Betting On My Death? Enjoy Prison, Ex-Husband

Betting On My Death? Enjoy Prison, ExHusband Before I was wheeled into the operating room, I caught a glimpse of the Snapchat notifications on my husband's phone.

He and our livein housekeeper were placing bets on my brain surgery, wagering whether I would die right there on the table or pull through.

Without a second thought, he bet on my survival. "She's my wife and my golden goose. I need her to live forever." But things went sideways after the surgery.

I developed severe cerebral edema and ended up in a coma in the ICU for nearly two weeks.

The moment I finally opened my eyes, I heard the doctor telling them that my brain had been deprived of oxygen. There was a high chance of temporary amnesia.

The little housekeeper was clinging to his chest, her eyes gleaming with cold calculation. "That's perfect!

Doesn't that mean we can make out right in front of her face?" "Since her brain is fried, she can only lie there and watch us anyway." The moment the doctor closed the door, Julian pushed her away.

He slumped back onto the sofa, his expression icecold. His shirt was perfectly pressed, and his hair was neat.

He didn't look exhausted or worried at all. "The doctor only said there's a chance of amnesia." "Nothing is guaranteed." Chloe giggled and pressed herself against him again. "Oh, Julian, I was just saying what if she actually lost her memory..." Before she even finished her sentence, she wrapped her arms around Julian's neck.

She was young, bubbly, and knew exactly how to play him. Julian didn't agree. But he didn't push her away either. My throat felt like sandpaper. I couldn't help it.

I let out a dry cough. Hearing the sound, Julian practically threw Chloe off his lap. He scrambled to his feet and rushed to my bedside.

His face was a mix of shock and forced joy. "Jade, you're finally awake!" He reached out, trying to touch my cheek. I turned my head away, avoiding his touch.

His hand froze in midair. Chloe's eyes darted around.

She stepped closer, testing the waters. "Do you... do you know who we are?" I stared blankly at the two people standing before me. The man was my husband of seven years.

The woman was the cute young housekeeper my husband had brought into our home.

This disgusting couple had teamed up to bet on my life, treating my survival as some twisted, sick game. Using their own trap against them, I slowly shook my head.

Chloe's face lit up with pure joy.

She jumped in before Julian could speak. "We're your friends!" "You got into a terrible car crash, and the two of us rushed you to the hospital." Then, right in front of my face, she grabbed Julian's arm and held it tight.

Her eyes danced with excitement. "And this is my boyfriend." After saying that, she looked up at Julian. Her face was full of anticipation.

It took a long moment before Julian finally nodded, his expression softening with indulgence. "Yeah. I'm her boyfriend." "My name is Julian." To make me swallow this ridiculous lie.

Julian spun a whole narrative on the spot. He claimed he was best friends with my husband. But he said my husband had gone missing six months ago.

During this time, he and Chloe had been working themselves to the bone to take care of me and pay for my surgery. "It's a shame we still couldn't take perfect care of you." Julian lowered his eyes, probably imagining some tragic scenario, a flash of genuine pain crossing his face.

I raised my hand and gently touched my stomach. That place used to be round and full, with a tiny life kicking inside me. Now, it was just deflated skin. Empty.

Completely devoid of life. "The baby... did we lose him?" There was still a tiny, desperate shred of hope in my heart. What if my baby was still alive? But Julian shook his head.

He turned his back to me, his voice cracking. "You went into shock during delivery.

The bleeding wouldn't stop." "The baby... didn't make it." This baby was something Julian and I had prayed for during seven long years of marriage. During every prenatal checkup.

The doctor would smile and say the little guy was healthy and strong. But he didn't make it. Just when I discovered Julian was cheating on me.

Just when he and his mistress were treating my life as a gambling chip, the little guy started kicking wildly in my stomach. It hurt so bad. Maybe he wanted a happy family.

Maybe he despised having a father like Julian, so he decided not to come into this world at all. Seeing that I remained silent. Julian turned back around, his eyes rimmed with red.

But he was still trying to play his part. My tears began to stream down my face. He instinctively reached for a tissue to wipe my tears. His hand froze halfway. He stopped himself.

Right. His current character was "my husband's best friend." He had to maintain boundaries. Julian pulled his hand back.

He grabbed a tissue and handed it to me instead. "Don't be sad. You can always have kids in the future." I shook my head weakly. "No, I won't."

He froze, and I met his gaze. "Isn't that true?" "After all, my husband is missing, isn't he?" My body was still incredibly weak.

The doctor insisted that I needed to rest in the hospital bed for a long time. I didn't even have the energy to fight with him.

Maybe a tiny shred of Julian's conscience finally kicked in, or maybe he felt guilty. He practically lived in my hospital room, watching over me.

But he was terrified I would catch on.

So he made up a pathetic excuse. "I'm only doing this for him." "He promised me long ago that I'd be his kid's godfather." "I have to take good care of you for his sake." I usually ignored him, so he racked his brain to find things to talk about. "Did you really forget everything from the past?" "Do you even remember how you and...

I mean, how you and him first met?" I couldn't help it. A bitter, sarcastic smile touched my lips. I wished with all my heart I could erase those memories.

Julian didn't notice my bitter expression.

He just kept talking about our college days. "You two met during your junior year." "You literally staked out the girls' dorm for a whole week just to catch the thief who stole your DoorDash deliveries three times..." Back then, I was dirt poor.

I had to budget every single cent for food. My meals were my life. And that jerk of a thief specifically targeted me. After starving for three meals straight, my blood boiled.

I decided to wait at the entrance of the dorm until the thief showed up. On the seventh day, the thief finally appeared.

He was dressed in all black, with a mask and a beanie pulling down to his eyes.

He whistled as he walked to the delivery table, picked up my food like he owned it, and turned around. The movement was so smooth that nobody else noticed.

But I recognized the bag instantly. It was my order. But the guy was fast. The second I started running, he noticed. We ended up running in circles around the campus.

I chased him for over a mile. Realizing he couldn't outrun me, he scaled the fence. I had to sprint all the way to the East Gate to cut him off. I was running on pure adrenaline.

As I rounded the corner, I crashed headfirst into Julian. He was also wearing all black that day. A mask and a beanie, looking exactly like the delivery thief.

Without hesitating, I grabbed his arm. And slammed him over my shoulder onto the concrete. "You should have seen his face.

I mean... he was completely dazed." Julian laughed softly, a helpless expression on his face. "He was thinking, where did this wild, crazy girl come from?" "She's got a hell of a temper." After that, Julian and I officially met.

He complained about his sore arm every single day. He demanded compensation.

When I offered him cash, he refused to take it. "He was just looking for a stupid excuse to get close to you." It was indeed a terrible excuse.

But back then, I was too naive to think otherwise. I didn't have money anyway. Since he didn't want money, I offered my labor.

His arm was "injured." So I got his lunch, carried his backpack, and sat next to him during lectures. Consider it my apology. Eventually, we moved past that.

But Julian still hung around me constantly. When I chased another delivery thief, he took the long route to block them.

When I tried to catch a sick jerk who was abusing stray cats on campus, he helped me set up a trap. I was a bit slow back then.

It took me a long time to realize that Julian was actually courting me. "He followed you around like a lost puppy for so long." "But you kept treating him like a bro." "He literally cried in his dorm room out of frustration." Julian smiled, his eyes turning incredibly soft. "But in the end, he got what he wanted." Yes, he did.

Julian pursued me relentlessly for three whole years.

During the spring semester of our senior year, he went with me to catch a pervert who had snuck into the girls' locker room showers.

We didn't expect the guy to be carrying a box cutter. To protect me, Julian took a slash to his arm and was rushed to the ER. In that hospital room, he asked me out again.

And that time, I didn't say no. "You two promised your lives to each other in that hospital room," Julian said softly. I lowered my head, my mouth tasting like copper.

Who would have thought that Julian and I... Started our forever in a hospital. And ended up destroying everything we had... in a hospital.

Once we started dating, Julian treated me like a princess. He was the perfect boyfriend. He never snooped through my phone, never lost his temper.

He spent every day finding new ways to make me smile. He went along with all my crazy ideas. We barely ever argued. I loved fighting for justice and catching petty thieves.

Others mocked me, saying I was obsessed with playing cop. But he didn't. He praised me constantly, saying I was full of courage and light.

His eyes would sparkle when he looked at me. So genuine. Back then, I fell hard for those eyes. But now, looking at them. They were cloudy. Filled with greed.

And calculating schemes. Not a single shred of honesty left. But love always has its bitter moments. Right before graduation, my parents suddenly showed up at my college.

They lied, saying my grandma was on her deathbed, and dragged me back to their isolated town in the Appalachian mountains. They never cared about me.

They only cared about my brother.

My dad told me, "I never wanted to pay for your college anyway." "If your grandma hadn't threatened us and secretly given you her savings, you'd be working at the local diner." "But I guess college wasn't a waste.

A guy is willing to pay fifty grand to marry you." They counted the cash with greedy, glowing eyes.

Without even asking for my consent, they were ready to sell me off like a piece of meat to a wealthy, abusive old widower who had just lost his wife. "Fifty grand is more than enough to buy your life." My mother slapped my cheek and spat on the floor. "That old hag Evelyn kept blocking us from selling you.

She didn't think about this family at all." "If we don't save up enough money for your brother, how is he going to buy a house and get married?" Grandma... the only person who was ever good to me in that godforsaken family, was literally stressed to death by them.

I tried to run. But my parents had locked me in the attic, and the town was deep in the mountains. There was no way out.

On the day they tried to force me into the wedding car, I wanted to die. I would rather die than submit to them. But Julian found me.

Covered in dirt and sweat, he charged into the town all by himself. To get me out of there, he was stabbed three times by the locals.

Thank God the state troopers arrived just in time. We barely survived. Julian's injuries were severe, and he slipped into a coma.

I stayed by his bed for three days and nights without sleep. The first thing he did when he woke up was look at me with pure devotion, telling me not to be afraid.

He said he would protect me for the rest of his life. As for my abusive parents and the locals who stabbed him, they were all locked up. Parents selling their daughter for cash.

With such a toxic background. How could the wealthy Sterling family ever allow Julian to marry me? Before he was even discharged.

Julian's mother, Victoria, came to my motel room and threw a check at me, telling me to get lost.

Julian found out, dragged his injured body to the room, snatched the check, crumpled it up, and swallowed it right in front of her. Then he grabbed a fruit knife from the counter.

And pointed it straight at his crotch. "Mom, if you don't let me marry Jade, I'll neuter myself right now." Victoria's face turned white with horror. "What are you doing?!" "If you don't let me marry Jade, I'll die right in front of you." Back then, Julian's eyes were like steel.

He risked his life. He would marry me, or die trying. "He really loved you to his bones back then," Julian said softly, his voice full of nostalgia.

The guilt on his face was almost overflowing. He didn't dare to look me in the eye. He just mumbled, "You two had such a strong bond.

It's impossible for you to ever break up." Hearing those words, my heart felt like it was being pierced by needles.

I looked at him and asked, "Then do you think he would ever cheat on me?"

Julian froze instantly. His smile looked worse than a sob. "How... how is that possible?" "I... he loves you so much." Oh, really? He loved me.

But that didn't stop him from keeping a whore on the side. When he loved me, he would have given me his heart. And so. I truly believed Julian and I would last forever.

Who would have thought that after only five years of marriage, everything would change? We were in our fourth year of marriage back then.

We were no longer the passionate college kids. The wild spark had faded into a quiet, comfortable routine. Julian took over his family's company.

His mother, Victoria, still looked down on me. But a relationship requires compromise. Julian had taken knives for me. He had fought his family for me. I had to return the favor.

Victoria wanted a perfect, quiet housewife. So I quit my job and stayed at home, learning how to arrange flowers. I practiced smiling like a gentle, obedient wife in the mirror.

Sometimes, looking at my reflection, I felt sick. Was this really me? Was this the same Jade who once chased a thief for a mile? Not only could I not recognize myself.

Even Julian started sighing. He said I was obedient and sweet now, and that I made his mother happy. He liked the peace, but he also felt empty.

He said, "Sometimes I dream of the old you. The girl who laughed so wildly." Julian couldn't find the old me in me anymore. So he went and found her in another woman. Chloe.

Three years ago, she graduated from college and started working as an intern at Sterling Group. She was young, beautiful and she had that bright, wild energy.

The first time Julian mentioned her to me. He said, "She really reminds me of how you were in college." I was too trusting back then. I didn't think anything of it.

I trusted Julian, and I trusted our history. Until he started coming home later and later. Until his shirts started carrying a faint, sweet perfume that wasn't mine.

Doubt began to grow in my mind. But I told myself that trust is the foundation of marriage.

So I ignored the signs and desperately tried to get pregnant, wanting to build a real family with him. But right before I was pushed into the delivery room.

I saw his phone light up on the table, and those Snapchat notifications flashed across the screen. My husband. The man who had taken knives for me.

Was sitting outside, betting on my life and our baby's life with another woman. My entire world shattered into pieces. And my baby died. The memories receded like a cold tide.

I looked at Julian. He was looking at me with those same devoted eyes. But deep down, there was a flicker of guilt from his dirty secret. He whispered softly, "Just rest well.

I will always be by your side." By my side? With Chloe? Am I just a prop in your sick, twisted game? I lowered my eyes. Looking at the apple Julian was offering me.

I said quietly, "It's rotten." "What did you say?" "I said, this is completely rotten." I survived in that hospital room for two weeks. Finally, it was discharge day.

Julian drove over to pick me up, and Chloe came along. She looked thrilled. She leaned in and whispered, "We redecorated your room.

I'm sure you'll love it." "But Julian and I are dating now, you know?

The walls in the villa aren't that thick." "If you hear anything at night, don't feel awkward." "Chloe!" Julian hissed, warning her. She pouted. But she wasn't mad.

Instead, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, square foil packet. Right in front of my face, she slipped it into Julian's suit pocket.

She was bold, not hiding it at all. It was the exact brand of protection Julian always preferred. This absurd show. I didn't know how long they planned to keep playing.

But one thing was clear: I didn't want to spend another second looking at their disgusting faces.

I spoke up directly. "Since you guys said my husband is missing, I should have my own place." "I don't want to get in your way." "Julian, I want to go to my own house." My face was cold, my tone leaving no room for argument.

Julian wanted to persuade me, but seeing my stubborn expression, he relented. More importantly, Chloe was nodding enthusiastically beside him. She couldn't wait for me to get lost.

So she could take my place. Without me in the way, she could play the lady of the house. In the end, Julian made a call and drove me to a villa in the Westside.

It was a wedding gift he had bought for me years ago. How ironic. Over the years, I had allowed myself to be locked in a golden cage. The car stopped.

Julian and Chloe escorted me upstairs, one on each side. Playing their parts perfectly. The house had obviously been cleaned top to bottom beforehand.

Julian unlocked the door and turned to me. "Your body is still weak.

I don't feel safe leaving you here alone." "If you find anything uncomfortable." "Call me immediately." "No matter how late it is, I'll drive over to take you back to..." He choked on his words.

He saw a figure rushing out of the hallway toward me. Julian's brows furrowed. "Arlo?

What the hell are you doing here..." Before he could finish, Arlo Bennett stopped right in front of me. He was Julian's childhood friend. His college roommate. And my closest ally.

He flashed a brilliant, whitetoothed smile. "Jade, I'm back!" "What... what is going on?" My mind went blank for a second. Julian was also dumbfounded.

Only Arlo remained completely calm.

He reached out, grabbing my hand with an incredibly serious expression. "It's me, Jade." "Your husband who's been 'missing' for six months." The moment those words left his mouth.

Julian's face turned paperwhite.