His expression froze. Then, just as quickly, it morphed into something more desperate.

"What kind of thing is that to say?! I'm the backbone of this family. If I lose ten years, who's going to take care of you and Nora? I'm thinking about all of us here!"

Rage coiled tight in my chest, but I forced myself to stay calm.

"Then sell the house. Sell the car. Take out loans. Why does it have to be my life? Elijah—" I let the question hang, sharp as a blade. "Are you that eager for me to die early?"

His face went completely dark.

He hadn't expected this. The wife who had always been gentle and compliant, suddenly baring her teeth.

"Cassandra, have you lost your mind?"

"I went through hell to find this master! You're her mother—isn't sacrificing a little for your daughter what you're supposed to do?"

In my previous life, I'd been too desperate. Too easily swayed by his persuasion. I traded ten years of my lifespan and received three million dollars in return.

But when I went to the hospital to pay for Nora's treatment, the money had vanished from my account.

My mind went blank. I called the police immediately.

But the bank records showed nothing unusual. It was as if that money had never existed at all.

Everyone thought I'd gone mad. But I knew that money was real.

Then came the accident. Nora fell from her hospital bed. Her fragile skin tore open, wounds spreading across her tiny body. Infection set in.

She never recovered.

I wanted to end everything—to follow my daughter into the dark. But before I could, I stumbled upon the truth.

It had all been a conspiracy. My husband and his precious first love, working together.

The three million I'd traded my life for? He'd secretly transferred it to extend Anita Pruitt's dying son's life by ten years.

Because it was dark magic, no trace remained.

He'd even forged psychiatric records in my name—just to make sure no one would ever believe me. All to keep his mistress calm.

Every time I remembered Nora lying in the ICU, her entire body wrapped in gauze, crying so softly because even tears hurt her skin—

It felt like a knife twisting in my chest.

This time, I would make sure this cheating bastard and his whore knew exactly what it felt like to have their lives stolen from them.

I slipped back to the old family house and found the gold jewelry my mother had left me before she passed.