In the Name of the Small

After my death, my husband didn't avenge me.
He fell in love with my killer. He spoiled her rotten.
They spent their nights lost in passion.
Once, when she casually mentioned my name, Sebastian’s voice turned to ice.
Why bring up a dead woman? It's morbid.
Ally smiled, pleased.
She thought Sebastian had truly forgotten me.
She didn't know that the man who came to her bed each night, the man who let her believe she was driving him wild, was a stranger—a madman, a fool paid to play a part.
And Sebastian watched from the shadows, filming everything.
Then, at her son's christening, he played the tape for the world to see.

1
"Congratulations, Mrs. Croft. You're pregnant."
The doctor's words sent a wave of pure ecstasy through me. Sebastian and I had been married for ten years, and the childless ache in my heart had been my greatest sorrow. Now, the dream was real.
I reached for my phone, desperate to share the news with him, but before I could even dial, Ally burst into our home with her men.
She shattered my phone on the floor. Her bodyguards dragged me from the bed and forced me to my knees. I instinctively curled my body, trying to shield the tiny life in my womb.
Ally saw the movement. Her face twisted in a mask of rage, and she struck me across the face, her voice a venomous hiss.
"You're pregnant?"
"How could a washed-up old hag like you deserve Sebastian? How dare you be his wife! How dare you carry his child!"
"You should just die! If you were dead, Sebastian would finally see me. He would marry me!"
"Everything would be perfect if you just died."
Her eyes were wide with a hysterical madness. I stared at her, thinking she was completely insane. I knew she was obsessed with Sebastian, and I knew she hated me.
But I never imagined she would kill me.
I fought, but her men were too strong. They dragged me up to the roof terrace.
And then, with a light push, she sent me over the edge.
There was a sickening thud.
I hit the ground.
Agony unlike anything I had ever known consumed me.
Blood blurred my vision. I managed to turn my head, my eyes falling on the rose garden below. The buds were just beginning to open. Roses were my favorite. Sebastian had planted the entire garden himself, tending to each bush with a devotion that bordered on worship.
Before he left on his business trip, he had promised me, "Elara, my love, when I get back, we'll sit in the garden and drink tea among the roses."
Sebastian… I don't think I can keep that promise.
I tried to keep my eyes open, tried to cling to life, but the fall was too far. The pain was too much.
I just wanted to sleep for a little while. Just until the hurting stopped.

2
Perhaps my death was too unjust, because my soul didn't scatter.
It drifted away from our home, through the crowds and the buildings, until I found myself at Sebastian’s side.
He was in his office. His assistant stood before him, suit immaculate, but with a faint flush of alcohol on his cheeks. They must have just come from a business dinner.
"Mr. Croft," the assistant said, beaming. "With this new contract, our company's cash flow is secure. I'd like to see that old bastard, Ally’s father, try to threaten you with pulling his investment now."
The Shen family. Ally’s family. One of the city’s most powerful dynasties, with money, connections, and influence that ran deep. Sebastian’s first venture fund had come from them. He had always been grateful for their trust, even giving Ally’s father a stake in the company when it took off.
Only later did he realize the investment was just a tool. Ally’s father had backed him because Ally wanted him.
"It’s disgusting," the assistant continued, his voice laced with contempt. "You’re a married man, but they keep forcing you into these dinners with her. No shame at all. And when you refuse, her father conspires with other firms to cut off our supply chain. If she were such a prize, why hasn't anyone else married her? She's a spoiled, arrogant brat. She can't hold a candle to your wife."
My heart, or what was left of it, clenched.
Sebastian’s brow furrowed. He shot his assistant a cold look. The assistant blinked, confused, then asked, "Sir, your wife wasn't too upset about this business trip, was she…?"
Sebastian froze for a second. When he spoke, his voice was stiff. "She has a gentle nature. She doesn't get angry with me."
The assistant’s smile was knowing. He saw right through the lie.
First, my fiery temper was legendary. Second, it was no secret that we bickered constantly. Third, the assistant knew for a fact that I had kicked Sebastian out of the house after a massive fight right before he left.
And the fight had been about Ally.

3
Ally had always targeted me. Last month, at my birthday party, she’d “accidentally” stumbled into me, spilling red wine all over my dress in an attempt to humiliate me.
I slapped her, hard.
It felt good.
The next day, Sebastian hired her as the company's chief designer.
The gossip columns had a field day.
That night, Sebastian and I had the worst fight of our lives. I screamed at him, accusing him of having feelings for her. I called him heartless, a coward for not defending me. I cursed myself for ever falling in love with him.
He stood there and took it, not saying a word.
Furious, I threw him out. He didn't come home after that, though he still came by the house every morning to water the roses.
The day before he left for his trip, he told me he’d be gone for two weeks. I turned my back on him.
He sighed, then leaned in and kissed me gently.
"Elara," he whispered. "Wait for me to come back."
I had thought he was genuinely softening toward Ally. I thought he had brought her into the company because he was giving in to her. I never knew he was being blackmailed, that our company’s survival was on the line.
This whole business trip was a desperate bid to find a stronger partner, to finally break free from her family’s control.
I had been so wrong.
"You can go now," Sebastian said to his assistant. The man nodded and left. Sebastian pulled out his phone, his thumb hovering over my name in his contacts. He hesitated for a long, long time.
Finally, he began to type.
Elara, is everything okay at home?

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