It was only three years after my marriage that I discovered the truth—my mom’s death three years ago was no accident. It was murder! And the culprit was my husband’s first love!

The day before my supposed wedding, Mom fell off a cliff. Her body was never found.

Instead of grieving with me, my then-fiancé showed no sympathy at all. He even complained that I brought bad luck, and on the wedding day, he replaced me as the bride—with Heisley Nixon.

I crashed the ceremony in a fury. But he ruthlessly threw me out, and guests mocked me for wanting to get married so soon after my mother’s death.

Just when I was drowning in grief, Garth Mulligan stood up for me, asking me to marry him.

“I’ll love you for the rest of his life. I’ll find the one who killed your mother. I’ll make sure they pay for it,” he promised.

I was so moved I said yes.

In the third year of our marriage, I got pregnant. When I was about to give birth, I overheard him speaking with the doctor.

“Mr. Mulligan, do you really want to go through with this? Back then, you married Fallyn only to protect Heisley. These past years, I’ve seen you and your wife live quite happily together. Why dig up the past now?”

Garth’s voice came out cold.

“Marrying her was the only way to keep her from uncovering the truth about that year. Only then could Heisley live a happy life. As long as Heisley is happy, nothing else matters to me.”

Tears slid silently down my face as the truth hit me—my mom’s tragic death had been tied to Heisley!

I had thought my marriage to Garth was my salvation. But now I see. It was nothing more than a carefully woven dream meant to deceive me!

If that’s the case, then I will wake from this nightmare. I will make him and Heisley pay for what they’ve done!

——

Fallyn’s POV

I could feel the doctor’s gaze shifting to me lying on the bed. A flicker of pity must’ve crossed his eyes as he heaved a quiet sigh.

“Sir, you’ve already hidden the truth about her mother’s death. Why take away the baby in her womb as well? After all, he is your own flesh and blood.”

Garth reached out, gently wiping the tears from my face. But his voice was cold and merciless.

“I promised Heisley that I wouldn’t allow Fallyn’s child to inherit the company. I’ve been putting contraceptives in her milk for the past three years, yet she still got pregnant. Her baby was never meant to exist at all. He shouldn’t be born. Now, just go ahead and take care of it for me, Doctor.”

I could imagine the doctor’s eyes widening in shock, as though he hadn’t imagined Garth could be this ruthless.

“Sir,” he blurted out, “you’ve already taken her father’s donor. Without it, I’m afraid he won’t live for long. And now you want to take away her baby as well? I’m afraid she won’t bear it when she wakes up!”

Garth must’ve shot him a cold look when he barked, “Your only job is to follow my orders. Everything else is none of your business, Doctor. I will compensate her. She’ll lose her father and her baby, but I’ll forever keep her as my wife.”

He added casually, “When the time comes, even if Heisley’s son inherits the G.M. Corporation, I’ll still make it up to Fallyn.”

Hearing that made tears slide down my cheeks again.

Just then, a knock sounded at the ward door.

The voice of my father’s attending doctor rang out. “Sir, I’ve already transplanted the donor heart into your child with Ma’am Heisley. It’s just… because your father-in-law was anesthetized but didn’t receive the donor heart, there’s a high chance he will…”

“That’s enough!” Garth cut him off sharply. “You don’t need to worry about these things. I’ll take care of the rest. I’ve already wired the money I promised to your account. From now on, remember to keep your mouths shut, or else…”

His threatening voice rang out next.

Then he turned to the doctor by my bedside. “And you—get rid of Fallyn’s baby as soon as possible. Make sure there’s no chance of survival. Give my wife extra anesthesia; she’s terrified of pain. I’m going to check on Heisley and Judd. They’ve just come out of surgery. They must be waiting for me.”

The moment the words left his lips, the ward door shut without hesitation.

At that point, my tears would not stop.

I had never imagined Garth could be… this cruel. He clearly knew my dad had waited five years for such a donor heart!

Yet he still heartlessly took it away!

All of this… was because the woman he loved wasn’t me. For Heisley’s sake, he had already taken my mom, my dad, and now… he was about to take my baby, too!

I couldn’t help but think back to the time when he had tenderly caressed my belly, speaking with me about our baby’s future. The memory now felt like a cruel mockery; my chest ached as if my heart had been gouged out.

Before long, I was pushed into the operating room. A rush of icy anesthesia seeped into my body.

The next moment, everything faded to black before my eyes, and I fainted.

Fallyn’s POV

When I opened my eyes again, I stared blankly at the hospital ceiling.

The moment Garth noticed I was awake, his reddened eyes brimmed with emotion. He took my hand, his voice thick with pain and distress.

“Honey, you’re finally awake! Are you still in pain?” he asked.

Without waiting for my response, he continued, “I was waiting outside the OR this whole time. You have no idea how scared I was. I was terrified… you wouldn’t make it through. If something had happened to you, then from now on, we…”

Before he could finish, I cut him off.

“Where’s the baby?”

I tried to sound calm, as though I hadn’t heard his ruthless plans, but my fingernails were digging deep into my palms.

Could he really be so cruel… that he would kill our baby alive?

If only he gave the baby back to me, I could forgive him for everything that had happened before.

Silently, I prayed with all my heart. ‘Please… don’t let him disappoint me.’

But in the very next moment, his words ripped my heart apart.

“Honey… I’m sorry. The baby… The baby didn’t make it.”

A tear slid down his cheek as he spoke.

But I felt he was only faking it.

Without noticing the shift in my expression, he went on, “Honey, after what happened this time, I’m truly terrified of losing you. The baby is gone, and if something happened to you too… I couldn’t go on living.”

“How about… we don’t try for another next time? We could adopt instead,” he suggested.

I lowered my gaze to the stitched wound on my abdomen.

My baby… was taken from here—torn from me while still alive!

I asked again, my eyes teary. “Did Dad’s surgery succeed?”

His gaze flickered before he answered with a trace of guilt, “It failed. The chief surgeon said that donor heart wasn’t suitable for your father. If they had gone through with it, he wouldn’t have survived the operation.”

Probably seeing the color drain from my face, he hurried to pull me into his arms, murmuring gently, “Don’t worry. I’ll find another donor heart for him. I promise I won’t let you go through the pain of losing another loved one.”

A sharp ache pierced my chest; he had said the exact same thing when Mom fell from the cliff.

And in the end, not a single one of his promises came true.

My dad had fought to survive for five long years, and he should have finally regained his health.

But Garth ruined everything!

For Heisley’s sake, he had already taken two of my loved ones from me!

And now… he wanted to take the third!

At that thought, hatred burned in my eyes as I looked at him.

But he didn’t seem to notice. He just kept making his assurances.

“Until you recover, I’ll stay by your side, honey.”

He gazed at me with that same gentle look, as if nothing between us had ever changed.

Just then, his phone rang.

Through the small gap between us, I saw the caller ID clearly—it was Heisley.

I saw hesitation flicker across his face.

But the next moment, he bent down and pressed a light kiss to my cheek.

“There’s something at the company I need to handle,” he lied. “I’ll step out for a bit and come right back. You must rest well.”

I nodded in silence, watching him walk away.

When his figure finally disappeared from view, I took out my phone and dialed a number.

“I’ll marry you,” I said evenly, “but on one condition—destroy the Mulligans.”

A soft, amused laugh came from the other end.

“You can name another condition. Destroying that family… is something I’m more than happy to do.”

Fallyn’s POV

Three days later, under my firm insistence, Garth finally helped me complete the discharge procedures and brought me home.

I had already made an agreement with that man I called earlier—ten days from now, I would leave, taking the divorce papers with me.

Once we arrived home, Garth treated me with the utmost tenderness.

Anything concerning me, he handled without complaint. He even went so far as to personally make meals for me in the kitchen.

For three years of marriage, he had done this almost every single day.

I used to believe it was because he loved me. Now I realized it was nothing more than a carefully spun illusion—a false dream he wove for me to live in.

When I thought of my mom and my baby’s tragic deaths, all I was left with inside was a cold emptiness, a numb desolation.

I said nothing, and Garth didn’t seem to mind.

Once everything was tidied away, he gently pulled the covers over me.

The very next second, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen, and a flash of urgency crossed his face.

“Honey, something’s come up at the company. I’ll go take care of it. You just rest, okay?” he said quickly.

Before I could answer, he had already turned and hurried out the door.

I watched his car disappear down the road, and then I turned and went into the study.

Over the past three years, I had saved countless photos of us together.

Now, one by one, I deleted them all.

After that, I began typing out the divorce agreement word by word.

When I was done, I noticed something strange—a hidden folder in the computer’s file library.

My chest tightened. On impulse, I tried opening it with Heisley’s birthday.

It unlocked immediately.

Inside were hundreds of thousands of photos and countless videos—every single one of Heisley.

From when she was fifteen up until now, every stage of her life had been carefully stored by Garth.

There was even a detailed list of her preferences: what she liked, what she hated—all recorded with absolute clarity.

During our three-year marriage, every time Garth said he was away on a business trip, he had actually been with Heisley.

And I had never once suspected.

The Telegram icon was still open in the corner of the screen. Almost without thinking, I clicked it.

At the top of his pinned chats, there was only one contact. Just one.

And it wasn’t me.

I opened it, and the entire chat history was filled with Garth and Heisley’s messages—three years’ worth, without a single gap.

In their most recent conversation, he told her that everything had been taken care of.

She replied.

[If Fallyn finds out, will she be angry? I already owe her so much, to begin with. And now, she’ll probably hate me to death, Garth.]

Garth comforted her with a few patient words at first. But then his tone turned cold and merciless.

[I’ve already kept her as my wife. No matter what, she should be satisfied with that.]

At that point, I could no longer hold back my tears.

Clutching the divorce papers tightly in my hands, I swore to myself, ‘I’ll gladly let Heisley be his wife. But they will pay the price for two lives!’

The next second, a voice came from outside the study.

“Honey? What are you doing in here?”