Chapter 1

During the acrobatic performance, I watched helplessly as my sedated child was swapped with a dummy.

On the animal training stage, he was eaten bit by bit by the tigers.

I begged everyone desperately to save my son, banging my head on the ground, but was only treated as a madwoman and thrown out.

Later, Xavion rushed me to the hospital with a severe head injury.

After three months in a coma, the moment I woke up, I struggled to tell Xavion about our son's killers. Instead, I overheard his conversation with his secretary outside the room.

"Boss, are you sure this is the right thing to do? Tommy is your own flesh and blood after all. Your wife will be devastated if she learns the truth."

"Melody became depressed trying to save me. You saw how she threatened suicide with a knife that day. As long as she can be happy every day, I'd do anything - let alone sacrifice one child."

Two streams of tears fell from my eyes as I stood by the wall, unable to control my trembling.

Our picture-perfect family was all a lie. The son I cherished more than my own life was just a disposable stress relief tool in Xavion's eyes.

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1

Xavion came to see me after I had silently returned to my hospital bed.

"Darling, you're awake. Tommy's death was an accident. The staff mistook him for a specimen when they went on stage. But that person has already received their due punishment. I've also given our child a proper burial. Once you're feeling a bit better, we'll go see Tommy together." Xavion spoke gently as he fed me medicine, a stark contrast to the cold-hearted devil from earlier.

Before today, I never imagined Xavion would cheat, let alone be so deranged as to plan the murder of his own child with another woman.

If it weren't for the tear-stained tissue that was still damp, I'd rather believe it was all a dream.

But the facts were staring me in the face, and I had to confront the cruel reality.

"Alright, when I'm discharged, we'll go see Tommy together." I nodded, not wanting to look at that hypocritical face any longer.

"You must get well soon. Then we'll go buy Tommy's favorite burger and soda together." Xavion gently tucked in the corners of my blanket.Before I could say anything, his phone rang. Ignoring me, he immediately stood up and went out to take the call. Even though he tried to avoid me, I still heard the coquettish female voice on the other end when he answered.

It was none other than the snake charmer from the circus - Melody.

I never imagined that this snake charmer, who had only been with the circus for two years, would get involved with Xavion, the circus director. Even more surprising was that, in places I couldn't see, she had already occupied such an important place in Xavion's heart.

Thinking about the love-struck expression on Xavion's face when he talked about her, I couldn't help but take out my phone.

When I first met Xavion, I had added his contact information using another WeChat account, posing as a staff member. At the time, I only wanted to silently support his work, and never cleared up this misunderstanding.

I thought I would never log into that account again, but here I was in this cold, quiet hospital room, accessing Xavion's moments feed as a stranger.

Before this, I always thought Xavion was someone who rarely posted on his moments.

It wasn't until I finally saw those twenty-plus updates that I realized it wasn't that he didn't post - I had just been blocked.The most recent post on her social media feed was from just yesterday.

In the photo, a radiant and vivacious Melody kissed Xavion's hand, with the magnificent Eiffel Tower standing tall behind them.

The caption read: "Our three-month world tour has come to an end, spending time with my beloved in the most beautiful scenic spots."

Even though I already knew I meant nothing to Xavion, seeing this post still made my heart wrench in pain.

So during the three months I was in a coma, they were out there living their romantic fairy tale.

As I scrolled down, every single update below was, without exception, the two of them flaunting their love.