The Substitute Wife's Revenge

When the photos of Damien ‘s kidnapping flashed across my screen, I was eight months pregnant.

Yet, I gripped my blade and was out the door.

But as I, covered in blood and clutching my belly, fought my way to the last door, mocking laughter spilled from within.

Just ten minutes left on the bet. Are you sure Sera, pregnant as she is, can actually make it here?

“Or maybe just have the girl get down on her knees and beg me. We can forget about the drink-spilling incident then.”

“If anything happens to Sera’s baby, I’ll be the one taking the fall.”

Damien’s chilling voice cut through the air, “What, scared you’ll lose?”

“Nah, not scared. It’s just… I heard this baby was a miracle for you two. To put your wife in danger for a mere thing like that? Didn’t you even consider what if something went wrong?”

“Shut up! She’s not some disposable toy. She’s my most precious person. If we lose this child, we can always have another. I won’t let anyone hurt her.”

“Besides, I’m going to win this bet. Sera will come!”

I clenched my grip on the blade, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth.

So, what I thought was a kidnapping was just Damien ‘s twisted bet to defend another woman.

He actually risked our eight-month-old child for her!

Damien Knight, you once told me that those who betray will burn in hell.

Let’s start with you losing this bet.

I lowered the blade in my hand, leaning against the wall, trying to calm my ragged breathing.

I pulled out my phone, sent a text to an unknown number, then stared blankly at the photos that came back.

It was her.

The voices inside continued.

“It’s quiet out there now. Looks like the outcome is”

Damien sharply cut off the sneering voice.

“Time’s not up yet. Sera would risk her life to take on ten men for me. Your thugs are no match for her.”

“If it concerns me, she’ll fight tooth and nail to be there.”

A round of applause broke out. “Compared to a mere apology, today’s gamble has been absolutely thrilling! Thanks, Mr. Knight, for satisfying my addiction! There’s no bet more exciting than this.”

Tears instantly streamed down my face.

Back when I was eighteen, Damien burned down the shady club where I was trapped, all for me. It left an indelible scar across his face.

He’d said trading his face for my freedom was the best deal he’d ever made.

After that, he fought tooth and nail to climb the ranks, vowing to give me a good life.

As I watched his scars accumulate, I cast aside my mother’s dying wish and stood by him, transforming with him into the feared Sera, a force to be reckoned with.

I truly believed we were the perfect partners, the perfect lovers.

Who knew our love had an expiration date, a mere decade?

Damien , when I loved you, I’d throw caution to the wind for you. But now, we’re at the end of the line.

“Nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen”

The triumphant countdown from inside the door shattered my thoughts. Those ten minutes felt so long, yet so agonizingly short.

I slowly rose, and as the countdown hit “zero,” I slammed the door open.

In an instant, every eye in the room landed on me.

I ignored Damien ‘s surprised, hopeful gaze and marched straight to the only woman in the room.

Grabbing her hair, I slammed my palm across her face.

“Sera, how dare you hit me!”

Everyone in the room stared at me in shock, while Delilah Thorne clutched her face, her expression one of feigned grievance.

My heart was eerily calm, yet I feigned anger. “Is this how you act as an assistant? The boss was ‘kidnapped,’ and you’re standing here completely unharmed? If not you, then who should I hit!”

Then, I gestured for my people behind me to step forward.

“Teach her a lesson. Let her learn how to be a good assistant.”

Delilah Thorne was an assistant Damien had poached with a hefty sum. He’d said our empire eventually needed proper management, that fighting and killing wouldn’t last forever, and he wanted me and our child to live free from worry.

Yet, in just eight short months, Damien was willing to abandon me and our child for her!

My people, wielding iron rods, advanced step by step. Delilah collapsed in terror behind Damien , clutching his sleeve.

“Damien, please! Save me! Sera’s going to kill me”

The iron rods fell. Delilah’s agonized screams echoed through the room.

Damien finally couldn’t sit still. Though still bound, he lunged to his feet, gripping one of the iron rods tightly.

“Enough, Sera! The girl is young and foolish, but are you too?”

“You’re pregnant! What kind of spectacle is this, yelling for blood?”

I couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh inwardly.

He didn’t remember I was pregnant when he engineered this ‘kidnapping’ charade, but now that it’s Delilah, he suddenly cares.

“Don’t you have anything to explain?”

The only sounds were the drip of blood from my blade’s tip and my own ragged breathing.

He chuckled lightly, sighed, and tugged at his crumpled collar.

“It was all for Knight Enterprises. Don’t you want our child to be born into a better life?”

“Mr. Sterling promised that if you’d just come in one second sooner, that prime piece of land on the south side would be ours.”

I stared at his casually delivered lie.

As if all the fault today lay with my delayed arrival.

And he and Delilah were the dedicated, self-sacrificing ones, working tirelessly for Knight Enterprises.

“You’re right. I truly don’t understand.”

I turned my gaze to the other man involved in the bet.

The glint of amusement in his eyes suddenly vanished.

I spoke softly, almost airily, “Mr. Sterling, we accept the terms of the bet. Let’s fulfill the true wager now.”

Then, under Damien ‘s astonished gaze, I dragged Delilah forward, forcibly slamming her head into the ground.

Thud, thud, thud

“Sera! She’s pregnant!”

His large hands clamped onto my shoulders, crushing them almost to breaking.

I paused for only a split second, then immediately clenched a fist and aimed it at my own belly.

My lips curved into a chilling smile as I looked at Damien . “Do you want my baby, or hers?”

The grip on my shoulders noticeably loosened. Damien ‘s hands fell to his sides, and he retreated, his eyes devoid of emotion.

I pushed down harder with both hands until a dull ache resonated in my belly, then slowly stood up.

I snatched a few tissues from the table, wiped the blood from my hands, and tossed them onto Damien with a disgusted flick of my wrist.

“You writing the divorce papers, or am I?”

Damien ‘s eyes finally wavered.

“I’m not divorcing you, Sera. I told you, only death will end us.”

No sooner had Damien finished speaking than I snatched the blade from the floor and swung it at him. He stared at the approaching knife, unmoving.

His gaze was just like that night eighteen years ago, when he, surrounded by a dozen men, fearlessly lit the gasoline.

The blade quickly sliced across his body, instantly staining the suit I’d personally tailored for him with blood.

His expression unchanged, he snatched the knife from my hand and tossed it aside.

“Sera, one life should be enough to appease your anger.”

Delilah’s lower half was soaked in blood. The baby was gone.

Watching Damien carry Delilah away, I whispered quietly, “Damien, not one life. Two.”

I stayed in the hospital for a full seven days. Damien and Delilah seemed to have vanished from my world.

Seizing the moment, I made the call I had always dreaded, contacting the one person I least wanted to see.

“I want everyone you’ve placed around Damien.”

On my first night home from the hospital, as I was packing things for the next day’s funeral, Damien suddenly pushed open the door and entered.

He paused, seeing me holding a book.

Ever since I got pregnant, he’d brought home boxes of books, reading to our child every single day. All because my acceptance letter to my dream university had been destroyed in that fire.

He’d said this child would surely make up for my past regrets.

I could feel his footsteps become softer as he entered the room.

After a long sigh, he snatched the book from my hands and threw a medical report onto my lap.

“Sera, are you satisfied now?”

The words “Hysterectomy” loomed starkly on the page.

“She’s just a young girl, so young! First, you beat her, then forced her to grovel, and now she can’t even be a mother! Sera, you’re truly cruel.”

“I’m cruel? Damien , when you made me come ‘save’ you, did you forget my baby was already eight months along?!”

“My child didn’t deserve peace, but she deserves your protection? Whoever committed the sin should bear the consequence!”

“Damien , I only regret not killing her the day she appeared.”

I completely broke down.

I lifted my empty nightgown, trembling uncontrollably, and started to rush out to grab a knife.

Only then did Damien finally notice my flat stomach.

After a moment of shock, he swiftly wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, as if trying to melt me into his body.

“Sera, my love, it’s all my fault.”

A single tear slid down into my neck. I stiffened, a violent shiver running through me.

It was like going back ten years.

We’d struggled hand-in-hand out of that inferno, clinging to each other, feeling only the searing heat of each other’s necks.

A cold gust of wind snaked up my nightgown, and I snapped back to reality.

“Damien ”

“Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

He turned, pressing my head hard into his chest. It was both comfort and a refusal.

He thought I was still the old Sera, easily swayed and fooled.

I struggled to push him out of the room. Before I could even close the door, Delilah’s voice drifted in.

“Damien, how is it? Give me your phone! I want the whole world to know she’s a worthless bitch!”

“Delilah, sweetie”

“Damien , I’m asking you! Where are the pictures? Did she cry and beg you? Did you go soft?”

“Damien, the doctor said I can’t have children anymore! Let me in! I want her child to pay for what she did to my baby! Let her taste the agony of a woman’s brokenness”

Seeing Delilah growing more frantic with every word, Damien hastily covered her mouth and led her away, embracing her.

I couldn’t see the expression on Damien ‘s face, but I heard the submerged tenderness in his voice.

“Don’t be afraid, Delilah, sweetie. I’m here.”

“I’ll love you forever.”

Five years ago, when I suffered retribution and lost my first child, consumed by an unbearable grief

He’d made the same promise. “Sera, my love, with or without a child, I will love you forever.”

But who knew his “forever” would only last a mere decade?

My nails dug into my palms, but all I felt was the familiar agony of loss in my womb.

A man’s promises truly were cheap and laughable.

The next morning, just as I was about to go downstairs for my child’s funeral, Delilah blocked my way.

She stood there in a silk robe, suddenly pulling open her collar to reveal fresh hickeys. Her eyes were filled with mockery.

“Sera, don’t think you’ve won. You might never know that Damien never loved you.”

“He just couldn’t bear to let me suffer with him. He needed someone to shield me, and he just happened to pick you.”

“Now your child is gone, what are you still clinging on here for?”

My footsteps faltered, my gaze turning impossibly cold.

“What did you just say?”

“I said, you’re nothing but my stand-in.”

Delilah deliberately emphasized the word “stand-in,” her face radiating malicious triumph.

I froze for a second, then saw Delilah, her face contorted in a snarl, pull a dagger from behind her and lunge at me.

“Sera, you’ll pay for my baby’s life! Die!”

Damien was right behind her, but he was a step too late.

As I dodged, Delilah lost her footing and tumbled down the stairs, the dagger clattering brightly on the steps.

I took a few steps forward, snatched up the dagger, and lunged at Delilah.

By the time Damien caught up, the dagger had already slit Delilah’s throat.

Damien ‘s face was grim. He immediately positioned himself in front of Delilah.

His eyes were filled with a complex mix of emotions.

“Sera, this ends now.”

“Damien , she said I was your stand-in. Tell me, was she lying?!”

My words clearly flustered Damien . Seizing the chance, I raised the dagger and plunged it towards Delilah’s chest again.

My wrist was savagely gripped, but I gritted my teeth and forced it down, ignoring the tearing pain as it threatened to shatter.

A sharp scream ripped through the air.

The dagger ultimately found its mark in Delilah’s chest.

Before I could even pull the dagger free, a foot violently kicked me down.

My shattered wrist was ground under a leather shoe. I gasped, cold air rasping in my throat from the agony.

“Sera, we’re getting a divorce.”

How laughable. The man who’d once declared only death would part us now agreed so easily, all for Delilah.

Divorce papers were casually tossed onto my body.

Then Damien moved to carry Delilah away, but she refused.

She steadied herself and stood before me, then dropped a lighter.

Flames quickly engulfed the items meant for the funeral home.

The books Damien and I had read to our child, the toys we’d picked out togetherthey were all burning.

I wanted to snatch them back, but the fear of flames nailed me to the spot.

Leaning against Damien , she laughed mockingly at me.

“Sera, that fire ten years ago should have killed you.”

And Damien just watched.

An endless wave of hatred surged within me.

I suddenly collapsed to the floor, bursting into maniacal laughter. “Damien , I haven’t seen you burn in hell yet. How can I possibly leave so easily?”

For ten years, my blade was always pointed at others. Now, it’s time for you to feel its edge.

“Neither of you is leaving this place today.”

The moment I finished speaking, the villa’s main door slammed shut with a resounding bang.

“Open it!” Damien kicked the door several times, his face instantly turning ice cold.

“Sera, you’re the one who asked for a divorce. Now I’ve agreed, what more do you want? Do you truly want to die?”

He scolded me fiercely, all while clutching Delilah tighter.

The scar on his face, far from making him look grotesque, only made him seem more dashing in his protective stance.

I slowly stood up, then decisively tore apart the divorce papers.

“Damien, you said only death would end us. How can I divorce you if you and Delilah aren’t dead?!”

A mocking smirk twisted Damien ‘s lips.

“Sera, do you really think closing a door can win you this? With just these two people you’ve managed to rope in? I don’t want to argue with you today. Delilah needs a hospital. Open the damn door!”

“I said, neither of you is leaving today.”

At my words, a cold glint flashed in Damien’s eyes. “Sera, you’re forcing my hand.”

He raised a hand, and suddenly dozens of men appeared in the villa.

“Kill her.” But Damien ‘s words hung in the air for a long moment, and none of the men moved.

His eyes were bloodshot. He repeated his order to the leader, “Kill her! Anyone who dares to disobey me today is an enemy of Damien!”

But his answer came in the form of dozens of gun barrels turning to face him.

“Without Sera’s direct order, no one leaves!”

“Sera? Who the hell is Sera here?” Aside from Damien’s bewildered question, dead silence filled the villa.