Chapter 1Less than a year after the divorce, Alistair lost his mind with regret.
He wanted Arabella back so badly, so what did he do? Strapped bombs to her parents!
"Arabella, I love you!" Alistair said, his face twisted with obsession. "Thirty seconds on the clock. If you don't say yes, I'll send your parents to hell first—then you and I can die together!"
Had no other choices. She agreed to remarry him.
After the wedding, Alistair actually changed.
He stopped hitting up clubs and bars, started hovering around Arabella 24/7.
This trust fund boy who'd never lifted a finger? He even learned to cook for her.
Their first Valentine's Day after remarrying? Alistair went all out—spent a fortune blanketing the entire city in rose petals. It rained roses over all of the city. Insanely romantic.
Under that kind of romantic assault, Arabella almost believed Alistair had actually reformed.
Until one day, she went to the hospital to visit her dad. The moment she walked in, she saw Alistair pushing a gurney with a doctor.
On the bed: none other than Alistair's childhood sweetheart, Melody Sutherland.
Melody was cradling a newborn. Even though she looked like hell, she was beaming with joy. "Alistair, look at our son. He's so 'precious'..."
Alistair Hudson looked down at her, his touch as gentle as if he were handling fragile porcelain. "You did great, babe."
Arabella Yates froze. For a split second, she couldn't even believe her own ears.
"Congrats, Alistair!" his buddies chimed in, crowding around him. "Melody really delivered! A healthy baby boy on the first try, man!"
Alistair's gaze turned icy in a heartbeat. "Watch your mouth. Arabella is the only 'Mrs. Hudson' here."
"Oh, shit, my bad. I totally forgot you and Arabella officially hooked back up," the guy apologized fast. "But seriously, Arabella dumped you over Melody in the first place. Now that Melody's had your kid, if Arabella finds out..."
Before he could finish the thought, Alistair cut him off, his voice dropping to a chilling tone. "That's exactly why Arabella can never know about this."
"If anyone slips up, don't blame me for getting 'ugly'!"
The whole group went dead silent.
And right then, Arabella pushed the door open and walked in.
The vibe in the room hit sub-zero instantly. Alistair practically scrambled to let go of Melody's bed. "Sera? What are you doing here?"
Arabella actually laughed. Maybe it was because Alistair had already screwed her over once, but she didn't even feel the sting this time. No tears, no screaming, she sounded eerily calm. "I just came by to say congrats on the new baby."
"Sera, it's not what it looks like!" Alistair stammered, panicking. "I didn't cheat on you. Melody got pregnant 'before' we remarried."
"When I found out, I tried to make her get an abortion, but she wouldn't budge. I had no choice but to hide her away..."
"Sera, you have to believe me! Yeah, I had a thing for Melody once, but I don't love her anymore. You're the one I love. You're the only one I'll ever love, I swear to God."
This man—he stood there professing his love while he'd just fathered a kid with another woman the second her back was turned.
Arabella didn't say a word. She walked straight up to Melody and cracked a hard slap across her face.
Tears welled up in Melody's eyes instantly. Dragging her weakened body, she collapsed to her knees in front of Arabella. "Sera, I know you hate me, but the baby is innocent! Please, don't make Alistair cut us off! I don't want anything from you, I'm not trying to compete! I just want my son to have a father..."
Arabella's expression was like stone as she raised her hand for a second slap.
But this time, Alistair caught her wrist mid-air with a death grip.
"Arabella, that's enough!" Alistair growled, his face darkening. "Melody just gave birth!"
Arabella lifted her gaze, sweeping an emotionless look over him. "Didn't you just say you don't love her anymore?"
Alistair's face soured even more. "I don't love her! But she just had my kid. Right or wrong, I can't just stand here and watch you bully her like this!"
He'd apparently forgotten that before their divorce, Melody had slapped Arabella's face exactly like this, over and over again.
And at that time, Arabella had just suffered a miscarriage.
He'd stood by and watched with cold eyes while Melody went to town on a woman who had just lost her baby, yet now he couldn't stand to see Arabella give back even a fraction of it.
Arabella's eyes were heavy with pure exhaustion. "Fine, I'll stop. But you're coming with me to the courthouse 'right now' to file the divorce papers."
Alistair's face turned absolutely lethal. He grabbed her chin in a vice-like grip and snarled, "Divorce? Not a chance! Arabella, the only way you're leaving me is if I'm dead."
"Last time, you tricked me into signing those papers. I'm not falling for that shit twice! From now on, I'm reading every single word of every document you put in front of me. You can forget about scamming me into another divorce!"
Since Alistair wasn't going to budge, Arabella was done talking. She swung her hand again, aiming right for Melody's face.
Alistair's heart lurched. Purely on instinct, he reached out and shoved Arabella back—hard.
Caught off guard, Arabella slammed into the floor. The back of her head cracked against the corner of a table, and a warm liquid began to seep through her hair.
But Alistair didn't even look at her. He rushed over to scoop up the slumped Melody. "Melody! Are you okay?"
The sheer panic and concern on his face wasn't an act.
Arabella took a deep breath. She didn't say a word as she silently hauled herself off the floor and walked out.
Outside, the sun was blindingly bright, stinging her eyes.
Arabella pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "You were right. Alistair screwed me over again."
"Good thing you warned me. I had a friend help me out when we 'remarried'—that marriage certificate is a total fake."
"I'm leaving him for good, but I need to get my parents settled first."
"Help me get them out of the country secretly. Hide them. Once they're safe, I'm disappearing from Alistair's life forever."
A deep, sultry male voice came through the line. "No problem. Consider it done within a week."
Chapter 2
After hanging up, Arabella drove straight to the Passport Agency.
Ever since she'd tried to bolt after their first divorce and got dragged back, Alistair had confiscated her ID and passport. He was terrified she'd pull another disappearing act.
He kept all her documents under lock and key, determined to turn her into a "caged bird" with nowhere to fly.
Luckily, with a friend's help, Arabella had already managed to sneakily get a replacement ID. Now, all she needed was a new passport, and she could leave Alistair in the rearview mirror for good.
The replacement ID was under a completely new name. This time, Alistair would never find her.
She reached the office fast and slid her application across the counter. After verifying the info, the clerk handed her a receipt. "Everything looks good. You can pick up your new passport in seven business days."
Arabella thanked the clerk and drove back to the Hudson estate.
The second she pushed the front door open, the heavy scent of baby formula hit her, mixed with the faint, rhythmic crying of a newborn.
In the living room, the maids were scurrying around with a crib, formula, and a mountain of baby gear. Melody, dressed in light pink loungewear, was leaning back on the sofa, cradling the infant and cooing softly. The staff swarmed her, offering toys and bottles like she was "royalty".
Alistair was right there, smiling at the baby, but the moment he saw Arabella walk in, his first instinct was to shield Melody.
That one movement was more honest than any of the shit about to come out of his mouth.
"Sera, let me explain," he said, intercepting her with a rare trace of panic. "Melody just gave birth and she's incredibly weak. I couldn't just leave her out there alone. If something happened to her, I'd have to live with that guilt forever."
"I promise, as soon as her recovery month is over, I'm moving her out..."
Before he could finish the thought, Arabella cut him off coldly. "Don't bother. I don't care."
Alistair froze. He had a whole speech prepared, he'd expected her to blow up, to scream, to start throwing Melody's shit out the window. He'd even planned out exactly how he'd "handle" her when she lost it.
But there were no tears and no tantrum. That casual "I don't care" caught him completely off guard.
Alistair felt a sudden flash of rage: How could she not give a damn?!
A dark frustration flared up inside him. Instinctively, he wanted to provoke her, desperate for any sign that she still cared. "Since you're being so 'generous,' great. Melody needs to recover, and she hates the nanny's cooking. You're a pro in the kitchen—go make her some fish soup to help her heal up."
Alistair thought, "She has to snap now, right?"
No woman could stomach the humiliation of playing maid to her husband's mistress.
But Arabella didn't say a word. She just turned and walked straight into the kitchen.
Alistair's pupils contracted. He stared at her slender back, but instead of feeling a win, he just felt a surging wave of anxiety.
Stove on, water boiling, fish prepped. Half an hour later, Arabella emerged with a steaming bowl of rich, white fish soup.
She set it on the coffee table and poured a bowl herself.
Melody reached out for it. "Sera, thanks for the trouble..."
But in the next heartbeat, Arabella tilted her head back and downed the entire bowl!
"Alistair, take a good look," Arabella said, her eyes chillingly cold as she looked at him. She enunciated every word: "I drank it. It's not poisoned. When Melody drinks it later, I don't care if she gets a headache or a stomachache—none of it has a damn thing to do with me."
With that, she smashed the bowl on the floor and walked away.
Chapter 3
A year ago, Melody was hospitalized and claimed she had no appetite for anything except Arabella's homemade glazed ribs.
Arabella hadn't wanted to do it, but Alistair had forced her into the kitchen. She'd endured the humiliation, her hands shaking as she slow-cooked a whole pot of ribs for the woman.
And then, after Melody ate them, she started vomiting and had diarrhea... she was rushed to the ER.
The doctors called it "food poisoning".
And what did Alistair do back then?
Heh. She remembered. He'd acted like a total psycho. No investigation, no listening to her side. He just decided she was a jealous bitch who had poisoned the ribs on purpose.
As punishment, he had a doctor mix up a potent emetic and toxin cocktail, then shoved her jaw open and forced it down her throat.
"Since you love poisoning people so much, why don't you have a 'taste' yourself!"
That night, Arabella spent the entire time writhing on the cold floor in agony. Her face was as white as a sheet, her clothes soaked in cold sweat. In her hazy consciousness, she kept crying out Alistair's name, begging him to save her...
But Alistair was upstairs, playing nurse to Melody.
It wasn't until the next morning that he found Arabella unconscious from the pain, lying in a pool of blood—
That was their first baby. It wasn't even fully formed before it was gone.
The memories were vivid, but Arabella closed her eyes, refusing to dwell on the "tragedy".
But of course, that was the exact moment Alistair pushed the door open.
He seemed to be remembering that day too, his expression shifted uncomfortably. "Sera, I know I put you through a lot in the past, but I made it up to you. Stop bringing up old history. You're just making things 'awkward' for everyone!"
Arabella was stunned.
She'd spent a night in hell, lost her child... and in Alistair's eyes, all of that was just a little "unpleasantness" that had been settled.
And she wasn't even allowed to mention it.
If she did, she was being difficult. She was the one making it awkward.
"If you don't want me to talk about it, then don't make me live under the same roof as Melody," Arabella said calmly. "I can move out. I'll give you guys the space."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Alistair snapped. As if terrified she might actually leave, he lunged forward and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Sera, you are my wife. You're the one and only Mrs. Hudson. This house is your home. You're staying right here!"
"I'm not letting you go. You aren't going anywhere except by my side!"
Just then, a baby's wail drifted in from outside.
A maid knocked on the door immediately. "Mr. Hudson, something's wrong with the baby. Please, come to the nursery!"
Only then did Alistair reluctantly let go of Arabella. "I'm going to check on the baby. I'll be right back."
With that, he turned and left.
And for the rest of the night, he never came back.
Arabella was used to it. She just turned off the lights and went to sleep, no longer the woman who would stay up all night waiting, only to end up heartbroken.
The next morning, Arabella was jolted awake by Melody's hysterical screaming. "Baby! What's wrong? Wake up... please wake up... don't scare Mommy like this!"
Arabella frowned and rolled over to keep sleeping, refusing to get dragged into the drama.
But half an hour later, Alistair kicked her door open, his face like thunder.
"Sera, tell me exactly what you did last night!" The man was radiating pure hostility, his presence so suffocating it was hard to breathe. "Level with me, and I won't punish you."
