Five Years of Lies: My Secret Escape

The next day, the Sullivan family arrived at the hospital eagerly to welcome the newborn. To their utter dismay, the only thing they saw was my corpse.

Vincent regretfully informed them, "She took two whole bottles of sleeping pills last night. We couldn't save her."

Xavier glanced at me briefly and scoffed, feeling disgruntled. He then left with his parents with a gloomy expression.

Only my mom, Esther Todd, stayed back with me. She wept mournfully by my bedside, keeping vigil over my body.

I opened my eyes and gently patted her head to comfort her. I whispered, "I'm still alive. Don't cry."

My mom's face blanched due to the extreme shock.

With a smile, I explained everything to her. Vincent had injected me with a special drug that caused a state of apparent death. I slept for a full day and night. Then, I woke up perfectly normal again.

After giving birth to my daughter, I left with her and settled down in Clearwater, a nearby city. Xavier had once said he would never set foot in this city again after breaking up with Elsa.

From my time with Xavier, I had picked up quite a few business skills. I invested in several companies, and the money I earned was more than enough to support myself and my daughter.

I named my daughter Athena. She looked about 60% like me and 40% like Xavier. However, her personality was nothing like his—she was always affectionate and loved cuddling with me when she slept.

My mom was afraid the Sullivan family would find us. So, when she video-called me, she always did it behind my dad's back. For three years, I learned about everything happening with the Sullivan family through my mom.

My dad cried outside the Sullivan residence for three days and nights. In the end, Xavier transferred the neighboring villa to his name. My dad never once visited the fake grave my mom had arranged for me.

Xavier wanted to marry Elsa, but his parents never approved of it. Two and a half years later, Robert died from a heart attack. Xavier seized the opportunity and had a public fallout with Maisie.

In a fit of rage, Maisie gave Elsa two tight slaps in front of everyone. After that, Xavier cut ties with his family completely.

A few days later, Maisie suddenly jumped to her death.

My mom lowered her voice and said, "The day Mrs. Sullivan killed herself, I saw Elsa at the Sullivan residence. It didn't sit right with me, so I recorded a video."

I immediately asked her to send it to me.

In the video, Elsa tried to appear calm as she left. However, her legs were trembling the whole time—something was definitely off.

Goosebumps broke out across my arms. At the same time, I suddenly got a series of messages from Elsa on my old phone number.

"Xavier is about to marry me. The wedding will be held at the city's most luxurious five-star hotel."

"When he married you, he didn't even bother with a simple ceremony, did he?"

"Enjoy watching from heaven as I have the grand wedding you never got."

I never expected Elsa to be so obsessed with me—the ex-wife who had supposedly been dead for years.

Another message popped up on my phone. It read: "Don't be sad, at least your dead child will keep you company. It got lucky. Otherwise, it would have died at my hands."

At that moment, I reached the limit of all the patience I had left. I recalled how Elsa had cursed my child before she was even born. Even now, her cruelty knew no bounds.

I could barely breathe from the rage. I was very close to crushing my phone as I gripped it with all my might.

Without hesitation, I started packing my bags. Cursing me was one thing, but cursing my child… Elsa had messed with the wrong woman. It was clear that she had a death wish.

She wanted a grand wedding—I would make sure she had a grand funeral instead.