Scarlett

 

“Mrs. Scarlett, I’ve reviewed the documents,” Lawyer Leonard said over the phone. “If you’re certain you want to proceed with the inheritance agreement, we can finalize everything today.”

 

“I’m certain,” I replied, staring at my reflection in the vanity mirror. I looked younger, healthier, but my eyes were cold. “What time?”

 

“How does tomorrow at 10 a.m. sound?”

 

“I’ll be there. Thank you, Leonard.”

 

Just as the call ended, another one came in. It was from EH Pharmaceuticals. The corners of my lips curled up slightly because I already knew why they were calling.

 

“Hello?” I answered calmly.

 

“Miss Scarlett!” The department manager’s voice trembled through the speaker. “There’s a problem with the new drug research. We’ve been unable to validate the target gene; hence, the project has been temporarily put on hold. Since you’re more knowledgeable in this area, we were hoping you could come to the company and assist us.”

 

In my past life, I was the invisible engine of this company. I worked eighteen-hour days to ensure Ethan’s success, while he listed me as his assistant with a salary of zero.

 

Now that I had a second chance, I wouldn’t repeat the same mistake.

 

“Target validation is tricky, Mr. Henson,” I said, my voice dripping with fake sympathy. “But since I’m just an assistant, I wouldn’t want to overstep. So, my answer is no. I won’t be coming in, but I do hope you resolve the issue soon. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere to be.”

 

“But Miss Scarlett, Mr. Ethan said—”

 

“Then let Mr. Ethan solve it,”

 

I ended the call without waiting for a reply, booked a taxi through a cab app, and headed straight to the nearest hospital for a full check-up.

 

Sitting in the consultation room, I pressed my hands together, trying to steady the unease within me as the doctor reviewed my test results.

 

The doctor slid the report toward me, his face grim. “Miss Scarlett, the results are troubling. We found traces of arsenic and lead in your system.”

 

My heart skipped. “Is it life-threatening?”

 

“It’s a slow, cumulative dose,” he explained, tapping the paper. “Not enough to kill you today, but it’s been in your system for a long time. They’ve likely been the primary cause of your inability to conceive. In fact, if this continues, you’d be riddled with organ failure.”

 

My chest tightened.

 

“We’ll need to identify the source of the poison before we can proceed with proper treatment.”

 

The last time I had been at the hospital and Doctor Kelsey told me I’d been poisoned, I’d suspected it to be Ethan but dismissed the thought.

 

It seems the poisoning had started as early as the first year of marriage. How was I supposed to feel about that?

 

He had been carving it out of me, piece by piece, from the moment I said‘I do.’

 

By the time I returned home, laughter filled the living room. I paused, watching Ethan sit comfortably on the couch, his arm resting behind Aurelia. Between them sat six-year-old Durian, giggling as they played a board game together.

 

They looked like a perfect family making me feel like an intruder who had just walked into the wrong house.

 

“I’m back,” I said, my voice tight.

 

Ethan looked up immediately, though he didn’t move from his seat. “Welcome home, honey.”

 

“Mummy, I’m hungry. Could you make me some porridge?” Durian asked without looking up from his board game.

 

He hadn’t been hungry a second ago. He just wanted to see me in the kitchen, serving him like a maid.

 

“I just got back from the hospital,” I said gently, settling my bag down. “Why don’t you finish your game first?”

 

I reached into my bag and pulled out a box of chocolate Ethan had given me earlier. “You can have these for now.”

 

“Chocolate!” Durian’s eyes lit up instantly. He reached out eagerly to grab the box of chocolate, but Ethan snatched it out of my hand.

 

“Stop!” Ethan barked. His face had gone pale. “Don’t give him that.”

 

The air in the room froze.

 

“Why?” I asked, my voice dangerously calm. “It’s just chocolate. You bought them for me, didn’t you?”

 

Ethan didn’t reply immediately. Don’t tell me… it’s the chocolate? That’s how he poisoned me?

 

Ethan swallowed hard, his eyes darting to Aurelia for a split second. “He… he shouldn’t have sugar before dinner. It’ll spoil his appetite.”

 

Liar. My blood ran cold. So the chocolate was the poison meant for me.

 

“Scarlett, can we talk in the bedroom?” Ethan asked, his voice returning to that smooth, manipulative silk.

 

Once the door closed, Ethan reached out. I flinched, the phantom sensation of being pushed down the stairs rushing back. He froze, his hand mid-air, then gently placed his palm on my forehead.

 

“You’re acting strange,” he murmured with fake concern. “You refused to cook for Durian. You’re cold. Is this about his tantrum this morning? He’s just a child, Scarlett.”

 

This morning? What happened this morning? Oh, right. Durian had thrown a tantrum at me when I’d asked him to pick up his sock. He had called me a “mean” and “bad” mother.

 

“If it’s about that,” Ethan continued, “you shouldn’t take it to heart. He’s just a child. I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”

 

“Durian is a child, but he’s developing a very bad attitude,” I admit. “He needs to be corrected, especially learning to apologize when he says hurtful things. If we ignore it, it will only get worse.”

 

Ethan sighed, taking my hand. His touch made me want to scrub my skin raw. “He’s just insecure because the adoption isn’t final. He doesn’t feel like you’re his real mother yet.”

 

He reached into his drawer and pulled out a folder. Adoption Agreements.

 

“Once you sign this,” he whispered, handing me a pen, “Durian will officially be ours. We’ll be a real family.”

 

I stared at the paper. In my past life, I had signed this with tears of joy, unknowingly adopting my husband’s bastard..

 

“Scarlett?” Ethan called out, snapping me out of my thought while handing over a pen to me. “Here.”

 

“Ethan,” I said, looking up with a thoughtful frown. “I was thinking… Durian clearly resents me right now. If I force this adoption, he’ll only hate me more. Maybe we should wait. I want him to love me for real, the same way I’ve accepted him—even though he isn’t my own blood.”

 

I looked him straight in the eye, my expression pure and selfless. “You want what’s best for him, don’t you?”

 

The silence in the room was suffocating. I had backed him into a corner. If he insisted on the signature now, he’d admit he didn’t care about the boy’s feelings—only the legal status.

 

Ethan’s jaw tightened so hard I heard a faint click. His loving mask was straining at the edges.

 

“You’re right,” he said and snatched the papers back, his knuckles white. “But…are you sure about this, Scarlett?”

 

Ethan stepped closer, his voice dropping into that low, manipulative tone I once found so comforting.“Having Durian would make us a complete family. Think about it carefully.”

 

He paused, his eyes searching mine with a fake, heavy pity. “Don’t you want a child of your own? Someone to help you forget the pain of all those failed attempts?”

 

In my past life, those words were my undoing. We had tried for years to conceive, and every negative test had left me shattered. But now, with the doctor’s warning about the toxins in my blood still ringing in my ears, the truth hit me: I wasn’t infertile.

 

Ethan had been sabotaging my body from the start, ensuring his mistress’s son was my only option.

 

Too bad I’m not that gullible Scarlett anymore.

 

“We can keep trying,” I said, my voice as smooth as glass. “But I won’t take in a child who looks at me with such hatred. I’m just not comfortable being a mother to someone who hasn’t accepted me yet.”

 

Ethan’s mouth opened to argue, but the sound of something breaking in the living room startled both of us.