After the divorce, I changed my name and my phone, severing every tie with New York.

Everyone believed I was dead—killed in that brutal incident that had shaken the entire military district.

For three years, white daisies never stopped appearing at my grave.

My ex-husband Sebastian Humphrey had been drowning in guilt over my death, nearly ending his own life because of it.

He had a long-time rival in the military, a woman he had competed with for over two decades.

The two had once sworn never to marry and to spend their entire lives battling each other.

But everything changed the moment Sebastian met me. He fell instantly, pursued me relentlessly, and eventually married me.

Then his rival, Katelyn Aguirre, hated him for breaking their pact, and she took all her anger out on me.

The first time, Katelyn tricked me into entering a training minefield. I stepped on an explosive; my bones fractured, my organs bled, and I spent ten days in the ICU.

Sebastian pulled every string he could, flying in the world's top specialists to bring me back from the edge of death.

The second time, she abandoned me in the desert and ordered me to walk home alone.

Sebastian shut down the entire exercise and deployed an entire reconnaissance unit to search for me. After three days and nights, they found me unconscious and severely dehydrated on a barren stretch of desert.

And so it went—she put me in danger, and he rushed in to save me. It was an endless cycle.

Until the 99th time, Katelyn learned from Sebastian that I was severely allergic to hazelnuts.

She ground 5 kilograms of hazelnuts into powder and forced them into my stomach through a feeding tube. I went into anaphylactic shock on the spot.

Just before they wheeled me into the emergency room, I gathered the last of my strength and begged Sebastian to call the police. He only shook his head helplessly.

"Be good. Let's not make this a big deal.

"Katie is a fallen soldier's orphan. She grew up without a sense of safety. Fighting with me is the only way she feels alive.

"She didn't mean to hurt you. She didn't know your allergy was this serious. For my sake, let's just let it go, alright?"

At that moment, something inside me went cold and never warmed again.

***

The next morning, when I woke up in the military hospital, the first thing I did was call his grandfather, Nicholas Humphrey.

I knew he had always thought I wasn't good enough for his promising grandson. He had wanted me gone from the beginning.

"General Humphrey," I said, my voice disturbingly calm. "I agree to the divorce."

There was a brief pause, then his voice came sharp and decisive. "Good. I'll have someone bring you the papers. Just sign. I'll handle the rest. Once the divorce certificate is issued, don't appear in Sebby's life again."

His aide arrived soon after, delivering the divorce agreement with polite detachment.

I signed my name slowly. My vision blurred as every memory of Sebastian surged through me.

He had doted on me, protected me, and cared for me in every possible way during our three years of marriage.

But when it came to Katelyn, he never had a bottom line.

The first time I met Katelyn, she threw the military dog I had raised for six years into a live-fire zone and blew him apart right in front of me.

I begged Sebastian to hold her accountable, but he only pulled me into his arms and murmured, "Jojo, Katie is childish at heart. She's not a bad person. You're safe, and that's what matters."

From then on, one incident after another—99 in total—was brushed aside with the same excuses.

Now I had finally made up my mind. I would end this marriage myself.

My hand trembled as I gripped the pen. Tears splashed onto the divorce papers, soaking the space where my signature was supposed to go.

After steadying my breath, I wrote the name "Joyce Delacruz" stroke by stroke.

The aide collected the documents and gave me a respectful nod. "Mrs. Humphrey, once the divorce certificate is issued, I will deliver it personally. Until then, please keep this confidential."

When he left, the ward fell unnervingly silent.

A few minutes later, the door opened again.

Katelyn walked in carrying a black-and-white funeral wreath, smiling as if she were delivering a gift.

A shiver ripped through me. I instinctively backed away. "W-What are you doing here?"

She tossed the wreath onto the floor, her smile sweet and vicious at the same time. "I'm here to send you off. If that allergic reaction wasn't enough to kill you, I guess I'll have to do it myself."

Before I could react, she lunged onto the bed and wrapped her hands around my throat.

I fought with everything I had, but I had just undergone gastric lavage. I was no match for someone who had trained her entire life.

Air drained from my lungs. My vision darkened in waves.

Just as consciousness slipped from me, a nurse doing rounds burst into the room and screamed, "Captain Aguirre! What are you doing? Someone help! Emergency!"

In the chaos, I summoned the last of my strength and clutched the nurse's wrist. "Call... the police..."

Then, everything went dark.

When I woke again, the first thing I saw was Sebastian's cold expression.

The first words out of his mouth carried no concern whatsoever, only tightly reined-in anger. "Joyce, why did you call the police? Katie has already been taken away by the military police."

My heart felt as if someone had driven a knife straight through it. I could barely breathe. "She just tried to choke me to death! Why shouldn't I have called the police?"

Sebastian's brows drew together sharply, as if I were the one being unreasonable. "I've told you before. Katie is a fallen soldier's orphan. She's childish and spoiled, but she isn't malicious. She would never truly try to kill you."

"Never try to kill me?" I cut him off.

Three years of fear, humiliation, and anger crashed out all at once.

"She tricked me into a live minefield and made me step on an explosive. She abandoned me in the desert for three days and nights. She stuffed hazelnut powder down my stomach, knowing I'm allergic. And she just tried to strangle me! Which one of those wasn't meant to kill me? If that nurse hadn't walked in, I would already be dead! Do you understand that?"

He looked shaken by my outburst and reached out to hold me, but I shoved him away.

"Don't touch me! I'm done backing down. I'm taking her to a military court!"

Sebastian fell silent, his expression cooling into something hard and unyielding. "Katie and I grew up together on the base. She's only arrogant because she's been spoiled. I'll discipline her myself. I can confine her, punish her, even force her to resign from the military. But I will not let her go to prison and ruin her entire future."

Before I could react, the guard behind him stepped forward and held out a document.

"Sign this, and the matter is over. Everything between us goes back to how it was."

I stared at the bold title "Statement of Forgiveness" printed across the page, and pain tore through my chest. I shook my head stubbornly. "I'm not signing it!"

"Katie was raised on a military base. She has never faced consequences like this. A detention center would crush her. Jojo, be good."

He pressed his fingers to his temple, as if running out of patience.

"I said I'm not signing!" I nearly shouted.

The next second, the guard lunged forward, grabbed my arm, and twisted it sharply.

"Ah!"

Agony shot through me. He seized my trembling hand and forced my signature onto the page, then pressed my inked fingerprint down until it smeared red.

Sebastian stood there the entire time, watching with icy detachment.

Sweat poured down my back. My face had gone pale. I looked up at the man I had loved for years, my voice barely a whisper. "Sebastian... you did all this to me... for her..."

A flicker of pain crossed his eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. He turned to the guard. "Call the medical team. Use the best medication. Treat her hand and look after her."

Then he picked up the Statement of Forgiveness, which was now stained with my blood and tears, and walked out without looking back.

Over the next few days, Sebastian never came to see me. He only sent a few routine texts each day.

"I'm attending military drills. I can't get away right now."

"Don't stay upset. When you're discharged, I'll throw a party for you."

"Does your hand still hurt? Take care of yourself."

But every time one of his messages arrived, a message from Katelyn followed immediately.

All of them were photos of Sebastian taking care of her.

He was feeding her oatmeal, massaging her shoulders, and he even used the prized combat blade he never let me touch to peel apples for her.

That night, my injured hand throbbed so badly I couldn't sleep. In a moment of weakness, I called Sebastian.

The phone rang for a long time. No answer.

The moment I hung up, a message from Katelyn popped up.

"Guess what we're doing?"

Below it was a video. The thumbnail alone was so suggestive that it made my stomach twist.

My hands trembled as I tapped it open. In the video, Katelyn was completely naked, flushed, and writhing on the bed.

She slipped off the mattress and hugged Sebastian from behind, pressing her heated, unclothed body against the back of his crisp uniform.

"Sebby... don't go... It hurts... The medication hasn't worn off...

"If you leave... I'll die... Please..."

Sebastian's steps halted instantly. He looked over his shoulder at Katelyn's dazed, needy expression. Turmoil tore through his eyes.

Then he clenched his jaw, ended the call I had placed to him, and lifted her into his arms before tossing her back onto the bed. His voice came out rough and strained. "Let's get this over with."

The screen went dark, leaving only the sounds of breathing, movement, and Katelyn's mix of strained and satisfied moans.

I felt myself plunge into ice. My blood froze.

Still gripping my phone, I kept calling him.

That night, I called him 527 times, but he didn't answer a single one.

It wasn't until the morning that I finally received a cold reply. "I had urgent military duties last night."

A tear slid down my cheek as a bitter smile tugged at my lips.

So his "urgent military duty" was staying by another woman's side, taking care of her so closely there wasn't even space left for air between them.

The day I was discharged happened to be my birthday. Sebastian personally came to pick me up and even held a grand celebration for me at the military base.

The banquet hall was magnificent. He stayed by my side the entire time, pinning the highest honor medal onto my chest.

Everyone around us looked on with envy.

But the medal felt unbearably heavy, like a mountain pressing against my heart.

Was he doing all of this out of guilt? Did he think a little sweetness would make me forget every wound?

Halfway through the banquet, I couldn't breathe. I excused myself to the restroom.

The moment I turned into the hallway, Katelyn blocked my path.

"Well, if it isn't tonight's luckiest Mrs. Humphrey."

She leaned against the wall, arms crossed, her expression dripping with mockery.

I didn't want to engage and tried to walk past her, but she stepped forward and cut me off.

"Sebby sure treats you well, huh? A whole banquet, a valuable medal—impressive. Must be feeling proud, eh?

"But don't forget—when you called the police and tried to send me to a military court, didn't he force you to sign that Statement of Forgiveness to get me out?"

Then she smiled smugly. "Do you know how obsessed he is with me? We've tried everything, everywhere. And you? You're nothing but a pathetic leftover nobody wants, clinging to him like a stray mutt. You think you can be compared to me?"

Her words were dull, poison-tipped blades slicing into a heart already full of scars.

My face went pale. I just wanted to get away.

But she wouldn't let me. She grabbed my hand sharply, her nails digging into my skin until pain shot up my arm.

"Fine. If you won't listen nicely, I'll refresh your memory myself.

"You didn't die last time. Let's see if you're lucky enough to survive this one."

The moment she finished, two men in training uniforms stepped out of the shadows—tall, muscular, and radiating violence. They seized me on both sides and dragged me toward the penthouse suite upstairs.

Terror flooded me. I struggled, but my strength meant nothing against theirs.

Katelyn's eyes gleamed with vicious satisfaction. "Since Sebby likes you so much, I'll destroy you completely. Let's see if he still wants a piece of trash everyone's already touched."

One of the men, his face twisted with lewd excitement, walked toward the bed. I fought desperately as panic swallowed me whole.

Katelyn was already raising her phone, preparing to record everything.

Just as that disgusting hand reached for my clothes, the suite door burst open with a deafening crash.

Sebastian burst into the room like an enraged lion, radiating a terrifying and violent fury.

The moment he saw me pinned to the bed, my clothes disheveled, his eyes went blood-red with fury. With a single precise takedown, he slammed the man who had been approaching me onto the floor so hard that the man didn't even have time to scream before losing consciousness.

"Jojo!" He rushed to me, undoing the restraints and pulling my trembling body into his arms. "Don't be scared. I'm here. It's okay now."

The shock and despair I had been holding in erupted all at once. I broke down, sobbing uncontrollably against his chest.

He lifted me into his arms and wrapped me in his jacket, ready to get me out of there.

As we passed Katelyn, he stopped. His voice was cold enough to freeze the air as he said, "Katelyn. I tolerated your tantrums and your arrogance for the sake of our past. But this? This is filth!

"If anything had happened to Jojo tonight, I would have executed you under military law."

The murderous intent in his eyes made Katelyn stumble back. Then, as if something inside her snapped, she screamed, "Execute me? So all those years we grew up together mean nothing compared to the few years you spent with her?

"Fine, Sebastian. If you want my life, I'll give it to you!"

Before anyone could react, she bolted toward the open floor-to-ceiling window and leaped without hesitation.

"Katie!" Sebastian's face drained of color. He dropped me instantly and sprinted toward the window.

I hit the hard floor with a brutal thud, pain shooting through my ankle.

By the time I dragged myself to the window, all I saw was Sebastian racing downstairs like a madman.

He scooped up Katelyn's blood-covered body, jumped into a military jeep, and sped away. He never once looked back at me.

I collapsed onto the cold floor, staring in the direction where the car had disappeared. All that was left in my chest was a hollow, numbing cold.

Eventually, I limped back alone to what was supposed to be "home."

I barely had time to brace myself before Sebastian stormed through the door.

He grabbed my wrist with enough force to crush bone. "Katie's kidneys are failing. She needs an urgent transplant. You're the only match in the entire New York!"

"No! I won't donate! Sebastian, you're insane! Why should I save her?"

I screamed, fighting to pull away as tears streamed down my face.

He only tightened his grip, his eyes wild and desperate. "Jojo, I'm begging you. She jumped because of what I said. I can't let her die. She's still young. Donating one kidney won't ruin your life. I'll get the best doctors for you. I'll take care of you. I'll make it up to you. Please!"

"No! I won't agree to it! I'd rather die than donate!"

I struggled, hysterical, but his strength crushed mine.

He dragged me toward the operating room, forcing me onto the cold metal table.

"Sebastian! I hate you! I hate you!"

Those were the last words I screamed before the anesthesia pulled me under.

When I woke again, it was already the next day.

Sebastian was sitting beside the bed. The moment my eyes opened, he rushed over, guilt written all over his face. "Jojo, you're awake? I'm sorry... Does the incision hurt? Are you hungry? I bought all your favorites..."

He pulled out expensive supplements and gifts, but I only stared blankly at the ceiling, numb and hollow.

Later, when he stepped out to buy oatmeal, Katelyn slipped into the room again. She snorted. "Look at you. The big hero who just donated a kidney.

"Joyce, you're so pathetic. Sebby keeps saying he loves you, but no matter how I hurt you, he always takes my side. And now he even let you donate a kidney to me. How are you still shamelessly hanging onto him?"

A wave of nausea rolled through me. My voice was hoarse. "Get out."

Her face twisted instantly. She glared at me, eyes full of venom. "You ungrateful bitch. Remember this."

At that, she stormed out.

Not long after, Sebastian came back, fury written across his expression as he barreled into the room. "Jojo! Why did you bribe a nurse to tamper with Katie's IV?"

I froze. "Tamper? What are you talking about?"

"Katie said you hate that I forced you to save her. You bribed a nurse to add allergens to her IV. She went into anaphylactic shock and barely survived!"

His tone was sharp, laced with accusation that left no room for argument.

A bitter laugh rose in my throat. My heart felt like ice. "Katie has hurt me countless times, and you've never truly held her accountable. But the moment she accuses me once, you rush in here and condemn me? Sebastian, is that really how you see me? That I'm capable of something so vile?"

"Who else would do it? If not you—"

"I didn't!" The words ripped out of me. Years of pain snapped free as I forced myself upright, tears streaming uncontrollably.

"Sebastian! I'm done! I'm done with all of this! You always believe her and protect her! I lost a kidney! She almost killed me! I'm covered in wounds!

"And you? All you've ever done is force me to apologize, force me to save her, and force me to die! Tell me—what have you ever done for me?

"Your love disgusts me. It absolutely disgusts me!"

My breakdown stunned him. He stared at me, shaken, doubt flickering in his eyes.

But before he could speak, the door opened. Katelyn leaned weakly against the frame, her voice soft and pitiful.

"Sebby... You promised me... She almost killed me this time... You said you'd let me deal with her for three days..."

Sebastian looked between her fragile act and my shattered state. Struggle contorted his expression. At last, he nodded.

"Fine. But for those three days, she cannot be in life-threatening danger. That's the line."

"Of course. I just want to teach her a lesson, not kill her," Katelyn replied smoothly.

I stared at him in disbelief. He really offered me up just to calm her down and let her do whatever she wanted to me.

"Sebastian! Don't you dare!" I tried to get out of bed, panic surging through me, but he looked away. His voice was low and strained as he said, "Jojo... It's only three days. Just endure it... It'll be over soon."

Katelyn snapped her fingers. Two female soldiers in training uniforms walked in and dragged my weakened body off the hospital bed without the slightest hesitation.

"Sebastian! Help me! No! I don't want to go!"

I screamed and reached for him, sobbing in terror. He only clenched his fists, shut his eyes, and stood there motionless.

During those three days, Katelyn locked me in a remote, restricted training zone and unleashed every cruelty she could think of.

Whips, needles, electric shocks—humiliation and pain designed to break both body and spirit.

By the time she finally stopped, I was covered in blood and barely conscious. She had me dumped at the emergency wing like discarded trash.

I had no idea how long I was unconscious. When I woke again, the doctor let out a relieved sigh. "You're finally awake... We almost lost you. You should notify your family to prepare the paperwork."

He returned my phone to me.

My hands trembled as I turned it on. The first thing I saw was a secure message from Nicholas. "The divorce is finalized. Remember your promise. Disappear."

My heart twisted so sharply it felt like it might rip apart, yet underneath the pain, there was a strange numb sense of release.

Knowing Sebastian's obsessive nature, I dialed Nicholas' private line. My voice was raw as I pleaded, "Please help me. I need a forged death certificate. Use an unclaimed body from the morgue in my place.

"If I simply vanish, Sebastian will search the entire country for me. He'll never stop. It's better to let him believe I died and end everything cleanly."

Nicholas went silent for a long moment before finally agreeing. "Go with my men. I'll handle the rest."

Barely able to stand, I followed his people out through the hospital's rear exit and headed straight to the airport.

Meanwhile, Sebastian glanced at his watch. The moment the three days were up, he abruptly left his military meeting and called Katelyn, sounding anxious. "Time's up! Where's Jojo? I warned you—no fatal injuries!"

Katelyn replied sweetly, "You're really that worried about her? Don't worry. I already sent her back to the hospital. If you leave now, you'll get there just in time to hear the good news that she survived."

Sebastian rushed to the hospital. Just as he reached the operating room, the indicator light went off.

The doctor removed his mask and shook his head heavily. "Major General Humphrey, my condolences. Ms. Delacruz suffered extreme torture. Her injuries were catastrophic. There were multiple organ failures. We did everything we could."

A stretcher covered with a white sheet was pushed out.

A deafening shock rang in Sebastian's head. The world went blank. He stumbled toward the stretcher, his fingers trembling uncontrollably as he lifted the corner of the sheet.

A swollen, bruised face, covered in layers of overlapping wounds, appeared under the harsh white lights. The figure's build and hair were so painfully close to Joyce's. Deep lashes that nearly reached the bone, brutal burn marks, and clusters of needle punctures seared across the skin. The sight hit him like a red-hot brand pressed against his eyes, burning straight through to his soul.

"No!"