Ten Years Too Late

After my miscarriage left me depressed, I stood on the rooftop the day I discovered my cheating husband was having an affair with my best friend. My best friend, Natalie Smith, regretted it so much that she slashed her own face with a knife before leaving the country. To make me feel safe, my husband, Steven Palmer, had a tracking device installed on himself. Every time he came home, he would hand me his phone. Even if he was only leaving for five minutes, he would always video-call me and tell me where he was. But when I became pregnant again and went to the hospital to start my prenatal records, I suddenly received a video call from myself ten years in the future. I stared at the woman on the screen. She looked painfully thin. Terrified, I asked, "Did I lose this baby too?" Her eyes instantly turned red. Then she suddenly flipped the camera around. Steven stood behind Natalie on the screen; his eyes filled with a love he could barely hide. "You forced me to become a good husband, and I did. But she will never be able to have children again. This is the punishment she deserves for what she did to you." "Steven, no!" Natalie slapped him across the face, but she couldn't stop crying. I sat there with a pale face as the woman on the screen laughed like she had lost her mind. "Go ask the nurse. Find out just how stupid you really are." As soon as she finished speaking, I heard the nurse say in confusion, "Ms. Schneider, our system says you're unmarried. You said the father of your baby is Steven Palmer, but he registered here last year. His spouse is listed as Natalie Smith." Chapter 1 The nurse looked at me with pity as I stumbled out of the hospital, trembling all over and clutching a fake marriage certificate. It was all fake. The breakup four years ago was fake. The five-year marriage was fake, too. In their twisted love story, I was the lawful wife, yet somehow, I was the one treated like the mistress. At the exact moment I was about to break down, Steven Palmer video-called me to tell me where he was. He said lovingly, "Honey, I'm going to the airport today to pick up a very difficult client. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. I really wish I could go home and hold you." As he spoke, he quickly turned the camera around the car. "There isn't another woman with me. I'll come home after I pick up the client and spend the rest of the day with you." He moved the camera quickly, but I still saw what was on the passenger seat. It was the pink diamond necklace I'd been watching for months after seeing it in an auction preview, only for some mysterious billionaire to buy it. Next to it was a box of the finest prenatal care products money could buy, which I'd had shipped from overseas. Natalie Smith and I both loved those two things. Steven knew that. But when he noticed where I was looking, he slightly turned his body to block my view. Then he calmly picked up a cheap bracelet and a box of cherries. "Honey, I brought you some gifts. I made this bracelet myself, and I picked these cherries myself at the orchard..." Long after the call ended, even the ten-years-later me couldn't help but sneer. "The client he's picking up is Natalie. She just came back from giving birth overseas. The bracelet was a free gift he got when he bought the necklace. And those cherries? He bought them from a roadside stand for a few dollars. Melody, you really meant nothing to him." I had no way to argue with that. I only felt sick. It was pouring outside, but I walked home slowly through the rain. The shopping district named after me was the wedding gift he had given me. He had recreated every important place from our memories along this street. The hospital behind me was a reminder of how we met. When he was 12, he stabbed the orphanage director who tried to assault me. When Steven was beaten almost to death, I carried him on my back to the hospital and begged the doctors to save him. The mall on my left was a reminder of how we fell in love. When he was 18, he worked three jobs a day so I could stay in school. His shoes were worn through, but he refused to buy new ones. I secretly worked as a tutor for six months and used the money to buy him his first pair of leather shoes. Then I shyly confessed my feelings. He looked so excited that day, but he pushed me out the door without hesitation. "You idiot. I supported you because I wanted you to become successful someday. A poor man like me could never give you happiness." But when I cried and told him I wanted a family, he immediately opened the door and pulled me into his arms. "If you want to be with me, then let's be together. At least I'll never let you suffer." The man who once swore he would never let me suffer cheated on me with my best friend of ten years during our first year of marriage. And just when I was almost ready to forgive him, he turned me from his wife into the homewrecker everyone hated. The second time Steven video-called me, he pointed the camera at himself. He sighed helplessly and said in an affectionate voice, "Honey, I'll be home late tonight. I'm just arranging a place for the client to stay. There absolutely won't be another woman there." But when I saw their hands secretly intertwined in the corner of the screen, I didn't want to ask anymore. I simply nodded calmly. "It's okay. I believe you. You don't have to explain these things to me anymore." Steven froze. But I hung up without another word. Then I told the driver waiting for me, "I'm not going home. Take me to Springwood Manor." That was the home we had designed together before our wedding. It was also the place that became my personal hell after I miscarried and fell into depression when I found out Steven had cheated on me. My first child's ashes were there. His father didn't love him. So I was going to take him with me when I left. The ten-years-later version of me let out a cold laugh when she heard that. "You really should go there. Otherwise, how will you ever finally give up on him?" Chapter 2 As I stood at the familiar front door, I suddenly remembered what had happened four years ago. That day was supposed to be the day Steven accompanied me to my prenatal checkup. But when I pushed open the bedroom door, I saw Steven and Natalie tangled together on our bed. My smiling face in the wedding portrait seemed almost mocking now, smeared with the ugliness of what they'd done. The portrait fell to the floor and shattered from the force of their movements. The sound woke them up. And it shattered my heart, too. Steven ran toward me like a madman. His eyes were filled with pain. Then I felt warm blood running down my legs. That day, I lost the three most important people in my life. My husband, who had grown up with me. My best friend, who had been like family. And my seven-month-old baby. That suffocating feeling came rushing back. My hands shook uncontrollably as I tried to enter the door code. I tried my birthday and Steven's birthday, but both were wrong. I had only one chance left. My hand trembled before I finally entered Natalie's birthday. The lock clicked open. I pushed the door open in a daze. Then I froze. The house I'd destroyed in a breakdown four years ago had been completely restored. Steven had taken the home design I'd spent six months carefully planning for our marriage and used it to build a home for Natalie. The wall where our wedding portrait once hung was now covered with pictures of Natalie. There were pictures of her eating, sleeping, and wrapping her arms around Steven's neck while she playfully clung to him. Each photo captured his unmistakable tenderness toward her. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. For the past four years, Steven had video-called me every time he went somewhere to tell me where he was. I had no idea how he'd managed to spend every day with Natalie behind my back. The woman on the phone couldn't help but sneer. "Four years ago, Steven was afraid you'd be heartbroken, so he moved the baby's ashes here. Then he used visiting the baby as an excuse to spend time with Natalie and build a new home with her. Look closely at the pictures on the wall. The oldest one was taken ten years ago." I froze. My eyes locked onto the photograph. It was a picture of Steven and Natalie kissing on my birthday ten years ago. Back then, Steven and I had only just started dating. We had also just rescued Natalie after her boss tried to sexually assault her. On my birthday, the two of them had ordered a cake for me at the same restaurant. Then, while they were rushing back to surprise me, a heavy storm trapped them on the road. That night, I ran all over town with two umbrellas, desperately searching for them. They talked about everything from love and romance to their dreams for the future. Little by little, they fell for each other. Back then, I was only worried about whether they would catch a cold. I was too stupid to notice the restrained longing in their eyes. I had always believed our broken love could somehow be repaired. But it had been rotten from the very beginning. It wasn't just the last four years. My heart ached. The cold spread through my body until I was trembling. I couldn't stay in that house any longer. I held my baby's ashes tightly against my chest and prepared to leave. But just as I reached the door, I suddenly heard laughter and lively voices coming from downstairs. Our mutual friend of ten years, who had also grown up with me in the orphanage for 20 years like a sister, Aurelia Vane, was surrounding Natalie. Natalie was holding a baby in her arms. Aurelia showered her with congratulations. Steven was smiling, but he kept looking down at his phone. Natalie pressed her lips together before smiling and linking her arm through his. "Steven, we're married now, and we have a child. I think we should find a chance to tell Melody the truth. She's been fooled by us for ten years. It's kind of sad." Steven immediately tightened his grip around his phone. Then he said firmly, "If we tell her the truth, we'll be pushing her over the edge. She already had a breakdown four years ago. Besides, all we need is a fake marriage certificate to keep her quiet. There's no reason to tell her." His casual words hit me like a slap across the face. I walked out slowly, my voice hoarse. "There's no need to go through all that trouble. I don't want to be your wife anymore." Chapter 3 The room fell silent. Everyone who had just been praising Natalie's baby went quiet when they saw the tiny urn in my arms. Steven looked shocked. He forced a smile. "Melody, it's not what you think." He hurriedly handed the baby back to Natalie before rushing toward me. "Honey, this baby belongs to Natalie and another man. The father refused to take responsibility, so I'm only helping her for now." The moment he finished speaking, the baby in Natalie's arms started crying. The baby screamed so hard that his face turned purple. Steven immediately turned around and called for the family doctor. His hands were trembling with fear. But no matter how carefully the doctor examined the baby, he couldn't find anything wrong. Then Natalie pointed at the urn in my arms with tear-filled eyes. "Steven, that thing could bring bad luck! Get rid of it! The baby could die if he cries for too long!" Steven's face darkened. He slowly walked toward me. "Melody, give me the urn." I held it tightly against my chest and stared at him in disbelief. "Steven, this is your child, too! This is the only thing he has left in this world!" Steven froze for a moment. He was about to say something when the baby started crying again. "Steven, the baby can barely breathe!" Natalie sobbed as she grabbed onto my leg. "Melody, I know you hate me, but my baby is innocent!" As she cried, she secretly dug her sharp fingernails into my leg. I flinched from the pain. In that brief moment when I was distracted, Aurelia snatched the urn from my arms and threw it out the window. Crash! The urn shattered on the ground. I ran outside like a madwoman. But it had already started raining heavily. The ashes were scattered across the ground and mixed with the mud. Steven stared at my broken expression. Only then did he seem to realize what he had done. His eyes turned red as he pulled me tightly into his arms. "Melody, I'm sorry. I panicked." Natalie also wiped away her tears. "Melody, I was terrified something would happen to my baby. I didn't know those were the ashes of your child and Steven's." Aurelia stood beside Natalie and glared at me. "Melody, how many crazy things are you going to do just to make Steven come back to you? "Four years ago, you threatened to kill yourself when you were depressed. And now, four years later, you're showing up at Natalie's baby's birthday party with a box of ashes just to cause trouble. "We're sick of these tricks of yours." So that's what they thought. Every time I was close to breaking down and begged for help, they saw it as nothing more than another trick. They had all been the most important people in my life. Yet they ignored my pain and my suffering. They even helped Steven fool me for ten years. I'd spent four years trying to recover from my depression. But in this moment, all of it came crashing down. I grabbed a fruit knife from the table and plunged it toward myself. "Melody, what are you doing?!" Steven was so worried about Natalie that he didn't even see where the knife was pointed. He kicked me away. A sharp pain exploded in my stomach. I instinctively wanted to cry out for help. But Aurelia looked at me with disgust and shouted. "Hold her down! Don't let her hurt Natalie!" The people around me immediately grabbed me and forced me into the mud. As I bled heavily and slowly lost consciousness, I saw the fear and suspicion in everyone's eyes. Aurelia had once held a knife to Steven's throat after finding out he was cheating on me, demanding that he return to our marriage. But now, her voice was filled with fear. "Steven, if we'd known Melody would become crazy enough to kill someone, we should have let her die with the baby on that rooftop four years ago." This time, Steven didn't deny it. Neither did anyone else. As everyone stood there in silence, I finally understood. The people I loved wanted me dead. Chapter 4 When I woke up in the hospital, Steven was holding my hand tightly. I instinctively pulled my hand away and quickly covered my stomach. Steven froze for a moment before slowly lowering his hand. "Melody, I know we lost the baby, but don't be sad. We'll have another one someday." My hand froze against my stomach. I forced a smile. "Steven, you're lying to me. Our baby already had tiny hands and feet. How could our baby just be gone? You're lying!" I broke down and grabbed whatever I could reach, throwing it at him. I wanted him to admit that he was lying. Steven let me kick and bite him. Then he slowly injected a sedative into my arm. "Melody, you're not in a good state right now. Get some sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up." When I woke up again, Natalie and Aurelia were already standing beside my bed. Aurelia saw the emptiness in my eyes and sighed. "Melody, do you think your baby is the only one who suffered? "Natalie got pregnant with Steven's baby on your birthday ten years ago. They registered their marriage the very next day. "But Natalie remembered that you had saved her life, so she forced Steven to buy her abortion pills." Natalie's eyes turned red as if she were about to cry. Aurelia gave her a sympathetic look before her voice became even more cruel. "Melody, if you hadn't spent the last ten years making scene after scene, Natalie wouldn't have had to watch you take her place for ten years. She was never the homewrecker. You were." I stared blankly at the ceiling. I almost laughed until I cried. So that's why everyone had kept the truth from me. In their eyes, my relationship with Steven had been something I'd forced from the very beginning. I was the shameless woman who had ruined another couple's perfect love. I was the homewrecker. Yet not one of them had ever been willing to tell me the truth. They had watched me fall into depression after discovering Steven's affair. They had even watched as I cut my own body until deep scars covered my skin. Natalie watched me fall apart. Then she leaned close to my ear and whispered with a smile, "Actually, when you were brought to the hospital, your baby could still have been saved. But my baby suddenly came down with a fever, so Steven rushed him to the doctor. He even forgot to sign the paperwork for you. By the time he remembered you, your baby had already died inside your womb." My eyes flew open. My nails dug into her arm. "Natalie, what did you say?" She was still smiling as she forcefully pulled my hand away. "You can't handle even that? But while you were having the procedure today, I secretly arranged for the doctors to remove your uterus, too. You'll never be able to get pregnant again." I completely lost control. I grabbed Natalie's hair and slammed her head against the wall. "You bitch! Go to hell!" Blood splattered across the room as she screamed. Aurelia screamed for Steven. He rushed over and violently threw me into the corner of the room. Bang! I heard the sickening crack of my bones. Aurelia screamed at me. "Melody is insane! She attacked Natalie for no reason! Steven, you can't keep protecting her anymore. You need to send her to a psychiatric hospital right now!" Steven had once spent four years making sure I saw therapists. He had always protected me. But now, he called the psychiatric hospital without hesitation. He didn't even look at me lying helplessly on the floor. His eyes were filled with concern for Natalie. I forced myself to raise my head. My voice was barely a whisper. "Do you two know what they do to people in psychiatric hospitals?" Aurelia sneered. "Electroshock therapy. Beatings. Fighting dogs for scraps of food. But you deserve all of it." So, they knew. They knew exactly what would happen to me. Yet they would rather destroy me completely just to protect Natalie. Steven held the trembling Natalie in his arms. His eyes were bloodshot as he said, "Aurelia is right. We shouldn't have stopped you when you jumped off that roof four years ago." That night, after they left, I remembered everything that had happened between us. The last image in my mind was Steven walking away. My lower stomach felt empty. That familiar heartbeat was gone forever. I lay weakly on the hospital bed. In the darkness, I flicked on a lighter and threw it toward the curtains. As the flames spread around me, I heard a nurse shouting in panic. "Mr. Palmer! The hospital room is on fire! Ms. Schneider is still inside!"