Chapter 1

I turned my back on Lucas Grant during his darkest hour, falling into the arms of his sworn enemy.

Yet Lucas humbled himself to the dust, begging me not to leave him.

Nestled in another man's embrace, I poured half a glass of wine over his head, my smile dripping with scorn and contempt:

"Let me go. I'm sick of being chased by debt collectors every day."

Utterly devastated, he left in disgrace.

Five years later, Lucas Grant made a triumphant comeback as a prominent overseas business tycoon.

On his first day back in the country, he brought his dream girl to settle scores with me.

But what he didn't know was that I had already died, on the very day he and his dream girl went public with their relationship.

Lucas Grant was back in the country.

I hid in a dark alley, peering out with my one good eye at the LED screen on the skyscraper across the street.

On the screen, Lucas was holding hands with Aria Sullivan, the reigning pop queen, preparing for an interview.

The flash of cameras seemed too bright, causing Aria to blink uncomfortably.

Lucas instinctively shielded her, then calmly answered the reporters' questions below.

My heart felt like it had been stung, aching slightly.

He used to protect me like that when debt collectors came looking for trouble.

Everything was proceeding as usual until near the end when someone in the crowd suddenly asked, "Mr. Grant, we heard you're married. So who is this lady beside you?"

Lucas smiled, pulling a shy Aria into his arms before answering, "My ex-wife abandoned me when I was at my lowest point, terminating our unborn child and divorcing me. Aria stood by me through it all, and now she's my new bride."

"I've returned to the country to give my wife the grand wedding she deserves, to make up for all these years of her support."

"As for what happened before, let's just say I was a poor judge of character."

The crowd erupted in a clamor.

In just a few short sentences, Lucas had painted me as a selfish, cold-blooded ex-wife devoid of any wifely virtues, throwing me into a sea of controversy.

People were quick to condemn me.

Naturally, some were also swooning over the sweet interaction between the pop star and the business tycoon.

But I could see the endless hatred lurking in the depths of Lucas's eyes.

Even through the screen, it felt like he wanted to devour me whole.

I realized deeply that he hated me.

The kind of hate that wished me dead.

My blood almost froze.

My body, already cold, now felt like it had plunged into an icy abyss.

I clutched the red string bracelet in my hand.

Averting my gaze, I limped away on my broken leg.

As I neared the basement, a little girl bumped into me.

When she saw my scarred face and the empty socket where my left eye should have been, she burst into terrified tears.

Her mother rushed forward, shoving me hard and cursing, "Ah! You freak! Stay away from my daughter!"

The cement ground was covered in puddles from the recent rain, and filthy water splashed all over me.

The woman hurriedly left with her child, not looking back once.

I calmly picked up the red string bracelet from the ground, wiped it clean, and left.

During my first year of work, I was in a car accident and almost didn't wake up.

They issued three critical condition notices.

Lucas had specially gone to a temple to get this red string bracelet for me.

Yesterday, when I went out to buy food, I accidentally dropped it on my way back.

I used every ounce of strength I had to find it.

It's the only thing I have left that's connected to him.

I can't lose it.

Back in the basement, I suddenly lost all strength and collapsed to the floor.

My vision blurred as excruciating pain swept through my body, every inch of my skin feeling like it was on fire.

I trembled uncontrollably from the pain, my chest feeling as if a boulder was pressing down on it, making it hard to breathe.

I clutched the red string bracelet tightly.

Besides the external injuries, I had a lame leg and had once been injected with an overdose of bromide.

I've known for a while that I don't have long to live.

Holding on until today was already my limit.

But even in death, there's no dignity.

I laughed bitterly.

At least Lucas won't see me in this state.

As the sky darkened, in a place where no one passed by, my body gradually grew cold and still.