I almost laughed when she said it. Three days. That was plenty of time. Living even one more felt unbearable. I didn’t bother replying — I simply turned and walked away, leaving her warning echoing uselessly behind me.

The moment I stepped outside the hospital, I phoned the funeral service. My tone was calm, disturbingly steady.

“Please arrange everything for three days from now.”

Three days. Maybe then I’d finally be reunited with my parents and my grandfather. Maybe I could meet them looking the way I chose, not as Stephen’s wife, not as anyone’s burden — just me.

I stopped by the cemetery one final time, murmured my farewells, then took a cab to the mall. I drifted through one luxury boutique after another without interest.

For years I’d been trained to behave like Mrs. Holt — to dress according to Stephen’s image, to wear jewels that screamed wealth, to appear flawless and distant. Somewhere along the way, I’d forgotten what I personally liked. Stephen never asked. He just bought the latest collections every season and stuffed my wardrobe full, promising that besides the stars in the sky, I could have anything.

All I ever wanted was something real.

That was when I saw it — a simple white dress. Clean lines, no excess, just a slender silver trim at the waist catching the light. I pictured myself wearing it, walking into the waves, holding my parents’ and Grandpa’s hands. My lips curved into a faint smile.

“This one,” I said. “I’ll take it.”

Before my card even reached the counter, the dress was ripped from my fingers. I grabbed the edge of the display table to steady myself.

“I’ve already decided to buy that,” I said, my voice unsteady.

I looked up — and there she was.

Seraphina.

She stood tall in front of me, gripping the fabric, her posture arrogant, her eyes blazing. The timid girl I once knew was gone.

The sales assistant leaned toward her nervously.

“This is the last piece we have. The lady here selected it first. I can check with another branch—”

Seraphina laughed scornfully. “You must be joking.” Then she turned her glare on me. “You honestly think you’re still in my league? Who gave you the right?”

I didn’t answer right away. I’d known this moment would come. She hated me. She wanted me crushed.

“Seraphina,” I said carefully, “I don’t recall ever mistreating you. My mother paid for your education and hired you into the company. What exactly did we do wrong — hurt your pride?”

She burst out laughing, harsh and bitter.

“Your mother threw money at me like leftovers for a beggar and expected gratitude. But why should I be grateful? Why are you always the princess while I crawl in your shadow? You were born with everything, and I was born to suffer. You owe me your whole life.”

My chest tightened.

“So you destroyed my parents… just to bring me down?”

Her smile sharpened into something vicious. She leaned close enough for me to feel her breath.

“The fraud scandal? I designed it myself. Your parents trusted me and handed over the company seal. Your husband, your wealth, your reputation — they’ll all belong to me soon. And you? You’ll be remembered as the bully, the criminal’s daughter. Welcome to my world.”

I felt my body stiffen, rage and disbelief crashing through me, but I refused to look away. This was the truth behind five years of betrayal. I would not let her see me break.

“You will pay for this,” I said, my voice low and steady.

She hesitated — only for a heartbeat — then suddenly flung herself to the floor, screaming.

“Stop! I don’t want this! Amelia, please don’t hit me!”

Before I could react, Stephen appeared at the shop entrance. Seraphina immediately curled into a trembling heap, tears streaking her face.

“Stephen, I just slipped, okay? It wasn’t her fault. She didn’t push me. She even brought me here to buy clothes. But people keep saying I hurt her and that her parents died because of me. I didn’t do any of that. Please explain for me.”

His eyes locked onto me — frozen, merciless.

“What did you do to her this time?” he asked coldly.

I already knew he wouldn’t believe me. He never had. I turned away, trying to hide the tears sliding down my face.

A crowd began to gather. Phones were raised. Whispers turned into accusations.

“Isn’t she the one who forced a pregnant woman to kneel?”

“She bullied people at school too — vicious!”

“If something happens, that’s three lives gone!”

Seraphina clutched Stephen and spoke hurriedly, pretending concern.

“She’s just having a bad day. When she’s calm, Amelia is really kind to me.”

A woman suddenly lunged forward from the crowd, pointing at me.

“My daughter died because of people like you! Bullies deserve—”

A drink flew at my face before she could finish. Milk tea splattered across my cheeks, dripping down my chin. I tried to speak, to defend myself, but my voice vanished beneath the shouting.

Objects began to rain down on me. I tensed instinctively, bracing for the blows. Seraphina, of course, was sheltered in Stephen’s arms.

“Come,” he said, pulling her away without once looking back at me.

I was left behind.

Hands shoved me down. Feet struck me again and again. Pain exploded through every inch of my body.

“Kill her!”

“Make her pay for bullying!”

I curled into myself, covering my head, whispering over and over through broken sobs,

“I didn’t… I didn’t…”

Through the mess of bodies and noise, I spotted the white dress I had fallen in love with lying crushed beneath people’s shoes, the once-clean fabric ground into filth. My vision swam as the beating finally stopped, humiliation burning hotter than the pain in my bones.

At some point, mall security forced their way into the chaos and began scattering the crowd.

Later, I vaguely noticed Stephen’s car slowing as he passed the scene, his eyes flicking to the destruction in the mirror. He hesitated only briefly.

“She has guards. She won’t be in danger,” he muttered to himself.

Seraphina whimpered beside him, curling inward.

“My stomach hurts so badly… maybe when I fell earlier…”

He floored the accelerator, speeding out of the mall parking lot and straight toward the hospital.

I hovered between waking and blacking out, my body soaked in pain, my heart hollowed out by how completely alone I was.

---

I returned to the apartment by myself. Every inch of me throbbed, bruises blooming under torn skin. I didn’t report anything. I didn’t seek treatment. It all felt meaningless. Before leaving the mall, I’d retrieved the ruined white dress, folding it carefully despite the stains.

For two days I lay in bed without moving, counting the hours as though my life had already ended. Stephen never came. No calls. No messages. It was as if I’d been erased.

On the third morning, something stirred faintly inside me — a fragile flicker of strength. I took the dress from the closet, put on a little makeup, and told myself this was the day I would keep my final promise. No regrets. No turning back.

As I got into the car, my phone vibrated. Stephen’s voice came through, cold and commanding.

“Come to this address now. If you don’t, I’ll send someone to fetch you.”

My chest tightened when I saw the location. But I didn’t argue. It was my last day anyway.

The driver stopped in front of a hotel swarming with cameras. Flashing lights hit me like lightning. I tried to retreat, but Stephen seized my wrist and dragged me inside.

Seraphina sat in the first row of the hall. Behind her were layers of journalists, microphones and lenses pointed at the stage. The screen above blazed with bold red words: Public Apology Conference.

Stephen pushed me forward. The microphone was forced into my hand.

“Apologize to Seraphina,” he said quietly. “In front of everyone.”

She wore a pale maternity dress, her expression gentle, victorious. The cameras adored her.

I stood straighter.

“I haven’t done anything that requires an apology.”

His eyes hardened. “Don’t push me, Addy.”

“Seraphina almost lost her children because of you,” he continued. “You humiliated her, frightened her, treated her cruelly. Do you seriously think you owe her nothing?”

I understood then — this was theater. A way to cleanse Seraphina’s name and strip me of mine.

I forced the bitterness down.

“And why are you always defending her instead of me?” I asked. “You’re my husband. Did you ever once ask me what really happened? Or are you certain those children aren’t even yours?”

His face drained of color. He grabbed my arm.

“This is your final warning. If you refuse, your surgery is over.”

I laughed quietly.

His tone turned ironclad.

“Amelia Malonzo, apologize.”

Cameras blinded me. Seraphina’s hands rested lovingly over her belly.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” I said evenly. “She destroyed everything. Seraphina is the murderer.”

Stephen looked ready to kill me. I pulled free from him.

“My parents were innocent. I was never a bully. The only mistake I made was letting my mother help her.”

The room exploded in noise.

Seraphina staggered toward me. “Why are you lying? You’ll ruin my babies’ lives!”

Before I could respond, she rushed me. I raised my arms — too late.

Her stomach slammed into the table edge. Blood bloomed across her skirt.

“My babies—!”

Stephen shoved me aside and carried her away.

“If anything happens to her, you’ll regret being born,” he said without looking back.

His guards seized me and hauled me after them.

In the hospital hallway, Seraphina sobbed hysterically.

Then Stephen emerged, colder than ever.

“Amelia,” he said flatly. “Go outside. Kneel. Repent to my children. That’s your punishment.”

The guards dragged me out into the cold and forced me onto the stone ground. My knees hit hard.

I didn’t fight.

I lifted my head slightly. The year’s first snow was drifting down in silent flakes, settling on my lashes and soaking into my hair. The world felt unreal, like I had already crossed halfway into another life.

The snowfall thickened until I could barely keep my eyes open. My limbs were heavy, distant, as though they no longer belonged to me. The cold finally dragged me under, and just before everything went dark, I heard a guard shout in alarm.

“Sir, she’s passed out!”

Stephen didn’t even glance my way.

“Wake her up,” he said flatly. “She’s not done kneeling.”

A bucket of freezing water slammed into my face. I choked violently, coughing until my chest felt like it was tearing apart. My heart was failing, my whole body screaming, yet all I did was count the seconds in my head, unwilling to waste the few I had left before the funeral home came for me.

Inside the ward, Seraphina was wrapped around Stephen, shaking like she might shatter.

“Our babies… they’re gone,” she whispered through sobs.

He stroked her hair tenderly, his voice softer than I had ever heard it.

“Don’t cry. We can try again. I won’t let this pain be for nothing.”

She stared down at her now-flat stomach and broke down again.

“I have nothing. No family, no child, no standing. What’s left for me? Maybe I should just—”

“Don’t say that,” he cut in sharply.

She pulled away, eyes red and swollen.

“Stephen… can I replace Amelia? Can I be your wife in this life?”

The room fell silent.

The guard knocked once more. “Sir, she’s fainted again. We can’t wake her this time.”

Stephen finally stepped out and stared at me sprawled in the snow. My skin was drained of color, my lips tinged blue, my soaked white dress clinging to me like a shroud.

“Call a doctor,” he snapped. “Just don’t let her die.”

Even now, punishment came first.

I was jolted awake by an injection, barely conscious before I was hauled onto a small boat. My fingers were frozen, useless, as someone pressed an urn into my hands. Stephen stood nearby, expression glacial. Seraphina, bundled in layers, leaned weakly against him.

When we reached open water, he said only, “Begin.”

I wobbled to the railing, the wind slicing through my bones. I looked at the urn and gave a hollow laugh. My life had been nothing but wounds — now even this final task was forced upon me.

Seraphina crept closer, her tone deceptively gentle.

“Amelia… how does it feel, scattering our babies by yourself?”

I ignored her and lifted the lid. At that moment, she shoved me. The urn slipped free and vanished into the sea.

“My children!” she screamed, pretending to lunge after it.

Stephen pulled her back at once.

“Seraphina, stop!”

Then he turned on me, eyes blazing.

“You did that deliberately!”

“Yes,” I said quietly. “Just like she pushed me deliberately.”

Seraphina clung to him, sobbing. He wrapped her in his arms as though she were porcelain.

“Retrieve it,” he ordered me.

“It’s gone,” I replied.

“Then jump in and find it.”

I met his gaze, strangely peaceful.

“Alright.”

I stepped off the boat.

The water swallowed me whole, my white dress floating briefly before sinking into blackness. Stephen shouted something behind me, but it was distant, fading.

Seraphina cried out weakly, clutching her chest.

“Stephen, I don’t feel well…”

He stared at the sea for a moment, then said, “Send another boat. She can swim. Head back and call an ambulance.”

The water numbed everything. I stopped struggling. My thoughts blurred, darkness closing in.

The burial, the punishment, the pain — it was finally over.

At last, I was free.