The Surgeon's Betrayal: A Wife's Revenge

After three years in a mental hospital where my husband, Arthur, had me committed, I finally escaped. I went straight to my mother's grave-the mother who had given him her own kidney to save his life.

But her headstone was gone. In its place was a memorial for a dog named Princess Fluffykins. My husband had replaced her with his mistress's pet.

When I confronted him, he and his new woman, Blaire, destroyed my reputation online, costing me every job offer. Then, during a critical heart surgery, Arthur-my surgeon-walked out, leaving me to die on the table because Blaire called with a fake emergency.

He left me to die, just as he had abandoned my mother in her final hours. The man I had given everything to had tried to murder me.

But I didn't die. My childhood friend, Joel, burst in and saved me. When Arthur returned, begging for forgiveness, I looked him in the eye and delivered the lie that would become my truth.

"I always loved Joel. You were just a distraction."

Chapter 1

The hospital had arranged a car, but I slipped out the back. My mother' s favorite scarf was clutched in my hand, its silk worn soft from years of use. It smelled faintly of lavender and the ocean, a scent that promised solace. I was going to find her.

Three years ago, I hadn't been able to slip away. Three years ago, I was trapped. I remembered the sterile white room, the heavy-lidded eyes of the orderlies, and Arthur. Arthur, standing tall and pristine, while I knelt at his feet. My voice was a ragged whisper, begging him to let me go, to let me bury my mother.

I promised him I'd be good, I'd take the pills, anything. Just let me handle Jennifer's funeral. Let me say goodbye.

He just looked at me, his perfect surgeon' s hands clasped in front of him, as if I were a particularly unpleasant specimen under a microscope. "Alexandra, darling," he' d said, his voice dripping with false concern, "you' re not well. You can' t even remember what day it is. How could you possibly handle arrangements like this?"

He promised he' d take care of everything. A beautiful plot, a quiet ceremony. A place where I could visit her when I was… better.

I was led away, the metallic click of the door sealing me in. The promise of her peaceful resting place was the only thing I clung to. My life, my grief, my very existence, was entirely in Arthur' s immaculate hands.

Three years. Three long, empty years.

I saw it on a smuggled newspaper clipping, a tiny notice. Jennifer Morgan' s funeral. Three days after I was locked away. No mention of me. No mention of her daughter. I screamed. I clawed at the walls. I begged the nurses for a phone, for a voice. They just gave me another shot. The restraints were rough, digging into my wrists, leaving bruises