real! In fact, I still thank you for these years, ahem... If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have come out of the shadow of the broken engagement so quickly. Ahem... Although I know that the feelings you gave me were based on exploitation, you really love Naomi.”

“But I still cherish this fake love. That design draft has always been my dream, but I didn’t expect it to become a tool for you to please Naomi. But since I’m going to die, that design draft is of no use to me. Just treat it as your last gift to you and now you don’t have to worry about the future. Goodbye, Marty!”

As the voice fell, Marty seemed to have been drained of all his strength and sat on the ground.

The secretary next to him saw that the situation was not right and raised her legs to run, but Marty grabbed her arm and punched her.

“It’s all your fault! Why didn’t you tell me! She clearly called me! Why didn’t you tell me?”