The Heiress's Legendary Comeback After Divorce

Chapter 1 Countdown to Life Calista's POV: "Miss Lockwood, your head sustained a severe impact in the car accident. We've found out you have advanced brain cancer. To prevent the condition from worsening, please contact your family immediately for hospitalization." The words struck me like a thunderclap, jolting me out of the dizziness from the crash. 'What? Advanced brain cancer?' My eyes widened in disbelief. The sharp pain in my head and the persistent dizziness almost suffocated me. The harsh scent of disinfectant filled my nose, and my stomach churned violently. I had to press my mouth shut to keep myself from vomiting. "Doctor, how long do I have left to live?" My fingers tightened around the bed sheets until my knuckles turned white. I fought to stay upright as I forced the words out. The doctor sighed heavily, his gaze full of pity. "Without treatment, you have at most three months. With treatment..." He paused, seemingly searching for the right words. "It won't be more than six months." I felt like the world was collapsing around me. I only had a few months left to live. I wanted to scream, to cry at the cruel joke fate was playing on me. But my tears and my voice seemed frozen, leaving me powerless. Shaking, I picked up my phone, staring at the contact saved under "Husband" for what felt like an eternity. Would Evander Kingsworth pick up? I didn't know. But right now, he was the only person I could turn to. I pressed the dial button. Once, twice, three times... I dialed four times, but no one answered. Just when I was about to give up, his cold, impatient voice finally came through the phone. "What is it? I told you, I have a meeting today." Never mind. What was the point of talking to him? The tears I had been holding back finally burst free. I bit my lip hard, trying not to sob. "Evander, today is our five-year anniversary. Can you come home early...?" Before I could finish, he cut me off, his tone dismissive. "Fine." And then, he hung up. Immediately after, my phone pinged with a message: Your account has received 3 million dollars. Please check. I closed my eyes tightly, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of my lips. In Evander's eyes, every emotional need I had could be settled with money. Ignoring the doctor's protests, I forced myself to pack up and go home. As I climbed into a taxi, a notification popped up from a contact I hadn't heard from in five years. It was a video sent by Liora, and the scene in the video immediately sent a chill down my spine. She was shopping in a mall, and not only were my parents with her, but so was Evander. I could hear Liora's voice, sweet and flirtatious, through the phone. "Thank you for the necklace, Evander." So Evander's claim of being busy—being in a meeting—was nothing but a lie. My fingers trembled slightly. I wanted to laugh, but the smile that tugged at my lips felt bitter. I'd known Evander for seven years, been married to him for five, and yet never once had I received a necklace from him. But Liora Lockwood, my sister—no, the so-called sister who had stolen my life—had been back in the country for less than 24 hours, and Evander was already with her, shopping for gifts. Anyone who didn't know would think that Liora was Evander's real wife. I walked into the restroom and forced a smile in the mirror, but it looked more pitiful than crying. No matter how hard I tried to fit into the Kingsworth family, to fulfill the role of Evander's wife, the outcome had always been the same. My mother-in-law, Selene Kingsworth, constantly targeted me. "A country girl like you? What makes you think you're worthy of marrying my son? If it weren't for the old man's dying wish..." People in the Kingsworth family treated me like I was shoved into their lives. No one ever gave me a kind glance. And Evander? For five years, he'd given me enough respect and endless amounts of money, but never once had he given me a single bit of his heart. Evander didn't love me. It had never been clearer. He didn't love me. "Ding." Another video from Liora. In the video, she was holding Evander's arm, smiling brightly. "Evander said he's going to take me to eat at a French restaurant. You wouldn't mind, would you?" She stuck out her tongue, purposely burying her head in Evander's shoulder. "By the way, tomorrow, Mom and Dad are hosting a celebration banquet for me. You definitely have to come." The necklace Evander had bought for her sparkled brightly around her neck. I gripped my phone tightly, feeling the sting of her mockery in every word. At 15, as the true heir of the Lockwood family, I had finally been found after years of being lost. It turned out that a maid for the Lockwood family, Zara Winters, had swapped me with Liora. But Liora was frail and needed expensive, high-end medicine and care. So my parents decided to adopt Liora as their own daughter, letting her stay with them. At first, when I just returned to the Lockwood family, my parents felt guilty and tried to make it up to me. But over time, as Liora continued to sow discord among us, they gradually grew distant from me. The conflict erupted when I was 20. Because I had saved Cyrus Kingsworth, Evander's grandfather, Cyrus arranged for me to marry Evander before he passed. Years of pent-up anger from the Lockwood family finally exploded. "Calista, you knew Liora and Evander were childhood sweethearts! How could you steal your sister's fiancé?!" "What has Liora done wrong? She may not be our biological child, but she's been with us for over a decade! How could you do this to her?" "Of course, she's the child raised by a maid. She's not one of our own, uncultured and unaware of social norms!" In the end, my parents sent Liora abroad for "healing" and handed her several branch companies to manage. And me? I was pushed into a loveless marriage. Five years had passed, and I thought I had gotten used to Evander's indifference, used to the coldness of this family. But today, as the shadow of death loomed over me, I realized just how tragic I truly was. His heart had never belonged to me. It had always been Liora's. Because Liora had once saved his life when they were children, Evander thought he owed her for a lifetime. He had even wanted to get engaged with her. What Evander didn't know was that the person who had saved him was actually me. It was me who carried him out of the fire, little by little. But when I passed out, Liora took my place and sent him to the hospital. He had always thought Liora was gentle, beautiful, a delicate princess who needed protection. And I? To him, I was nothing more than a scheming, unscrupulous social climber. For five years, his idea of me had never changed. And now, I couldn't take it anymore. All my hopes had vanished in that instant, and I felt more cold-headed than I ever had before.