I bought my fiancé a private island, only to discover he had invited his first love, Nicole, there for a debauched party.
When we were exposed, they stabbed me again and again, then fled in the island’s only lifeboat, leaving me to die.
At the edge of despair, Elliott, a police officer, risked his life to reach the island and save me. He later told me that Nicole had drowned at sea. With eyes full of devotion, Elliott swore he would protect me for the rest of my life.
But a year later, I accidentally witnessed Elliott entwined with Nicole, alive and unmistakably real.
“You deliberately withdrew the island’s security and schemed your way into marrying him, all to make him sign over his inheritance?” she demanded.
Elliott replied coldly, “Once Brenda inherits that vast fortune, she will inevitably come after you. I cannot protect you by force alone. I had to eliminate the danger at its source.”
“And won’t Brenda hate you for this?”
Elliott gave a bitter smile. “I have already paid for it with the happiness of the rest of my life. I owe him nothing.”
In that moment, my heart turned to ashes. I drafted the divorce papers without hesitation.
This love of Elliott’s, sweet on the surface yet laced with poison, is something I refuse to accept.
1.
I wiped away my tears and walked toward the hospital alone.
The doctor had called to say my grandfather was in critical condition and that I needed to prepare myself. My wife entangled with my grandfather’s would be murderer right before my eyes was no longer something I had the strength to care about. All I wanted was to stay with him in his final moments.
Yet the instant I arrived at the hospital, several people in military uniforms stopped me at the entrance.
“Officer Ye has ordered that no outsiders be allowed near the ward. He is accompanying his loved one as her grandfather passes,” one of them said.
I said urgently, “Do not stop me. I am Elliott’s spouse. The one being rescued is my grandfather.”
The leading officer’s expression turned cold.
“That is impossible. The person Officer Ye brought is Nicole, and the one in critical condition is Nicole’s grandfather.”
“You have it wrong!”
With trembling hands, I called Elliott.
“Elliott, tell your people to let me in. I need to be with Grandpa. That is my grandfather!”
There was a brief silence on the other end before his voice grew impatient.
“Stop making trouble, Brenda. Grandpa’s condition is very bad. I am afraid you will be too overwhelmed if you come in. Just wait outside.”
The call was cut off abruptly.
But I knew he was lying, because moments earlier I had clearly seen the lawyer walk in with the will.
Suddenly, a wave of crying erupted from the ward. Grandpa was gone.
I struggled desperately to rush inside, only to be warned again and again.
At that moment, Nicole walked over. He shot me a provocative glance and said to the officer blocking the way, “Officer Ye told me to come.”
The officer nodded and immediately let him through.
And I was still kept outside.
“Nicole, what are you trying to do? That is my grandfather. Let me go in!”
Nicole only looked back at me with a taunting smile and said to the officers, “Please keep a close watch on him. This person is mentally unstable. I do not want him barging in and disrupting the rescue.”
With that, he turned around and walked off hand in hand with Elliott, who had just come out to greet him.
Elliott never once looked at me.
All the blood in my body seemed to freeze. Overcome by shock and fury, I collapsed unconscious.
For Nicole, he would not even let me see my grandfather one last time.
When I opened my eyes again, I met Elliott’s worried gaze.
I clenched my teeth and asked about Grandpa, but the moment I spoke, bitter tears slid into my mouth.
Elliott raised his hand in panic and wiped my cheek.
“I am sorry, Brenda. I did not let you in because I was afraid you would be too heartbroken.”
I threw off the blanket. “I want to see Grandpa. I want to hear the will being read.”
Elliott’s face changed instantly as he stopped me.
“Do not rush. There is something I need to tell you.”
“Before Grandpa passed, he changed his will. He said that Nicole surviving such a disaster and staying by his bedside to care for him was rare and precious, so he left all of his inheritance to Nicole.”
