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After The Divorce, I Personally Sent My husband and My Best Friend to Hell
NovelShort
Hoàn thành
On my thirtieth birthday night, I stabbed my best friend with a cake knife when she was singing “Happy Birthday”. She let out an agonized scream as blood soaked through her clothes. We had plann...
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第1章
On my thirtieth birthday night, I stabbed my best friend with a cake knife when she was singing “Happy Birthday”.
She let out an agonized scream as blood soaked through her clothes.
We had planned this staged death a long time ago.
Sobbing, she begged me to do this act in front of my husband, so she wouldn’t have to repay her enormous credit card debt.
However, seven days later, when the police informed me that the forensic examination confirmed that she died on the spot, my whole body began to tremble. And as the image of my friend lying in her pool of blood entered my mind, I vomited nonstop.
My husband hired the best lawyer for me, so I was only sentenced to ten years in prison.
Because the image of my friend's terrifying death haunted my dreams, I endured the bullying from my cellmates and accepted every injustice the prison guard inflicted on me.
I started a hunger strike and swallowed glass, but my best friend refused to forgive me and every attempt to kill myself failed.
Ten years later, when I returned home like a wandering ghost, I saw my best friend standing before my husband. When she took off her shirt, kiss marks colored her collarbone.
Then, my husband pulled her into his arms with such familiarity.
Ten years ago, he kept emphasizing that he had suddenly developed a skin allergy and moved into the study so he wouldn’t have to be intimate with me. Not only that, his suits always carried the scent of the perfume I loved.
Naively, I thought it came from the perfume laundry from washing his suit. Coincidentally, the perfume band was not just my favorite but also my best friend's.
I thought my husband hired the lawyer as a gesture of his love, but it turned out he was actually the demon who pushed me into the abyss.
After the shock passed, I laughed.
I took out my old-fashioned phone and dialed a number long buried in the past.
“Help me draft a divorce agreement. In one week, I’ll be gone from here.”
***
The moment I pushed open the door, the living room fell silent.
It had been ten years, but my husband and my best friend seemed unchanged. And I, standing in the doorway, felt like an intruder.
Because I was just released from prison and had nowhere else to go, all I could do was return to this home.
With my eyes fixed on the glaring hickey beneath my friend’s collarbone, I slammed the door shut behind me.
Though my best friend seemed a bit guilty, she quickly met my gaze. My husband, however, acted as if nothing had happened. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home?”
I wanted to shout at them, but deep down, I already knew the answer.
“I'm back.”
My husband, Jacob Sinclair, shot me a glance and raised an eyebrow.
"What? Do you want me to apologize for disturbing your private moment?" I asked calmly.
Before he could answer, my best friend, Leslie Summer, looked me up and down with pitiful eyes. "You should thank me properly. If I hadn't felt sorry for you, I would've had the lawyer get you a death sentence long ago.”
Over these past ten years, everything I had endured had taught me to remain unruffled.
Ten years ago, I thought I was the happiest person in the world. Not only did I have the most perfect love, but I also possessed a soulmate who understood me completely.
Just days before my thirtieth birthday, my best friend tearfully begged me to play along with her scheme. She had overspent fifteen million dollars and no matter what she tried, she couldn’t pay the debt.
So, to raise money, she had to work odd jobs day and night, but she still could not gather together fifteen million dollars.
She promised me she had already found a lawyer and that once she escaped her debt, she would immediately announce her “revived” physical condition.
Seeing her crying her eyes out, I finally agreed, with my husband as a witness.
“Honey, what a brilliant plan you have. We can be together openly without you repaying that fifteen million dollars.” Jacob’s gaze toward Leslie was brimming with love.
"It's just a mere fifteen million dollars. I could repay it with a flick of my finger,” Jacob replied. His eyes filled with a mixture of helplessness and doting affection.
“I'm only doing this to save you money,” Leslie murmured, pressing her body against his chest.
As I watched them acting so intimately, embracing each other, as if no one else existed, my chest ached as if pierced by needles.
So, I walked away from them, intending to return to the bedroom to retrieve some personal belongings and leave this place.
Seeing my complete lack of reaction, a fire ignited in Jacob’s eyes. He grabbed my wrist harshly. “Where do you think you’re going?”
I struggled to break free but fell to the floor. The old-model phone that I had hidden in my clothes slipped out and hit the floor.
Leslie bent down to pick it up, pressed a button casually and gasped in surprise. “Oh my, you have an unread text message.”
“Divorce agreement ....” She held the phone and read it aloud.
In an instant, Jacob snatched the phone. As he frowned at the screen, his eyes practically spitting fire.
He tossed the phone aside. “Irene Lambert, what the hell are you trying to pull? Don't think this will make me beg you!”
"You really can't stand seeing Leslie doing well, huh?"
After I picked up my phone, I was relieved to find it undamaged.
“Since you two are living such a blissful life now, why not let me leave?”
Leslie pleaded with the man beside her, "We'll have to support her after the divorce; I can't just watch her become homeless. After all, she was in prison for ten years, where would she go?"
She looked at me sarcastically, as if reminding me of being locked in prison for ten years.
Suddenly, Jacob dragged me into the small wooden hut in the garden. “A stray dog like you wanting a divorce? That's not your call to make. All you need to do is be my dog obediently."
第2章
I picked up my phone and confirmed the divorce agreement.
The next day, I left the Sinclair Family villa and went to my grandmother's house. Grandma lived in a remote mountain village. After I was in prison, I lost contact with her.
As I looked at the dilapidated doorway, I heard Grandma's voice—she was laughing and chatting with a young woman. And that woman was none other than Leslie.
Alarms went off in me. “Leslie, stay away from my grandma!”
Grandma, who was unaware of what had happened between us, asked, "Did you two have a fight?”
Seeing me, she became emotional. "Child, you've finally returned to the country."
“In the ten years you were overseas, it was Leslie who came to visit me regularly. She is such a good girl.”
It seemed Leslie had concealed my whereabouts from Grandma all these years. Well, at least she has some conscience.
Ignoring me, she handed Grandma an orange. “Grandma, I have a friend who actually killed someone close to her. She's been in prison for ten years.”
Grandma’s expression instantly hardened. “There’s such a demon in the world?”
She motioned for me to sit beside her. “Irene, you must stay far away from anyone with a criminal record.”
My heart tightened as I glanced at Leslie.
Grandma was already so old that she couldn’t take any more shock.
Her fingers gripped mine nervously. “Irene, you absolutely mustn't associate with shady characters—especially those who've done time! Once you go to jail, your life will be ruined!” "
My nose stung as I nodded.
Grandma, I'm sorry.
Ignoring my guarded look, Leslie continued, “There’s a popular game lately called “There's this popular game going around called ‘Heartbeat Choice.’”
“You pick the slightly better one between two options—it's fun and gets your dopamine flowing.”
She stood up and prepared a cup of milk for Grandma.
While preparing it, she said to me, “You must be careful in everything you do. What if you end up in prison?”
“But don't worry. Even if you serve ten years, I'll take care of Grandma for you.” She pulled out a packet of unidentified powder and added it to the milk.
I walked toward Leslie and took the cup of milk with the added substance from her. “I’ll learn to see the true color of my so-called friends.”
She whispered in my ear, “Make a choice—do you want Grandma to drink it, or do you want to drink it yourself?”
I looked her directly in the eye and was just about to pour the milk out.
"Grandma has two stents in her heart now. Once she finds out you weren't working abroad these past ten years, but became a murderer instead ... I don't need to remind you what might happen, do I?”
When she said that, a hint of amusement flickered in her eyes.
My hand suddenly stopped in mid-air and I darted my eyes toward Grandma. I raised the milk and said, "Grandma, if I can't visit you anymore, you must take good care of yourself.”
Then, I resolutely drowned the milk in one gulp.
After that, I turned the glass upside down and showed it to Leslie that there was not a single drop left.
Grandma gazed at me tenderly. “Good child, go ahead and do what you have to do.”
I sat behind my grandmother and combed her hair with tears in my eyes.
When a sharp pain gripped my stomach, in order not to scare her, I forced out a comforting smile with all my strength and said, "There is a sudden work that I have to do, so I'm leaving now."
The pain was getting worse. The moment I closed the door, I collapsed to the floor, unable to hold on any longer and everything went black.
Crawl. I have to crawl. I can't scare Grandma.
Suddenly, a pair of spotless leather shoes appeared before my eyes.
“Help... help me.” I lifted my head, only to plunge back into darkness.
第3章
When I woke again, the beeping of medical equipment filled my ears. And the first thing I saw was the man I once loved to the bone, yet totally despised now, Jacob.
“You're finally awake,” he said, gripping my hand eagerly.
When a wave of nausea washed over me, I wished the divorce papers would take effect immediately.
Seeing the stubbornness on my face, his expression hardened.
“If it weren't for me, you would be dead now!" He gritted his teeth.
But you are the one who made me face all of these.
I couldn't be bothered to exchange another word with him. I just yanked out the IV needle from my arm and stumbled out.
When Jacob grabbed me, I struggled. "Don't touch me!"
People coming and going to the ward stopped to watch.
“My wife is just throwing a little tantrum,” Jacob told the onlookers.
“She's ill and has suffered some psychological trauma.” He was a natural actor.
“I'm not! I want a divorce!” I tried to state the truth calmly, hoping someone would help me.
“Wife, I’ll definitely cure you. No matter what, I’ll never leave you.” It’s a pity he isn’t an actor.
When the passerby wanted to say something, they were moved by Jacob's affectionate eyes.
He was taller than me, so he could easily overpower me.
The doctor injected me with a sedative.
So, even though I could clearly feel he was attaching medical devices to my body, I could not move.
By the time I fully regained consciousness, Leslie came to see me with a feigned concern.
She took out a syringe and forcibly pried open my mouth.
The medicine exploded in my stomach. I clutched my abdomen and collapsed on the bed.
“Oh dear! Did I accidentally give you the capsaicin-laced medicine?” She exaggerated dramatically.
She summoned the doctor, demanding a “thorough” gastric lavage.
The doctor immediately understood what was happening and pinned me down on the bed.
I watched helplessly as the red solution flowed through the gastric tube and went inside my body. Everywhere it touched, excruciating pain pierced my heart.
Tears and snot streamed down my face.
Through tear-filled eyes, I saw Leslie holding her phone to my face, snapping photo after photo.
“Best friend must have each embarrassing photo," she declared triumphantly.
When the night fell, Jacob came to visit again. Seeing me lying weakly in bed, a flicker of pity crossed his eyes.
“If you had obeyed obediently, none of this would have happened.”
I found it laughable and turned my head away. But he pinched my cheeks and forced me to look at him.
Seeing my face was still as beautiful as it had been ten years ago, he reluctantly released his hold. “What exactly do you want to make you feel better? It's only been ten years.”
“If you just obey and be a good Mrs. Sinclair, I'll make sure you live a comfortable life.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
Ten years ago, I obeyed his every word. But now, after I had seen the truth, I refused to play along with his charade of a mere decorative, wealthy wife's game anymore.
Does he expect me to spend my life as a parasite under their loving gaze?
He was so arrogant, as if everything was within his grasp.
“Impossible!” I said, enunciating each word.
After he left, I closed my eyes.
In the darkness, I heard his voice clearly. “Make sure she takes her sedatives every day.”
Leslie came to the ward once more to feed me my pills. Only after seeing me swallow them obediently did she leave and I fell into a deep sleep.
“This time she’s surprisingly obedient.”
Once she was gone, I secretly spat every last sedative out of my mouth.
第4章
Every day, I either slept with my eyes tightly shut or stared blankly into space. This made Jacob truly believe I had taken the sedatives.
Leslie, who watched me from the bedside every day, would wear a look of disgust, though occasionally a fleeting flicker of pity would cross her eyes.
“Irene, wouldn’t it have been better if you had been this obedient like this earlier?” She pinched my cheek, making it flushed red with pain.
“After tormenting you for ten years, how can you still be this pretty?” Leslie stared at me without blinking.
Suddenly, Jacob walked in.
I clearly hear the door lock from the inside.
“Irene, you can definitely forgive us, right?" When he looked at the redness on my face, he assumed my health was gradually improving.
In my heart, I refuted him. I won't forgive.
"After all, Leslie is your best friend and I'm your devoted husband. We did all this for your own good. As long as you are good, you'll be the first to get the global limited-edition handbag.”
“Since meeting you, my business has only grown stronger. I can't live without you," Jacob said with complex emotions filling his eyes.
Was sending me to prison and forcing me to take sedatives daily truly for my own good? I doubt I can afford that kind of kindness.
I subtly dug my nails into my palm and the pain travelled to my heart.
I refused to hear any more hypocritical words, so I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.
From that day onward, I swallowed the anti-inflammatory pills that benefited me and spit out the sedatives.
At the same time, I noticed three bodyguards outside this VIP ward. They disguised themselves as passersby or patients, monitoring me secretly.
I had been thinking of a good way to escape, but how could an ordinary person like me slip past their watchful eyes?
In the evening, Leslie dressed me in a yellow dress and asked me to follow her.
I obediently walked with her to Jacob's Maserati.
Jacob was waiting for me in the car. He looked me up and down, his eyes brimming with admiration.
"Tonight, I'll treat you to a welcome dinner. And your health is better too.”
Leslie pulled me into the car roughly and then sat in the passenger seat with the air of a mistress of the house.
Soon, the car stopped at the most luxurious hotel in Arlington City.
This was the place Jacob proposed to me. Back then, I was completely overwhelmed by the blessings of the crowd.
“My wife, Irene Lambert, served a full ten years in prison for murder. I choose to forgive the past and allow her to continue being Mrs Sinclair.”
Jacob held the microphone and spoke to the guests from the stage.
If he truly wanted to continue our life together, why did he humiliate me like this in front of everyone?
The guests instantly began whispering, their gazes locked toward me.
“So that’s the woman who went to prison. What a pity—she’s beautiful.”
“If it weren't for President Sinclair, she might have been sentenced to life in prison.”
“Heard she killed her own best friend. So heartless.”
Every word reached my ears.
Ten years ago, he could have made me the happiest Mrs. Sinclair. Actually, he still could. It was just now that I refused to be his caged bird.
I took the microphone, ready to refuse in front of everyone, but unexpectedly, I spotted Leslie hiding in the corner, her eyes fixed on me.
It seemed she hadn't dared show herself in public for a decade.
A flush rose to my pale cheeks and a cold smile instantly curved my lips. “Very well.”
The guests cheered as if witnessing a proposal.
Fighting the nausea in my stomach, I said, “I accept.”
In four days, I would leave this place forever. But first, I would gather every shred of evidence against them both. As I departed, I would push them into the abyss.
第5章
That night, Jacob told me to rest. The next day, they forced me into a car and took me to a golf facility.
I thought the two of them were going to play golf, but instead they took me into an elevator that carried us down to level B2.
When the pungent smell of disinfectant entered my nostrils, I coughed uncontrollably.
After Jacob said something to several people in white coats, they immediately pinned me down and drew my blood.
In that instant, memories of experiencing this kind of force countless times for the past ten years surged back. And as the wave of injustice and helplessness overcame me, I smashed every piece of equipment in the hallway.
It felt like I was venting all the suffering I had to endure over the past ten years.
Then, from every corner of the corridors, security guards emerged and surrounded me layer by layer.
Jacob pushed through the crowd, clamped his hand around my throat and tossed a black bank card onto the floor. “You're throwing another tantrum again!”
“Blame me for not warning you earlier. Well ... today you're having an embryo transfer procedure,” he said expressionlessly, his grip tightening.
With a complicated expression, I finally asked, "Whose?"
“Ours, of course,” he replied.
Then he gave Leslie the look that he had never given me.
For a moment, time seemed to freeze. My body shook all over. That single sentence filled with double betrayal was delivered with so much ease.
The pain in my neck snapped me back to reality. I refused to have anything to do with this twisted love affair.
“If you behave yourself, you'll still have a place in the Sinclair Family. But you must obey Leslie,” Jacob said coldly.
Everything had changed.
Suddenly, I remembered the days before I went to prison—whenever I so much as frowned, he would immediately blame everyone around me. Once, a drop of dew fell from a tree onto my neck and when he heard me gasp, he ordered his assistant to cut the tree down.
He swore I would be his queen for life.
I always thought sincerity would be returned with sincerity. But the reality slapped me hard across the face.
My heart ached painfully.
Three seconds later, I calmly reached into my pocket for my phone and confirmed the flight ticket for three days later.
“Where are you going in three days? Let me tell you—after you give birth to the baby, you're not allowed to go anywhere!” said Jacob when he saw my screen.
I stared at him for a full ten seconds. “That's none of your business.”
Leslie leaned closer and whispered in my ear, "Do you know why I asked you to carry this baby? Because over the past ten years, I had gotten pregnant with Jacob's baby twice, but each time, for various reasons, I miscarried."
Slap! I slapped Leslie so hard that my palm went numb.
During those agonizing ten years, the two people I trusted most had been cheating behind my back.
Leslie touched her face, which was marred with visible signs of injury and tears streamed down her face.
Jacob embraced her with heartache, then directed all his fury at me, “Apologize, now!”
I sneered. Apologize to those who hurt me?
“I won't apologize,” I declared, my voice utterly fearless.
Jacob threw two more bank cards onto the floor. “Each has seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars in it. Whoever grabs one gets to keep it—just help me pin this woman down.”
His eyes saw nothing but Leslie. He didn’t care at all how everyone viewed him.
The security guards scrambled to grab the cards. The two who succeeded pinned me down, one on each side, their fingernails digging painfully into my arms.
With everyone watching, Jacob gently stroked Leslie’s face. “Go ahead. Slap her—keep going until you’re happy.”
第6章
Though I was pinned down by those burly security guards, my gaze never left Jacob.
Without hesitation, Leslie flashed a sinister grin and slapped me hard across the face.
Instantly, a burning sensation shot through me.
I struggled to fight back, but the guards held me down with iron grips.
Jacob said to me, "It's just a few slaps. You won't die."
With a smug expression, Leslie slapped me ten more times. Her gaze grew even fiercer than the heat on my face, that it almost burned me to ashes.
Finally, she stopped slapping me.
"Take her to the VIP ward. Let her recover first,” Jacob said after studying my swollen cheek.
Just when I thought he might show some mercy for our old times' sake, the next words he said shattered my hopes.
“Damn it. If you'd just obeyed, you could've had that transplant surgery sooner. Now we have to treat the infection in your facial wounds first.”
I was escorted by security guards to the private ward like a puppet on a string. The next day, Jacob came to the ward and stared at my wounds. His eyes held only disgust; there was no trace of pity in them.
I couldn't help but say, “I will never compromise with you! No matter what!"
Jacob looked at me in a daze. After a pause, he spoke slowly, “You've changed. The old you would obey me without question.”
When I stared into his dazed eyes, I saw surprise and confusion in them.
“I still have feelings for you. As long as you ...” Jacob’s voice softened.
“It hurts so much!”
His words were interrupted by Leslie outside the door.
He sprang to his feet, slammed the door and rushed out.
Leslie was clutching her belly, then she collapsed at the entrance of the ward.
“My lower abdomen hurts so badly! The attending doctor just said I must have the transplant surgery immediately! If it fails this time, I won't have any more eggs left.” She sobbed and buried herself in Jacob's embrace.
He immediately lifted her into his arms.
When she left, she winked and smiled at me, then her expression quickly changed into a look of pain.
Even though their voices were still ringing in my ears, I didn't care about them anymore.
When passing by Jacob, I smashed the court divorce judgment in my arms onto his chest. “It's for you.”
The judgment listed how he had cheated on me during the marriage and that the woman involved was my best friend.
He picked it up with disgust, as if handling worthless trash. The next second, his expression froze.
He trembled as he forced a smile. "This fake looks so real."
“It’s just asking you to be the biological mother of the child. Is that really such a big deal?” He frowned at me, looking at me as if I were garbage.
I held my head high and strode out. The car I had booked ahead of time was already waiting outside the golf course.
“Before going to the airport, I have to pick up my grandma first,” I said to the driver.
He immediately turned the car around and sped toward the small mountain village I knew well.
Jacob and Leslie's figures grew fainter in the rearview mirror. I confirmed the recordings and videos on my phone, destroyed the SIM card and tossed it out the window.
My former lover and best friend, I would like to thank you for letting me learn how to see people's true nature.
“Ma'am, why are you going to such lengths? Why did you throw away the SIM card?” The driver glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.
But I remained silent. Jacob held absolute power in Arlington City, so I had to make sure I vanished from his world, no matter what the cost.
All these years, I should have been working hard in my career, but I trapped myself in an imaginary ivory tower for the sake of so-called love.
I would leave this city forever today, as if I had never been here at all.