Just before Emily left, the corner of her eye caught sight of me, and she felt a brief pang of guilt.

She instinctively explained, "There's an urgent matter at the company. I need to go deal with it. I'll come back to be with you later."

Without waiting for me to respond, she fled.

I didn't try to stop her. I was just a little surprised that she bothered to explain.

Probably just a habit I had drilled into her over the years. She hadn't been able to shake it yet.

And wasn't Kyle supposed to be under house arrest? How did he end up outside and get into a car accident?

It seemed that punishment was just something she made up to fool me.

I couldn't be bothered to expose it. None of it had anything to do with me anymore.

When my friends heard I was hurt, they came to visit me.

In the past, even a minor bruise would have filled my hospital room with visitors. But now, even though I was seriously injured, only a handful of people showed up.

I understood. Emily used to spoil me, and everyone indulged me for her sake. Now that Kyle had hurt me right in front of her and faced no consequences, everyone knew the truth. Kyle was back. I was just the stand-in, and it was time for me to get lost.

I wasn't sad. The ones who came were my true close friends. They felt sorry for me.

"You were with Emily for eight years. How could she be so heartless?"

Watching their grief and anger, I felt nothing.

If time alone could create love, then all those couples who stuck it out for a lifetime wouldn't still be divorcing in old age.

I made plans to meet up with them again.

They didn't disturb my recovery and left one by one. The ward was empty. Soon, I was completely alone.

I took out my phone to pick a place for us to meet when I saw that someone had tagged me on social media.

I clicked on it. It was Kyle.

In the video, Emily—who had never lifted a finger around the house—was wearing an apron and cooking for him.

They had also changed their profile pictures to couple photos of them in wedding attire.

In the latest post, Kyle showed off Emily's pregnancy test results, announcing that he and Emily were becoming parents.

While showing off, he tagged me in the comments: [Chris, did you ever get treated like this as a stand-in?]

A bunch of people joined in to mock me.

[Honestly, if Kyle hadn't wanted to wait so long to get married, Chris wouldn't have even been a stand-in. He's not fit to be compared to Kyle.]

[Exactly. The only reason Emily spoiled Chris rotten was because he looked and acted like Kyle.]

[Now that Kyle is back, of course Emily is settling down to build a real life with him. Chris is nothing.]

Seeing these replies, I wasn't surprised.

I was just curious. Emily once told me that she was afraid of pain, afraid of ruining her figure, and even more afraid of the dangers of childbirth. She said she was determined to be childless for life.

I never thought those words were just meant to fool me. She turned around and got pregnant with Kyle's child right away.

Maybe Emily just didn't want to have a child with anyone else. If it were with Kyle, she was more than happy to.

Calmly, I liked the post to show my congratulations.

But not long after, Emily came back. She rushed into the room anxiously.

I thought she was going to explain the pregnancy. I was about to say there was no need.

Instead, she forcefully pulled me up from the hospital bed.

"Come with me. I've prepared a birthday party for you."

Today was my birthday. To surprise me, she had promised that on this day, we would get our marriage license. But in the end, she stood me up, married someone else, and announced she was pregnant.

I understood. She felt guilty, so she was trying to make it up to me.

But I didn't want it.

"No need. Your husband is Kyle. Aren't you afraid he'll get the wrong idea if you throw me a birthday party?"

Emily didn't care.

"I told you before. No matter what our relationship is, I will celebrate your birthday every year. This year is no different."

Seeing that she insisted, I didn't refuse. After all, I was leaving soon. Consider this a farewell—a proper ending to this relationship.

Once we got in the car, Emily cheerfully pulled out a blindfold.

"Put this on. I've prepared a surprise for you."

Emily always loved these little romantic gestures. I didn't think much of it and put it on right away.

The car drove quickly and soon became bumpy.

When the blindfold was removed, I was out in the wilderness. Not far away, a group of burly men with clubs were staring at me menacingly.

Emily whispered apologetically in my ear.

"Kyle hit someone with his car. The other party won't settle for money. They insist on handing someone over, or else they'll report him for hit-and-run.

"He's not in good health, and he's easily scared. Something could easily happen to him. You're different. You're careful and brave. You can definitely handle a small situation like this.

"Chris, my baby can't grow up without a father. You'll just have to bear with it for now.

"Don't worry. This is a society ruled by law. They're just going to invite you for tea as a guest. They won't really hurt you. I will definitely come get you in three days."

With that, she shoved me toward those men.

"This is my husband, Kyle. I'm handing him over to you. I'll come get him when the time is up. If you dare hurt him, I'll make you pay."

So the so-called compensation was just me flattering myself. Her real goal was to make me take the fall for Kyle. After all, as a stand-in, I looked and acted a lot like him.

My heart was filled with mixed emotions. I couldn't even force a smile.

Emily knew perfectly well that if there were truly no danger, she wouldn't have been so unwilling to hand Kyle over.

The truth was simple. She didn't care if I, the stand-in, got hurt or died. But her Kyle couldn't come to any harm.

After delivering her threats, Emily left.

And sure enough, those men didn't let me off.

One of them punched me hard in the stomach.

"Kyle's trick really worked. We got this guy here without any trouble."

"Enough small talk. Kyle wants us to teach this guy a lesson. Trying to steal Kyle's girlfriend? He's asking for it."

"Beat him within an inch of his life. Make sure he never dares to covet Emily again."

So this was all a setup by Kyle. And yet Emily, who was usually so smart, had fallen for it.

I guess that's what they mean by love blinding you.

The men rained down clubs on my body. The pain spread through every part of me, making me wish I were dead.

That wasn't all. They starved me and tormented me every single day.

By the time the agreed-upon three days were almost up, I was covered in wounds and barely holding on.

Emily came to get me a few hours early. Her cheerful voice echoed from outside the building, "Time's up. I'm here to pick him up."

I heard the door slowly open.

I looked at the return portal on my system screen and clicked to activate it without a moment's hesitation.

A white light that only I could see rose up. A massive force pulled me into the vortex.

In an instant, the white light disappeared.

And this body died for good.