I Married my Ex-husband's Rival

Erick's hand trembled reflexively. The box and the death notice fell to the floor. His mind went blank with shock, and his legs gave way. He collapsed to the floor, and tears immediately welled up in his eyes. "No way. It's impossible." Erick's voice broke as he trembled. He reached out in disbelief to scoop up the death notice lying on the floor. After a few seconds, he took out his phone and dialed his secretary in panic. "Find out the whereabouts of Kimberly and her parents as quickly as possible. Find out every single place they've been since that kidnapping. I want all the details." After a while, the trembling voice of his secretary came through the phone. "Mr. Blake, we've found the information. According to the hospital director, Mrs. Blake's parents tragically passed away on the way to the hospital after the kidnapping. Mrs. Blake was overwhelmed by grief and passed away despite the doctors' best efforts. Her identity records have been expunged by the authorities." As the secretary's words ended, the villa fell silent. It was as quiet as a tomb. Her parents tragically passed away? Kimberly died after the doctor failed to save her, and even her identity records were expunged? No way. It couldn't be. Erick's mind was buzzing so loudly that he couldn't comprehend anything else the secretary said. He looked down at the death notice in shock, and his phone slipped from his hand. "Mr. Blake... Mr. Blake?" The secretary's voice echoed from the phone. Erick felt as if his heart had been ripped out. He clutched his head and trembled all over uncontrollably. He pressed the cold death notice to his face and cried in unbearable pain. He was nearly fainting from grief. Lately, he had been entangled with Hannah, and he even hurt me for her. And yet, he was clueless about the anguish I had suffered. Erick had once thought my disappearance was just a petty rivalry between two women. He even held onto a sliver of hope. He thought perhaps I had returned to our marital home. He thought maybe I was warning him in that way. He thought if he went home and sincerely apologized to me, perhaps he still had a chance to win me back. Even though I had completely disappeared from his life, he still felt my presence in the villa. He looked numbly towards the closet not far away and even recalled the scene where I picked out clothes for him. He saw the large floor lamp by the sofa and remembered that I feared the dark previously. I always felt the house was too empty and scary, and I often clung to him, refusing to leave his embrace. Such sweet and warm times were now gone forever. Somewhere along the line, what remained between us had devolved into nothing but endless suspicion and cold violence. Even sleeping in the same bed, we dreamt different dreams. We used to be renowned for our loving relationship. How did things fall apart like that? Erick regretted his past behavior. If only he hadn't sought excitement, if only he hadn't been pressured by his friends into infidelity, would things have turned out differently? But since he was a little boy, every guy, including his father and those in the entire circle, was like that. It was common among them to have affairs. Besides the wife, anyone kept many women and more than one child born out of wedlock. He only had Hannah, never intending to undermine my position as Mrs. Blake. Why couldn't I, like other women in the circle, understand and accept this? Erick couldn't figure it out. He sat on the floor, and his eyes were unfocused. After what felt like ages, he suddenly remembered something, grabbed the phone from the floor, and dialed Paige's number. But no matter how many times he dialed, all that echoed from the other end was the cold, automated voicemail greeting. Closing his eyes tightly, Erick stood still for a long while before heading to the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face and looked at the disheveled man in the mirror. It was a far cry from the figure of strategic mastery he presented in the business world. After he calmed down completely, he soon reviewed the surveillance footage. As he was about to head to the study, the doorbell rang. His heart skipped a beat. His first thought was that I wasn't dead and that it was just a painful lesson for him. Now that the point was made, I returned home. Erick rushed to the living room door. And his handsome face looked excited as he pulled the door open swiftly. "Kimberly..." The word barely left his lips before stopping abruptly as soon as he saw the one before him. His excited and tender expression changed, replaced by a cold demeanor. "What are you doing here?" Hannah was dressed in a deep-V lace dress. She subtly brushed against him and attempted to seduce him. "Aren't you going to let me in? I've prepared a surprise just for you." Erick frowned and pushed her away in disgust. "Erick, is Kimberly whispering bad things about me again? Her hostility towards me is so strong. She must really want me gone from your life. But I want nothing more than to stay with you for the rest of my life. Yet Kimberly... if she forces me like this, maybe I should leave you." Hannah cried with an alluring charm. It was a manipulative tactic she used to get her way. Whenever she wept and pretended to leave Erick, he would chase after her and find ways to pamper her. But as she pretended to leave this time, Erick surprisingly didn't chase her. Hannah glanced back several times and feigned nonchalance. She walked out very slowly, waiting for him to catch up. But instead of pursuing her, Erick turned and went back into the villa. Hannah stood stunned. After a while, she stomped away with anger. Meanwhile, Erick sat in the study. His jaw was clenched as he quickly reviewed the surveillance footage. Through countless clips, he pieced together my behavior over the past days. I had never stooped to provoking Hannah, while she repeatedly schemed and set traps against me.