Chapter 3

I sat by her bedside. Julia was on the brink of hysteria, grabbing my hands with desperate force.

"Ian... Lucas... how is he?"

I lowered my head and shook it. "He didn't make it."

"No—NO! How could this happen?!" Julia shrieked, breaking into hysterical sobs. I gently patted her back, playing the devoted husband.

She wept until she could barely breathe. Then, I leaned in and whispered softly:

"You... were pregnant. But because of the venom, the baby didn't survive."

I watched the emotions on her face shift into something utterly twisted and complex.

Before stepping into the room, I had already sent the fetal tissue sample for a paternity test alongside my DNA. Since God refused to take Julia’s life, fine. She could live—and suffer every second of it!

I would gather all the evidence I needed. I would grant her and Lucas their happily-ever-after in hell, and make sure the rest of her life was pure misery.

"I'm sorry..."

Julia clutched her head, wailing in agony. But I knew that "I'm sorry" wasn't meant for me. It was for Lucas.

Sorry for failing to protect his only child, his flesh and blood.

Sorry for dragging him into the water.

"It's all my fault... I shouldn't have been so reckless..."

Julia only ever showed remorse when it involved Lucas. If it were me, she would never admit a single mistake; she would just take her rage out on me twice as hard.

I tended to her with relentless devotion, leaving zero room for suspicion.

At Lucas’s memorial service, I even acted magnanimous, letting Julia lead the procession holding his framed portrait, walking ahead of everyone like his grieving widow.

Julia glanced back at me, looking slightly guilty. "Ian, please don't get the wrong idea. I'm... practically his family."

"I understand. It's the right thing to do," I said calmly. Julia was taken aback, clearly having prepared an entire speech to convince me.

That night, she wrapped her arms around me and whispered, "Ian, you've become so patient and kind...

"Why weren't you like this before? Ian, let's stop fighting, okay? Let's just live a good life together."

I pretended to be asleep, ignoring her words completely.

Did she think she was rewarding me? Now that Lucas was dead, she wanted me as her backup plan?

Pathetic.

...

A week after Lucas’s death, on the day of his one-week memorial, I waited at home with the paternity test results and the signed divorce papers. But she didn't come back.

I called her phone repeatedly. No answer.

Then, I accidentally opened TikTok, only to find Julia live streaming directly from that exact stretch of the coastline.

My gut told me something was terribly wrong. On the screen, Julia glared straight into the lens, looking eerie and cold.

"Guys, I found something terrifying today. My husband has a stack of life insurance policies on me in his drawer. And every single one names him as the sole beneficiary."

"Just a few days ago, we were attacked by sea snakes in these exact waters. Sea snakes don't attack people unprovoked."

Julia claimed that if Lucas hadn't fought off the snake for her, she would already be dead.

Her voice cracked with faux tears as she expertly steered the narrative.

The live chat exploded instantly.

[Wait, is this a real-life murder-for-insurance scheme?! That is sick!]

My chest tightened. How did she find out about the policies?