After my parents died in a car crash, my cousin stole the compensation money and moved overseas to start a business.

My aunt begged me on her knees not to call the police. Then, she locked me in a dark basement for three months.

I was close to breaking down and ending my life when Julien Lawson, the neighbor’s son, broke down the basement door and saved me.

“Joyce, what they did is unforgivable! They stole the compensation money for your parents’ deaths. You were going to use it to open your own studio!

“Marry me. I’ll protect you.”

He was the only person who cared about me after my parents died.

I was so grateful that I married him and had his child.

I worked three jobs during the day to help support the orphanage that Julien ran. At night, I took care of our child and created design sketches. But no matter how hard I tried, none of my work was ever accepted.

Even though Julien told me to keep at it, I felt discouraged and thought of giving up on my design career to focus on our family.

One day, our child was sick. I went to take over the shift from Julien when I overheard him talking to my aunt on the stairs.

“Julien, it’s been ten years. Joyce’s designs are getting better and better. She even passed the first round of the national competition. Are you really not going to tell her about the next round?” my aunt asked. Her voice trembled.

Julien said coldly, “For years, I’ve been sending Joyce’s design sketches to Mindy to copy and enter in the competitions or publish as her own.

“To help Mindy’s career, I can’t let Joyce move on to the next round.

“Joyce has talent. If people notice her, she’ll be a threat to Mindy’s career!”

I clenched my fists. My nails dug into my palms.

“I was planning to email the design competition organizers and tell them we made a mistake with the name on the submission. It wasn’t Joyce who sent it in. It was Mindy.

“Anyway, the organizers are in Central City. They won’t come to our small town to check who actually sent the design,” Julien added.

His tone of voice was calculating.

After we got married, Julien would massage my temples while I worked on my design sketches.

He would gently say, “You’re working and taking care of the child. It must be so tough. All you need to do is design. I’ll handle the submissions and responses for you.”

At that time, I trusted him completely and gave him all my design sketches. He would send them from his email and take care of the responses.

Even though he told me over the years that my designs were rejected, I never doubted him.

But I never imagined he would heartlessly send all my designs to Mindy Stanley to copy and publish as her own!

My aunt’s voice turned anxious. “Julien, don’t do this. Mindy has already used enough of Joyce’s work. We all see how hard Joyce has worked.

“When Mindy took Joyce’s compensation money after her parents’ car accident, I felt so guilty. That money was supposed to be for Joyce to open her own design studio.

“I want to help Joyce start her studio. I don’t want her to work odd jobs and waste her talent. Otherwise, I’ll feel like I wronged her parents and never be able to face them again,” my aunt said with a quiver.

“That’s Mindy’s hard-earned money! How can you give it to Joyce?! Don’t you care about Mindy?!” Julien said angrily.

“But… without the compensation money from her parents’ death and her designs, Mindy wouldn’t have made so much money.”

Julien raised his voice. He sounded frustrated and annoyed. “Back then, I helped Mindy take the compensation money, and I’ve been sending Joyce’s designs to Mindy for years. I know I’ve wronged her.

“But to make up for it, I sacrificed my own happiness and married her!

“I’ll take good care of Joyce. Don’t worry.”

Marrying me was a sacrifice?

My heart felt like it was being torn apart. The pain I felt was so intense I could barely breathe.

Julien said he would take care of me. Did he not feel guilty?

For the past ten years, I felt sorry for him because he was running an orphanage that was failing. I worked three jobs during the day to help him, and at night, I took care of our child while also working on my design sketches.

My family and the person I loved turned out to be a complete lie!

“Joyce Stanley? Go pay your son’s overdue bills. If you don’t, the hospital will stop his medication!” A nurse’s voice echoed down the hallway.

The door to the stairwell suddenly opened, and Julien appeared. He looked shocked and panicked.

“When did you get here? What did you hear?”

Julien grabbed my wrist hard. It hurt.

I wanted to question him, but I stopped myself.

I forced out a smile and said, “I just got here. I saw you two talking and wanted to say hi, but the nurse called me.”

Julien looked relieved.

After ten years of marriage, I still had hope.

If he cared about me, even a little, I could forgive him and Mindy.

“Julien, I joined a national competition earlier. They said they’d email everyone within a month, even if they didn’t make it. Can you check it for me?”

I looked up, and my voice shook a little even though I tried to hide it.

This was my final test for him and our marriage.

Julien frowned. For a second, I saw annoyance flash across his face. It was so fast that I almost missed it. “I already checked. Your name’s not there.

“Joyce, stop thinking about this. You’ve designed so many things but never won anything. Maybe you’re just not good at it.”

He paused. His voice softened, and he patted my head lovingly like he always did.

“Why don’t you focus more on the family? Jay has kidney and heart problems. He needs you.

“If you feel lonely, we can have another baby.”

His words felt like a knife cutting into me.

I felt defeated by sadness and disappointment.

To him, I was just a stepping stone for Mindy and a tool to raise his kids.

I had worked so hard for this family and him for ten whole years.

I gave up my dreams and my life. In the end, he said I was not good enough.

I felt cold. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

It felt like something was stuck in my throat, and I could not breathe.

I used to think Julien was my safe place.

But after ten years, I realized he was the one slowly destroying me.

Tears streamed down my face.

Julien gently wiped the tears from my face. He said in concern, “Why are you crying?”

I sniffled and forced out a smile.

“It’s nothing. I fell while riding the e-scooter to bring you food. My knee just hurts a bit.”

He leaned down, held my cold hand, and gently rubbed it. His hand was warm, but it could not warm my heart.

“You don’t have to bring me food anymore. The hospital has a cafeteria. I can eat there,” he said softly.

I stared at him. His hands were warm and strong. They had pulled me out of my darkest days once.

After my parents died in a car crash, Mindy helped me with their funeral and the compensation. She was kind and patient.

I was grateful and trusted her completely. I let her handle everything.

I never thought she would take the money and run.

That money was meant for me to open a design studio. I needed the money to achieve my dream.

When I went to her house to ask for it back, my aunt got on her knees and cried.

“Joyce, Mindy and I had a hard life. I raised her alone. We didn’t have the support you had.

“She needed the money to start her business. Please help her. She’ll pay you back one day!”

Support? Did they mean they expected me to sell the house my parents left me?

Just because someone was poor did not make stealing okay!

They were taking advantage of my grief!

If they had just asked me, I would have given them half the money willingly.

But instead, they stole it without telling me!

When I demanded it back, my aunt got angry. She hit me, knocked me out, and locked me in a dark basement.

I was trapped there for three months!

It was cold, damp, and had no sunlight.

Rats ran around my feet, and cockroaches crawled all over the walls.

I was terrified and felt hopeless.

I was very depressed and thought of ending my life.

Just as I was about to kill myself by banging my head against the wall, someone kicked the door open.

It was Julien. Sunlight filtered in from behind him. It was so bright that I could not even see properly.

Like a hero, he helped me out of that horrible place.

“Joyce, what they did is unforgivable,” he said as he held me. “Marry me. I’ll protect you.”

After my parents died, he was the only one who had treated me well.

I thought he had saved me.

I was so thankful. I married him and had a child with him.

For ten years, he was kind and gentle. Everyone said I was lucky to have such a good husband.

But I did not know that behind his kindness was a hidden agenda!

He had trapped me in this marriage and pretended like it was out of love.

He took advantage of my talents and used my design sketches to help Mindy succeed.

What I thought was saving me was actually just another trap!

My chest hurt like it was being torn apart.

Julien hugged me tightly as I trembled. Then, his phone rang. He answered in annoyance, but the moment he heard the voice on the other side, he let go of me right away.

“Julien, Samuel and I just reached the hospital,” Mindy said sweetly through the phone.

“Mindy, wait a minute. I’m coming now!”

He rushed off without even saying goodbye to me.

My aunt came out of the stairwell. She looked embarrassed. “Joyce, Mindy’s kid is really sick. So she came back to get him treated.”

She rubbed her hands and tried to find the right words. “She called Julien earlier for help. That’s why he left so fast.”

I looked down to hide the mockery I felt and said softly, “It’s okay, Auntie. I understand.”

“Jay Lawson’s family, please come to the front desk to pay the hospital bill,” a nurse said.

I held the bill tightly and walked slowly to the counter.

It was next to the admissions office, and I saw Julien there.

He was running around helping Mindy and her child. He looked so worried and caring. I had not seen him acting like that in a long time.

Julien pulled out his wallet and handed over a bank card to the staff. “Here’s 150,000 dollars. Please admit the child.”

150,000…

I clenched my fists, and my nails dug into my palm.

Jay still needed 10,000 for his medical bills, but Julien said the orphanage had just finished paying off food costs, so he had no money to spare.

Then, he turned around and gave 150,000 to help Mindy’s child without a second thought.

I walked up to him. Every step hurt like I was walking on knives.

“Before you pay for someone else’s kid, can you pay for your own son’s medical bill first?”

I tried to sound calm, but my voice shook a little at the end.

Julien avoided my eyes. He would not look at me but tried to speak calmly. “Joyce, don’t misunderstand. This money came from Mindy. She was in Central City and asked me to pay for her.”

Mindy looked perfectly put together as she held her child. She gave me a smug smile after looking me up and down. “Joyce, it’s been a while.”

She tried to be generous and said, “Yes, I sent Julien the money. If you need it, I can give you some too.”

I looked at them both as they made things up. It was laughable.

Whose money was it really? I did not know for sure. And honestly, I did not care.

“Ms. Joyce Stanley, please pay the hospital bill now,” the nurse said again. Her voice was cold and emotionless.

I pulled a few wrinkled envelopes from my bag and handed them to the payment counter. It was 10,000 I had borrowed in advance from a few part-time jobs.

Just then, Jay’s doctor passed by. He looked serious as he spoke to me and Julien. “Jay’s condition is getting worse. His kidneys are failing rapidly. He needs surgery soon.

“The best option is a kidney from a close relative. You both need to get a compatibility test right away.”

I had already done the test before, but I was not a match. I turned to Julien. “You’re his father. If you care at all, go and get tested.”

Julien opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but he could not. He finally nodded. “Okay. I’ll go tomorrow.”

His voice was low, with a slight hesitation.

There was no warmth left in my eyes when I looked at him, only a deep and hollow darkness.