My fingers trembled as I dialed the number I had sworn never to call again.

"It's time I came back home to take my position as the heiress to the fortune." My voice came out louder than I'd intended.

"Elena!" My mother's voice cracked with disbelief. There was a long pause, then I heard her crying softly. "Just know your father and I will be waiting for you."

My father. The mention of Lucas Alfred sent a chill down my spine.

I had walked away from him five years ago. Abandoned the Alfred empire for Leo despite my father's warnings. He'd seen through Leo's lies from the very beginning, and I had called him controlling. Called him overbearing. Walked out on him.

"Yes, Mother," I whispered, swallowing the lump in my throat.

Five years. I had given up my inheritance, my family, my identity. All for Leo.

And the only repayment was a death sentence wrapped in an insurance policy.

I hung up and stared at the phone in my shaking hands.

Through the glass door, I saw Leo pacing in the hallway. His voice was sharp, urgent. He was on his phone, his face twisted in frustration.

Without a single glance my way, he stormed off down the corridor, abandoning me once again.

My weak body protested as I forced myself out of bed. Each step sent sharp pain coursing through the surgical wound. I looked down and saw fresh blood seeping through the bandages.

But I had to know.

I followed him down the corridor, my legs barely holding me upright. My heart hammered against my ribs. I used the wall for support, leaving a faint trail of blood behind me.

The sight that greeted me made my soul crumble.

Leo had Lydia pressed against the wall in an empty hospital room. His hands roamed her body while she moaned against him. Their mouths were locked together, desperate and hungry.

"I was so scared you'd forgotten about me," Lydia murmured, clinging to him. "You've been so busy with her..."

"Never," Leo cut her off, kissing her forehead. "In five days, this nightmare will be over. I will never leave you again."

"Is that a promise?" Her voice trembled.

"I promise, baby," he assured her. "Just five more days."

My soul shattered. Each word was a dagger twisting deeper into my heart.

Five days. Until what? Until I grew cold in my grave?

I stared at Lydia's face as she clung to him. She was glowing, radiant, with perfect skin and rosy cheeks. Full of life.

Then I caught my reflection in the window beside them. Pale, hollow eyed, broken. A ghost.

Who was really sick between us?

"Excuse me, dear."

I spun around, my heart nearly leaping from my chest. A nurse stood behind me, smiling warmly.

"I couldn't help but notice you watching." She gestured toward Leo and Lydia. "That's so sweet how you're happy for them."

My blood froze.

"He's such a wonderful husband," the nurse continued, her voice filled with admiration. "Always bringing her fresh flowers. Making sure she eats every meal. He'd move heaven and earth for that woman."

Husband.

The word hit like a dagger through my chest.

My knees buckled. The earth tilted beneath my feet.

"His... wife?" I choked out, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Oh yes! They're the perfect couple. You can see how much he loves her." The nurse sighed dreamily, then walked away, leaving me frozen in the hallway.

Heaven and earth. For her.

While I had moved my very organs for him.

A courier arrived with a massive bouquet of white roses and a designer shopping bag.

"I got something special for you," Leo said, his voice overflowing with tenderness I'd never heard him use with me.

White roses. My favorite flowers. The ones he had never once bought me in five years of marriage.

I remembered our first anniversary. I'd mentioned how much I loved white roses. He nodded, said "that's nice," and bought me chocolates instead. Every year after that, chocolates or nothing at all.

But for Lydia? White roses. Designer bags. Paris trips for macarons. While I'd made myself a bowl of instant noodles when I was down with fever because he was "too busy" to come home.

Each memory cut deeper than the last.

The pain in my chest became unbearable as I watched him shower her with the love I'd always craved. Then Lydia's gaze wandered over his shoulder and locked directly onto mine.

The moment our eyes met, her expression shifted. A slow, cold smirk spread across her face. She was savoring every moment of my pain.

"Hold me tighter, Leo," she purred, her gaze never leaving mine. "Promise me you'll never let anyone come between us again."

"Never, baby," Leo responded without hesitation. "In five days, nothing will ever separate us again. I promise you another round tonight. You can ride me as long as you want."

"I can't wait to have you inside me," Lydia moaned, wrapping her legs around him as she ground against him shamelessly.

Round. Ride.

Leo was cheating on me. Right here, in the open. In a hospital corridor where anyone could see. The realization hit me like a truck.

Five days. Said like a love promise. Like a countdown to freedom.

My freedom. My death. I turned slowly and made my way back to my room. Each step was agony. Blood continued to seep through my bandages, but I barely felt it anymore.

I collapsed onto the hospital bed, my body convulsing with silent sobs that came from the depths of my shattered soul.

Every promise. Every kiss. Every tender moment. All of it had been part of his plan to kill me for the insurance money.

My chest felt crushed, like someone was squeezing my heart until I couldn't draw a full breath.

Throughout the entire day, Leo never came to check on me. Not once.

While I lay there bleeding both from my surgery and my broken heart, he was with Lydia. She had all his attention. All his care. All his love.

I meant nothing. As darkness filled the room, the final piece of the puzzle clicked into place with terrifying clarity. How could I have been this blind?

A year ago, Leo had insisted on getting me life insurance. I remembered that day so clearly now. Tears streamed down his face as he talked about "protection for our growing family."

His voice trembled. "What if something happens to you, Elena? I can't lose you. At least this way, I'd have something to help me through the grief."

I'd cried too, touched by his concern. I'd signed the papers without even reading them carefully.

Now I understand. The insurance wasn't protection. It was a death trap.

He had planned this from the very beginning. Every tear had been calculated. Every sob, rehearsed. Every loving word, a lie.

My body had been nothing but a vessel to heal the woman he truly loved. And my death would be the final gift to fund their happily ever after.

But they had made one fatal mistake. They had let me live long enough to uncover their web of lies. And now? Now I was done being the victim.

They would pay for every drop of blood, every stolen breath, every shattered dream. I would make sure of it.

I dialed my lawyer's number with trembling hands.

"Mr. Peterson, I need you to draft divorce papers immediately," I said, my voice steady despite the storm inside me. "Give them to Leo only after I leave. And make sure the insurance company knows we're divorced before any claims are processed."

Each word felt like signing my own death warrant. I glanced frantically at the door.

If Leo discovered this before I could escape...

"Let him explain to the insurance company how he wants to collect benefits from someone who's no longer his wife," I thought bitterly as I gave Mr. Peterson the details.

The moment I hung up, the door burst open. I looked up, my heart jumping into my throat. Lydia sauntered in, her lips curved into that familiar cruel smile. She was wearing designer clothes, full makeup, and looked healthier than I'd ever seen her.

My entire body tensed. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but I was too weak. Too broken.

She sat down, crossing her legs with the confidence of someone who had already won.

"You were never sick, were you?" I asked directly. I was done playing games.

For a moment, she just stared at me. Then she laughed. Not a polite chuckle. A full, cruel laugh that made her nearly double over.

"Of course I wasn't sick!" She wiped tears from her eyes. "Thanks for the kidney though."

The room spun.

"What?"

Her smile turned vicious. "I threw it in the trash behind the hospital. Left it for the rats and flies to feast on."

No. The word stuck in my throat.

My hands instinctively went to the surgical scar below my ribs. The empty space where my kidney used to be throbbed with phantom pain.

"No, this can't be..." The words came out as a broken whisper.

"You were always just a placeholder, Elena. A walking insurance policy." Her eyes gleamed with malice. "Did you really think Leo married you for love?"

My world tilted.

"I was the one who told him to seduce you five years ago. You were nothing but a meal ticket. A massive life insurance policy waiting to be cashed in."

"But he chose me..." My voice sounded pathetic even to my own ears.

"He chose you as the perfect tool!" She leaned forward. "The kidney was just a bonus. But that insurance policy? Two hundred million dollars? That was always the main prize."

She moved closer, and I saw the white lilies in her hand. My death sentence wrapped in pretty petals.

"Take those away," I gasped, already feeling my throat begin to tighten. "You know I'm allergic..."

"I know exactly what they'll do to you." She thrust them toward my face. "Leo said to get rid of you. So why don't you just die now and save us the trouble?"

My eyes began to swell shut. My throat sealed completely. I couldn't breathe.

I collapsed to the floor, wheezing and clawing at my throat. My vision went black around the edges as I crawled desperately toward my bedside table where my emergency EpiPen waited.

Just as my fingers brushed the nightstand, Lydia's heel came down like a hammer.

Crack!

White hot pain exploded through both my hands. The EpiPen rolled away as glass from a nearby bottle shattered, shards tearing deep into my palms. Blood poured onto the floor.

"Die already, you pathetic fool!" she screamed, grinding her heel deeper into my shattered hands.

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't scream. The glass carved deeper into my flesh with every second. My vision was fading.

Suddenly, heavy footsteps thundered down the hallway.

Leo.

My heart leaped with desperate, foolish hope. He would see Lydia for who she really was. He would save me.

"Leo," I tried to call out, but my voice was barely a wheeze. "Help... me..."

Lydia released my hand instantly and threw herself dramatically among the scattered flowers and gifts, wailing like a wounded animal.

"Leo!" she sobbed the moment he stepped through the doorway. "Elena was throwing a tantrum and attacked me for no reason!"

Leo burst in and went straight to her, stepping over my bleeding body like I was garbage on the floor. He didn't even glance at my swollen face or the blood pooling beneath my shattered hands.

"She brought me flowers that could kill me," I wheezed, gasping for air. "White lilies... allergic..."

"SHUT UP!" Leo's mask finally slipped completely.

The hatred in his voice made my blood freeze.

"Lydia was being kind, bringing you flowers, and you repay her by throwing a tantrum like an untrained child?"

His words cut deeper than any knife.

I had told Leo about my deadly allergy to white lilies countless times. When we were dating. When we got married. Every spring when they bloom. Yet here he was, defending the woman who had just tried to murder me with them.

His voice turned to ice. "Touch Lydia again, and I'll make sure you never see another sunrise." He scooped Lydia up, cradling her like precious china. "Don't you ever try it!"

I lay there, bleeding and writhing in agony. Tears burned my cheeks as he stepped over my broken body and walked away with her in his arms.

Something inside me shattered forever.

With the last of my strength, I found my backup inhaler in my pocket and used it with trembling, bloodied hands. The medication worked slowly, opening my airways just enough to keep me alive.

I lay on that cold floor for what felt like hours before I could finally breathe normally again.

++++++

Later that evening, a nurse helped me back into bed and bandaged my hands. She didn't ask questions. She'd probably seen worse in this hospital.

After she left, I stared at the ceiling, my mind working through the fog of pain and medication. My phone buzzed. An email notification.

"Miss Roberta, you've been invited to attend the Celestial Diamond Annual Gala."

My eyes widened as I stared at the elegant invitation that had been forwarded to my personal email. The one only a handful of people knew about.

I called my mother, my hands shaking as I held the phone.

"You should go, darling," her voice came through, warm and encouraging. "You built half of that company. The CEO of Celestial Diamond would be honored to have you at the occasion."

"But... I..." The words died in my throat.

"You dedicated ten years of your life to jewelry design," she said gently. "You helped make some of the most sophisticated pieces in the world. Don't let what happened steal that from you too."

I glanced at my already packed luggage hidden in the closet. I had been planning to escape tomorrow. This gala was tonight.

"Okay, Mom. I'll attend tonight's gathering."

She smiled through the video call. "Everyone is eagerly waiting for your arrival in Litsville tomorrow. Your father has been pacing the garden for days."

Relief flooded through me. The realization that my family still loved me, still wanted me, gave me strength. The invitation reminded me of who I used to be before I met Leo.

Roberta Alfred. Renowned for creating masterpiece jewelry that graced royalty and red carpets. That had been everything I'd ever wanted.

The day I had planned to reveal my face to the world was the day I met Leo.

Love at first sight. Or so I'd thought.

He was everything I had ever dreamed of. Charming, attentive, romantic.

And right beside him had stood Lydia, desperately trying to network her way into meeting Roberta Alfred. Not knowing she was talking to me the entire time.

I had wanted to experience genuine love without the influence of my fortune. So I'd introduce myself as Elena Robert. A simple jewelry enthusiast.

What a fool I'd been.

They'd targeted me for my insurance policy from the very first "hello." Played me like a violin. All because they desperately wanted to climb into the elite circles where Lydia could finally meet the famous Roberta Alfred.

Well, she was about to get her wish. But not the way she'd dreamed. I would make them pay for every lie, every betrayal, every moment of pain.

But first, I needed to reclaim my identity. And what better place to start than at the gala where the entire jewelry world would be watching?

Crystal chandeliers blazed overhead as I stepped into the gala. My black evening dress hung loosely on my weakened frame. I'd lost at least fifteen pounds since the surgery. Every step sent sharp pain through my body, but I kept my head high and my shoulders back.

I was here. At the Celestial Diamond Annual Gala. Where I belonged.

"You're the famous Roberta!" The secretary's face lit up with recognition as she guided me past security. "Mr. Davis is running late, but he reserved a spot for you in the VIP section. Right this way."

Before I could reach it, iron fingers clamped around my arm and yanked me backward.

Lydia stood before me in blood red silk, her perfect skin glowing under the chandeliers. "What are you doing here, you wretched fool?" she snarled, tightening her grip until my arm burned.

"Let go of me." I pulled back, gritting my teeth against the pain. "I was invited."

"Invited?" Lydia's voice sliced through me like a blade. "You diseased little rat. This gathering isn't for desperate nobodies begging for scraps."

Of course Lydia would be here. She must have heard the rumors that Roberta Alfred was finally making an appearance after so many years. Little did she know she was staring right at her.

To Lydia, I was just the broken woman whose life she'd systematically destroyed.

"You came here to ruin my chances of meeting Roberta, didn't you?" She dragged me closer, her breath hot against my ear. "I'll make you regret ever stepping foot in this place, you jealous, worthless creature!"

Lydia's hands slammed into my chest, pushing me hard. I fell backward onto the cold marble floor. Blood exploded from my wounded palm as the barely healed cuts split open against the hard surface.

Her lips curved into that familiar cruel smile as she towered over me. All eyes turned toward us. Conversations stopped. Whispers began.

"Who is that poor woman?" someone murmured.

"Obviously some deranged imposter," another woman's voice drifted over. "She doesn't belong at this kind of gathering."

"Good thing they're teaching her a lesson," someone else added loudly. "This isn't the type of event beggars think they can crash."

The whispers seemed to embolden Lydia. She grabbed a champagne flute from a passing tray. Without warning, golden liquid splashed across my face, burning my eyes and soaking through my dress.

Every stare felt like acid eating through my skin. My heart pounded in my throat. My body trembled.

The looks from the crowd were a mix of pity and disgust. Like I was something dirty that had wandered in from the street.

Heavy footsteps thundered across the marble.

Leo.

In that split second, Lydia's face crumpled into fake terror. She grabbed another champagne flute, dumped the entire contents on her own dress, and threw herself to the ground beside me.

"Please don't hurt me, Elena," she pleaded, tears welling in her eyes. "I didn't mean to spill champagne on you. It was an accident!"

"What the hell is going on here?" Leo's voice exploded like a gunshot.

His gaze found me crumpled on the floor, and the disgust that twisted his features made my soul wither.

Without hesitation, he lifted Lydia into his arms as if she were made of glass.

Leo's gentle, affectionate touch toward her was like watching my own funeral.

"You sick, twisted woman." His words hit like physical blows. "Didn't I tell you to stay in the hospital? Attacking Lydia wasn't enough? Now you're stalking us at public events?"

"I... I..." I tried to speak, but the words stuck in my throat.

I bit my lip hard to hold back tears. I stared at the man who had once promised he would treat me better than any woman on earth as he trashed me cruelly in front of everyone.

With every ounce of strength left in me, I pushed myself to my feet.

"I wasn't stalking you," I said, my voice firm even though everything inside me was falling apart. "I was invited to this gala."

"Invited?" Leo's voice was sharp and cold. "By who?"

"What sick fantasy are you living in now?" Lydia interrupted, her voice full of contempt. Her fingers curled around Leo's arm possessively, her eyes gleaming with malice as they met mine.

"Elena is probably too ashamed to admit that she snuck in. She begged me earlier, asking me not to cause a scene but to let her stay." Her voice trembled as tears gathered in her eyes. "I told her to leave quietly, but instead, she attacked me."

"That's a lie!" I shot back. "I can prove I'm here on an invitation."

My fingers shook as I pulled out my phone. Within seconds, I'd called the number. The secretary appeared at my side almost immediately.

"Is everything alright, ma'am?" she asked, concerned in her eyes. Leo's expression shifted, confusion flickering across his face.

"Tell them," I said. "Tell them I was invited."

"Of course you were invited," the secretary confirmed. "Mr. Davis specifically requested your presence tonight for..."

"Stop this charade, Elena." Lydia's voice cracked with fake emotion. Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks as she turned to the secretary. "How much did she pay you to lie for her?"

The secretary's face flushed with indignation. "She didn't pay me anything! I'm telling the tr..."

"Enough!" Lydia cut her off with sharp authority. "Please leave. We don't need to hear more lies."

Leo's eyes darkened. The temperature in the ballroom seemed to drop ten degrees.

"How dare you drag innocent people into your web of lies?" he said to me.

"No, wait." I reached desperately for my phone. "I can call Mr. Davis myself. He'll confirm everything."

Leo lunged forward. His hand closed around my phone and hurled it against the marble wall with devastating force.

The device exploded into a thousand glittering pieces.

Behind him, Lydia's smile was pure poison.

Something cold and deadly shifted inside me. The last thread of hope I'd been clinging to snapped.

I turned away from them and limped toward the house phone near the coat check area. Every eye in the ballroom followed me.

I picked up the receiver with shaking hands and dialed the number I knew by heart.

"Tell Mr. Davis," I said quietly into the phone, "that Roberta Alfred is here. And she needs to see him now."

The words hit the air like a nuclear bomb.

Leo's face went white as fresh snow.

The entire ballroom went silent. Everyone sensed the shift without fully understanding it. They didn't know their offense yet. They had just messed with the wrong woman.