From His Wife to His Uncle's Wife

On the night Eleanor suffered her miscarriage, her husband Peter and their daughter Olga chose to comfort Jessie, a recent widow, by taking her to see the snowscapes of another city. Alone, Eleanor lay in a pool of her own blood, watching the three of them—her own family—share an intimate moment on her phone screen. That was when she finally understood: in their lives, she had only ever been a stand-in. Later, Olga would say to her, “Mom, you can’t even play the piano or draw. I don’t care that you’re my mother.” Her mother-in-law added, “Eleanor, marrying Peter is a blessing you must have earned over eight lifetimes of virtue.” Heartbroken and disillusioned, Eleanor filed for divorce. Peter frowned in disbelief. “So you’ve made up your mind? Are you really sure you want to leave me?” Eleanor replied with a cold smile, “Olga stays with you. I’m sure.” It was only when Peter later discovered the hidden abortion consent form that he truly realized what he had lost. With red-rimmed eyes, he pleaded, “Eleanor, I was wrong. Can you find it in your heart to love Olga and me again?" But before she could respond, his formidable uncle Max appeared, his arm possessively around Eleanor’s waist. His voice was a low, dangerous growl: “Peter, do you have a death wish? How dare you try to steal my wife.”