Chapter 1

1.

My husband and his first love were kidnapped at the same time.

The kidnapper gave him a choice.

"The pure angel or the red rose? You can only save one."

Without a single heartbeat of hesitation, my husband chose his first love and walked away.

After they left, I was tortured in a literal hell until I died.

Later, my husband finally remembered me and sent people to look for him.

But by then, my body was already rotting in a pile of trash.

1

I'm dead.

Silas Montgomery's rival tortured me to death.

When I opened my eyes again, my soul was floating in the air.

A strange light sent me back to the Montgomery estate, where I watched Silas carry his first love, Autumn Reed, into our bedroom.

He placed her gently on our marriage bed and tucked her in with the utmost care.

Autumn's eyes were overflowing with affection as she tugged at his sleeve.

"Silas, this is your bedroom. It's not right for me to be here."

Before Silas could respond, the door creaked open.

"I'm here. Let me see who dares to say a word against you."

My mother-in-law walked in carrying a bowl of medicine.

"The other rooms haven't been cleaned yet. Just stay here and don't worry about that toxic woman."

"Don't worry, no one will say anything," Silas said, smiling at Autumn before his expression turned cold.

"If Estelle hadn't paid people to stage that kidnapping, you wouldn't have been caught up in this. You wouldn't have had an asthma attack or hurt your leg."

I stared at Silas in disbelief.

He actually thought I had staged the kidnapping?

My heart felt like it had been stabbed, a pain so sharp I couldn't breathe even as a ghost.

I remembered my final moments.

When the kidnapper asked him to choose, he didn't even look at me.

He left me in that dark, damp warehouse without a second thought.

After they left, the kidnappers hung me from the ceiling.

They lashed me with a whip, each strike heavier than the last.

"You're just unlucky that you're not important. You couldn't get me what I wanted."

"You useless bitch. I should have just kidnapped Autumn alone."

The kidnapper talked about his grudge against Silas while he beat me.

It was just a financial dispute, yet I was dragged into the abyss to suffer.

When he was done whipping me, he called in a doctor.

They didn't want me whole. They carved out my organs while I was still breathing, selling them to the highest bidder.

Finally, they tossed my remains into a dumpster.

That was how my life ended.

I died so miserably, yet Silas was convinced it was all a show I put on.

I should have realized sooner that he never cared.

If it weren't for his grandmother, he never would have married me.

"I don't know what I did to upset her. Why would she do this to me?" Autumn whispered.

She looked so fragile, her tears falling like broken pearls.

"Silas, I'm so glad you came. I was so afraid I'd never see you again."

Autumn knew the kidnappers were after Silas, not us.

Yet she twisted the truth to seal my guilt.

What hurt most was that Silas believed her.

Our twenty years of history didn't even earn me a shred of trust.

"I knew you still cared about me, Silas."

Autumn reached out to touch his face, but Silas tilted his head, avoiding her hand.

Looking at the weeping woman, Silas coughed twice.

"Just rest. Don't think too much about anything else."

"Where are you going?"

His mother called out as he prepared to leave.

"The office. I have things to handle."

He left without looking back.

I was tethered to him, forced to follow him into the study.

Silas sat on the leather sofa, his face grim and unreadable.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

He stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, his expression darkening with every word he heard.

"Tell her lawyer to bring the documents over."

A lawyer? I suddenly remembered.

A week ago, I had gone to the most prestigious law firm in the city.

I asked them to draft a divorce settlement.

I had already decided to let go.

I didn't want to be a bitter wife anymore, clinging to a man who had no room for me in his heart.

Silas had promised to take me on a trip, but he blew me off for Autumn again.

I just didn't expect to be kidnapped before the papers reached him.

And I certainly didn't expect him to refuse to look for the truth.

He was so sure I was just desperate for his attention.

Thinking of the way he chose her without hesitation made my soul feel like it was trapped in ice.

"Are you sure this is the person who asked you to handle the divorce?"

The lawyer arrived, and Silas shoved my photo toward her.

His eyes were sharp, vibrating with a suppressed rage.

"Yes, that's her. I was supposed to meet her today to finalize the details, but I couldn't reach her."

The lawyer was clearly intimidated by Silas's aura.

She spilled everything, her voice trembling.