Life After You

I thought Elijah had rushed over because of me. But instead, he gently caressed Abigail's hand and asked her, "Does your hand hurt? You need to be more careful next time."

Then, he turned and looked at me coldly. The look in his eyes told me that I was the outsider here.

He said indifferently, "Abby must've had reasons for doing this. Did you make her angry again? You vicious woman, can't you just leave her alone?"

I clutched my throat and looked at him, quietly asking, "Where are my parents' graves?"

For a moment, Elijah seemed flustered. Then, he spoke with slight guilt. "This is prime real estate, and Abby deserves to live here. Your parents wouldn't mind. Think of it as paying back the debt you owe me and Abby. Their urns are inside. I'll get them for you."

I had no intention of arguing with them. I just wanted to take my parents' urns back home—my real home.

Abigail grabbed my hand and glared at me hatefully. "You know, if you'd just died, things wouldn't be so difficult for me and Eli. Why do you keep trying to get his attention?"

I frowned and tried to pull my hand away, but she gripped it tightly. She hissed, "I can make Eli completely disgusted with you right now!"

Just as Elijah walked toward us carrying two urns, Abigail grabbed my hand and slammed it hard against her stomach. I watched helplessly as she punctured a blood pack she'd prepared earlier and began screaming while clutching her unharmed belly.

"Eli! Eli! My baby! Our baby!"

At that moment, it felt as if my soul had left my body. I could see the hatred in Elijah's eyes as he dumped my parents' ashes on the ground. He shouted, "You don't deserve them!"

Abigail was carried into his car, where he began comforting her. Meanwhile, his men dragged and secured me to the back of their car. And through it all, I never opened my mouth once.

I knew that Elijah would never choose me over Abigail.

By the time we arrived at the hospital, my legs were scraped bloody and raw from being dragged the whole way over. Yet, Elijah still hauled me onto the blood transfusion table.

"Abby's hemorrhaging badly, you evil woman! Lucky for her, your blood type matches. It's the only use you have left!"

My eyes were swollen from crying, but I no longer had any tears left. "Elijah, could you just believe me this once?"

Elijah snorted coldly as a thick needle pierced my flesh. "Stop wasting time. If anything happens to Abby, I'll make you pay for it with your life."

I watched helplessly as he drew four large vials of blood from my body, leaving my lips pale and my strength completely drained.

"Elijah, I'm going home," I whispered as I watched him leave. However, he didn't seem to hear me. His heart only had space for Abigail.

I refused the nurse's suggestion to stay overnight and dragged my exhausted body home. Just several more days, and I could finally go home. I eventually moved into the dusty maid's room.

Meanwhile, Elijah brought Abigail back home, where they began fooling around in the master bedroom without any regard for my dignity.

"Eli, you're so good!"

"I love you, Abby. We're perfect together."

The soundproofing in our home was poor. I could clearly hear every sound they made, including their hushed dirty talk. Yet, I could only hide in the corner, covering my ears and praying I'd fall asleep quickly.

The next morning, I saw Elijah's social media posts showing intimate photos of him and Abigail. They were accompanied by joyful captions about shopping for baby supplies together.

After that, I silently deleted all his contact information.

My last day in this world happened to be my wedding anniversary with Elijah, and it was also Abigail's birthday. I ignored Elijah's instruction to attend Abigail's birthday party and instead sat alone at home.

I wiped down a vase with my bare hands. It was the last gift my parents had left me and the last thing I had in this house. I held the vase and imagined talking to my parents while waiting for midnight to arrive.

I mumbled, "Mom... Dad... I'm sorry. If I had the choice, I'd take you both home with me. Please forgive me. I'm finally leaving this nightmare, and I swear I'll never see Elijah again... Not in this life or the next."

Just then, Elijah kicked the bedroom door open, hard. He strode forward and smashed the vase in my hands.

He shouted, "How can you be so evil? You actually put mango in Abby's cake! She's in the hospital now with an allergic reaction, fighting for her life!"

I stared blankly at the vase, shattered into countless pieces on the floor. I did not hear a word of what Elijah said.

"What did she ever do to you? Just because she's pregnant with my child, you can't stand her? You're acting like such a jealous madwoman."

He had already made his judgment. Regardless of whether or not I tried to explain myself, these labels were already forced on me.

Elijah stepped forward and gripped my throat tightly, wanting to see me desperately argue back. He most enjoyed the feeling of controlling me, after all.

"Elijah, did you know? Five years ago... I was pregnant with your baby," I said calmly.

"You're lying again."

I laughed bitterly and spoke in a gentle tone I hadn't used in ages. "I knew you'd say that, so I prepared everything. I hope that after I die, you'll receive those things and still be able to live happily ever after with Abigail."

At that moment, the system's voice rang in my head. "Fran, midnight has arrived. You just need to die in this world, and you can go back."

I picked up a sharp piece of glass and raised my hand, dragging the jagged edge across my artery.

Finally, I was leaving this world where no one loved me.

Everything was finally going to end.