Chapter 1

The day I found out my husband, Julian, was responsible for my mother's death, I lost my mind and grabbed a knife, lunging straight at him.

At the critical moment, my younger sister, Chloe, threw herself in front of him.

Blood poured from her abdomen, but she still choked out an explanation. "Natalie, calm down... you can't... you can't become a murderer."

I sobbed uncontrollably as I rushed Chloe to the ER, but she died anyway.

Because of that, I was sent to prison, locked away for three whole years.

So after I died, my lingering soul stared in absolute shock at the "resurrected" Chloe, my perfectly alive mother, and Julian holding a baby in his arms.

My mind went completely blank.

Julian glanced at the wall calendar. "Natalie gets released tomorrow. I wonder if she'll be able to handle the truth."

My mom let out a heavy sigh.

"Three years behind bars will have taught her to behave. Besides, once she's out, she has no one to rely on except us."

"We didn't have a choice back then. Chloe was pregnant with your baby. We were terrified of what Natalie might do if she snapped, so we set up that scheme to get her locked away."

I started laughing, but the laughter quickly turned into silent, bitter tears.

It was all a lie. Every single bit of it.

I was the only fool trapped in a cage for three years.

Guilt had eaten away at me until my very last breath.

Chloe spoke up from the couch.

"I talked it over with Julian. As long as she doesn't hurt me or the baby, I'm fine letting her raise the child under her name."

"After she's out, if she doesn't want to see my face, I can just stay far away."

Mom shook her head. "You don't get it. Back then, Natalie suspected Julian was cheating. She checked his phone every single day and even hired a private investigator to follow him. If I hadn't come up with the plan to put her in prison, she would've found out about you two three years ago."

Julian recalled that period, his brows furrowing in disgust.

"She was acting like a total lunatic back then. She suffocated me."

Chloe pursed her lips. "Then what should we do?"

A chilling cold settled over my heart.

Never in my wildest nightmares did I imagine the three people I loved most in the world would sit in a circle, calmly plotting how to keep playing me.

After a long silence, Julian began to analyze the situation.

"Even when she suspected me of cheating, Natalie never asked for a divorce. She loves me too much. Now that she's getting out with nowhere else to go, all I have to do is apologize, and she'll definitely forgive me."

"Besides, Natalie can't get pregnant anyway. Raising this baby under her name will fulfill her dream of becoming a mother."

Julian said it so casually.

He seemed to have completely forgotten that I became infertile because I had searched for him in freezing, sub-zero snow for two straight days after an avalanche.

Mom was still hesitant.

"But if you come clean, won't she figure out Chloe got pregnant on your wedding anniversary? That day, you lied and told her you had an urgent meeting, but in reality..."

"If we don't come clean now, we'll just have to tell bigger lies later. The day she walks out of prison is our best shot at dropping the news."

Julian answered without hesitation.

I just stood there, completely numb.

I remembered that third anniversary vividly.

I had been racking my brain trying to find an excuse to send Julian out of the house so I could set up a romantic surprise for him.

Before I could even speak, Julian had grabbed his coat.

"An emergency meeting just popped up at the office. I'll be back as soon as it's done."

I had smiled and told him okay, then spent hours baking a cake from scratch.

I cooked a massive dinner for him.

Even when hot oil splattered all over my hands, raising painful blisters, I didn't care. I was happy.

When Julian finally came home, he couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

Back then, I naively thought he looked that happy because of the surprise I had prepared.

It wasn't that at all.

He was grinning because Chloe was carrying his child.

While I was sweating over the stove preparing his surprise, he was holding Chloe's positive pregnancy test.

The realization hit me like a physical blow. My throat tightened painfully.

I gagged uncontrollably, cold tears streaming down my face.

I forced a broken, twisted smile. "Julian, you don't have to hide it anymore. You don't have to keep patching up your lies."

"Because I'm already dead."

Of course, none of them could hear me.

Right then, Julian's phone rang.

It was an unknown number, but he picked it up anyway.

The voice on the other end was familiar to me—it was a prison guard.

"Hello, is this Natalie's husband?"

"She passed away from severe depression while serving her time. We checked her records and found you listed as her emergency contact. Do you have time to come down to the facility and sign the paperwork for her body?"