Chapter 3

"What are you doing staring at that photo?"

Julian's voice suddenly echoed as he opened his bedroom door.

Vivian instantly wiped the malice from her face. She rushed over, wrapping her arms around his neck, looking deeply hurt.

"If my parents hadn't forced me onto that plane to Europe years ago, the woman in that wedding dress would be me."

Julian's eyes flickered with guilt. He gave her a somewhat dismissive pat.

"Don't talk nonsense. I have a wife."

With that, he gently untangled himself from her grip, sat on the couch, and began scrolling through his phone.

Vivian stood frozen, her eyes flashing with anger, but Julian avoided her gaze.

I found the scene pathetic.

He had just murdered his pregnant wife, and here he was, playing the role of a devoted, conflicted husband.

Just then, the front door clicked open. Five-year-old Leo walked in, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"Julian, where's Chloe? Isn't she back yet?"

Looking at my son's familiar face, I felt a chilling sense of dread.

I couldn't reconcile this sweet-faced little boy with the monster who had cheered as I was pushed off the platform.

Vivian knelt down, putting on her sweetest voice.

"Chloe went to stay at a friend's house, sweetie. She won't be back for a few days."

Leo peeked at Julian cautiously, then leaned in to whisper in Vivian's ear.

"Vivian, now that the obstacle is gone, can you finally be my real mom?"

The obstacle.

He was talking about me.

My heart felt like it was being shredded by a thousand knives.

I never could have imagined that my own flesh and blood viewed me as a mere roadblock in his life, waiting eagerly for me to die.

Vivian smiled warmly and nodded, kissing his forehead.

"Yes, baby. I'll stay here and take care of you and Julian forever."

Leo clapped his hands in joy. "Yay! Chloe was always so embarrassing at school. I've wanted you to be my mom for a long time!"

Julian heard every word. Yet, he remained completely indifferent, his eyes glued to his phone screen.

At that moment, I finally understood why Leo had insisted I attend Vivian's birthday party.

He had complained that I was "too basic" and didn't fit in with the wealthy parents at his private school, which supposedly made his classmates ignore him.

He said if I didn't go to Vivian's party, his friends would laugh at him.

It was all a trap. A trap to lead me to my execution.

Pure, unadulterated hatred consumed me.

My soul burned with a pain so intense it felt like it was ripping apart.

In the next second, I was dragged away.

I was back by my body.

But I wasn't on the rooftop anymore. I was inside a rumbling, foul-smelling garbage truck, buried beneath heaps of trash and discarded party props.

The drivers' voices drifted in from the front cabin.

"Man, that party venue throws away some realistic stuff. That dummy looks exactly like a corpse. Let's just dump it at the landfill."

They thought my dead body was a discarded Halloween prop.

No matter how loudly I screamed, no sound came out. I could only watch in horror as the truck drove toward the city landfill.

An hour later, the truck stopped. My body was brutally dragged out and tossed into a massive pile of rotting garbage.

Flies swarmed. Stray dogs lingered in the distance. A heavy bulldozer slowly rolled forward.

Tons of waste were dumped over me, burying my body deep beneath the filth. My consciousness plunged into darkness once again.

When I woke up, the invisible force had dragged me back to the house.

In the living room, Julian was pacing back and forth, furiously shouting into his phone. Vivian sat on the couch, looking highly annoyed.

"I don't care! Dig up the whole city if you have to, but find Chloe! She has to be my date for the gala tomorrow night!"

This gala was something Julian had been preparing for over a year.

If he couldn't convince a powerful female tech CEO at the event to invest in his firm, his company would go under.

Julian had mentioned before that this CEO only did business with family-oriented, devoted family men.

If I didn't show up with him, it would ruin his reputation.

No wonder he was panicking.

Vivian rolled her eyes. "She knew how important this night was for you, Julian. She's clearly hiding on purpose just to screw you over."

"If she doesn't show up... can't I just go as your date?" Vivian asked, testing the waters.

"No," Julian snapped. "Going alone is one thing. But if I bring you..."

He trailed off, but I knew what he was thinking. He was terrified of being labeled a cheater in the high-society circles.

Vivian immediately burst into tears. "I've given up everything for you! I live like a hidden mistress in the shadows!"

"We can't even hold hands in public without hiding! Oh, God..."

Julian, always soft-hearted toward his mistress, folded within three seconds. He pulled her into his arms, murmuring apologies.

As I watched them, a terrible sense of unease crept over me.

Days bled into one another while I hovered around them in a state of constant anxiety.

Until one afternoon, Julian's phone rang.

Through the speaker, a gruff, distorted voice demanded:

"Hey, Julian. If you want your pretty little mistress to stay alive, you better prepare fifty million dollars."

Vivian was kidnapped?