Chapter 1: Chapter 1
My husband chooses to stay with his lover while his parents lie dying in a car wreck.
I let him go. I handle the hospital crisis myself.
In my past life, I forced him to abandon her and rescue his parents instead.
His parents lived, but his mistress died in a car accident rushing to see him.
My husband seemed fine with it at first.
A year later, when I was heavily pregnant, he got his revenge.
He poisoned my anniversary dinner and shoved me down the stairs.
“Madison died because of you! This is all your fault!”
I bled out on the floor, our unborn child dying with me.
This time around, he can choose his lover over his dying parents.
When he finally looks at his muted phone and sees the flood of urgent hospital messages, he crumbles.
He appears to have aged ten years in a single night.
————————
1
My husband’s obsession, Madison Brooks, was lounging in my living room when the emergency call came.
“Mrs. Mitchell, your in-laws have been in a serious car accident on the outskirts of town,” a voice from the hospital said, laced with urgency.
“Their condition is critical. They need to be transferred to a specialty hospital for emergency brain surgery. The cost is two and a half million dollars.”
A memory from a life I’d already lived had me jabbing the speakerphone button, making sure my husband, Ryan Mitchell, heard every single word.
I turned to him. His handsome face was a mask of suspicion.
He scoffed. “Lidia Carter, just last month you were screaming that you wanted me to lose everything. Is this your next move? You’d fake my parents’ death just to get Madison out of the house?”
I didn’t cry or scream. I just laid out the facts, my voice flat.
“This isn’t a joke. They are in trouble, and we need two and a half million dollars to save them. We need to access the family trust fund, now.”
His icy glare cut right through me. “This pathetic act won’t make you any more exciting in bed. And now you’re trying to scam me out of my money?”
We had known each other for ten years. I’d saved his life once, and this marriage of convenience was my reward.
Ryan came from a finance dynasty. I was a middle-class girl who ran a coffee shop. He never saw me as an equal. His infatuation with Madison Brooks, a social media influencer, was an open secret.
When we got married, I told him he could go to Madison whenever he wanted. I wasn’t going to chain myself to his handsome face and endless fortune.
He had just pushed me against a wall and kissed me hard, his voice a low growl. “Shut up, Lidia. Just be a good Mrs. Mitchell. That’s all you need to do.”
After the wedding, his coldness only grew worse.
It wasn’t until Madison returned to the country that I saw the fire in his eyes when he looked at her. That’s when I finally understood. There was no room for me in his heart, not even a tiny, pitiful corner.
My own gaze went cold, my disappointment absolute. “I’m not lying, and I’m not playing games.”
I looked him straight in the eye.
“Believe me or don’t. Your parents are really hurt. If you have a conscience, you’ll help me get the money. If you don’t, then get out of my way while I save them.”
He froze, probably because he’d never seen me this forceful.
I turned to leave, pushing past Madison, who was blocking my path. She let out a shriek and tumbled down the stairs with all the grace of a sack of potatoes.
“Oh, it hurts!” she wailed from the floor, tears springing to her eyes on cue. She looked so innocent, so pitiful.
“Ryan, don’t blame Lidia,” she sobbed. “She didn’t mean to do it.”
Ryan’s face darkened instantly. He rushed over and scooped her into his arms.
She winced, clutching her wrist. It was only then I noticed a fresh scratch on the back of my own hand.
He roared at me, his voice shaking with rage. “Don’t you dare touch a hair on her head! If anything happens to Madison, I’ll kill you!”
He stormed out the door, carrying Madison with him.
I was left alone in the vast, empty mansion, my heart a pile of cold ash.
