Chapter 1

As final year exams approached, I paid Serena, a top scholarship student, to tutor me.

But the day she was supposed to start, she showed up with her boyfriend, Julian, and insisted he join our study sessions.

I politely declined, and she didn't press the issue.

However, on the very day they left my house, Julian was hit by a car, crippling him.

He had to drop out of school to work.

After that, Serena continued to tutor me. We both got into college, fell in love, got married, and even had a child.

But on our wedding anniversary, during our intimate celebration that night…

Serena poisoned my soup. I watched in horror as I coughed up blood, staining the floor crimson, little by little.

"This is all what you owe Julian, Ashley. You deserve to taste utter despair!"

It turned out she’d held a grudge against me for what happened all those years ago.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Serena brought Julian to my house for our tutoring session.

It was our fifth wedding anniversary. The moment I stepped through the door, I saw a huge spread of dishes on the table.

Serena, her hand on her stomach, smiled at me.

"I have a surprise for you."

I thought the surprise meant she was pregnant. I was overjoyed beyond words.

Even when I smelled a faint, strange odor from the soup Serena handed me, I didn't think anything was wrong.

But five minutes after I finished it, my stomach felt like it was being twisted by knives.

"Serena, my stomach hurts so badly…"

"Hurts? Good. It *should* hurt."

Only then did Serena reveal her true face, her smile utterly cruel.

Cold sweat drenched me as she kicked me hard in the stomach.

Even though our marriage wasn't as sweet as other newlyweds, we had never fought.

Let alone resorted to physical violence.

My eyes, wide with a terrifying mix of shock and fear, landed on her.

What was happening?

Another dull ache ripped through my lower body. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably as I struggled to beg her to take me to the hospital.

But Serena locked the door, looking down at me with a cold, scrutinizing gaze.

"Serena, please, save me…"

I couldn't understand why she was doing this to me.

She stood with her back to the light, her face obscured, unreadable.

"If you hadn't hurt Julian all those years ago, causing him to get hit by that car, he wouldn't have had to drop out and work, or live under his wealthy in-laws' thumb, completely stripped of his dignity!

"This is all what you owe Julian, Ashley. You deserve to taste utter despair!"

She savored the words "left alone and helpless," spitting them out with venom.

Blood began to seep from the corners of my mouth. Serena continued to curse me with hateful words.

I was in too much pain to think clearly, but with immense difficulty, I pieced together what led to this moment.

It turned out that last night, during a work dinner, Serena had overheard someone talking about Julian being publicly humiliated by his new wife's family.

So, she came home and decided to inflict everything Julian had suffered onto me?

All those years ago… All those years ago…

It was just one time I refused to let her bring Julian to my tutoring session.

And Serena was blaming Julian's accident on me?

She'd harbored this grudge for an entire lifetime!

If that was the case, why had she married me?

Why had she so calmly accepted all my kindness?

I bit down hard on my lip, unable to utter another plea for help.

A large pool of red spread beneath me.

It felt as if my body was trying to drain, forming a river of blood.

My consciousness faded, and I closed my eyes, overwhelmed by agony.