On our very fifth wedding anniversary, when I was five months pregnant, I got into a car accident.

The doctors called Gavin Armantrading over thirty times. By the time he finally showed up, my condition had already turned critical.

I clutched his hand with all my strength, my voice hoarse as I begged, “Gavin, you need to put the person who did this in prison!”

But instead of reassuring me, he stood coldly in front of the operating room doors, blocking the doctors from wheeling me inside.

“Izzy, she didn’t mean to hit you,” he said flatly. “Just sign the letter of forgiveness now, and I’ll let them take you into surgery.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “Gavin… I’m carrying our child!”

But the look on his face remained cold.

In the end, I had no choice but to endure the pain and sign the goddamn forgiveness letter.

Later, I regained my consciousness, and I hadn’t even opened my eyes yet when I heard him talking to Frankie.

“Gavin, this is already the second forgiveness letter you’ve gotten for me. I really appreciate it. If Izzy ever finds out that I was the one who hit her this time—and that you even gave up your baby… she’d definitely take revenge on me.”

Her soft, fragile voice rang out, and it hit me like a bolt of lightning.

“Don’t worry,” Gavin reassured her. “I won’t let her find out the truth. As for that child… we were just never meant to have it.”

“Oh, Gavin, if it weren’t for you, I would’ve gone to prison long ago for hitting her parents. To repay you, I bought that lingerie you mentioned earlier. Tonight… come to my place.”

The sound of sticky, intimate kisses followed. Then, the door slammed shut.

In the next instant, unstoppable tears spilled from my eyes.

So my best friend... She's the reason my parents were in a coma three years ago?!

And my husband... he’d already been having an affair with her. After destroying my parents, the two of them went on to kill our child together!

This marriage, from beginning to end, had been nothing but a fucking lie…

Finally, I snapped my eyes open, picked up my phone, and dialed Gavin’s sworn enemy.

“I’ll join your company,” I said straightforwardly. “But I want you to help me sue Gavin. In half a month, I want the Armantrading Group completely bankrupt!”

1

Izzy’s POV

After hanging up the phone, I hadn’t even stood up yet when Frankie Crane called me.

The word [Bestie] flashing on my screen felt painfully ironic now that I knew the truth.

I swallowed the rage in my chest and answered. Her breathy panting came through the line instantly.

“Izzy, I heard you got into a car accident on your anniversary… and even lost your baby? I told you before, anyone from your family shouldn’t be driving. Look at what happened—your parents were in a car accident, and now you got into one, too.”

If this were the past, I would’ve thought she was just bad with words.

But now, I could hear the sarcasm in every single syllable.

She was the one who ran my parents over and left them in a coma…

My baby was gone because of her…

I was covered in injuries, lying here broken, while my husband was tangled up in bed with her.

And that still wasn’t enough for her!

She actually had the nerve to call me!

Grief and fury made my teeth clamp together.

I wanted to scream at her, to demand—why?!

Were more than ten years of our friendship all fake?!

Before I could say anything, she spoke again.

“Izzy? Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you mad I didn’t come visit you? I heard Gavin forced you to sign a settlement agreement, so I went to find him. I’m punishing him pretty hard right now. Want to listen?”

She said it in that sticky, intimate tone. My scream got trapped in my throat.

From the other end of the phone came a man’s low, suppressed groan.

“Izzy… Frankie’s already punished me. I really know I messed up. I just didn’t expect the baby to be… so short-lived. Don’t… Don’t be too sad.”

Gavin’s words came out broken and uneven, with wet, obscene sounds cutting in between.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I slammed the phone down.

Rage and the fire of revenge flooded my vision as I sent another message—to Gavin’s sworn enemy.

[Move the Armantrading Group bankruptcy plan up by one week. I want them to repent for everything they’ve done.]

The reply came almost instantly—an affirmative answer.

The next day, I ignored the doctors’ objections and insisted on being discharged.

Enduring the pain in my body, I contacted a lawyer and had both the divorce agreement and my resignation papers drafted. I planned to make Gavin sign them.

But when I got home, the villa was empty. He wasn’t there.

The next second, my phone rang.

“Izzy,” Gavin said gently, “I’m working overtime today. Stay in the hospital and rest. I’ll come see you tomorrow.”

“Gavin, I need to talk to you about something—”

But before I could finish, he hung up.

I stared at my phone, my chest tightening with waves of pain.

Gavin was lying.

He wasn’t working overtime at all.

I had clearly heard Frankie’s voice in the background just now.

Suddenly, something clicked.

I opened my phone.

Before the accident—while preparing an anniversary surprise—I had secretly linked his phone to a location tracker.

As expected, he wasn’t at the Armantrading Group headquarters.

He was at the largest bar in the entire city.

Clutching the two agreements, I followed the location.

When I reached the private room, before I even went inside, I heard the voices of Gavin’s buddies.

Izzy’s POV

“Bro, are you really planning to never touch Izzy again? You’ve been with her for five years, and she’s gorgeous, too. You really believe you can hold back?”

Gavin’s buddies’ teasing voices drifted through the door that hadn’t been shut properly. The moment I heard them, my hand froze around the divorce papers.

Gavin replied casually, “I promised Frankie. As long as she doesn’t agree, I won’t touch Izzy.”

That voice—so familiar—sent a chill straight through me.

Five years of marriage, and he’d barely touched me. So this was why. Every time he did, he had to report it to Frankie.

Frankie let out a soft laugh, her hand sliding along Gavin’s arm, her face full of smug arrogance.

“Gavin, look at them—they don’t even believe you. Why don’t you just find some people to take care of Izzy for you? You don’t even like her anyway. Let someone else enjoy her. Who knows—maybe Izzy would love that.”

As she spoke, she gently brushed his cheek and giggled. “You wouldn’t feel bad about it, right, Gavin?”

For a moment, he fell silent.

My heart leapt into my throat. I gripped the divorce papers even tighter.

Seeing he didn’t answer, Frankie tugged at his sleeve coquettishly. “Hey, didn’t you say you only like me? It’s just letting someone satisfy Izzy. Are you really going to embarrass me in front of your friends?”

The next second, Gavin sighed helplessly.

“Fine. Whatever you want.”

My breathing stopped. And then, tears burst from my eyes.

Meanwhile, the private room exploded with laughter. Frankie kissed Gavin, smug and pleased.

“Then let it be that group in the middle of the bar. Might as well—Izzy should feel lucky.”

That group in the middle of the bar was clearly a bunch of thugs.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I rushed toward the door.

Before I even made it home, Gavin called. It was eerily quiet on his end—only his usual gentle voice.

“Izzy, aren’t you still in the hospital? I sent my men to take care of you, but the hospital said you already checked out. Where are you now?”

I dug my nails into my palm.

He actually sent those fucking thugs to the hospital!

He really listened to Frankie. He really wanted to destroy me completely!

I bit down on my lower lip. The taste of blood forced me to calm down.

“I’ve been discharged. I’m out right now. I don’t need anyone taking care of me. If you have nothing else to say, I’m hanging up.”

I rushed to end the call.

But I heard him chuckle. “Izzy, the villa security said they saw you. Don’t worry. I’ll have someone pick you up. They’ll take very good care of you.”

With that, he hung up.

My eyes widened in terror, and I sprinted toward the villa.

Panic made me careless. Just before reaching the entrance, I tripped over a stone and slammed hard onto the ground.

The next second, several shadows appeared behind me.

Terrified, I didn’t even dare turn around. I crawled desperately toward the villa.

But in the end, my legs were yanked back violently.

The thugs’ disgusting laughter rang out behind me.

“Hey, beautiful… If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being out so late.”

I clawed at the ground with all ten fingers and screamed, “How much did they pay you? I’ll give you double!”

But no one answered.

I fought with everything I had, but it only made them rougher.

Beating. Tearing. My clothes were ripped apart and scattered on the ground.

Countless dirty hands roamed over my body.

My terrified cries and helpless sobs were completely smothered by a large hand clamped over my mouth.

Not far away, the lights of the villa suddenly went out. I heard the housekeeper’s sigh.

“Ma’am… Please don’t blame me. Sir Gavin told me not to save you…”

At that moment, my tears poured out uncontrollably.

And the very last trace of love I had for Gavin vanished… completely.

Izzy’s POV

I thought I wasn’t going to make it out.

But then, very quickly, I heard the police shouting behind me. The thugs panicked and scattered in all directions.

Someone helped me up. The torn pieces of clothing on the ground were draped back over me again, as if nothing had ever happened.

But only I knew—something inside me had completely died.

The police spoke to me with concern, but their voices sounded distant, like there was a layer of glass between us.

Those disgusting men were arrested soon after. After all the procedures were finished, I returned to the villa in a daze.

The moment I stepped inside, I heard laughter coming from the living room.

Frankie was sitting in Gavin’s arms, holding a wine glass, acting as if nothing had happened at all.

While they were enjoying a candlelight dinner, I had been assaulted not far from this very villa.

And the real culprit was now brazenly occupying my home.

The instant they saw me, their expressions changed.

Gavin frowned reflexively.

“Why are you back so late? And why do you look like such a mess?”

How could he pretend so naturally—like none of this had anything to do with him?

I clenched my teeth hard, forcing the hatred in my eyes back down.

Before I could say anything, Frankie stood up and walked toward me with a bright smile.

“Izzy,” she said softly, malice hidden in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I was busy ‘punishing’ Gavin, so I didn’t go to the hospital to see you. Weren’t you discharged already? Why are you only coming back now? And what happened to you…?”

She reached out to touch me, but I immediately stepped back.

Her smile stiffened for a moment, then she spoke with deliberate cruelty.

“You’re in such a mess. Don’t tell me you were assaulted by a group of men?”

After saying that, she covered her mouth, looking shocked.

“Oh, Izzy, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I was just joking. You don’t mind, right?”

She reached out again, trying to grab me.

This time, I slapped her hand away.

“Don’t touch me!”

She stumbled back a couple of steps. Gavin immediately stood up and caught her, then shouted at me angrily, “Izzy! Are you crazy? Frankie was just joking! Or what—were you actually assaulted?”

“What if I was, huh?!” My sharp voice echoed through the villa as I stared straight at him.

His body stiffened for a split second. Then he put on an angry act.

“Who dared to lay a hand on you? I’ll make sure they pay for it! Izzy, don’t worry. Even if you were assaulted, you’re still my wife. I won’t let this get out.”

He looked at me with nothing but tenderness. Anyone else would’ve been deeply moved by his words.

But the one who actually arranged for me to be assaulted was him.

I looked at him with something like a smile, but my eyes were frighteningly red.

“No need. I’ve already sent those people to prison. I believe it won’t be long before the monster who sent them is caught, too.”

With that, the smile on his face froze instantly.

He pulled out his phone.

“They actually dared to hurt my wife. I’ll make sure they rot in prison. Izzy, don’t worry. I’ll find the mastermind behind this right now.”

With that, he hurried out.

Once he was gone, the smile on Frankie’s face completely faded. She tilted her head lazily and looked at me.

“Izzy, you know, I used to really envy you. You had such a good husband. But slowly, I stopped envying you. After all, my lover would never make me sign a forgiveness letter for the real culprit.”

She looked at me, her eyes filled with a twisted sense of satisfaction.

A fake, pitying smile appeared in her eyes.

“Hey, I can’t drink chowder soup lately. I might be pregnant. Your child had such a short life… You couldn’t even give birth to it. So… this bowl of soup should go to you instead.”

“But don’t worry,” she added. “My child will be your child. I’ll make sure it takes good care of you.”

At that point, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I grabbed the bowl of soup from the table and dumped it straight over that bitch.

The next second, hurried footsteps sounded from outside.

Gavin took in the scene before him and let out a furious roar.

“Izzy!”