My Husband Faked His Death to Marry My Sister

My ex-husband, the pilot, died saving me. For five years, I've spent every night in my dreams dying to be with him.

Until the ninth time I was rescued from slitting my wrists, my mom reluctantly showed me my sister Ava's wedding photo.

Christina, your husband is actually still alive. He's just marrying Ava the day after tomorrow.

I looked up in disbelief. My mom avoided my gaze and continued.

"That car accident five years ago was actually something we planned with Guillermo. And the child you had prematurely after your severe depression that year is still alive too. Ava's been taking care of him.

You should let go now."

I couldn't believe it. Trembling, I demanded:

"Mom, you're lying to me, right? Ava has a long-distance boyfriend..."

My mom impatiently interrupted.

"Her boyfriend has always been Guillermo! One's a pilot, one's a flight attendantthey're together all the time. It's normal they developed feelings."

"They were kind-hearted and couldn't bear to hurt you, so they chose to fake his death."

"They should have had bright futures ahead, but because of you, they've had to hide all this time."

"I really can't stand it anymore. Stop making a scene and just give her a break!"

I clenched my fists, my whole body trembling uncontrollably, my nails digging into my palms.

"Mom, why?

I'm your daughter too! Why did you wait until now to tell me?"

"Could you really bear to watch me hurt myself over and over for five years because of guilt and self-blame?"

She slammed the wedding photo onto the bedside table with a "crack," glaring at me with disappointment all over her face.

"If I really didn't see you as my daughter, you wouldn't even be alive today!"

"How many times have I dealt with your mess? You act out once, I save you once. Every time you slit your wrists, I have to send you to the hospital."

"I'm over sixty years old, taking care of you every day. Do I owe you something?"

She took a deep breath and stabbed those knife-like words deep into my heart again.

"Let me make this clearthe day after tomorrow when Ava has her wedding, you stay put and don't cause trouble."

"If you have any conscience left at all, you should let go and let Ava live a good life. Do you understand?"

"Don't forget, these past years it's been Ava raising your son for you! She doesn't owe you anything!"

"It's one thing for you to torment me, but don't you dare make things difficult for her. She's already so understanding and has had it hard enough!"

I laughed through my tears, completely breaking down.

"Mom, do you know how many injections I endured for IVF, how much I suffered to get pregnant with that child?"

My mom didn't even lift her eyelids, her brows full of impatience.

I didn't wait for her to speak, continuing my hysterical sobbing.

"During that time, I was drowning in the news that Guillermo died saving me.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him covered in blood. I wanted to stab myself to death."

"It was that child who held me back. I didn't dare dieI was afraid of killing two people, taking his flesh and blood with me."

Tears fell like broken beads, one after another.

"I went to prenatal checkups alone, signed consent forms alone, lay on the ultrasound table alone, listening to the child's heartbeat and crying until I couldn't breathe. But I was willing, because that was my only light to keep living!"

"And what happened? You told me the child died prematurely!"

My mom's face paled for a moment, but she still didn't say anything.

Looking at her cold face, I suddenly found it laughably absurd.

"Now you tell me the child didn't actually die, that Ava's been raising him."

"During these five years when life was worse than death for mewhen I was slitting my wrists, they were celebrating the child's birthday;

"When I was jumping off buildings, they were at the amusement park as a family of three;

"When I was self-harming to vent my longing for the child and Guillermo during my severe depression, he was holding Ava and living sweetly!"

I laughed, tears streaming down my face.

"Mom, are you now saying I should be grateful to Ava for raising my child? Grateful that she slept with my husband?"

My mom's face turned white, then she suddenly clutched her chest.

"Do you even see me as your mother? You can't keep your man's heart, and you run here to question me? Are you trying to kill me?"

"Richards still calls Ava his aunt. We all just told him his mother went somewhere far away.

He's been raised so well by Ava! Much better than being with you!"

Before she finished speaking, she collapsed to the floor, pounding it and wailing.

"Why is my life so bitter! Ava is obedient and considerate, afraid I'll suffer and be exhausted.

"Christina is constantly trying to kill herself, giving me no peace even in my old age!"

The door suddenly burst open and my dad rushed in.

Seeing my mom sitting on the floor crying, he raised his hand and slapped me across the face.

"Bitch! What did you do now?"

His eyes were bloodshot, his finger pointing at my nose.

"If you want to die, find some place where no one is and die there! Don't let us know even if you're dead! Stop tormenting us!"

I covered my face, staring at him blankly!

This father who used to let me sit on his shoulders, who cried harder than me at my wedding.

Right now, the way he looked at me was like looking at a pile of garbage in the way.

I clutched my chest hard, gasping for air several times before finally squeezing out a sound.

"Mom, Dad, just go. From now on... just pretend you only ever had Ava as a daughter."

Both of them froze at the same time.

My mom stopped crying, kneeling on the floor looking at me, seeming to want to say something but ultimately saying nothing.

My dad slowly lowered his raised hand, his lips moving, his expression complex.

Watching this scene, I suddenly remembered the first time I was rescued from slitting my wristsmy mom had held me and cried her heart out!

"Christina! If you die, how am I supposed to live? You can't be this selfish, you can't break my heart!"

But now, as she climbed up from the floor, she said coldly:

"I haven't wronged you in the slightest!

If it weren't for worrying you'd actually die and Ava would feel guilty and unable to move on for the rest of her life, I'd be too lazy to deal with you again and again!"

"Since you're saying these things today to threaten your father and me!

Then we're leaving right now! From now on, you figure things out yourself! We'll pretend we never had you!"

The two left one after another, and the world seemed to be left with only me again.

I curled up under the covers, burying my face in the pillow, crying my heart out.

I don't know how long passed before my phone vibrated.

It was a message from my dad.

"Christina, no matter what, we're your parents.

Even if we really did something wrong, you shouldn't have treated your mom that way. You're thirty years oldyou should be mature now.

"Go back and reflect on your behavior, then go apologize to your mom."

"You're the older sister. It's normal for you to give way to Ava.

Not to mention you're the one who couldn't keep your man's heartwho can you blame for that?"

"As for Richards, everyone had good intentions.

Ava will treat him as her own. Richards growing up with Guillermo is better than being with you, right?

Look at yourself these past years, constantly trying to kill yourself. Richards would really suffer if he were with you."

"Stop making your mom sad. We're old and can't take this kind of stress."

Looking at this message, I found I couldn't cry anymore. My eyes were painfully dry.

It's always been like this since I was little.

In elementary school, Ava wanted the hair clip I'd saved half a year of allowance to buy. Mom said "give way to Ava," and I did.

In middle school, Ava wanted to join the school choir. Mom said "Ava has a good voice, let her have it," and I withdrew.

In high school, Ava wanted to go overseas for summer camp. There was only one spot.

Dad said "your grades are better than Ava's, let Ava go this time, you'll have other chances," and I nodded.

I gave way for eighteen years.

I thought I'd given up enough, until I met Guillermo.

It was my twentieth birthday. I sat alone on the school rooftop, letting the wind blow.

He had just finished a flight, ran up in his pilot's uniform, out of breath, handed me a half-melted cake and said:

"I heard it's someone's birthday today. I went to three stores to find your favorite ice cream cake."

I asked why he was so good to me.

He said: "Because you're worth it."

No one had ever said that to me before.

Guillermo let me know that I didn't have to give way.

The first time he held my hand, his palm was covered in sweat, his ears red as cooked shrimp.

He told me: "Christina, you don't need to fight for anything. I'll bring the best of everything to you."

I thought I finally had someone I didn't need to give way for.

But in the end, even he wanted me to give way.

I flipped my phone face down on the bed, curled up under the covers, and cried without making a sound.

I lay in the darkness with my eyes open, nails digging into my arm. It hurt, but not as much as the hole in my heart.

Finally, I still couldn't accept it and sent Guillermo a message.

"I know everything now. Let's meet."

Five yearsover eighteen hundred days and nights. I had filled this chat box with longing, breakdowns, pleas, and despair.

"Guillermo, today is the 37th day since you left. I miss you so much."

"Guillermo, I dreamed of you again today. Please don't go, okay?"

"Guillermo, the child is gone. I have nothing left..."

"Guillermo, why didn't you take me with you?"

Every single message was like throwing a stone into an abyssnot even an echo.

Only this one got a quick reply: "Okay."

The response I'd waited five years for appeared at this moment, but it wasn't the answer I wanted.

No explanation, no small talk, just an "okay" that pushed me to the breaking point.

I couldn't control my rationality anymore. I grabbed the glass from the bedside table and smashed it on the floor, then stepped on it barefoot. Glass pierced into my sole, the pain drilling deep, but it wasn't even one ten-thousandth of the pain in my heart.

When Guillermo came in and saw me crouching in the broken glass, blood all over my feet, his pupils contracted sharply.

"Christina!"

He practically lunged over, his knee slamming onto the floor with a "thud," broken glass piercing through his pants, but he paid no attention.

His hands trembled as they held my ankles, trying to pull me out of the glass shards, but his hands were shaking too much to grip steadily.

"What... what are you doing?"

He looked up at me, his eyes already red.

Those eyes, those eyes I'd dreamed about for five years, were now filled with heartache, panic, and something complex I couldn't read.

He carefully cradled my foot. Blood gushed from where the glass had pierced in. His voice changed with panic.

"Call a doctor! You're bleeding so much... how could you..."

He couldn't continue.

My tears splashed onto the back of his hand. His whole body froze.

He slowly reached out, wanting to wipe the tears from my face, but his fingers stopped an inch from my cheek and withdrew.

"Christina, don't do this anymore. I'm begging you!"

I looked at him, at those eyes I'd traced in my dreams countless times. They were right in front of me now but felt as foreign as a stranger's.

"You and Avawhen did it start?"

My voice was calmer than I expected.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why torture me by faking your death?"

"If you'd just told me honestly, I would have accepted it."

Guillermo's lips trembled violently, his Adam's apple rolling up and down, finally squeezing out only: "I'm sorry."

He tried to help me up. I shoved him away, my arm hitting the bed frame. I grunted from the pain.

His hand froze in midair, his whole body kneeling in the broken glass as if nailed to the spot.

Then he raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face.

"It's all my fault!"

His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, his eyes so red they seemed ready to bleed.

"I deserve to die! But Christina... we can't go back anymore."

"Ava is pregnant. I have to be responsible for her, fulfill my duties as a husband. I owe her that."

All the blood in my body turned cold at once.

"Tell me," I trembled as I repeated, "when did you two start? Let me give up, please?"

Guillermo closed his eyes, as if recalling some unbearable past.

"It was... during those days when you were taken away by those thugs to save me."

"After you came back, you had nightmares every night. Every time I touched you, you'd scream, you'd go crazy.

"I knew it wasn't your fault, but I'm a man, I have... desires. The more you acted that way, the more I..."

He didn't finish, but I understood.

"Later, Ava came to the house to keep you company. That night I came home drunk from a business dinner. She was lying on the couch wearing your pajamas... I couldn't help myself."

"After that, it happened more and more. I felt more and more ashamed to face you.

I started lying that I was working overtime, lying to you that... that I'd lost my ability to have children. When you went for IVF, I felt guilty, but I couldn't stop you."

"After you got pregnant, I wanted to live a good life with you.

But Ava started going on blind dates, started getting close to other colleagues. She said if I didn't make a statement, didn't make a choice, she'd just marry someone random."

"I had no choice." He lowered his head like a criminal confessing, "I really had no choice... so I arranged that car accident."

After listening, I didn't cry or make a scene.

My heart felt like a piece had been carved out, cold wind howling through it.

"What compensation do you want?"

He looked up at me, guilt and pleading in his eyes, "The house, money, whatevername it."

"Okay."

I heard my own voice, so calm it didn't sound like mine.

"I want my child. You already have your own child. Give me back my child, okay?"

After a few seconds of stunned silence, he nodded.

"Christina, actually Ava mentioned giving Richards back to you too.

Don't worry, she raised him really wellobedient and well-behaved. Once Ava and I finish our wedding, I'll bring him to see you."

I said okay and watched him leave.

For the first time, I felt life had something to look forward to again.

But just as I finished treating my wound and got anti-depressants before returning to my hospital room, I saw the last person I wanted to see.

Ava sat on the couch, as if waiting for me.

Seeing me, she didn't even bother to stand up, getting straight to the point:

"Christina, I heard you want Richards back?"

I nodded.

She smiled, "Fine. Then come be my bridesmaid tomorrow.

As long as you come, I'll let Richards call you mom. You probably don't know yet, do you? This child only listens to me now."

As she spoke, as if afraid I wouldn't believe her, she opened her phone and held it in front of me.

"Look, I only said it once and he remembered."

On the screen, a tender little face appeared.

It was my childeyebrows like mine, lips like his father's.

But that little mouth opened and closed, crisply calling out, "Christina, bitch!"

I felt like someone had slapped me across the face. My whole body trembled uncontrollably as I pointed at her.

"You... how could you teach a child to say such things?"

But the cold smile on her lips instantly transformed into grievance. Her whole body staggered backward, supporting herself on the armrest with one hand while the other covered her belly, pleading in panic.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault... please don't hurt my child..."

Before I could react, the door burst open.

Guillermo rushed in, shoving me aside and lunging to protect her.

"Ava, are you okay?"

I was pushed backward, my forehead slamming hard into the corner of the bedside table.

Ava nestled in his arms, tears streaming down her face, shaking her head grievously.

Then he carried Ava away in a panic, leaving only one sentence.

"I'm warning you, stay away from Ava from now on. I won't let you hurt her."

I lay on the floor, blood from my forehead dripping onto the white tiles one drop at a time. Everything started going black as I slowly lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, I hastily changed into the bridesmaid dress Ava had left behind and rushed to their wedding venue!

But when I arrived, my parents and Guillermo, who were greeting guests, all looked as if facing a great enemy!

My dad instinctively blocked Ava. My mom snorted coldly, her face stern as she demanded:

"Christina, didn't you say you were going to die? What are you doing here!"

Guillermo frowned tightly, and the little boy behind him suddenly rushed over, smashing a bottle of red wine on me!

"You're that bitch Christina, aren't you?"

"What are you doing here? Are you trying to steal my dad back from Ava?

"Get lost! Today is their big day. I won't let you ruin it!"