After the explosion, I fled to a small border town and assumed a new identity, working at an environmental protection station.

Everyone believed I had died in that gas explosion.

For two whole years, my cenotaph was kept spotless—someone cleaned it every single day.

Until today.

A team from the higher-ups came to inspect our station.

The moment the door opened, I froze. Walking in was my former superior.

She stared at me in utter disbelief. "You're alive? Why didn't you come back?"

Her voice trembled as she added, "Renald has been guarding your grave for two years. He nearly killed himself down in the mines."

Renald—my ex-husband.

He had a childhood sweetheart named Lorraine. Fifteen years ago, her parents died saving Renald's mother during a mining accident.

Since then, the Montgomery family had treated Lorraine as their own daughter.

After I married Renald, she started coming after me.

The first time, she tampered with my safety rope. I fell into an abandoned shaft and shattered nearly every bone in my body.

Renald brought in the best specialists to pull me back from the brink of death.

The second time, she damaged my oxygen tank. I nearly suffocated in a sealed tunnel.

Renald led a six-hour search before finding me unconscious.

She harmed me; he saved me.

Again and again.

Until the very last time.

Lorraine triggered a gas explosion in my work area. My entire body was burned, my lungs destroyed.

As they carried me away on a stretcher, I used the last of my strength to beg Renald to call the police.

He crouched beside me and shook his head gently.

"Danica, Lorraine didn't mean it. Her parents died saving my mother. For my sake... just let it go, alright?"

At that moment, my heart died completely.

——

The next day, when I woke up in the mining hospital, the first thing I did was call his mother.

I knew she had never liked me.

"Mrs. Montgomery," I said, my voice terrifyingly calm. "I agree with the divorce."

There was a brief silence before her firm, almost relieved reply came through, "I'm glad you've come to your senses. I'll have someone bring the papers. Just sign them."

Not long after I hung up, the Montgomery family's lawyer appeared in my room, politely handing me the divorce agreement.

Tears blurred my vision as memories of Renald flooded back uncontrollably.

Three years of marriage—he had been gentle, considerate, and attentive.

But when it came to Lorraine, he had no limits.

The first time I met her, she had lured me into a restricted mining area, where I inhaled toxic gas and spent a week in the ICU.

I cried and begged Renald to hold her accountable, but he only held me and whispered, "Danica, Lorraine just made a mistake at work. She's not a bad person. As long as you're safe, that's what matters."

From then on, every injury, every betrayal—he brushed them all aside.

When the lawyer finally collected the signed papers, he exhaled in relief.

"Ms. Alba, once the divorce certificate is ready, I'll deliver it personally."

After he left, the room fell silent.

A few moments later, the door creaked open again.

Lorraine walked in, smiling sweetly, carrying a bouquet of white chrysanthemums.

My body went rigid. I instinctively backed away.

"What are you doing here?"

She dropped the flowers to the floor, her smile bright and sinister.

"What else? I came to send you off myself."

"The gas explosion didn't kill you, so I'll just have to finish the job."

Before I could react, she lunged at me and wrapped her hands around my throat. I struggled desperately, but my burned, weakened body was no match for her trained strength.

The air in my lungs thinned rapidly, my vision darkening. Just as my consciousness began to fade, the door burst open.

A doctor doing his rounds screamed, "What are you doing?! Stop right now!"

In the chaos, I gripped his sleeve with the last of my strength.

"C–call... the police…"

Then everything went black.

When I woke up again, the first thing I saw was Renald's dark, stormy face.

His voice trembled with suppressed anger.

"Danica, why did you call the police? Lorraine has already been taken away by them!"

My heart clenched, as if a knife had been driven straight through it.

"She tried to strangle me to death!" I gasped.

Renald frowned deeply. "I've told you before—Lorraine's parents died saving my mother. She's emotionally scarred, but she's not a bad person. She didn't really mean to hurt you—"

"Didn't mean to kill me?!" I cut him off, my voice cracking as three years' worth of fear, humiliation, and fury finally burst free.

"She sabotaged my safety rope and left me crippled! She tampered with my oxygen tank and nearly suffocated me! She blew up the gas line and burned me alive—and just now, she tried to choke me to death!"

"Every single time, she wanted me dead! If that doctor hadn't come in, I'd be a corpse right now—do you understand that?!"

Renald sighed and reached out to pull me into his arms.

I slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me! This time I won't back down. I'm pressing charges—she's going to face the law!"

He fell silent for a moment, then his gaze hardened.

"Lorraine and I grew up together. She's been spoiled, yes, but she's not evil. I'll discipline her myself—suspend her, maybe even make her leave the demolition field."

"But I won't let her go to prison and ruin her life."

Before I could even react, his assistant stepped forward and handed me a document.

"Sign this, and everything will be forgiven. Things between you and Mr. Montgomery can go back to how they were."

I stared at the bold, black title at the top "Statement of Forgiveness", and almost laughed at the absurdity of it.

"I'm not signing that."

"Lorraine lost her parents young," Renald said softly. "She's never suffered like this. A detention center would crush her."

"Danica, be good."

"I said I'm not signing!" I shouted, my voice breaking.

The next instant, the assistant grabbed my arm and twisted it hard.

"Ah—!"

Pain shot through every nerve in my body.

He forced my hand down, dragging the pen across the paper to scrawl my name. Then he pressed my fingers into the red inkpad and stamped it on the page.

Renald stood silently beside us, watching the entire scene unfold.

Sweat soaked my hospital gown. I looked up at the man I had loved for so many years, my voice trembling.

"Renald... you're doing this to me—for her?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he turned to his assistant and ordered calmly, "Call the doctor. Get the best medicine for her hand. Make sure she's well taken care of."

—

For the next few days, he didn't come by again, and only sent text messages.

[The mine collapsed. I'm tied up right now.]

[Don't stay angry. Once you're discharged, I'll take you to the city to relax.]

[Does your hand still hurt? Take care of yourself.]

But every time his messages arrived, another message from Lorraine would follow—each one a dagger to the heart.

She sent countless photos of Renald beside her, pouring her water. Massaging her shoulders. Using the same self-defense knife he'd never let me touch... to peel apples for her.

That night, my hand throbbed so badly I couldn't sleep. Against all reason, I found myself calling him.

The phone rang and rang, but he didn't answer.

I hung up.

A few seconds later, a message from Lorraine appeared.

[Hehe~ Guess what we're doing?]

Below her words was a video. Even from the thumbnail alone, the air reeked of intimacy.

My hands shook as I tapped it open.

Lorraine was sprawled on the bed, her clothes disheveled, her flushed face gleaming with sweat.

Then she sat up suddenly, wrapping her arms around Renald's waist from behind, pressing her fevered body against his strong back.

"Renald... don't go... I feel so hot... that wine... it's too strong..."

"If you leave... something bad will happen to me... please…"

Renald froze in his tracks. He turned to look at Lorraine, her eyes hazy and pleading under the dim light.

After a long moment of hesitation, he clenched his jaw, then hung up on my call.

Turning back, he gently helped her onto the bed.

"I'll stay with you until morning."

The video went dark after that. The only sounds left were a low, guttural groan and Lorraine's soft, satisfied laughter.

I felt as if I'd plunged into an ice-cold abyss. My fingers trembled as I clutched my phone, dialing his number again and again.

All through the night, I made over four hundred calls. But he didn't answer a single one.

When dawn finally broke, a message appeared on my screen. [I handled an emergency last night.]

A hollow laugh escaped me.

So this was his "emergency"—spending the night by another woman's bed.

...

The day I was discharged happened to be my birthday.

Renald came in person to pick me up. He even booked a private hall at an upscale restaurant for a small birthday celebration.

The venue was beautifully decorated, and he stayed by my side the entire evening.

After the cake was cut, he fastened a custom-made gold necklace around my neck, drawing murmurs of admiration from the guests.

To everyone else, I must have looked like the luckiest woman alive.

But to me, that necklace felt as heavy as a shackle pressing down on my chest.

Halfway through the banquet, I felt suffocated and excused myself to the restroom.

The moment I turned into the hallway, someone blocked my path.

"Well, if it isn't Mrs. Montgomery—the happiest woman tonight."

Lorraine leaned lazily against the wall, arms crossed, mockery twisting her lips.

I didn't want to engage. I turned to leave, but she stepped forward, blocking me again.

"Renald must really adore you—throwing you a party, gifting you that expensive necklace. You must feel so proud."

"But when you called the police on me, didn't he force you to sign that forgiveness letter just to bail me out?"

"Do you even know how much he depends on me? Everything we've been through together... and yet you still cling to him shamelessly. Tell me, shouldn't I hate you for that?"

Each word was like a dull, poisoned blade, slicing deeper into a heart already scarred beyond repair.

My face was drained of color. I only wanted to get away. But she wouldn't let me.

In one swift motion, Lorraine grabbed my wrist, her nails digging deep into my skin.

"You survived last time... let's see if you're that lucky again!"

Before I could react, two burly men in work uniforms stepped out of the shadows. They grabbed me—one on each side—and dragged me down the hallway, ignoring my frantic struggles.

They shoved me into the top-floor lounge and locked the door.

Terror clawed at my throat. My strength was useless against theirs.

Lorraine's eyes gleamed with venom and twisted triumph.

"Danica, since Renald loves you so much, I'll destroy you completely! Let's see if he still wants a filthy, used-up woman after this!"

One of the men—a leering brute with a greasy smile—started to advance toward me.

I fought desperately, but despair swallowed me whole.

Lorraine lifted her phone, aiming the camera at me, preparing to record everything.

Just as that disgusting hand reached for my clothes—

BANG!

The door burst open, slamming against the wall.

Renald stormed in like a wild beast, fury radiating from every inch of him.

When he saw me pinned to the bed, my clothes torn, his eyes went bloodshot.

In one swift motion, he grabbed the man by the collar, hurled him over his shoulder, and slammed him to the floor. The man didn't even have time to scream before losing consciousness.

"Danica!"

He rushed to me, tearing away the restraints and pulling me into his arms.

"Don't be afraid! I'm here now—it's over."

Terror and humiliation surged up all at once, and I broke down sobbing against his chest.

He scooped me up, wrapping his jacket carefully around me, and headed for the door.

As we passed by Lorraine, he stopped.

His gaze turned cold—so cold it could kill.