A Journey from Bitterness to Truth

Chapter 1

Rachel Archer was dead.

Matilda Thompson sat numbly on the edge of her bed; the divorce papers Yvan Boyd had flung at her lay crumpled by her trembling fingers. The room felt as chilly as a tomb.

Just an hour ago, Yvan had his hands around her throat, his voice low and dangerous. “Did you push Rachel down those stairs?”

An hour later, he was standing over her with a lawyer at his side, dropping the draft of a divorce agreement in her lap like a gauntlet. “Matilda Thompson, you owe her not one but two lives!”

That’s right, two, Rachel was pregnant with Yvan’s child.

Who was Matilda in this twisted play? Yvan’s lawful wife, a mere punchline in a cruel joke.

Tears reddened her eyes as she faced Yvan, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. “I didn’t push her. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

Yvan didn’t listen. He just stared at her, his gaze cold and mocking. “Do you really think explanations matter now?”

They didn’t. It was too late. In Yvan’s mind, she was guilty. No amount of pleading could outweigh the word of a woman no longer alive to speak for herself.

laugh escaped Matilda as she stood abruptly, snatching up the pen to sign her name on the

Divorce, he wanted?

Fine.

forced smile, her voice dripping with pride despite the tears she fought back. “Let’s consider those years a joke. From now on, we go

keep. She signed the papers with a flourish.

watched her, his sneer deepening. “You don’t really think it ends

else do you

Thompson family to pay for Rachel’s funeral!” His declaration was merciless. “Starting tomorrow, the Thompsons will descend into hell!”

bed, quivering. She looked at the man before her, whose handsome

years of silent longing and five years of marriage, she had left deep imprints in his life. Yet now, for a

Chapter 1

enough?” she asked, her eyes brimming with hurt. “Why go after the Thompson family?

made her wince, “is

to force me to marry you, was it? Now, you had to take her life, too. Matilda, you’re more heartless than I could’ve ever imagined!” The shock of his

“Is this how