Chapter 1
Rachel Archer was dead.
Matilda Thompson sat numbly on the edge of her bed; the divorce papers Yvan Boyd had flung at her lay crumpled by her trembling fingers. The room felt as chilly as a tomb.
Just an hour ago, Yvan had his hands around her throat, his voice low and dangerous. “Did you push Rachel down those stairs?”
An hour later, he was standing over her with a lawyer at his side, dropping the draft of a divorce agreement in her lap like a gauntlet. “Matilda Thompson, you owe her not one but two lives!”
That’s right, two, Rachel was pregnant with Yvan’s child.
Who was Matilda in this twisted play? Yvan’s lawful wife, a mere punchline in a cruel joke.
Tears reddened her eyes as she faced Yvan, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. “I didn’t push her. How many times do I have to tell you that?”
Yvan didn’t listen. He just stared at her, his gaze cold and mocking. “Do you really think explanations matter now?”
They didn’t. It was too late. In Yvan’s mind, she was guilty. No amount of pleading could outweigh the word of a woman no longer alive to speak for herself.
A bitter laugh escaped Matilda as she stood abruptly, snatching up the pen to sign her name on the dotted line.
Divorce, he wanted?
Fine.
“Yvan, I loved you for a decade,” she said with a forced smile, her voice dripping with pride despite the tears she fought back. “Let’s consider those years a joke. From now on, we go our separate ways!”
Love for him, her heart for her to keep. She signed the papers with a flourish.
Yvan watched her, his sneer deepening. “You don’t really think it ends with’signing these papers, do you?”
Matilda paled. “What else do you want?”
“I want your Thompson family to pay for Rachel’s funeral!” His declaration was merciless. “Starting tomorrow, the Thompsons will descend into hell!”
Matilda collapsed back on the bed, quivering. She looked at the man before her, whose handsome features she had once adored, now seeming like a stranger.
After five years of silent longing and five years of marriage, she had left deep imprints in his life. Yet now, for a baseless accusation, he was ready to cast her into the abyss.
Chapter 1
“Isn’t my downfall enough?” she asked, her eyes brimming with hurt. “Why go after the Thompson family? My parents treated you like their own son. What have they ever done to deserve this?”
“Rachel’s death,” Yvan spat, gripping Matilda’s chin with a force that made her wince, “is the greatest betrayal your family could have committed against me.”
Like a demon straight out of hell, he smiled. “It wasn’t enough to force me to marry you, was it? Now, you had to take her life, too. Matilda, you’re more heartless than I could’ve ever imagined!” The shock of his words was like being drenched in ice water.
Matilda trembled. “Is this how you see me?”
“And why should I see you any differently?” Yvan’s voice was laced with scorn as he released her, stepping back. “From today on, you will pay for Rachel’s death.”
As if on cue, rain began to batter the windows outside, echoing the tumult inside Matilda’s soul. She spoke through the pain, her voice barely a whisper, “Yvan, if there comes a day when you realize you’ve wronged me…”
A pang of something unrecognizable flickered across Yvan’s face, quickly masked by his icy exterior. “Wronged you? Matilda, in this life, it’s you who has wronged me.”
A thunderclap split the sky, reverberating through the room and shaking Matilda to her core.
Suddenly devoid of strength, she stumbled back, tears blending with the sound of the intensifying rain.
Yvan grabbed the signed papers and slammed the door behind him, sealing her fate. The closing of
door marked the separation of their worlds as she knew it. From that moment
on, Matilda’s life was shattered beyond repair.
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