Rain slapped against the glass windows, the city lights outside blurring into streaks of white and red. The penthouse that used to feel like heaven was now colder than a hospital ward.
Bai Lian was on her knees, hands trembling as she clutched the sleeve of the man standing before her.
"Lu Hao… please. I need the money for medicine. Just this once." Her voice cracked, hoarse from nights of crying.
The man looked down at her, face smooth, expensive watch gleaming under the chandelier. He used to smile at her like she was his whole world. Now his lips curled like she was dirt.
"Medicine?" he sneered. "Don't make me laugh. Do you think I'll keep wasting money on you when you can't even stand properly? You're nothing but dead weight, Bai Lian."
Her throat tightened. She used to believe those same lips when they whispered love in her ear, when he promised to protect her. She had given up everything—her family, her dowry, her pride—for him.
Now? She had nothing left. Not even dignity.
"I gave you everything," she whispered. The words fell weakly, swallowed by the storm outside.
Lu Hao chuckled, cold and sharp. "Exactly. You gave me everything. And now you have nothing left to give. Why would I stay with a useless woman?"
Bai Lian's fingers slipped from his sleeve. The silk of his suit was smooth, expensive—untouchable, just like the man himself.
Her body shook. Not from the cold, but from the shame.
He walked a few steps away, poured himself a glass of wine like he hadn't just crushed her heart. "Do you know why I married you in the first place?"
Her chest ached. She didn't want to hear it, but she already knew.
"It wasn't because of love," he said, swirling the glass lazily. "It was because you were Bai Lian—the precious daughter of the Bai family, with money, with status. I only had to smile, and you gave yourself to me."
Her lips trembled. "So… all those years, everything you said—"
"Fake." His voice cut her off. "Sweet words are cheap. And you were foolish enough to believe them."
The sound of laughter drifted from the other side of the living room. A group of women, her so-called friends, were lounging on the sofa. They had followed Lu Hao into the house earlier, perfume heavy, eyes gleaming like knives.
One of them, dressed in a bodycon dress, crossed her legs and smirked. "Sister Bai, you really thought you were the CEO's precious wife? Look at you now. Pitiful."
Their giggles burned into her ears. Each face was familiar—faces she once trusted, sisters she once defended.
Her hands clenched against the marble floor until her nails bent. So it was all a joke to them… my whole life.
A sudden wave of dizziness made her vision blur. She tasted iron, then coughed, and a dark stain spread across her palm.
Lu Hao's expression didn't even flicker. He raised his glass in mock salute. "If you want someone to blame, blame yourself. You chose me. You ignored the other option—didn't you? That cousin of mine, Lu Zhan. If you'd picked him back then… maybe you wouldn't look like this now."
His name struck her like lightning.
Lu Zhan.
Cold, aloof, untouchable. The man who had stood in silence on her wedding day, watching as she walked into Lu Hao's arms. She had thought him too heartless to be a good husband. She had never even turned back to look.
Now, dying on the floor, she realized—he had been the right choice all along.
Her last tear slipped down her cheek as her body collapsed.
"If Heaven… gave me another chance…" she whispered, voice almost gone. "I would never choose wrong again."
Darkness swallowed her.