While on my honeymoon abroad with my husband, Matteo Caldicot, we accidentally got caught in an armed conflict.

He shielded me with his broad body.

Even when the shrapnel tore into his back and left it bleeding, he didn't make a sound.

Then, he drew the rebels away alone just so I could survive.

His hands were ice-cold, but his gaze stayed steady.

"Lynn, just wait for me. I'll bring you home," he promised.

But he didn't keep his word—he never came back.

The area was in chaos for five long years. I was trapped there, searching for him every single day.

When the war finally ended, they forced me onto a ferry bound for home.

As soon as I opened the door, I froze.

My husband, who had disappeared for five years, was holding my bestie in his arms, his face full of tenderness.

And she had a baby bump.

***

"Matt, the baby and I are hungry," Carolina Harlan, my bestie, grunted.

She was wearing an Italian imported silk nightgown, nestled against Matteo's chest like a fragile little rabbit.

I stood frozen in the blind spot of the entrance, watching the two people I thought couldn't stand each other share a deep kiss.

Then Matteo went to the kitchen to cook for her.

My mind went blank, like rusted gears grinding against each other, unable to turn.

Why was my husband, who'd been missing for five years, here at home?

And why was he being so affectionate with my bestie?

I stumbled forward.

Carolina, who'd been talking to her baby, shrieked in fright when she saw me.

"What's wrong?"

Matteo rushed out of the kitchen, even forgetting to take off his apron.

"Matt, there's a stranger in the house!"

Carolina threw herself into Matteo's arms, her small frame trembling.

Matteo's cold, sharp eyes scanned me, then he commanded, "You've scared my wife. Please leave now."

That word "wife" seared through me like fire.

He didn't recognize me.

In the reflection of the glass door, I caught sight of myself—my face crisscrossed with scars, my features unrecognizable, my once-pale skin cracked and dark.

I couldn't help finding myself pathetic.

I had done everything just to survive—just to reunite with him.

I fought with men over a piece of expired bread.

I'd clawed women for a tiny corner to sleep in.

When I lost, they hung me up for revenge, laughing as they slashed my face.

For five years, I wandered barefoot across the entire war-torn area with my disfigured face just to ask if anyone had seen my husband.

But now I knew, the man I'd been desperately searching for had long returned to his warm and cozy home.

And he even started a family with my best friend.

Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring my vision.

Matteo suddenly felt an inexplicable pain in his chest.

Just as he was about to say something, Carolina suddenly gagged, her face turning pale.

"This beggar stinks."

Her blunt words made me clench my fists in embarrassment.

After a month of traveling, I reeked of sour sweat, my nails black with dirt.

But Matteo didn't look disgusted at all.

He calmly pulled out his phone before telling me, "Please leave. My wife is pretty sensitive to smells.

"I've called the shelter. They'll be here to pick you up soon."

He was as thoughtful as ever, but I felt so heartbroken that I could barely breathe.

This was our home—the one we had carefully decorated together...

As I watched the two most important people in my life lean against each other, all I wanted to do was run.

Just then, the diamond ring I'd been keeping close to my chest slipped out with a thud.

It rolled over to Matteo's feet.

He picked it up, and his expression changed the moment he saw it.

"Who are you? Why do you have Lynn's ring?"

Matteo grew agitated, gripping me so tightly it hurt.

I hadn't had a drop of water in ages, and my throat felt like it was on fire. I couldn't say a word.

But when he looked into my tear-filled eyes, he suddenly jolted back.

"Lynn? It's you, Lynn!"

He pulled me into his arms with such force that it felt like he wanted to merge me with him completely.

"You're still alive! It's really you!"

He kept saying those words over and over again with joy, and the corners of his eyes turned red.

My gaze met Carolina's, who was filled with disbelief.

She bit her lip, her bulging belly impossible to ignore.

With all my strength, I pushed Matteo away.

I forced out a sentence with my hoarse voice.

"Have you two been seeing each other behind my back?"

Matteo's face went blank, and he couldn't say a word for a long time.

Meanwhile, Carolina, cradling her belly, slowly stepped in front of me.

"Lynn, please don't blame Matt.

"Back then, rebels attacked him and tossed him into the sea. He was lucky enough to be rescued by some fishermen passing by.

"When he finally woke up again, three years had already gone by. Everyone told him you were dead.

"Matt wanted to commit suicide, but his mom begged him desperately to have an heir for the family. That's why he came to me for help."

After getting all that out in one breath, Carolina looked totally worn out.

Matteo subconsciously supported her.

Leaning against his chest, she said confidently, "That's why there's nothing going on between him and me."

I wasn't stupid.

Matteo had always hated taking pictures. Back then, no matter how hard I begged, he'd only let us shoot two wedding pictures.

Later, every wall in the house was plastered with their sweet couple shots.

A checklist of pregnancy pointers still dangled on the wall.

That baby had been cooked up with pure, shared expectations.

My fingertips shook in pain.

I tilted my head back to hold in the tears that welled in my eyes as I said softly, "Matteo, I can't just walk away from this without any grudges.

"Let's find a time to go through the divorce procedures."

He suddenly looked up at me, his eyes were dark.

"I don't want a divorce!"

Matteo was so worked up that even his usually neat collar was slightly messed up.

Carolina moved in and grabbed my hand like we were still besties.

"Lynn, don't go all green for nothing," she said.

"That night, Matt only got hard after looking at your photo. There's nothing but pure friendship between us."

My stomach flipped, and I yanked my hand away.

Carolina let out a cry and was about to fall in the next second.

Matteo jumped in quickly to catch her, and he immediately started blaming me.

"Adalynn Ackrea, if you're angry, take it out on me. Carol is pregnant right now!"

Subconsciously, I wanted to explain.

Carolina suddenly doubled over, clutching her stomach. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Matt, my stomach hurts so bad..."

Matteo swept her up in his arms right away and hurried out the door.

But less than five minutes later, he came rushing back.

"You're coming with me.

"This baby's gonna be ours from now on."

I stared up at him in shock.

Sleeping with my best friend wasn't enough for him, and now he expected me to raise their kid too?

Matteo didn't even give me a chance to say no. He dragged me all the way to the hospital.

Carolina had just gotten a little stressed, and her pregnancy flared up. There was nothing wrong.

My mother-in-law, Mariam Caldicot, hurried over the moment she heard the news.

"My dear, you're only a month away from your due date. You must be careful!"

At the sight of this family member I hadn't seen in five years, my eyes burned with tears.

Mariam had always treated me like her own daughter. But now, every bit of that kindness, every bit of that care I once had... it all belonged to Carolina now.

Matteo was right there beside her too—tucking the corners of the quilt for her, pressing his palms to her cold feet to warm them up.

A soft smile played at his lips, the kind he didn't even notice himself.

It wasn't until Carolina's face finally regained a hint of color that Mariam turned her eyes to me.

"And who might this be?"

A sharp, obvious look of disgust flickered across her face.

I'd long grown used to looks like that, so I just hung my head silently.

But Matteo turned around, gripped my hand tight, and said without any hesitation, "Mom, this is my wife. Your precious Lynn."

Mariam wasn't half as happy as I thought. Instead, she pulled Matteo outside.

She didn't bother lowering her voice. She wanted me to hear.

"Have you lost your mind? Carol's carrying your baby right now!

"I don't care what you say. I only want Carol as my daughter-in-law.

"If Adalynn's upset, she can blame her own lousy luck. Who'd have thought she'd come back from the dead?"

I squeezed my palms tight, humiliation burning through me.

Carolina called my name in that soft, sickly sweet tone of hers.

"Lynn, did you hear that? No one wants you to come back."

She laid a hand on her belly like it was the most natural thing, voice steady with confidence. "As your best friend, I really don't want to hide this from you.

"I love Matt, and he loves me too.

"All he has left for you is duty, not love. Do you understand?"

I didn't say anything. I just stared blankly at my bare feet.

The thick calluses on them were all from searching for Matteo.

I imagined our reunion a thousand times, but never once did I picture him with someone else by his side.

"Still not ready to give up?"

Carolina shook her head in annoyance, like I was some annoying bug she couldn't get rid of.

"Well, let me be straight with you. The night before your wedding, Matt and I hooked up."

My blood felt like it had frozen in my veins, and even my breath got stuck in my throat.

It was like I didn't recognize this friend I'd known for 18 years.

Carolina and I had been best friends since kindergarten.

We were two little girls with pigtails, sharing one lollipop and taking turns biting into it.

From elementary school to middle school, high school, and even college, we were so close that we would swap clothes all the time.

That was until freshman year when I fell for the most popular guy in the computer science department next door.

I felt a little insecure, but Carolina always found ways to compliment me.

"You're out of your mind? You're this pretty, winning over that department heartthrob should be easy peasy."

After that, Matteo and I actually got together.

He was very nice to me, but he'd never liked my best friend.

Carolina resented him too, for stealing me away.

I had to play peacemaker between them, cajoling these two grown-up brats.

But now Carolina was telling me they'd slept together behind my back ages ago?

I laughed, and before I knew it, tears were rolling down my cheeks.

From outside the door, Matteo's firm voice cut in as he stood up for me. "I only want Lynn. No one is taking her from me!"

Words that used to sound so sweet— now felt utterly ironic.

Matteo pulled me away right in front of everyone.

Even as Carolina sobbed and begged him to stay, he didn't so much as glance back.

"Lynn, trust me. I'll sort this out. No one's gonna split us up," he said.

As he spoke, he lowered my feet into a basin and gently scrubbed the dirt off them, little by little.

But all I could think about was when they'd started their thing behind my back.

Only once I figured that out could I finally let go of this obsession within me.

Matteo left early and came home late every day, saying he was swamped with work.

But I found clues on Carolina's social media post.

"He said that home is wherever I am, along with our baby."

The photo was a shot of Matteo's back as he cooked in the kitchen.

He was wearing the shirt I'd picked out for him that morning.

"My breasts are sore from engorgement, but he promised to give me massages every night."

Under the dim light, a bit of skin peeked through the gaps between Matteo's fingers.

My stomach churned violently with discomfort as I trembled, scrolling down little by little.

I suddenly noticed that the Instagram posts Carolina had hidden from me were now visible.

The timestamp read 2019, the year we were freshmen in college.

"I think I'm falling for my best friend's boyfriend. What should I do?"

Glancing at the date, I realized that day must've been the fitness test.

After Carolina finished the 800-meter run, her period hit unexpectedly.

And Matteo had been so thoughtful, handing her his jacket to wrap around her waist.

I scrolled down further.

"Oh no! At my best friend's birthday dinner, I went for it and kissed her boyfriend, and he didn't even push me away!"

My legs went weak as I struggled to make sense of the words before me.

I thought back to that night in the private room. The power had cut out suddenly, and when the lights came back on, Matteo's lips were abnormally red, while the tips of Carolina's ears were bright red too.

I hadn't thought anything of it then, but now all the little clues were finally adding up.

I suddenly realized that for all eight years Matteo and I were together, they'd been cheating on me the whole time.

They had hidden it from me so well.

And I'd been stupid enough to think they didn't get along, tiptoeing around to smooth things over between them.

I ran out of this sickening house.

I wandered aimlessly when a sneering voice suddenly cut through the air.

"Whoa, is that Adalynn? Looks like she just got out of a refugee camp."

I stared hard at the woman's face, finally placing her as one of Carolina's friends.

At that moment, Carolina walked out of a baby shop. She laughed and pretended to chide her friend. "Don't be so harsh. It's bad enough she's disfigured already."

Then she stumbled forward on purpose while swatting my hat and mask right off my face.

My hideous, terrifying face was exposed to everyone in an instant.

"Holy crap, I'm going to throw up my dinner from last night."

"She's so ugly. If I looked like that, I'd rather die."

Their pointing and jeering felt like a tidal wave of spit, ready to drown me.

I scrambled to pick up my hat and put it back on when Matteo's tall figure appeared in the distance.

Carolina clearly spotted him too. She leaned in, whispering, "I'm sorry, Lynn.

"My baby needs a dad."

As she spoke, she grabbed my hand and shoved herself hard.

"Ah!"

A shrill scream of pain tore out. A pool of blood slowly spread beneath her.

"Carol!"

Matteo's eyes bulged with rage. He sprinted over and scooped her up into his arms.

Carolina cracked her eyes half-open, her voice oozing fake innocence. "Matt, don't blame Lynn... she just lost her head for a second..."

Matteo slapped me hard, sending me crashing to the ground. His eyes were bloodshot as he snarled, "If anything happens to Carol or the baby, I'll ship you right back to that war zone!"

With that, he walked away without a shred of mercy.

My ears were buzzing, but this time, that crushing, suffocating heartbreak was gone.

I lay on the ground, losing track of how long I'd been there.

I wiped the blood from my lips and slowly hauled myself to my feet.

Suddenly, photos of Matteo, Carolina, and a little baby boy popped up on the city's big screen.

Staring at that happy family, I decided to do exactly what Matteo wanted. I would head to the war zone and let myself fend for survival.

Inside a public phone booth, I dialed his number.

"Matteo, you don't have to choose anymore.

"Because I don't want you anymore."