The diving team used to gossip behind my back, calling me Zayn's "puppy." Zayn didn't hesitate for a second. He stood up, grabbed my hand, and made an announcement to everyone: "Marie is my girlfriend. Anyone who talks about her behind her back will have to dive with me twenty times!" That was the moment our relationship became official, and just like that, the rumors stopped.

Zayn was incredibly gentle with me. During the holidays, we'd dive around the world together, and he always made sure to capture the most beautiful photos of me. When I was tired, he'd brew me hot tea and give me soothing massages. When I cried watching Finding Nemo, Zayn took me to the Great Barrier Reef to dive with thousands of clownfish, surrounded only by their families. He made a gesture to reassure me, silently promising that everything would be okay.

At the Atlantis Aquarium Hotel, surrounded by fish, Zayn proposed to me. He was in his diving suit, holding up a ring outside the glass, while everyone in the hotel cheered, shouting, "Marry him!" The video of his proposal went viral with over two million likes. Many of the female team members said to me, "Marie, you're so lucky to marry Zayn."

But then, the truth hit me like a ton of bricks: I was just Michelle's replacement.

One day, I found a picture in Zayn's locker. It was of him holding Michelle in his arms, smiling on a dive. My heart sank. I doubted myself, and the thought of walking away from this marriage crossed my mind. But every time Zayn was kind to me, I found myself questioning if real love even existed.

Things got even worse when Michelle came to the Maldives to be a mermaid. Zayn's attitude towards me turned icy. He became impatient, disgusted with me, and ignored me for Michelle. I kept making excuses for him. After Michelle died in my previous life, Zayn acted calm, searching for rare tonics for me and staying by my side while I gave birth to our child. I mistakenly thought that meant I had truly won his love.

But then, when I was killed by him, I finally saw the truth. Zayn never really loved me. That was the bitter truth I had to accept across two lifetimes.

I woke up to the sterile scent of hospital disinfectant. The doctor's words were gentle, almost pitying: "Your arm tendons are severely damaged, and you'll be limited for the next five years. Whether you can dive again depends on your recovery." He paused before adding, "You sustained a severe abdominal injury. It was too late to treat it. Your uterus ruptured, and you lost the child. It's not advisable for you to get pregnant again."

The pain in my heart was sharper than any physical injury. My dear child, I couldn't protect you like I should have. I only wished you could be born into a family full of love, free of the pain I couldn't shield you from.

The nurse, her eyes red, gently asked, "Where's the father of the child?"

"Dead," I whispered.

She blinked, confused. "Are you the wife of star rescue captain Zayn? I just saw him with another female patient."

That was when my phone buzzed with a message from Michelle. It was a photo of Zayn feeding her red glutinous rice dumplings. He'd made them himself, and I could see burn ointment on the back of his hand. I had seen this kind of intimate photo countless times before and had grown numb to it.

My phone exploded with notifications. The shark bite incident was all over the news. Zayn, along with the diving team's investors, came forward to explain. Zayn bowed deeply, apologizing publicly and accusing me of luring sharks to attack people out of jealousy, taking up valuable public resources.

Michelle, wearing a hospital gown and looking both cold and pitiful, gazed at Zayn with affection. "Marie must have misunderstood," she said. "Although I have a concussion, I'll forgive her, since she's Zayn's wife..."

The three of them, Zayn, Michelle, and the investors, joined forces to push me to the center of a cyberbullying storm. All the love videos Zayn and I made were deleted, and my inbox was flooded with cruel messages from every social media platform. Meanwhile, Zayn's heroic acts and Michelle's forgiveness were praised by thousands of people. Some netizens even dug up their five-year love story and expressed regret that it had been interrupted by me.

Marketing accounts seized the opportunity to stir the pot, with one claiming, "The love between the kind mermaid princess and the star captain was broken up by the third party, Marie!"

I sent Zayn a simple message: [Divorce]

He called immediately, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Finally realized you were wrong? Or is it because of the backlash from the internet? Why haven't you apologized to Michelle yet?"

Zayn sneered, "Don't pretend. You won't divorce me even for the child!"

I replied coldly, "The child is gone."

On the other end of the phone, there was nothing but silence.