Chapter 1

Five years of marriage, and my husband’s childhood best friend, Chloe Bennett, ruled our lives. She called herself a "human lie detector," specializing in micro-expressions. With that fake title, she nailed me to the pillar of shame as a lying, unfaithful wife.

At a party, I was just feeling sick to my stomach and gagged. She immediately declared in front of everyone:

"Look at how naturally Clara gags. She must have had quite a few secret abortions before she met you, Ethan."

Ethan Reynolds threw my hand off instantly, sneering, "Chloe has studied body language since she was a kid. She’s never wrong."

"You definitely had other men before me, didn’t you?"

For the sake of our four-year-old son, Leo, I swallowed my pride and endured it.

Until Leo fell critically ill and was rushed into the ICU.

Clutching the doctor's critical condition notice, I stumbled into Ethan’s office, sobbing, begging him to transfer the money for the deposit.

But Chloe, sipping her coffee, just scoffed.

"Ethan, she’s lying again!"

"Look how hard she's crying, but her mascara isn't even smudged. That doctor's voice recording? Probably fake, too."

"Puh-lease. A cheap trick like that can’t get past my eyes."

Hearing this, Ethan impatiently shoved me out of his office.

"Using your own son's life to lie for money? Clara, do you even have a soul?"

Thinking of my dying son in the hospital, I took the divorce papers and went straight to Ethan's mother, Eleanor.

"Give me two hundred thousand dollars, and I will sign these papers and leave Ethan immediately."

Eleanor thought I was just throwing a tantrum. She agreed and transferred the money instantly.

But she had no idea that after getting this money, she would never see her grandson again.

......

I stared at the transfer notification on my phone, then looked up at Eleanor.

"I received the money."

Her expression was cold and indifferent. "Since you got it, sign the papers."

I picked up the pen and signed my name without a second thought.

Eleanor looked at me, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Clara, you should have left a long time ago."

"A dirty woman like you never deserved to marry into the Reynolds family."

I let out a bitter laugh in my heart.

Ever since Chloe started showing off her "lie-detecting" skills, my reputation had been dragged through the mud.

When I suffered severe postpartum hemorrhaging and had to visit the OB-GYN multiple times for recovery, Chloe rumored that I had contracted an STD from cheating.

When I came home late after a business dinner with a client, she claimed I was keeping a boy toy behind Ethan’s back.

There was never any evidence, but Ethan believed her blindly, without question.

For five years, I was the biggest laughingstock in our social circle.

I had screamed, cried, and tried to defend myself.

"I am your wife! Why do you believe her over me?"

But Ethan would only watch my breakdowns with cold, calm eyes.

"Chloe has a gift for reading people. She’s never wrong."

"As for you, you’re just mad because you got caught in your own lies."

And now, when our son's life was on the line, he still chose to believe Chloe's ridiculous "gift" and left Leo to die.

That was the exact moment I gave up.

He didn't want to believe me, and I was done begging.

But when I finally rushed back to the hospital, the nurse was already wheeling a covered gurney toward me.

"Mrs. Reynolds, we did everything we could. We are so sorry for your loss."

Just like that.

I closed my eyes in sheer despair. When the pain is too deep, you can't even cry.

My little boy's hands and feet were ice-cold. No matter how hard I hugged him, I couldn't warm him up.

I went through the motions like a zombie—getting the death certificate, looking at my son one last time.

Suddenly, Ethan transferred fifty thousand dollars to my account. He called me, his tone condescending.

"If you wanted money, you could have just asked. When have I ever kept money from you?"

"But if you ever dare to curse our son with sickness again, you won't get a single penny from me. Go buy him some new clothes first—"

"Your son is dead!" I screamed into the phone, my voice cracking with agony.

There was a brief, two-second silence. Then, Chloe's sweet, whiny voice drifted through the receiver.

"Oh, Ethan, look at Clara. How can she keep cursing her own son like this?"

"What kind of mother does that?"

Her casual words instantly reignited Ethan's anger.

"Clara, have you had enough of this drama?!"

"I gave you the money! What more do you want?"

"With this attitude of yours, I'm not coming home at all this week!"

He slammed the phone down.

As silence filled the room, my heart felt like it was being ripped into shreds. The pain was so intense I broke out in a cold sweat.

I don't even remember how I walked to the crematorium.

After finishing all the paperwork for the cremation, Eleanor sent me the divorce agreement signed by Ethan.

Wiping away my endless tears, my hands shook as I signed my name on the dotted line.