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Lily's Story: Chapter 1  
I secretly sent my husband William's mistress abroad behind his back.  
That same night, he kidnapped my parents, demanding to trade their lives for that woman's whereabouts.  
William slid his phone across the table towards me.  
The screen showed my parents.  
Their hands were tied behind their backs, cold gun barrels pressed to their temples.  
A countdown timer ticked ominously beside them.  
00:59:59  
00:59:58  
He sat across from me, impeccably suited, his long fingers lightly tapping the table surface as if waiting for the signing of some insignificant contract.  
"Lily," his voice was calm, even a little gentle,"You have fifty—nine minutes. Tell me, where did you send Chloe?"  
A chill ran through my entire body; my throat felt strangled.  
I couldn't utter a single word.  
This was the third time he'd asked.  
The first time, he'd asked where Chloe had gone and I'd stayed silent.  
The second time, he had pinched my chin, his thumb brushing my lips, his voice low.  
"Lily don't be stubborn."  
And now, the third time.  
He was using my parents' lives to force me.  
"William..." my voice trembled."Those are my parents. They're the most important people to me..."  
He chuckled, but his eyes were icy.  
"Is that so? Then when you sent Chloe away, why didn't you consider that she was the most important person to me?"  
I stared at him, a wave of bitter irony washing over me.  
Important?  
He used to say that women outside were just for fun, that they could be discarded once he got bored.  
He used to say I was the one he truly loved.  
But now, for Chloe, he was going to kill my parents.  
"William," my voice was barely a whisper,"If I don't tell you, will you really let them die?"  
He leaned forward, his dark eyes reflecting my pale face."You can try."  
My whole body shook. Tears splashed onto the tabletop.  
I didn't understand how things had gotten this way.  
William had, undeniably, loved me deeply once.  
Back then, I was just a girl from a regular family.  
He was the heir to a top—tier family in D.C.—favored by fortune, noble, arrogant, bowing to no one.  
And yet, inexplicably, he fell for me at first sight.  
His pursuit was grand and impassioned.  
Ninety—nine confessions, each one sensationalizing the entire city.  
Helicopters unfurling giant banners of roses; renting out the entire financial district for an LED light show confession; even on my birthday, arranging for fireworks that lit up the sky only for me.  
I was moved, but my parents were fiercely opposed.  
They knew too well the nature of such powerful families: keeping the wife at home while having countless mistresses outside.  
The love of a scion from such privilege was never a fairy tale.  
They wanted me to marry someone from a similar background.  
But William knelt before my parents' door for a full day and night, casting aside all his pride, just to beg for a chance to marry me.  
In the end, my parents relented.  
After marriage, he doted on me utterly, yielding to me in everything.  
When I had cramps, he flew back from Europe overnight just to make me ginger tea.  
I casually mentioned craving chestnut cakes from the west side of town; he drove halfway across the city to buy them.  
I thought I'd married the right man.  
Until the first time I heard the name"Chloe."  
It was during a casual chat with my assistant.  
She mentioned a college student who'd deliberately tripped and "accidentally" fallen into William during a speech—a really clumsy tactic.  
I'd laughed it off.  
After all, there were too many women trying to latch onto him, but he had always maintained impeccable self—control.  
The second time I heard it, though, was in bed.  
He was above me, lost in passion, and lowly whispered,"Chloe."  
In that moment, I felt like I'd plunged into an icy abyss.  
I confronted him.  
He held me and explained, admitting he did have intentions of keeping Chloe as a mistress, but she was just a plaything for him.  
"Everyone in our circle does it, Lily. My true love will always be you, forever."  
But later, he became more and more brazen.  
He bought Chloe jewelry, gifted her mansions, and even took her to private events while with me, sparking city—wide gossip.  
I cried and made scenes, but he no longer soothed me like before.  
He just coldly said,"Stop making unreasonable demands."  
Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and sent Chloe out of the country.  
But I never expected his reaction would be this extreme.  
He kidnapped my parents, held guns to their temples, all to force me to reveal Chloe's location.  
"She's in Georgia," I whispered, my voice trembling,"On that island you bought me."  
He stared at me for several seconds, as if gauging the truth.  
Then he picked up his phone and made a call.  
After confirming, he grabbed his suit jacket, his steps hurried as he rushed off to get her.  
"What about my parents?" I grabbed his sleeve.  
"You promised you'd let them go!"  
He turned, his eyes cold and indifferent.  
"The abandoned factory in Southtown. Go find them yourself."  
I stumbled out the door, driving straight to Southtown.  
When I found them, there were ten minutes left on the bomb.  
My parents were tied to chairs, their mouths gagged.  
The moment they saw me, they frantically shook their heads, signaling me to leave.  
I rushed over, my hands shaking as I tried to untie the ropes.  
But the ticking sound of the bomb's timer echoed like a death knell.  
00:03:21  
00:03:20  
I couldn't get them undone.  
Tears of desperation streamed down my face.  
My dad suddenly shoved me.  
I stumbled back, and in the next second, he threw himself at the bomb—  
"Dad—!!!"  
The explosion was deafening, the blast wave knocking me to the ground.  
I hit the ground hard.  
Everything before my eyes was washed in red.  
When I woke up, I was in the hospital.  
My parents were badly injured, but thankfully alive.  
I knelt by their beds, crying apologies.  
"I'm so sorry... I chose the wrong man..."  
Mom weakly raised her hand, stroking my hair.  
"Silly girl, you can always start over."  
I shook my head."  
He won't let me go."  
From the moment I learned about Chloe, I'd considered divorce.  
But every time I drafted divorce papers, William would tear them up.  
He'd say Chloe was just a fling, that he'd dump her once he got bored.  
He'd promised that his true love was me, and he'd never let me go.  
Dad took my hand.  
"No, Lily, there's something you don't know, and he probably forgot too. On the night we agreed to let you marry him, your mother and I made him sign one thing—a divorce agreement."  
I froze.  
"If he ever betrayed you," Dad's voice was soft,"the agreement would take effect. You could divorce him directly. Our family... would disappear forever."  
I was stunned, tears flowing uncontrollably.  
My parents had prepared an escape route for me all along.  
The next day, I did two things.  
First, my parents and I took the signed divorce agreement to a lawyer.  
The lawyer reviewed it and nodded.  
"The agreement is valid. The divorce takes effect immediately."  
Second, we went through account deregistration procedures.  
Once the deregistration was complete, there would be no trace of me left in this world.  
And William would never find me.

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