Chapter 1

Willow’s POV

On our fifth wedding anniversary, I was five months pregnant when my parents and I got into a car accident.

As the nurses rushed me into the operating room, I clung to Reed’s hand with all the strength I had left.

“Reed,” I choked out, “you have to punish the one who did this!”

His eyes were bloodshot as he leaned closer.

“Justice has already been served,” he promised.

But before I even opened my eyes after the surgery, I overheard a conversation between him and his assistant.

“Sir,” the assistant said cautiously, “Ma’am Willow’s parents… They could’ve been saved. Why did you tell the doctors to stop treatment?”

Reed’s voice was indifferent as it rang out. “I didn’t want to do it either. But they saw Haven’s face. If they lived, she would have gone to jail. This was the only choice I had.”

“But if Ma’am Willow finds out,” Kade muttered, “Sir, I’m afraid…”

“She won’t,” Reed cut in flatly. “And take this affidavit of non-prosecution to the cops. I’ve already signed her name. Just make sure she never finds out.”

That’s when it hit me. The one who hit me and my parents… was Haven fucking McCorkindale—Reed’s oh-so-precious first love!

For that bitch… he sacrificed my parents’ lives?!

Turns out, I was the only one who gave my all in this marriage.

Fine. If that’s how it was, then I’d take every single thing that was mine.

And I’d drag Reed back down into hell!

——

When I was wheeled out of surgery, I still hadn’t opened my eyes. But I could hear Reed’s voice in the room, this time speaking to the doctor.

The doctor sounded hesitant as he said, “Sir, the patient just lost her parents. If she loses her baby now too, isn’t that… going too far?”

Reed was silent for a moment before answering, “Now is the perfect time. No one would question a miscarriage under these circumstances. I promised Haven she’d be the only one to carry my child. She’s asking me to keep that promise. I can’t say no to her.”

“As for Willow?” he added. “She won’t know any of this. She’ll always be my wife.”

The doctor let out a long sigh.

“After this accident, and now this abortion before her body’s even healed… I’m afraid she may never be able to conceive again.”

I could feel Reed’s gaze landing on me. He stroked my hair, but the words he said were unimaginably cruel.

“That’s fine. When the time comes, we’ll let her adopt the baby Haven and I have. Willow will never be alone. The child and I… we’ll take care of her for the rest of her life.”

The second the door closed behind him, I opened my eyes.

Tears blurred everything.

My whole body wouldn’t stop trembling.

I wanted to drag him back into the room and ask him why—why the hell he would do this to me?!

Back when he proposed to me in front of my parents, he promised that he would never hurt me.

He had sworn he’d treat me well for the rest of my life.

Five years. That’s all it took for everything to rot.

No… Maybe it was already rotten from the start.

The moment I learned the brutal truth, it was over.

There was no longer a “future” for me and him.

He thought he could just stick around, play the devoted husband, and that’d be enough?

Hah. He must be out of his goddamn mind!

Screw a lifetime with that criminal!

There was only one thing I wanted now—to bleed his name and his company dry!

I would use that to pay tribute to the lives of the family he took from me!

I picked up my phone, my hand still shaking. “Axel, I want you to use every resource in my family’s company. Liquidate my assets within seven days. Move it all to France.”

There was a pause on the other end before the secretary cautiously asked, “Ma’am, the RH Limited’s current projects are at their peak. If we pull out now, the company could go under. How should we explain this to the president?”

The question caught me off guard for a moment. “I don’t owe him a damn explanation,” I corrected confidently. “I’m divorcing him.”

My secretary was stunned into silence. Well, who could blame him?

Just a few days ago, Reed and I were planning our anniversary like we had forever ahead of us.

But now… we were one signature away from ending it all.

I silently looked down at the divorce papers in my hand.

Everything inside me had already decided.

I would walk away from this marriage—but not empty-handed.

I would leave with everything that was mine. I swore I’d make Reed bleed for every life he took from me!

Just then, I heard his voice behind me.

“Willow… What’s that in your hands?”