My Husband Chose My Sister, So I Left Him With Nothing

Vivian had severe depression and was always trying to end her life. Every time before she slit her wrists, she would go to the church and pray for me. "I'll gladly trade my life for Maya's success in career and love." Maybe God heard her prayers, or maybe it was just my own hard work. I built my own fashion brand and married Lucas, the CEO of a publicly listed company. When Lucas found out about Vivian's suicidal tendencies, he took away her utility knives, threw out her sleeping pills, and never left her alone for long. "Vivian, with Maya and me here, you're going to get better." I never imagined they would fall for each other over time. When I caught them in bed together, Vivian sobbed and begged me. "Maya, I prayed to God to bring Lucas into your life. He's my only reason to live now. Can't you just let me have him?" Heavily pregnant, I threw a massive fit. Even Mom and Dad scolded her. "Have you lost your mind? Being depressed doesn't give you the right to sleep with your sister's husband!" That very night, Vivian left a note and killed herself. "I was wrong. I'll pay for my sins with my death." Everyone blamed me for driving her over the edge. Only Mom and Dad defended me against the backlash. Until the day I gave birth. I overheard Mom and Dad whispering to Lucas. "Lucas, you can go abroad to find Vivian now. For the sake of the baby, Maya will compromise even if she finds out!" It turned out Vivian wasn't dead at all. And my parents had never been on my side. Since that was the case, I went to church too, praying that I would never cross paths with any of them again in this lifetime. In that quiet, neglected hospital room, a single tear rolled down my cheek. The sharp pain from my C-section incision right now didn't compare to a fraction of the agony tearing through my heart. Mom and Dad were still talking outside. "When Vivian faked her death back then, it scared Maya half to death." "Don't worry, Lucas. Go to her. Maya has been carrying the guilt of being a murderer for a whole year. She won't dare make a scene." I let out a bitter laugh. Yeah, for the past year. I hadn't slept through a single night. Every nightmare was filled with Vivian's bloodied face. Our relatives all cursed me for being heartless, for driving my own younger sister to suicide. "She's pure evil. Vivian was already suffering from severe depression—couldn't she just cut her some slack?" "Besides, Maya owes everything she has to Vivian's prayers. How could she be so ungrateful?" The rumors had sliced into me like dull blades. Yet in the end, Vivian hadn't died at all. Even my own flesh and blood had never cared about what I was going through. If I had the strength, I would have charged out there and torn off their masks right then and there. But right now, listening to their cruel words, I didn't even have the energy to lift a finger. Lucas's familiar voice sounded nauseatingly cold. "Mom, Dad, let's go find Vivian together. She's missed you both so much this past year." "If we hadn't needed to keep Maya calm so she'd carry the baby to term, you wouldn't have had to suffer being separated from Vivian. You've both endured so much." A chill swept through my entire body. How pathetic. I was the victim kept completely in the dark, yet out of Lucas's mouth, they were the ones who had suffered. Mom and Dad quickly agreed. "Alright, let's head over together. The nurses here will look after Maya anyway..." Footsteps faded away. They just walked out on me. It wasn't until evening that they finally bothered to text me an excuse. "Maya, your parents and I have an urgent matter back home for a couple of days." "We'll bring back those local donuts you love." I clutched my phone tightly, my chest tightening with disgust. I didn't like those donuts. Vivian did. Noises of laughter drifted in from the room next door. I turned my head toward the door. I could see a new mother surrounded by family. Her husband was gently feeding her fruit, while both sets of grandparents hovered around the baby with bright smiles. And me? In this vast hospital room, I was completely alone. I bit my lip, not daring to make a sound. I was terrified someone might show me kindness, because any bit of warmth would break the dam, unleashing an ocean of tears. Midnight came. I tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Through the haze of exhaustion, a soft rustle came from the doorway. I snapped my eyes open. A few ragged-looking homeless men were already standing silently by my bed. They stared down at me with filthy, predatory eyes, like hunters cornering their prey. "The tip was right. No family around. She's all ours." Rubbing their hands together, they closed in on me.Terror rushed straight to my skull. I curled backward into the bed, trembling. "Don't touch me! You'll go to prison for this!" One of them sneered. "Your husband practically begged us to take you. Stop acting innocent. If he can't satisfy you, we're happy to step in." For three brutal hours, I lay there like a lifeless doll tossed between them. There wasn't an inch of unbruised skin left on me. They didn't leave until they had satisfied their disgusting urges. Just then, my phone screen lit up with an anonymous text. [Lucas is an extreme germaphobe. Now that you've slept with a bunch of bums, he'll never touch you again.] My stomach dropped. This wasn't random. Someone had deliberately leaked that I was left unattended in this room. Only Vivian could be this sick. She would do anything, no matter how depraved, to steal Lucas away. A year ago, she had thrown herself from a third-story window, breaking her leg, just so Lucas would stay by her side day and night. Then she swallowed a handful of sleeping pills, landing in the ICU for twenty-four hours. When she woke up, she had stared up at Lucas, weeping pitifully. "I'm depressed. If you don't love me, I have no reason to stay alive." And now, she had used this vile, sickening trap to obliterate my marriage with Lucas. I didn't know how much time had passed. A nurse finally came in for routine rounds. The moment she saw my battered body, she dropped her clipboard, screaming in horror. "Where is her family?! Where are the patient's relatives? How could they be so irresponsible?!" They scrambled frantically to check my vitals and call Lucas. It took hours before they finally showed up. Lucas didn't ask about my injuries first. Instead, he looked at me and said casually, "I thought you'd kill yourself to preserve your purity. Turns out you're just a coward clinging to life." "Suddenly, Vivian's depression doesn't seem like such a bad thing. If she were in your shoes, she would've died before letting herself be tainted!" Those eyes of his, once filled with adoration for me, now held nothing but cold detachment and revulsion. All the grand romantic gestures he had made for me flashed through my mind like a cruel slideshow. Once, just because I craved pastries from Paris, he hired a private jet overnight to fly them in. On my birthday, he rented out an entire amusement park, putting on a private fireworks show just for me. Every moment that once brought me to tears of joy had now transformed into the sharpest blade, carving my heart to pieces. Five years of love was nothing more than an illusion I had dreamed up. Yet why should some fragile concept of purity matter more than my life? Parting my dry, cracked lips, I screamed at him, hysterical. "They're the criminals! Why am I the one paying the price?!" Beside him, my parents grew impatient. "What's done is done. Just get discharged. Go home and take a thorough shower." "Don't gross Lucas out." Before my body had even begun to heal, they dragged me back home. The moment the front door swung open, my mind went completely blank. There was Vivian, sitting openly on the sofa I had bought. Drinking the soda I had stocked. Wearing my silk pajamas. Watching TV and laughing her head off. Her cheeks were rosy, glowing with health, showing none of the miserable, suicidal despair from a year ago. It was obvious she had lived a luxurious life abroad this past year. Meanwhile, look at me. Broken down by rumors and trauma, I had forgotten how to smile a long time ago. "Vivian, didn't we tell you to lay low? Why did you come straight here?" The three of them rushed forward, shielding Vivian behind them, blocking my glare. "Maya's going to lose it if she sees you." Vivian pouted. "But this is my home too. Since Maya already saw me, we don't need to hide anymore." Mom and Dad playfully tapped her nose, their faces full of fond indulgence. "You little troublemaker, always keeping us on edge." Then Mom turned to me, demanding coldly, "Maya, from now on, Lucas spends Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with Vivian, and Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday with you and the baby." "You have a child with Lucas now, so stop throwing tantrums." I let out a bitter, mocking laugh. "Mom, Dad, are you seriously telling Vivian to be his mistress?" Vivian stiffened. Her big eyes instantly welled up with delicate tears as she looked to Lucas for help. Lucas's expression darkened immediately. "Watch your mouth! Everything you have today was bought with Vivian's prayers and sacrifices! If she hadn't gone to church to pray for you, where would your success have come from?" Prayers again. It had become their favorite weapon to emotionally blackmail me."Your fortune was granted because Vivian prayed for you. You need to be generous to her." Because of that, they forced me to buy Vivian luxury sports cars, penthouses, and designer bags. Yet every single dime of that money was earned through my own sleepless nights and grueling hustle. Nobody ever cared about the calluses on my hands. They only believed my success was entirely Vivian's doing. Listening to their twisted lies, my heart turned completely to ice. "Fine. If that's how it is, I'll give it all back to her." I looked Lucas straight in the eye. Word by word, I stated clearly, "Let's get a divorce." "Lucas, I'm done with you." Shock flashed across the man's face. "You're actually trying to threaten me with this now?" He sneered cruelly. "You've had a baby, and you're ruined and dirty. No other man on earth would ever want you except me." He genuinely, truly believed that I would never dare cut ties with him, let alone leave. Standing beside him, Vivian smiled sweetly and chimed in, "He's right, Maya. Lucas is a germaphobe. Even after you were raped by all those filthy men, he's still willing to keep you under his roof. That shows he loves you. You really should learn to be grateful." My breath hitched. Those words... They were word-for-word identical to the anonymous text sent to my phone last night. That was all the proof I needed. Vivian was the one who orchestrated the whole nightmare. Rage exploded in my head. I couldn't take it anymore. Gathering every ounce of strength in my body, I slapped her across the face. The crack of the slap echoed sharply through the room. "Vivian, why did you send those monsters to destroy me?!" Unable to handle the force, Vivian staggered back and collapsed heavily onto the hard floor. "Maya, I'm your sister! How could you accuse me of hurting you?!" The next second, bright crimson blood seeped out from under her skirt, pooling onto the floor. Clutching her lower abdomen, her face turned paper white. "My baby..." "If my baby is gone, I don't want to live anymore!" I froze on the spot. I had no idea she was pregnant too. No wonder. Over the past year, as my belly grew bigger every day, whenever I needed care and companionship the most, Lucas always claimed he had urgent business trips. He would pack his bags and vanish without looking back, leaving me alone to suffer through morning sickness, tossing and turning in the dark. Whenever I called him just wanting to hear his voice, he brushed me off, saying he was busy, and hung up in a rush. Now I finally understood. He wasn't busy with work at all. He was using business trips as an excuse to fly across the ocean, playing house with Vivian, taking care of her and their unborn child. The contrast cut deeper than any knife. Pulling myself out of the shock, all I saw was the venom in Lucas's glare. "Maya, you've completely lost your mind!" "Vivian has such a pure soul! She even prayed to God and offered her life for your happiness! She treated you like gold—how could she possibly hurt you?!" His jaw clenched, his lips tightening into a furious, rigid line. Mom and Dad frowned deeply beside him, screaming at me, "Vivian already died once for you! Are you trying to kill her again?!" "If anything happens to Vivian, we're cutting you off for good!" They didn't even spare me another glance. Frantically, they gathered Vivian up and rushed her to the hospital. In the blink of an eye, the sprawling house was left completely empty, save for me and my sleeping baby in the crib. I smiled bitterly. I pulled out a prepared divorce agreement and set it on the dining table. Then, slipping on my flats, I walked straight into the bedroom. I dragged a twenty-inch suitcase out from under the bed. Opening the closet, I began packing only what was truly mine. Every designer handbag and luxury dress Lucas had bought me remained untouched. Once my clothes were packed, I walked over to the vanity. Opening the bottom drawer, I took out a thick photo album filled with memories of Lucas and me. I pulled it out and tossed it into the trash bag, right along with our matching couple mugs. I took only my personal essentials. When I zipped it up, the suitcase felt incredibly light. Just like the home I had stayed in for seven years, the marriage I had hoped for all that time. I thought it had been full of blooming flowers, when in truth, it was riddled with rot. When I walked back into the living room, I was horrified to find it engulfed in flames. They must have been in such a panic when leaving that they forgot to turn off the gas stove in the kitchen. Flames leaped violently into the air, spreading rapidly. Choking, thick black smoke poured down my throat. The baby in my arms began coughing incessantly. I thought my child and I were going to burn to death right here. Just then, a familiar figure charged through the smoke and fire, appearing right in front of me. He stepped in front of me, his voice trembling with tension. "Will you come with me right now?" The firelight danced across our faces. Clenching my fists, I used every breath I had left to answer, "Yes, I'll go with you." "I want to live." "I'm taking my baby, leaving them forever, and never looking back."