My Ex Became My Sister-in-Law

On the day Izabella Dobson learned she was two months pregnant, she was also diagnosed with terminal liver cancer.

Sitting in the taxi, the doctor's words echoed in her ears again. "Miss Dobson, your body is weaker than most. An abortion now would accelerate the cancer. You have only three months left. Why not go home and discuss chemotherapy with your family? You're still so young..."

Izabella folded the report and slipped it into a hidden compartment in her bag. She leaned back against the seat and let out a soft, bitter laugh.

How perfect. Only three months left.

The moment she opened the door to the villa, laughter drifted from the dining room.

She looked up and saw two extra people at the usually cold dinner table.

Izabella froze.

Over the past two years, Carson Gilbert had paraded countless women past her. He loved watching her flinch and flee while he held different beauties in his arms.

Then, in the room separated by only one wall, he spent entire nights lost in pleasure.

The breathless moans and cries tore through the silent nights like screams from hell, shredding her nerves.

But today marked the first time he brought a woman home to eat with the family.

She thought she had grown used to it, yet sharp pain still flooded her chest.

She hesitated, wondering if she should skip dinner and head straight upstairs, when the girl spotted her in the entryway. "Izzy, you're finally back! We've been waiting forever!"

Izabella's head snapped up. Only then did she realize the girl was her half-sister from her father's second marriage, Margaret Dobson.

How could Carson be with her...

Carson's mom, Madison Gilbert, shot her an impatient glare. "Do guests have to wait for you?"

Izabella shrank into her seat and spoke softly. "The medical report took longer than expected."

Carson sat directly across from her. She kept her head down. She looked even thinner than before, her small face almost buried in her bowl. "Why did you suddenly decide to get a checkup?"

Izabella paused mid-chew.

Margaret glanced subtly at Carson and smiled. "How were the results? Nothing uncomfortable, I hope?"

"Everything was fine."

Madison snorted. "Trouble lingers forever. What illness could she possibly have? She's tough as nails. She's the one who brings death to others."

Izabella's hand trembled around her fork. She bit her lip hard to hold back the flood of tears.

Two years earlier, she married Carson's older brother, Richard Gilbert, to bring him good luck during his illness. That very wedding night, Richard died from a sudden attack.

Since then, she became the cursed bringer of misfortune scorned by the entire Gilbert family. Insults and mockery had become daily routine for two years.

Yet she was the true victim in all of it.

Back in college, she and Carson had been deeply in love, already talking about marriage.

No one could have guessed that those marriage plans would mark the beginning of her life's misery.

Richard had always rivaled his younger brother. Anything Carson wanted, Richard took.

His fiancée was no exception.

Madison favored her eldest son. When Richard told her he liked Izabella too, she forced Izabella to marry him.

Izabella refused at first, but her father's company faced bankruptcy and desperately needed funds. When pleading failed to sway her, he threatened to stop paying for her mother's treatment if she did not agree.

In the year they loved each other most, Izabella broke up with Carson.

The proud man knelt in the pouring rain outside her dorm, begging over and over not to end things. He clutched her legs and asked what he had done wrong, promising he would change.

The storm lasted three days and nights. Carson knelt there the entire time until he collapsed with a high fever. Margaret, returning from class, found him and took him to the hospital.

Even delirious, Carson called Izabella's name. The nurses took pity and phoned her to visit.

All she said was, "If he dies, he deserves it."

From that moment, the lover became the enemy. Carson hated her completely.

Before she could pull herself from the memory, a piece of seasoned beef suddenly appeared in her bowl.

Margaret smiled brightly. "I made the crabs myself. Try it!"

Izabella frowned slightly. "No thanks. I'm allergic to crabs..."

"What's one bite going to do?" Carson cut in coldly. "Will it kill you?"

His eyes were icy, his gaze toward Izabella full of open mockery.

Izabella's breath caught.

Back in college, she once accidentally ate crabs and suffered a severe allergic reaction with a high fever in the night. Carson ran barefoot five miles through the streets carrying her on his back to the nearest hospital.

Memories always made a person fragile in an instant.

Izabella said nothing more. She picked up the beef and took a bite.

Madison smiled from the side. "By the way, no need for Margaret to stay at a hotel. We have plenty of rooms. Besides, you two are getting married soon. No need to be so formal!"

Carson instinctively glanced across the table.

Izabella kept her head down, focused on the beef as if she heard nothing.

Something uncomfortable twisted in his chest. He took Margaret's hand. "Perfect. Margaret's parents are coming to town tomorrow anyway. We can discuss the wedding date together and settle it soon."

Margaret blushed deeply and swatted Carson lightly. "Something that important, and you didn't tell me sooner?"

A wave of intense nausea surged through Izabella. She could not hold it back. She stood abruptly and pushed her bowl away.

"I'm full."

She did not even wait for Madison's outburst. She rushed to the bathroom. The moment she turned on the faucet, water mixed with blood from her mouth poured into the sink.

It took a while for the dizziness to fade. Izabella straightened slowly and cleaned the basin and the blood from her face.

When she looked up again, Carson's face appeared in the mirror. "What are you doing?"