Seven Years Late, I Exposed His Secret Home

Chapter 2

Maxwell Sanders regained his composure, his face dark and unreadable.

"I don't know you." He raised a hand and gestured toward the security guards. "Please escort this lady out."

I let out a mocking laugh and shook off the guard's hand. "You don't know me? Fine. Then let me introduce myself."

I emphasized every single word. "My name is Willow Delaney. I'm thirty-seven years old, and I was Maxwell Sanders' wife for ten years. Oh, no... not his wife. A widow."

"If he doesn't remember, then she knows nothing either?" the guard said, referring to the woman Maxwell was with.

I recognized the tattoo on the woman's wrist. I had seen it before in a group photo Maxwell took with his hiking club, and I remembered her name clearly, Piper Jennings.

Maxwell looked like he wanted to speak, but Piper pressed a hand lightly against his arm and told him to leave first with their daughter.

Then she stepped forward, lifted her phone in front of my face, and showed me the identification card on the screen. "Look carefully. This is my husband's ID. His name is Mason Jennings. The Maxwell Sanders you're talking about has been dead for years."

Smiling faintly, she reached out and adjusted my collar before lowering her voice. "Stop making a scene. It's useless. If you were a man, would you give up your current life, abandon your wife and daughter, and go back to an aging woman who's already past her prime? You can ask for however much compensation you want. Take the money and start over. That would be best for everyone."

I sneered.

A new life... she made it sound so simple.

After Maxwell disappeared, I was devastated. I fainted from low blood sugar, and that was when the doctors discovered I was pregnant.

Everyone around me urged me to terminate the pregnancy.

I refused.

That child was the only connection left between Maxwell and me. No matter what happened, I couldn't bear to let go.

I kept sending him messages, asking for his opinion. If he stayed silent, I treated it as agreement.

I sent him ultrasound photos of the baby. I talked to him about possible names. I asked him whether the tiny clothes and socks were cute.

But when I was five months pregnant, I got into a car accident.

The baby was gone.

Because of severe internal bleeding, the doctors had to remove my uterus as well. Before my body could even recover, my mind collapsed into depression.

Then, during that same period, my mother-in-law developed a serious heart condition.

Ignoring everyone's objections, I sold our house and paid for her heart surgery.

She was my only remaining family, my only emotional support. Even if the surgery could buy her just one more year of life, it was worth it to me.

After that, we moved into an old, rundown house.

It was suffocatingly hot in summer and freezing in winter, with cold wind leaking through every c***k.

To make money, I worked endlessly as a delivery driver.

One snowy day, my tires slipped on the ice, and I crashed onto the road. A car rolled over my leg.

Even now, seven steel pins are still inside it. Whenever it rains, the pain becomes unbearable.

Sunburns. Frostbite. Stomach problems. Joint pain.

There were too many illnesses and injuries covering my body to even count anymore.

How exactly was any of that supposed to be compensated?

I felt sick. It was as if my organs were being twisted together inside me.

I bent over and collapsed onto one knee, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

The moment Maxwell saw it, he immediately ran toward me. "Willow! What's wrong with you? We need to get you to a hospital right now!"

"Stop pretending! Didn't you say you don't know me? If you're going to act, then commit to it completely!" I shoved him away with all the strength I had left and burst into a bloody, hysterical laugh.

"Do you even care whether I live or die?" I turned to Piper. "How can you sleep beside a man this cold and selfish? A man who could abandon both the wife he married and his own mother without hesitation? Aren't you afraid you'll become the next victim?"

She smiled confidently, her expression filled with disdain. "You don't understand the relationship Mason and I have."

Just then, another couple rode out on bicycles. They glanced at me lying on the ground and casually asked what was happening.

Piper shrugged lightly, her tone carrying both mockery and impatience. "She used to obsess over Mason. She's mentally unstable. They've barely even spoken before, but she keeps insisting he abandoned her. I have no idea how she tracked us down."

The couple exchanged knowing looks filled with contempt.

"I'm Maxwell Sanders' legal wife! We were never divorced!" I screamed in grief and fury as I pulled out our marriage certificate from my bag. "You committed bigamy. That's a crime!"

The little girl suddenly rushed over, snatched the marriage certificate from my hands, and tore it apart.

"Bad woman! You're not allowed to steal my daddy!" Then she stomped hard onto my hand.

Ignoring the pain, I grabbed her wrist tightly and stared fixedly at the pendant hanging there.