Chapter 1

We were married two years. He was a loser.

I left him—and our newborn daughter—without looking back.

Years later, he became a famous forensic pathologist.

He found a new, loving stepmom for our daughter.

At his celebration, they whispered:

“Did Aria think Jaxson would make it big?”

“She’s probably busy in some rich guy’s bed.”

“If Aria comes back, would he take her?”

Six-year-old Lily snapped:

“Dad can’t take her back! Lily only knows her new mom!”

Jaxson picked her up, shooting a cold glare.

“Not on my big day. Don’t say that cursed name.”

He didn’t know—

The dead woman he was about to dissect?

It was me.

I floated in mid-air, watching my daughter run intimately into another woman's arms. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. When I left, she was just a baby. In the blink of an eye, she'd become an adorable little munchkin. I wanted to reach out and touch her, but my hand simply passed through Lily's body.

"Mommy, don't worry. If the bad lady comes back, Lily will definitely help Mommy chase her away!"

The bad lady… I let out a bitter laugh. In her heart, I was already the bad lady.

Seraphina smiled, pinching Lily's little cheek. "Naughty girl, that's your birth mom."

Lily pouted. "Hmph! Lily doesn't have a mom who abandoned Dad and me!"

I floated in the air, sobbing, beyond words. "No, Lily, Mommy didn't abandon you. Mommy just had no choice…"

The whispers of others drifted into my ears:

"Aria was never meant to enjoy a good life. If she'd just stayed with Jaxson a few more years through the hardship, she'd have everything now. Trying to come back? Good luck. Jaxson probably hates her guts, haha!"

"Serves her right. Women like her are only fit to be some rich man's lapdog."

"When Jaxson was at his lowest, she ran off with a rich guy. Seraphina stuck by him all these years. If she came back now, she'd just be the other woman."

"You think she wasn't the other woman when she was with that rich guy? Give her money, and she'd crawl into anyone's bed."

Jaxson, standing in the center, gripped his wine glass, his knuckles white. "Shut up."

The laughter died abruptly, smiles frozen on their faces. Someone offered a placating smile. "Sorry, Jaxson. She was your ex-wife, after all. We shouldn't mock her."

"Right, right, our bad. We won't talk about Aria anymore."

Jaxson scoffed. "Who said I was mad about that?"

Everyone was stunned.

He continued, "I just don't want my wife to hear a cursed name on such a happy day. She's pregnant."

Everyone gasped, then rushed to congratulate him.

"Congratulations! True love finds its way!"

"I knew Jaxson wouldn't ever stand up for that woman!"

"Women like her, even getting into the police force was a disgrace. Good thing she fell from grace on her own."

I floated silently in the air, looking back towards Seraphina. They said this woman had stood by Jaxson through his toughest years. I really had no right to say anything. But a sharp pang of bitterness still twisted in my heart.