My husband's dream girl invited me to go hiking. As we were leaving, a flash flood hit, trapping both of us in the water.

My firefighter husband rushed to save us immediately.

Because I was five months pregnant, the lifeboat became overloaded. To save the dream girl, my husband told me to jump into the floodwater and wait for other rescuers on a nearby boulder.

I clung to the edge of the boat, begging desperately, but he remained expressionless.

"Layla can't swim. She'll die if she goes down."

He broke my fingers one by one and pushed me into the water.

He probably didn't know that I couldn't swim either.

——

As Fabian Obis drove the lifeboat away with Layla Parker, I struggled to survive in the floodwater.

I was hit by another massive wave, which slammed me into a solid rock and almost knocked me unconscious from the intense pain.

After a violent cough, I saw blood spreading in the water and finally closed my eyes in despair, letting myself sink.

This morning, my husband invited me to go hiking. It wasn't until we arrived that I realized his dream girl was coming too.

Furious, I turned to leave, but a flash flood hit just as I reached the parking lot.

Layla and I struggled to climb onto a boulder, shivering as we waited for rescue.

I hugged my knees and watched Layla nearly fall into the water in her panic. I couldn't help but advise her.

"Don't move around. Sit still and wait. Fabian will come to rescue us soon. Don't fall in before help arrives."

I was confident Fabian would come quickly.

Despite our ongoing cold war, I believed he wouldn't ignore our five-month-old child.

After all, it's his child too. He couldn't be that heartless.

But I underestimated his coldness and ruthlessness.

When the lifeboat, meant to carry three people, started to tilt due to my pregnancy, almost capsizing, he coldly ordered me.

"Jump down!"

"What?"

I thought I misheard him and looked at him in confusion. His voice grew even colder.

"I said, get down. It's because of you that we're overloaded. We can't all die here, can we?"

He gestured to a nearby boulder with his eyes.

"Swim over there and wait. My colleagues will rescue you soon."

I bit my lip, trying hard not to cry.

"I can't, Fabian. I have a child in my belly. Let Layla..."

"No."

Before I could finish, he interrupted me.

"Layla can't swim. She'll die if she goes down."

Seeing that I was still hesitating, he seemed impatient and directly picked me up and threw me into the water.

The strong will to survive made me cling to the edge of the boat. Proud as I was, I couldn't help but cry and beg him at that moment.

"Fabian, you can ignore me, but you can't abandon our child.

"He hasn't been born yet. He hasn't seen this world. You can't be so cruel."

He leaned down, staring at me without expression.

"Lucy, you can swim. I know you can.

"I saw you leave my brother behind and swim back to shore alone."

The coldness in his eyes made me shiver all over.

"No, back then..."

I didn't get to finish before he broke my fingers one by one and pushed me into the water.

The icy floodwater instantly engulfed me. I struggled in the water, but could only watch helplessly as Fabian took Layla away.

He didn't even look back to see if I had climbed onto the boulder.

In his heart, my life and our child's life were less important than Layla's little toe.

I had loved him for so many years. Even if his heart was made of stone, it should have warmed by now.

But no, he found even looking at me disgusting.

Before sinking to the bottom, I took one last look in the direction he left.

A bitter smile appeared on my lips.

He probably still didn't know that I couldn't swim at all.

The rescue that Fabian mentioned arrived half an hour after I sank to the bottom of the water.

His subordinates searched everywhere in the vast waters for my figure.

Unfortunately, I had already died.

My soul floated in mid-air, watching Fabian's subordinates helplessly and anxiously.

"Captain, I can't see her. Could it be that she...?" one of the subordinates asked.

Fabian's cold voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"What could have happened to her? Maybe another rescue team took her away."

The subordinate, still unwilling to give up, hesitated and asked if Fabian could come over to help search for me.

After all, I was missing without a trace. If something really had happened...

Fabian became somewhat angry.

"What good would it do if I went? Can I dive or predict her location? Can I magically know where she is?

"Enough, don't waste time. If you can't find her, then stop looking."

Hearing this, I felt a chill run through my body.

Eight years together, and even if it were a lost dog, one would still search.

Besides, I was carrying his child.

Yet he so easily gave up on rescuing me.

Fortunately, I was already dead, no longer needing to endure such torment.

I followed his subordinates and floated all the way to his side.

At this moment, he was by Layla's bedside, wearing an expression of tenderness I had never seen before.

Layla clung to his neck, crying pitifully.

"Fabian, do you know how scared I was when the flood came?

"I was so afraid I would never see you again."

Fabian gently stroked her forehead, softly comforting her.

"I know, Layla. Don't be afraid. No matter what happens, I will always come to you first."

Watching them embrace each other so passionately, I felt a deep bitterness in my heart.

Fabian had always been indifferent to me. Even when my father died, he never comforted me so tenderly.

I had thought he was just cold by nature and always believed that given time, I would move him.

I never imagined that he could be so affectionate, but only with someone he loved.

Fabian and I grew up together, and we originally had a marriage arrangement, but he had his own dream girl, Layla.

Before graduation, at a school-organized cruise party, I was standing on the deck talking with his brother, Bruce Obis.

Someone pushed us from behind, causing him to bump into me, and we both fell into the water.

Neither of us could swim. While struggling, I grabbed a piece of driftwood and swam desperately towards the shore.

Bruce was also rescued, but due to drowning, his brain was deprived of oxygen, turning him into a vegetative state.

Fabian didn't see the driftwood I was holding. He thought I could swim and had deliberately refused to save his brother.

He never gave me a chance to explain and ignored me ever since.

The year we graduated, Layla accepted two million dollars from Fabian's mother and quietly went abroad.

Probably out of spite, one night, Fabian, reeking of alcohol, knocked on my door.

He pinned me against the wall and kissed my lips.

"Lucy, don't you like me? I'll give you a chance to marry me."

His kiss was so aggressive that I couldn't refuse.

All night, I was immersed in joy. Only at the peak of ecstasy did I lose focus for a moment when he held me and called out Layla's name.

I loved him so much that even knowing I was just a substitute, I was willing.

But the next morning, he threw his clothes at my feet and coldly told me to get out.

After that day, he never came to see me again.

Though he eventually obeyed his parents' wishes and married me, he never touched me when sober, and even when speaking to me, he was always cold and distant.

Only when drunk did he treat me as if I were Layla.

I knew he hated me. If it weren't for me, Layla wouldn't have left him so heartlessly.

I always endured and tried to avoid quarreling with him, naively thinking that one day he would see my sincerity.

A month ago, it was the day I had scheduled my prenatal check-up.

I eagerly asked him to accompany me, but he refused without a second thought.

Even when I tearfully told him that the baby might have problems and the doctor had specifically instructed me to bring my husband, he remained unmoved.

I went through all the check-ups alone, anxiously waiting for the results at the hospital.

Fortunately, the final results showed that the baby was very healthy.

Happily, I took out my phone, ready to share this joy with him.

But I accidentally saw on his social media account a picture of two intertwined hands cutting a birthday cake together.

His caption read as follows:

[What was once lost has returned to me after all this time. This time, I'll make sure to hold on tight. Happy birthday, my darling!]

Only then did I realize that his dream girl had returned, and I wasn't even qualified to be a stand-in.

In that moment, I felt utterly disheartened, uncontrollably trembling all over.

I returned home in a daze, not even turning on the lights, and sat on the sofa the entire night.

In the early hours, Fabian stumbled home drunk.

Seeing the glaring lipstick marks on his shirt, I lost my composure and confronted him for the first time.

I grabbed his collar and demanded to know why he was treating me like this while I was pregnant.

He coldly watched me rant, completely disregarding the child in my belly, and pushed me away.

Without a word of explanation, he went straight to the bedroom.

He left me to curl up on the sofa, crying until I lost my voice.

This cold-hearted husband, however, was extremely attentive to his dream girl.

Layla merely coughed lightly in his arms.

Fabian's face immediately changed, and he anxiously took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders.

"Layla, you're weak. Be careful not to catch a cold."

I couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

I once had a fever over forty degrees, unable to move in bed.

I begged him to take me to the hospital, and he just glanced at me indifferently and refused.

I cried and told him that I felt like I was going to die.

He just sneered, not even bothering to check my forehead.

"You're a grown-up and still whining about dying. If you really want to die, do it somewhere far away."

Now, I'd finally fulfilled his wish and died far away.

From now on, no one would stop him from pursuing his true love.

It took three days for the floodwaters to recede.

During those three days, Fabian's subordinate, Lucas Batt, came looking for him several times.

Each time, he was extremely anxious.

"Fabian, there's still no news about Lucy. I've asked everyone involved in the rescue, but no one has seen her."

Fabian didn't even look up, just focused on peeling an apple.

"Someone as cowardly as her wouldn't die even if everyone else did.

"Alright, forget it. She might have gone home by now."

He didn't believe I would die, so naturally, he wasn't concerned about my whereabouts.

Lucas was so worried that his eyes turned red.

"Fabian, I called your home too. She hasn't gone back. She's heavily pregnant with no relatives. Where could she go?"

Fabian handed the apple to Layla and finally turned around.

Seeing the worry in Lucas' eyes, he was momentarily moved.

The young man in his twenties was crying and desperately holding onto his sleeve, pleading.

"Fabian, come with me. If something really happened to Lucy..."

He choked, unable to continue, and Fabian finally nodded.

Just as he was about to get up, Layla suddenly grabbed his other hand.

She held onto her chest, with a slight frown on her face, appearing pitiful.

"Fabian, my chest hurts. You know I have a bad heart. Can you stay with me?"

Before Fabian could speak, Lucas was already anxious.

"Miss Parker, Fabian went to find his wife. Is it really necessary for you to block him like this?

"Even if you want to ruin their relationship, you don't have to be so blatant about it. Especially since lives are at stake, you..."

"Enough!"

Fabian, enraged and embarrassed, interrupted him.

Perhaps it was because his beloved woman was insulted; his anger was completely unmasked in his eyes.

He coldly shook off Lucas' hand and said without thinking, "It seems you care about Lucy even more than I do.

"Since you care so much, you don't need me. If you're in such a hurry, you can find her yourself. I need to stay here to take care of Layla.

"And I won't allow you to insult Layla like this. She and I are innocent, unlike you and Lucy, who've done who-knows-what behind my back."

I couldn't help but smile bitterly. Apparently, in his eyes, I was so insignificant.

Lucas' anxiety towards me was only because I had saved his life.

Back when we were newlyweds, I would carefully prepare various dishes at home every day and then happily deliver them to Fabian.

Although he always just took them indifferently, putting them aside without eating, I still enjoyed doing it.

That day, I was delivering food as usual when I saw Lucas arguing with someone at the door.

I curiously leaned over and listened for a while before realizing that Lucas had seen someone stealing and had intervened, only to be surrounded by the crowd.

The crowd was too fierce. Lucas, trapped in the middle and blushing, refused to let go.

Lucas was focused on arguing with them, completely unaware that someone behind him was pulling out a knife to stab him.

Without thinking, I used the food container in my hand to block it. The sharp blade grazed the back of my hand, and blood oozed out instantly.

Lucas turned around in surprise and hurriedly released the thief, holding my hand to check the injury.

The crowd dispersed immediately, and within half a minute, they were gone.

We didn't notice that Fabian happened to come out.

I had my back to him, so he couldn't see my wound. All he could see was Lucas holding my hand.

He didn't even bother to ask and just turned and left.

Later, I explained it to him, but he just brushed me off with a few casual words, showing the impatience to listen to the whole story.

I thought he didn't care, but I didn't expect him to misunderstand and think there was something between Lucas and me.

Lucas' face turned pale instantly. He was anxious to explain but was pushed out by Fabian.

He said, "Enough. Unless you find Lucy's body, you're not allowed to appear in front of me again."

I stared blankly at his impatient expression, feeling a pang of bitterness in my heart.

The husband I had loved deeply for eight years turned out to be so heartless.

After driving Lucas away, Fabian returned to Layla's bedside. She, with red eyes, threw herself into his arms, her teary face like a flower in the rain.

"Fabian, it really hurt just now. I didn't mean to stop you from finding Lucy."

Fabian embraced her and patiently comforted her.

"I know. You don't need to feel guilty. Lucy has many relatives and friends, so naturally, someone will look for her. But you are alone.

"I will stay with you and talk about it when you're better."

Seeing their affectionate display, I felt my heart ache unbearably.

Such deep affection seemed out of place if I were still alive.

It turned out, in love, the unloved one was the most pitiful.