Chapter 3

Henrik's voice came from behind, "Margot, slow down."

But I couldn't slow down. I ran into the house, only to hear crying coming from my mother's room.

The sobbing was heartbreaking and pitiful. I recognized the voice. It was Eunice.

She was still alive.

Quite obstinate.

I stood outside the room, listening to Eunice complain over and over again.

"Mom, save me. You have to save me. If you don't, I might die tomorrow."

My mother's voice was full of concern, a kind of concern I had never felt before.

"Eunice, what's going on? Talk to me properly."

Eunice choked on her sobs as she described how Waylon had tormented her last night, making her teeter on the edge of death time and again..

"Mom, Waylon said he wants to keep me in a water tank, and when I'm ready, he'll peel off my skin to make a doll membrane. I don't want that, Mom, please save me!

Look at me, Mom. Last night, Waylon whipped me ninety-nine times with a whip soaked in salt water. He wouldn't let me use any medicine. He said when the wounds scab over, he'll pick off the scabs one by one himself.

I'm truly terrified, Mom. Waylon can't even perform as a man. He said he's going to hand me over to other men while he watches.

He's a total pervert, a complete lunatic."

My mother couldn't believe the words she was hearing.

"Eunice, are you telling the truth? Is Waylon really that twisted?"

Eunice's voice was nearly hoarse from crying. "Yes, Mom. Why not switch me back with Margot? After all, she was the one who was supposed to marry into the Higgins family in the first place.

If you switch her back, I can survive. This punishment was meant for her from the start."

I stood outside the door with a cold sneer. Eunice really knew how to play her games.

Wasn't this marriage something she had desperately schemed for and done everything to get?

I pushed open the door, coldly staring at my mother and sister who were planning to send me into the Higgins family.

"I'm not going. Everyone in Eslesa knows it was you who was supposed to marry into the Higgins family, not me."

Eunice glared at me with a vicious and sinister look. "Why not? We're just returning things to their rightful place.

Don't forget, in this family, Mom and Dad have always loved me the most."

That's right.

I had forgotten that. Which was all the more reason I couldn't give in, I'd fought so hard just to come back from the dead.

"Eunice, enjoy your undeserved riches. I'll toast your grave when you're dead."

As soon as I finished speaking, my mom slapped me hard across the face, the sting burning sharply.

"Margot, Eunice is your sister. How could you say something so cruel?

Can you really bear to watch your sister die?

I'll talk it over with your father and see if the two of you should switch back."

Switch back?

Just as I was about to refuse, a gentle voice laced with icy coldness sent a chill down everyone's spine.

"I'd like to see who dares to replace my wife."

I turned around and saw Henrik walking toward me, tall and composed. He stopped beside me and took my hand.

Eunice's eyes went wide with disbelief, unable to accept that Henrik, once a vegetative patient, had actually woken up.

"Are you... Henrik?"

Eunice's face turned pale, then flushed red. I could already guess she regretted everything deeply.

She cried out again in frustration, "Mom, Henrik was supposed to be my husband. Margot stole my man."

See? Some people were just utterly shameless.

Henrik wrapped his arm around my shoulders, his voice sharp and cold, "I, Henrik, only acknowledge Margot as my wife. If anyone dares to pull any tricks and try to replace her, the Hardy family will make sure you pay, whatever it takes."

My mom immediately panicked.

The Fletcher family couldn't afford to offend the Hardy family.

"Eunice, hang in there. Maybe Mr. Higgins will fall for you someday."

Eunice collapsed onto the sofa, looking like she'd lost her soul. After a long moment, she finally looked up at me.

"Margot, don't get too smug. I have something to tell you."

I reassured Henrik and told him I'd be right back.

Still uneasy, Henrik waited in the living room.

Upstairs, with no outsiders present, Eunice dropped all pretense and arrogantly confronted me, "Margot, do you really think marrying Henrik means you'll be safe for life?

In a month, the Hardy family will be implicated in a smuggling case, and Henrik will end up in jail. You won't escape either.

When that happens, let's see if your life will still be better than mine."

I stared at Eunice in shock. I hadn't expected her to know any of this, and almost instinctively asked, "Did you come back to life too?"

Eunice clearly hadn't expected that question from me. The look in her eyes was just as stunned as mine.

"You came back to life too."