The Infidelity Game With My Husband

Ten years ago, Callum, who loved me more than life itself, had my vicious stepsister who bullied me sent to prison.

Ten years later, to get her revenge, that stepsister trapped Callum and me inside a twisted game of cheating.

In the game, Callum and my stepsister, Veronica, were the cheating husband and the mistress.

And I was the tormented wife, abused in body and soul.

To clear the game, Callum personally severed the tendons in my wrists and ankles and suspended me day and night in a scalding pool in a basement.

He and Veronica kissed and touched right in front of me, as if I were air.

Watching me fade, Callum's tears of blood fell before mine.

The physical pain I could endure, but what I couldn't bear was seeing Callum suffer.

So when the game system's mechanical voice chimed, "Exchange your life to exit the game. Do you agree?"

I pretended not to see the despair slowly drowning my husband's eyes.

"I agree."

...

"Just one last time, baby, hang in there for me"

In the dim basement, Callum used a hammer to punch through my ribs.

A thick, rusted chain was brutally threaded through, hoisting me into the steaming water tank.

The agony drilled from my chest out to my limbs.

I didn't know if blood loss or infection would kill me first.

Seeing my weakness, Callum's eyes instantly flooded with crimson veins.

But all he could do was hurl endless humiliation at me.

"Look at you, asking for it. Seeing me with Vee gets you all hot and bothered too?"

"Maybe you just want to stay strung up here forever. But, hey"

A cruel smirk twisted Callum's lips. "I don't mind giving you a front-row show."

Veronica giggled, wrapping her sheer-stockinged legs around Callum.

"Callum, honey, should we make love right in front of your wife today~"

Callum looked like he wanted to kill her, but he still grabbed her thigh and kissed her deeply.

Desire's Cagethis game was Veronica's custom-made hell to punish Callum and me.

When we first got sucked into the game, we tried to fight it.

He refused to follow the script and be intimate with Veronica.

The next second, a flying billboard shattered my bones.

To escape sooner, we used our own bodies as bargaining chips.

From vomiting all day after the first time I saw them kiss beside me,

to now, watching them writhe together in front of me with numb detachment.

What about Callum?

Had he grown numb like me, or was he getting into it?

I watched a flush spread across Callum's cheeks as their lips met,

when his hand pressed firmly against the back of Veronica's head, I summoned the game system in my mind.

"If I trade my life, we can leave the game immediately? For real?"

The system's flat voice responded: Yes, Player.

"I agree."

More than death, I feared losing the Callum who had once been my light.

Congratulations on clearing the game!

"Sienna! Sienna!"

I opened my eyes to searing pain, finding myself crushed against Callum's chest.

The tall man buried his face in the crook of my neck, his hot tears soaking my shoulder.

His voice was rough with fury.

"That venomous bitch Veronica. I'll make her pay a thousand times over!"

I clutched the fabric of his shirt with a bitter smile, wanting to tell him my time was almost up.

"Callum, I'm"

A frantic ringtone cut me off.

His secretary's anxious voice came through the phone.

"Mr. Thorne, you asked us to located Veronica"

"Where is that witch now?!" Callum snarled.

"Veronica she's in a vegetative state."

"What did you say?!"

Callum's grip on me went slack unconsciously as he bolted for the door.

"I don't believe it! I need to see that bitch's misery with my own eyes!"

In the gloom, a vicious smile played on his lips, but his eyes were webbed with red.

I wanted to grab him, to tell him to calm down, but from the moment I regained consciousness, I'd realized I couldn't feel my legs.

The second Callum rushed out, bloody words materialized before my eyes:

Death Penalty Countdown: 48:00:00.

Stage 1 Penalty: Severed Achilles Tendons.

All the cruelty Callum inflicted on me in the game was about to be paid back on my real body, until I died.

Remembering that suffocating pain, a cold sweat instantly drenched my back.

I desperately wanted to bury myself in Callum's arms, to tell him everything.

To tell him I was dying.

That even if he had to go to Veronica, even if he had to fall for her,

could he just wait two more days?

Propping myself up, I crawled to the phone and picked up the still-connected line.

"Mr. Shaw? Where is Veronica? Please, take me there."

Veronica was in a VIP suite at the private hospital under the Thorn family's umbrella.

'Confined' was a generous word. It looked more like she was receiving 24/7 top-tier medical care.

In the hallway, a few orderlies were huddled, gossiping.

"Mr. Thorne's been kneeling by the bed for an hour."

"Poor Mrs. Thorne. How did she end up like this?"

"High school sweethearts to marriage. How could he not love her?"

Through the glass, I saw Veronica lying there, a ventilator over her mouth.

Callum was on one knee by the bed, his face buried in her hand, his broad shoulders trembling slightly.

His disbelieving voice seeped through the door crack.

"How did you get so thin? In the game, you were so healthy, so beautiful"

"I haven't even punished you yet. How dare you! How dare you"

The choked end to his sentence made my own eyes burn.

I knew it. I wouldn't be taking him home tonight.

Unable to stomach the scene any longer, I turned my wheelchair around.

Callum chased after me.

His eyes held questions when he saw me in the chair, but also scrutiny and anger.

"Ten years ago was it really Veronica who bullied you?"

"Her mother was forced to marry your father. So tell me, who was the real abuser?!"

My eyes fixed on the childish handwriting in the notebook:

[Today, Sienna poured boiling water on herself again. She said this way Callum would protect her forever. ]

[Sienna says I bully her, but I'm just an unloved orphan girl]

[Callum is sending me to prison. He only believes her.]

[It's okay. I guess it's because I like him so much.]

[I wish he could spare a little of that liking for me too]

My vision blurred with tears.

Here we go again. Just like ten years ago.

Veronica, playing the fragile victim, turning everyone against me, setting thugs on me.

No one believed me. Except Callum.

But Callum

A ripping, hammering agony tore through my abdomen.

"Sienna, what's wrong"

"Don't touch me!" I warned sharply, clutching my stomach, voice weak with hate.

"Don't you dare touch me with those hands that touched her!"

His hand froze mid-air.

A disbelieving, cold laugh escaped him.

"You still won't admit it, will you, Sienna?!"

He shoved me away in disappointment and turned to leave.

I couldn't hold on, tumbling from the wheelchair.

Before darkness took me, I saw Callum pull open the hospital room door and walk back inside.

Death Penalty Countdown: 40:00:00.

Stage 2 Penalty: Uterus Destruction.

In a chaotic dream, I was back in that summer ten years ago.

The fists and cigarette burns on my skin.

Clothes torn until they couldn't cover me.

The scalding, foul liquid poured over my face.

In that darkness, I just wanted to die.

It was Callum who pulled me back from the rooftop's edge, his warm kisses and scalding tears falling on my scarred skin.

He held me tight, sobbing, begging me not to leave, swearing he'd make them pay a hundredfold.

"My Sienna, you will surely be the happiest, I promise."

The boy who fought with everything to give me a second life, today stood shielding my tormentor, looking down at me and demand,

"Who was the real abuser?"

A vicious, drilling pain in my lower abdomen pulled me back to consciousness.

I woke up groggy, lying in our bed at the villa.

I touched my stomach.

After the searing pain, a damp, sticky patch of blood remained.

I could feel it. My uterus, just like in the game when Callum brutally removed it, was gone again.

The door crashed open. Callum walked in, a woman in a white dress cradled in his arms.

"Vacate the bedroom. Veronica needs proper care."

His voice was frost. "Sienna. This is what we owe her."

Ignoring the dragging pain in my abdomen, I pushed myself up, teeth gritted.

"This is our marital bed! Our home! I'll give it to her over my dead body!"

Callum gently laid Veronica on the bed, then clamped a hand around my throat and dragged me off.

"Did you think about today when you played me for a fool ten years ago? When you made me send Veronica to prison?"

I hit the floor hard with his movement, blood trickling from between my legs, pooling on the floor.

The shocking red immobilized Callum.

His voice trembled with raw fear.

"So much blood Sienna, don't scare me like this!"

Stumbling, he gathered me up to run. "Don't be scared, baby. I'm taking you to a doctor"

With the last of my strength, I fisted his collar, my weak voice a whisper at his ear.

"Callum. Listen once and for all."

"I never lied to you. You're just a fool"

Callum choked back a sob, clasping my hand tightly in his.

"Don't talk, Sienna. I believe you. Let's just get you help, okay?"

I curled into his chest, darkness finally claiming me from blood loss.

"Where's the damn doctor?! Why aren't they here yet?!"

"So you're telling me there's no physical wound?"

Floating in and out, I heard Callum roaring at the family doctor.

The doctor sounded equally puzzled. "We ran every test. There's no sign of any injury on Mrs. Thorne"

Callum fell silent, then let out a derisive snort.

"So. Another ploy for my sympathy?"

"Sienna, how many more times will you lie to me?!"

Furious, he turned and slammed the door shut.

The crash jolted me awake. I opened my eyes, tears falling coldly.

Callum. Your trust was always so fragile.

The doctor, thinking I was out, walked to a corner and dialed a number.

"Yep, told Mr. Thorne his wife is perfectly fine."

"Of course he bought it. Doesn't seem that into her anyway."

"Your vegetative state records are flawless, don't worry. Love you, Veronica."

My fingers clenched the sheets. Veronica. Of course.

All these elaborate traps. What do you even want?

Staring at the bloody 24:00:00countdown,

I decided. Before I go, I'm taking you with me!

In the dead of night, I wheeled myself to the bedroom.

Veronica still lay there.

I leaned close, my whisper a breath against her ear.

"Veronica. What do you think Callum would do if he heard a recording of you and the doctor plotting?"

Her eyes stayed shut, but a mean, vicious smile stretched her lips.

Before I could react, something cold was shoved into my hand, then forcedmy hand forcedtowards Veronica.

The bedroom door burst open.

A powerful grip seized my wrist.

Callum and I both saw it at the same time: the sharp knife in my hand.

"Sienna! Have you lost your mind?! Who said you could hurt her?!"

Callum's hand tightened, wrenching the knife from my grip. The pain made my whole arm shake.

"Ah! Callum let go I didn't do it!"

"You didn't?! Who else here would want to hurt her?!"

I struggled to explain. "Callum, she's not even comatose"

He let out a humorless laugh, yanking my wrist and throwing me to the floor.

My arm hit the bedside vase. I crashed onto the shattered pieces, my exposed arms and legs instantly a bloody mess.

"She's lying in bed! How could she stab herself?!"

"Security!"

Callum ordered the guards to haul me out to the lawn.

He stood before me, holding the bloodied knife.

The warmth was gone from his eyes, replaced by ice and madness.

I couldn't stop trembling, a cold sweat soaking my back.

"Don't do this Callum, please" I begged.

Callum grabbed my chin, forcing my head up.

"Sienna. Say you're sorry. Say you'll never hurt Veronica again."

I stared at him, disbelief turning to ash. "Never. Callum. It's her or me."

Hearing that, even the muscles around Callum's mouth twitched.

"Fine. Fine. Looks like you need a lesson!"

He slashed my collar open with the knife, the tip piercing my skin, sinking in inch by inch.

"Say you're sorry! Say you won't dare again! Say it!"

I spat a mouthful of blood. "Go to hell!"

Feeling the blade creep toward my heart, a numb thought surfaced: Maybe dying by his hand isn't so bad.

You saved me ten years ago.

Let me return the favor.

"Callum! Stop!!"

A weak, girlish voice called out.

I turned my head.

The "vegetative" Veronica leaned in the doorway, gazing adoringly at Callum.

Callum shuddered. The knife clattered to the ground.

But he didn't turn to look.

"Don't" Veronica coughed weakly, a sob in her voice. "Don't hurt my sister"

"Having died once I get it now. Let it all be my fault"

Callum still didn't turn, as if afraid she'd vanish if he did.

He just squeezed my shoulder harder, blind to the blood soaking half my body.

"What, you saved my life, but you won't even look at me?!"

Tears streamed down Veronica's face. She turned to leave, then collapsed.

At the sound, Callum's face changed. He staggered towards her.

Watching his retreating back, watching him gather Veronica in his arms like a lost treasure found,

I finally crumpled into the pool of my own blood.

Callum carried Veronica into the villa without a backward glance.

Leaving a bunch of guards and a barely-conscious me in awkward silence.

"What do we do? Take the Mrs. back in?"

"But Mr. Thorne said she can't leave until she apologizes"

"Ah, forget it. Doubt she'll be Mrs. Thorne much longer. Just toss her in the basement for now."

They dumped me on the cold basement floor.

Blood loss made my limbs go numb.

Of course, that's when the system pinged.

Death Penalty Countdown: 18:00:00.

Stage 3 Penalty: Chains Through Collarbone.

Massive chains erupted from the basement wall, spearing through my collarbones.

Just like the one Callum had personally fastened on me before we left the game.

I weakly spat blood, feeling my life drain away.

Thinking of Callum's unexplainable behavior, I tried talking to the system.

"System. Did Callum make a deal with you too?"

The system's mechanical voice crackled: Yes.

"Was it his memories of me? Or his love?"

Nothing else explained how he'd forgotten the past that hurt me most.

After a moment, it answered: For plausibility, not 'lost' memories, but 'blurred' memories.

It mimicked Callum's deal in a high-pitched, learning-algorithm voice:

"Even if the memories are fuzzy, I'll fall for Sienna all over again."

"Loving her is my fate. I can't let her die here."

Tears instantly blurred my vision. I couldn't tell if my heart or my body hurt more.

Callum's love was life itself to him. Yet he still wavered for Veronica.

He still caused me irreparable harm.

I loved him. And I hated him with equal force.

The system's cold voice returned: "Player Callum's deal took precedence. Therefore, Player Sienna's deal was unsuccessful."

I laughed, wiping my tears.

"Then I'll change my reward."

Callum, the life you saved is yours again.

From now on, we're even.

We're done.

Death Penalty Countdown: 4:00:00.

Time meant nothing in the basement. Only the death countdown mattered.

I waited calmly for it to hit zero, to embrace the final death the system had planned.