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?”

Fallyn’s POV

I turned and saw Garth standing at the doorway.

“I’m just organizing some documents,” I replied evenly.

Before he could speak, a voice suddenly came from behind him.

“What documents are you working on, Fallyn? Didn’t you stop going to the company after you got married? Don’t tell me… you’re secretly chatting with another man behind Garth’s back?”

Peeking her head out from behind him, Heisley spoke with a voice dripping with malice.

I didn’t answer. My eyes just stayed fixed on Garth.

To my surprise, a flicker of suspicion passed through his gaze before he finally looked at me.

“Heisley’s baby is in the hospital. Since our place is closer, I told her she could stay here for now,” he explained dryly, obviously already bracing himself for the outburst he expected from me.

Because of the previous generation’s grievances, my relationship with Heisley had never been good.

And after my mom’s fall from the cliff, my ex-fiancé had chosen her without a moment’s hesitation.

From that point on, we were sworn enemies.

Garth knew I would get mad and had already planned how to coax me.

But to his surprise, I didn’t lose my temper—instead, I simply nodded.

Hesitation flashed in his eyes. I reached over and handed him the divorce papers.

Just as he was about to read the contents, a pair of hands suddenly covered his eyes from behind.

Heisley’s gaze fell on the divorce agreement, and her eyes actually lit up.

In a deliberately sweetened voice, she said, “Why bother reading the papers your wife gives you, Garth? Just sign them right away. Don’t hurt her feelings.”

He paused in the motion of prying her hands away, and then he smiled at her indulgently.

“Alright. Whatever you say.”

The next second, he picked up a pen and signed his name without hesitation.

I carefully put the divorce agreement away, and only then did Heisley remove her hands.

She looked at me smugly, her expression silently mouthing the words, “Well, at least you know your place.”

Garth, oblivious to her gesture, opened his mouth as if to say something to me.

But Heisley stepped forward first, looping her arm through mine with a bright smile.

“Garth, let me have a good chat with Fallyn. After all, it’s been such a long time since we last saw each other,” she said, her grip on my arm tightening painfully, digging in until I felt warm blood beading under her nails.

I winced and struggled to pull away, but the next moment, she stumbled backward and fell hard to the floor.

In that instant, panic flashed across Garth’s face. He rushed over and scooped her into his arms.

With tears brimming in her eyes, Heisley looked up at him.

“Why would Fallyn do this to me, Garth? I just wanted to talk to her...”

The moment her words fell, his gaze toward me turned to anger.

If she weren’t still in his arms, I was certain he would have come at me.

“It wasn’t me!” I burst out. “You can check the security cameras! She’s the one—”

“Enough!”

His roar cut me off. Then, seeing the expression on my face, his own flattened into a cold mask.

“I believe Heisley,” he said with a deep frown. “Honey, you shouldn’t have done this. Apologize to her!”

When I didn’t move, he stepped forward and seized my arm in a bruising grip.

“I told you, it wasn’t me! I won’t apologize!” I protested.

His hand tightened so much it felt as if he might snap my arm.

When he realized I truly wouldn’t give in, he suddenly flung me to the floor.

“In that case, you won’t be attending tomorrow’s family party. I’ll be bringing Heisley with me instead.”

My eyes widened.

He knew perfectly well that the family party was a major event.

If the woman by his side was Heisley, it would mean, in the eyes of the entire family, that she was the official wife.

Did he have any idea what position that would leave me in?

Fury shook through me, but still, I gritted my teeth and refused to apologize.

In the end, he looked at me with disappointment before carrying Heisley away.

Once I was sure they were gone, I took the signed divorce agreement and walked out of the study without a second thought.