He Betrayed Me, He Went to Hell

Chapter 2

By nightfall, I still had not appeared.

Lucian had made countless phone calls, but no one ever answered.

He tapped his fingers impatiently against the surface of the table.

Margot sobbed softly under her breath.

"Aurelia must be furious with me. It is all my fault for being this way. She was right about me, someone like me really ought to be dead."

Lucian's brows drew together sharply, and his hands clenched into tight fists at his sides.

"How dare she speak such curses about you?"

Margot immediately pressed her hands over her mouth.

"No, no, that is not what happened. She never said that. I spoke wrongly... Lucian, please do not misunderstand her."

"Misunderstand?" Lucian let out a cold, sharp laugh. "That woman has a wicked heart. It is no surprise at all that she would say such things. Since she refuses to join us, we will have this family meal by ourselves!"

Margot's face brightened instantly into a wide smile.

She picked up a piece of turkey with her fork, held it up to his mouth with a sweet smile, and fed him right there at the table.

Then she shifted closer, resting easily in his arms.

I watched their affectionate gestures with a sense of numbness that had almost completely taken over.

In the early days of our marriage, Lucian was like a devoted puppy, always following me around, seeking my touch and affection with a bright smile on his face.

When Milo was born, he never left my side during the labor, holding my hand through every painful moment and rushing back and forth to take care of everything afterward. Everyone who saw us said he was the perfect husband.

Yet, after that, something quietly changed. He began to avoid my touch, pulling away whenever I reached for him, and gradually stopped wanting any intimacy with me altogether.

I heard him speaking critically about me to Margot.

"When she was giving birth, the way she looked was... honestly, it was rather repulsive to see. Now, when I look at her, I do not feel the slightest bit of desire or interest."

Halfway through the meal, Lucian glanced at his phone every few minutes.

Then a clear chime sounded.

He picked up the device quickly, only to see a trending news story about a celebrity caught in an affair.

"Lucian, what if I post a message online and apologize to her?" Margot suggested. "With Aurelia and Milo gone, this family dinner feels so empty and tasteless." As she spoke, she picked up her phone and began typing out a message of apology.

Lucian reached out and placed his hand over hers to stop her.

"She is the one behaving unreasonably. Why should you be the one to say you are sorry? She likes to hide, does she?" A cold glint flashed across his eyes. "Very well. I will make sure everyone online knows exactly who she is. Then we shall see how well she can keep hiding!"

Margot hesitated, looking unsure. "But what if she gets so angry she asks for a divorce?"

Lucian scoffed dismissively. "She would never dare. She values Milo more than her own life. As long as I hold onto full custody rights, she will never be able to leave me, not for the rest of her life."

He opened a live-streaming app right then and there.

He was well known online as a top-tier detective, and his followers assumed he was about to share details of a major new case.

They flooded into the broadcast room in large numbers to watch.

Instead, they saw Lucian sitting before the camera, looking worn out and exhausted.

There were dark circles under his eyes, and his gaze seemed wet and glistening, as if he were holding back tears.

"Today is Thanksgiving. My wife has taken our child and ran away from home," he said.

That single sentence immediately caught the full attention of everyone watching.

"This is my close friend, Margot Crowe," he continued, gently placing a hand over his chest as his expression turned sorrowful. "Her mother died while saving my life. Just before she passed, her last wish was that I would look after her daughter and keep her safe."

He lowered his eyes and let out a quiet sigh. "But my wife has never been able to stand her presence."

A trace of helplessness crossed his face as he continued, "Whenever she sees us together, she becomes distraught and acts as if she has lost her mind. She even took our child and went into hiding, all because Margot played a small, harmless joke on her. She has been gone for two whole months now."

His voice grew shaky and thick with emotion, and his eyes slowly turned red. "But today is the festival for family reunion. All I want is for her to come back."

He swallowed hard, his fists clenching at his sides. "I just want us all to sit together and share a proper meal as a family."

A hint of desperation appeared in his gaze as he added, "If only she returned, I promise I will never see Margot again..."

Watching, viewers were instantly filled with sympathy for him.

A: [My heart breaks for Detective Knox. To be stuck with a wife like that is truly terrible luck.]

B: [Disappearing for two months just because she is upset? People might think she ran off with another man! He should divorce her immediately before she set a bad example for the child.]

Lucian shook his head slowly. "We have been together since our college days. We have shared 11 years of our lives. I simply cannot bear to let go of what we have... This is a photograph of my wife. If anyone sees her or knows where she is, please, you must tell me."

I looked at the tears glistening at the corners of his eyes, and read the angry, hateful comments flooding in from the audience.

My heart sank lower and lower. All of my female friends from those years had been blocked and removed by Lucian himself.

At the time, I told him there was no need for such measures.

But he had kissed me, his eyes full of deep affection, and said, "I do this because I love you. I want to give you every possible sense of security."

Back then, I had been filled with happiness, believing I had fallen in love with the right person.

I never imagined that those cherished memories would one day become the sharpest weapon he could use to hurt me.

Within a short time, the story Lucian told had become one of the top trending topics online.

Countless people left messages insulting and condemning me, calling me jealous, petty, and unreasonable.

Lucian watched the lies he had created spread far and wide, a satisfied look on his face.

He waited for me to come forward and beg for his forgiveness.

But instead of my pleas, what arrived was a single photograph.

"Lucian, do you recognize this person? From the shape and build, she looks exactly like your wife! They found her at the bottom of the cliff. It seems... it seems she has already died."