I Saved My Husband, He Repaid Me With Betrayal—So I Faked My Death

"Camille, you gave up everything to help Rafael rebuild his family. You spent all your wealth, and he treated you like his most precious treasure ever since."

"Now he's just gotten a little too close to Katherine—it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Why go as far as faking your own death?"

Her friend's voice trembled with worry as she watched Camille sign the false-death agreement.

The pen in Camille's hand paused for a moment.

Just close?

So Rafael had played his role well. No one outside knew the filth between him and Katherine. But no matter how well he hid it, the pain he caused her couldn't be undone.

Thinking of her parents—dead for years, their souls unable to rest in peace—made Camille's body tremble with rage.

"I have no other choice. There's no going back between Rafael and me. Faking my death is the only way to be free. Please, stop trying to persuade me."

With that, she signed the final stroke.

Her friend sighed, helpless. "If Uncle and Aunt knew things had come to this, they would be heartbroken."

A bitter smile tugged at Camille's lips, her eyes turning red. But more than grief, what burned in her chest was guilt and regret.

Seven years ago, when the Holmes family was driven to the brink of bankruptcy by rivals, Rafael's parents died of rage and despair. Everyone thought Rafael was finished—until Camille, his childhood sweetheart, persuaded her parents to pour in their fortune and connections to save him. That choice left her own family in ruins.

When Rafael finally rose from the ashes, he crushed everyone who had once mocked Camille's family, rejected countless political marriages, and married her with fierce determination.

Their marriage had been the envy of all—sweet, devoted, seemingly unshakable. Camille had believed she had found the right man.

Until half a year ago.

A paparazzo showed up at her door with intimate photos of Rafael and Katherine, demanding money. Camille, who could not tolerate the slightest betrayal, demanded divorce on the spot.

Rafael panicked. He knelt at her parents' grave for three days and nights, begging for her forgiveness.

However, Camille remained resolute, unwavering in her stance.

In desperation, Rafael resorted to a drastic threat. "Camille, I was drunk and foolish! You know you're the only one in my heart! If you don't believe me, I'll kill myself right here and now!"

This time, Camille's heart began to soften.

After that, he reported his every move, and stayed by her side whenever he wasn't working. Slowly, she let down her guard.

But four months later, he told her Katherine was pregnant and he wanted to keep the child.

"Rafael, it's either the illegitimate child or me. Choose."

"The child is innocent. And it's my blood. Please, don't force me."

Her disappointment reached the breaking point. She prepared to file for divorce, only for him to threaten her:

"A scandal will crash the company's stock. And remember—today's Holmes family carries the legacy of your parents too. Can you bear to see it all destroyed?"

So she swallowed her fury.

But her coldness pushed him away. He came home less and less, until their marriage was an empty shell.

She thought they would just drag on like that.

Until three days ago.

A cemetery worker called, claiming Rafael had brought people to dig up her parents' graves.

When she arrived, the tomb was already desecrated.

From a distance, she saw Rafael carefully take a dead dog from Katherine's hands and gently lower it into her parents' grave.

Camille's body went cold, rage sparking through her like lightning, draining every ounce of strength from her body.

The wind carried his voice to her ears. "This is the site I chose so carefully for Camille's parents. If Browny is buried here, it will rest in peace."

Katherine, clutching her belly with fake tears glistening in her eyes, whispered, "But this is Miss Hudson's parents' grave... Won't she be angry?"

"Don't worry about it. You're carrying my child. As long as you're at peace, digging up a grave is nothing."

His words, so light and casual, struck Camille like bullets to the chest.

It was nothing?

So in his eyes, her parents were worth less than Katherine's dog?!

Thunder cracked, and rain poured. Rafael wrapped Katherine in his coat and escorted her into the car, driving away without a backward glance.

Drenched to the bone, Camille could no longer make out the voices of those lingering by the tomb. Only after they drifted away, one by one, did she summon the strength to move, staggering forward on unsteady legs.

But the moment her eyes fell upon the broken urns—her parents' ashes washed away by the storm, her heart shattered beyond repair.

"AHHHH!" Her screams split the downpour.

She clawed at the mud with bleeding hands, but there was nothing left.

"Dad, Mom, I'm sorry! It's my fault you died so horribly, I'm sorry your ashes were desecrated! I trusted the wrong man!"

She remembered their last words, recorded by the murderers who had slit their throats as revenge against Rafael.

"Camille... our only worry... is you. Rafael, take care of her. Don't let her suffer... Don't let her be bullied..."

Rafael had once sworn over their broken bodies that he would protect her for life.

Yet now, as people scatter and warmth faded, his promise had long turned cold.

For Katherine's sake, he had made sure even their souls couldn't rest.

Camille wept until she fainted.

In her dream, her parents stroked her hair, their eyes full of love.

"Camille, don't cry. Never sacrifice yourself for anyone. If you're unhappy, start a new life."

When she opened her eyes, the storm had passed.

She finally understood. It was time to leave Rafael.

—

That evening, after returning home from her friend's, Camille pulled out an old photo album. Memories flooded back, tears streaming down her face—so lost in thought she didn't notice someone behind her.

"What are you so focused on?"

Rafael wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his voice soft.

She flinched, turning to him. His eyes flickered with guilt when he saw her tears and the album in her hands.

"Thinking about your parents? It's been a while since we visited their grave. Tomorrow, let me take you there."

Her hatred surged.

To pay respects? To where? To that dog you buried there?

"I don't want to go," she flatly refused.

He looked surprised, then forced a smile. "Maybe that's better... so you don't get upset. How about I—"

"Ding-ding."

Her phone buzzed. A message from her friend flashed on the screen. [The false-death certificate had been finalized.]

Rafael leaned over to peek, but she quickly put her phone away. With his obsessive nature, if he knew she planned to vanish through death, he would never let her go.

To divert him, she said, "Take me to the temple tomorrow. I want to burn incense on my parents' memorial tablet."

His face lit up. Since Katherine's pregnancy, Camille hadn't once asked him to accompany her. He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm sorry for neglecting you lately. Don't worry—once Katherine gives birth, I'll make it up to you."

But to Camille, no apology mattered anymore.

In ten days, her ties to Rafael would be severed forever.