novelnext Chapter 1: The One Who Hurt Her the Most
Chapter 1: The One Who Hurt Her the Most
"Ms. Williams, just to confirm, you've enrolled in the Witness Protection Program, and your staged death is scheduled for fifteen days from now. Cause of death: drowning. Is that correct?"
Sophia gave a firm nod. "Yes."
"Alright. If everything looks good, please sign at the bottom right corner."
She picked up the pen, but her hand paused halfway. "Can you make sure there's no body? I don't want a gravestone. I don't want anyone visiting every year pretending they miss me."
If she was going to disappear, she wanted it to be absolute.
Let them have nowhere to mourn. No place to atone.
"We'll take care of it," the agent assured.
Only then did Sophia sign her name.
When she stepped outside, the night sky exploded with color, an elaborate fireworks show lighting up the city.
People gathered in awe, whispering excitedly.
"Mr. Foster arranged all this just for Ms. Williams! Can you believe it? He's so in love with her, wanted the whole city to see it on her birthday!"
"I heard he designed the fireworks himself! Like, actually handcrafted them!"
"Ms. Williams is seriously living a fairytale."
A fairytale?
Sophia stood quietly, listening to the buzz of admiration, her face unreadable. But by the end, a bitter smile tugged at her lips.
If she were really living a fairytale, she wouldn't have been blindsided like this. Wouldn't have just uncovered Ethan's betrayal after all these years.
Every night, while she lay sleeping, the nanny, someone she trusted, was slipping into their bed and curling up next to her husband.
The surveillance footage had been damning. And Sophia had cried so hard, she'd passed out from the pain.
She remembered the day her mother jumped from a rooftop after discovering her father's affair. A teenage Sophia, numb and broken, had wandered to the same rooftop, only for Ethan to be the first to find her.
He'd begged her not to jump.
He'd cleared his schedule to stay with her, sleeping in hospital chairs, feeding her soup, whispering that everything would be okay.
Years later, when they got caught in a shootout overseas, Ethan had thrown himself in front of her without hesitation. She'd clutched his bleeding body, sobbing into his shirt, calling him an idiot.
But he just smiled through the pain.
"Sophia, you've suffered enough in this life. I won't let anything else hurt you."
"Marry me. I'll make you the happiest woman in the world."
And now?
The man who had once promised her everything was the one who shattered her the most.