Chapter 1

After my husband died in a car accident, I spent five years living alone. I never remarried.

My family and friends urged me to move on. Even my therapist told me I shouldn't spend the rest of my life punishing myself. In my dreams, Adrian begged me again and again to stop blaming myself and let him go.

Eventually, I agreed to go on a blind date.

On the Easter that followed, I went to the cemetery to say a final goodbye to the past.

But just as I left the cemetery, a post on social media caught my eye.

"Happy fifth wedding anniversary! Thank you for the gift, darling!"

The photo showed a woman nestled in a man's arms, smiling blissfully as he kissed her forehead.

I would have recognized that face even from beyond the grave.

My blood ran cold. I nearly dropped my phone.

Following the address in the post, I made my way to an apartment building.

The moment the door opened, I froze.

The woman standing before me was Vanessa, my boyfriend's former secretary, whom he had fired five years ago for allegedly betraying the company.

Then I heard a voice from inside the apartment. A voice I had believed I would never hear again.

——

Maya's POV

"Maya…"

The moment Vanessa saw me, she instinctively tried to shut the door.

I jammed my hand against it.

Just then, several men emerged from the elevator, laughing and chatting among themselves.

"Adrian really pulled off the ultimate trick. They've been married for five years, and Maya still thinks he's dead."

"I heard she's finally agreed to go on a blind date. Maybe she's ready to move on at last."

Another man let out a mocking laugh.

"Move on? Imagine her face if she found out that Adrian faked his own death in that accident."

"Back then, he got those intimate photos from Vanessa and rushed off to see her. He drove straight through the guardrail in the pouring rain. Then he let Maya believe he'd been rushing home to celebrate her birthday when the accident happened."

"She spent all these years thinking she was responsible for his death. I heard she almost took her own life several times."

"Shh! Don't let Adrian hear you…"

The men rounded the corner. The moment they saw me, their laughter died.

Marcus Miller, Adrian's best friend, went pale.

"Maya? What are you doing here?"

I didn't answer.

Because from inside the apartment came the voice I had spent countless sleepless nights longing to hear.

"Vanessa, are Marcus and the others here yet?"

My breath caught.

A second later, Adrian walked out of the living room holding a bouquet of flowers.

He wore a crisp shirt. His posture was straight, and his face was healthy and full of color.

No wounds. No signs of illness. Nothing like the lifeless face in the black-and-white photograph on his gravestone.

He was alive and well.

The moment he saw me, his smile froze. The bouquet trembled slightly in his hand.

I slowly raised my head and looked at the banner hanging in the middle of the living room.

It read:

"Happy Fifth Wedding Anniversary to My Beloved Wife."

"Adrian, you've been living pretty well these past few years."

His first instinct wasn't to explain himself. Instead, he reached out and pulled Vanessa behind him.

That single, instinctive gesture humiliated me more than any words could have.

I stared at him, but all I could see was that rainy night five years ago.

It had been my birthday.

Adrian had promised me a surprise. But on his way to meet me, he got into a car accident. His car smashed through a guardrail and plunged into the sea.

The police searched for a long time, but all they recovered were a few pieces of wreckage.

Later, my family told me that his death had been officially confirmed.

I had watched his ashes being laid to rest with my own eyes.

At the funeral, I clung to his gravestone and cried until I passed out.

For five whole years, I lived with the guilt.

I kept asking myself what would have happened if I hadn't argued with him after discovering his infidelity. If I hadn't hung up on him in a fit of anger, would he still have rushed back and died on the road?

At my lowest point, I had even tried to end my life at his grave.

Now I finally understood.

My suffering had been nothing more than a convenient cover for his betrayal.

I picked up the photo frame from the table.

In the picture, the jagged peaks of the Dolomites glowed rose-gold beneath the setting sun. Adrian and Vanessa stood in the warm light, their fingers intertwined.

"That's a beautiful wedding photo."

I stared at it, my voice so calm that even I barely recognized it. I wasn't screaming or breaking down. I was simply overwhelmed by a wave of nausea.

"Wasn't that the place she insisted on recommending?"

Five years ago, when we were planning our wedding, Vanessa had linked her arm through mine and said sweetly, "You should go to the Dolomites. It's the perfect place to witness a love that lasts forever."

Adrian had even praised her for the suggestion.

It turned out she'd already chosen the perfect backdrop for her own wedding.

Not long afterward, I found a lipstick in Adrian's car that wasn't mine.

Following the clues, I discovered that it belonged to Vanessa.

I asked for a divorce, but Adrian went to the edge of a tall building and looked at me with bloodshot eyes.

"Are you really going to drive me to my death?"

In the end, I softened.

He promised to cut all ties with Vanessa. Then he fired her and went to extraordinary lengths to make it up to me.

I thought he truly regretted what he'd done.

Only now did I understand. He had simply wanted to keep me around, an inconvenient obstacle he wasn't ready to get rid of.

I let go of the frame.

It crashed onto the floor, sending shards of glass flying in every direction.

Vanessa screamed and clutched her face, where a piece of glass had cut her.

"Maya, have you lost your mind?"

Adrian's expression darkened instantly.

"Have you had enough?"

I looked at him, and finally, tears welled in my eyes.

"I've lost my mind?"

"Yes. I have."

"For the five years you were supposedly dead, I lived like a lunatic every single day!"

Instead of showing the slightest remorse, he glared at me in anger.

"You were the one who refused to forgive me! I had to give up my entire life because of you!"

"I fired Vanessa like you demanded. What more do you want from me?"

I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face.

My palm stung, but the tears kept coming.

"You were the one who cheated! You were the one who lied to me! How dare you act like you're the victim?"

Suddenly, Vanessa dropped to her knees.

"Maya, I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

She sobbed pitifully and reached for the hem of my clothes.

"I loved Adrian too much. I'll divorce him right away and never appear in your lives again."

As she spoke, she suddenly clutched her lower abdomen.

"As for this baby… I'll get rid of it, too."

Adrian's expression changed instantly.

He forgot all about me and hurried to her side.

"Vanessa, you're pregnant?"