What a sick joke.

My beloved husband vowed to have me jailed.

I swallowed the shooting pain and watched as he returned to his office to speak to his colleagues.

"Where is that woman? I need to settle the score with her."

It seemed like it finally occurred to him to look for me, but that was only because he wanted to avenge Reya.

His colleague seemed taken aback by this and darted shifting glances at the computer.

There was a video playing on the screen. It was footage of my corpse being removed from the scene.

The firefighters present at the scene were doubled over and retching while trying to secure whatever belongings I had that could be recovered.

Although everything else had been burned to ashes, the skeleton of my diamond wedding ring was still clung to my charred fingerbone. Luther was the one who had put it on my finger.

My heart throbbed with pain while I leaned into his ear to remind him, "Look. Look at me. That’s the wedding ring you gave me. Since the moment you put it on, I have never taken it off. I wore it faithfully for five years…"

If I could, I would scoop the ashes in the footage and tell him it contained the only ultrasound picture of his child.

Unfortunately, all he did was swipe a disinterested glance at the screen before asking which hospital I had been admitted to. It seemed to me like I meant nothing to this man whom I had loved for the last decade.

Nothing could describe the immeasurable sadness I felt.

His colleague answered nervously, "Haven’t you heard? We couldn’t save her from that fire. She died on the scene…"

Luther exploded with rage upon hearing this, "She took you out for lunch a few times, didn’t she? How dare you cover for her with these lies? It doesn’t get any more immature than this!"

He became very upset and began to insult me.

"How do you expect me to believe that all the firefighters who showed up couldn’t rescue just one person? I can’t believe she would get my colleagues to make up this pathetic lie to fake her death, it’s disgusting!"

As much as it hurt me, I was not surprised by his reaction. I understood the nature of his work and never requested to take time out of his hectic schedule.

Once, I got into a serious car accident and lost a lot of blood. My father was frantic and told Luther he had to take a day off to visit me at the hospital.

After I was attended to in the hospital, I forced myself to get up despite my weakened state so that I could call Luther.

Since I did not want to get in the way of his work, I made something up. "Sorry, I missed you and was worried you would be seeing someone else behind my back. That’s why I had my dad test you."

Luther was very upset by this and held the incident over my head for a long time after that.

His colleagues were frightened by his sharp reaction and decided to keep their mouths shut.

When he returned to Reya's ward, he angrily relayed the situation to her.

Reya held his hand tenderly and told him what he wanted to hear, "You’re right. There’s no way all those firefighters couldn’t manage to save Amaranth."

Luther was glad to hear this and doubled down. "Amaranth crossed the line this time. I’m going to make sure she pays for this!"

Reya took Luther's arm and advised him, "Maybe she’s just upset because you rescued me first. I think you should talk to her. She only spilled gasoline on the couch to scare me. I’m sure she didn’t set it on fire intentionally, and she didn’t mean to hurt me."

It was a lie. She was the one who injured herself to frame me. She was the one who committed arson.

And yet, there was nothing I could do to prove her wrong.

Luther became distressed and embraced her tightly. "The only reason she can walk all over you is because you are too gentle for the world."

He glowered upon mentioning me. "I know what she’s like. She’s a very jealous person, always suspicious of me and sensitive. I’m sure she has it in her head that you have been trying to seduce me. That’s why she takes it out on you. Just thinking about it makes me angry."

Reya made a show of being benevolent. "I have never blamed her for any of that. I just hope she’s fine."

Luther sneered, "Oh, I’m sure she’s fine. This is only part of her usual antics. One time, she got her dad to lie to me and tell me she suffered from severe blood loss after a car accident. Thankfully, I found out it was nothing but a lie. I almost missed an important drill because of her!"

The sharp spite in his voice made me shiver.

If only he had extended a hand toward me that day, that beam would not have collapsed on me, and my child would not have burned to death with me.

My health had been rather unstable over the last few years. A large part of it was because I had been preparing to conceive. I took countless supplements as well as injections so I could become pregnant with Luther’s child.

Sometimes, I got emotional and wanted Luther to spend time with me. He would respond by telling me off, "I don’t like it when you put on that pitiful expression to get my attention."

He did not seem to feel the same way about Reya doing the same thing.

Since she returned to our country, she would call Luther all the time to whine about her body aching. Whenever that happened, Luther would make a point of taking a day off so he could take her to the doctor.

At one point, I was upset by this and confronted him about it.

He remarked dismissively, "Reya grew up with me and is like a little sister to me. She doesn’t have a family. It’s only right that I should take care of her."

One night, after Reya summoned Luther away in the middle of the night again, I decided I could not take it anymore. I confronted her and intended to have a civil conversation with her.

Before I could even get a word out, she knelt on the ground and cried. At a loss for what to do, I walked away.

When I got home, Luther furiously told me off, "Amaranth, when did you ever turn into such an unruly woman? Can’t you at least tolerate her? She’s a helpless young girl!"

He showed me a video on his phone.

It was a video from Reya. In the video, she was kneeling on the ground, sobbing hysterically while crying out my name.

"Amaranth, you can hit me all you want, but please don’t be angry at Luther…"

Luther raised his arm and looked like he was going to hit me as if it was a form of retribution for what I had done to Reya.

The blow never came. He kept his hand suspended in the air and cautioned me sternly, "If you ever pick on her and take out your anger on her again, I will divorce you!"

When I recalled what happened that day, I could still relive the pain I felt.

Now that I have turned into a spirit, there was nothing I could do but watch helplessly as Luther carried Reya into the ward.

I stalked after Luther and watched as he attentively took care of Reya until the doctor permitted her to leave the hospital.

Upon returning to Reya’s house, she clung onto him and lamented, "Now that my parents are gone, you’re the only one I can count on, Luther. I’ve had nightmares of being trapped by columns of fire the last two nights. I’m so scared. Could you spend just two more days with me?"

Luther requested days off without a second thought. The same man who claimed that my need for affection was getting on his nerves was now displaying endless patience for another woman. The sight of it pained me.

Reya relied on him for everything, and he was more than happy to oblige her needs.

The pair stayed home for a few days.

Then, Luther received a strange call. At first, he assumed it was a call from work.

As soon as he picked up the phone, he was assaulted by my father’s furious voice.

"My daughter has been lying in the morgue for seven days, but you don’t even care about her! I disown you as a wretched son-in-law!"

Luther was furious as well and snapped back at him, "How long are you people going to keep up this song and dance? Have you forgotten that time you told me about the car accident? Is this another one of your antics?

"Tell her she can forget about faking her death! Let her know I will not let her get away with it and that I’m going to divorce her!"

My father did not expect Luther to snap back at him. He could not believe that the son-in-law whom he had been trying to get in contact with for so many days would say such cruel things to him.

"My daughter and I will not let you and the perpetrator get away with it!"

Luther thought my father was being ridiculous. He hung up angrily while Reya looked at him with concern. "Luther, did someone make you upset?"

Luther pinched his eyebrows and tried to calmly assure her, "Nothing, it’s just Amaranth getting her father to scare me."

After that, he chuckled in a baffled manner. "They are a very strange family. What kind of father would make up a story about his daughter being in the morgue? I can’t believe it."

Something flickered in Reya’s eyes. "Since Amaranth is being so ridiculous, have you decided you were going to divorce her?"

Luther suddenly fell silent.

After what seemed like forever, he spoke meekly, "Well, I only said what I said out of anger and thought if I threatened her with divorce, she would behave. We have been married for five years after all…"

He brushed at his face and his tone suddenly softened, "Although Amaranth was a little out of line with you, we do usually get along pretty well, and she takes good care of me. My parents and colleagues are very fond of her, too."

As it turned out, Luther remembered the good parts of me.

Over the last ten years, we had gone from friends to lovers. I forced myself to be strong so I could become a safe harbor for him.

Whenever he came home tired from work, I would greet him with food fresh from the stove. I would listen to him rant about work and massage him in the bath.

I would also buy gifts for his colleagues and invite them to dinner at our place to help him build rapport with them.

Whenever he was busy with work, I would attend to his parents for him. When his parents became sick and bedridden, I would be with them throughout the day and look after them as if they were my parents.

However, I soon realized that I was not stirred by the emotive look in his eyes. If anything, I think he was only lamenting not having me around as a helper anymore.

When Luther began to go on about the things he appreciated about me, Reya’s expression dropped.

"Luther…"

Before she could continue, the front door of her house was suddenly thrown open with a powerful kick.

I turned in the direction of the commotion and spotted Luther’s father storming into the house.

"You little brat!"

He grabbed a cup and flung it in Luther’s direction without warning.

"Now I understand why Amaranth died without anyone to save her! How dare you spend time with this wretched vixen when something so terrible has happened to your wife?"

Luther seemed taken aback by this. When he came to, he grabbed his father and asked, "Why are you playing into Amaranth’s lie? There’s no end to this woman’s nonsense. I…"

His father slapped him straight across the face with his hands trembling the entire time.

"Nonsense? You’re the one who is being nonsensical! Don't you know your wife is dead? You were the one who abandoned her in the fire and were responsible for her burning to death!"