All Chapters of Locked on the Balcony While He Cheats: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

Hunter Gibson clenched his phone, gloomy. Staring at the balcony beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, he let out a cold laugh."How much longer are you going to keep this act up, Stella? Wasn't a whole night of playing the victim enough for you?"He strode toward the balcony door. The moment his hand closed around the handle, my soul, floating in midair, seemed to tremble ever-so-slightly.All he had to do was push the door open. Then he would see me curled up in the corner, frozen solid like an ice sculpture.But he didn't. Instead, his gaze slipped through the gap in the half-drawn curtains and landed on the escape rope hanging from the railing.I had tied it there last night when I was trying to save myself, but my hands and feet had been so numb from the cold that I hadn't had the strength to climb it.Hunter's eyes followed the rope downward until he spotted the footprints the delivery driver had left below. A mocking smile spread across his face."Well done, Stella. How im

Chapter 2

Determined to force me out of hiding and humiliate me, Hunter made a point of taking Winter to his company the next day in full view of everyone.He drove the Porsche that he had originally gifted me and walked hand in hand with her into the executive elevator.At lunchtime, they dined at his favorite private restaurant. Winter eagerly placed a piece of meat near his mouth. "Here, Hunter. Have more."Hunter took a bite and immediately frowned. The greasy food made his stomach churn.Almost by instinct, he picked up his phone and opened the pinned chat labeled "Wifey". His finger hovered over the message box as he considered asking me to bring him his medicine.In the past, no matter where he was entertaining clients, I would rush over with medicine if his stomach acted up. I would even bring him warm soup made specially for his sensitive stomach.He used to hold me close and say, "Stella, what would I do without you?"Now, his hand froze. He suddenly remembered I had "run away f

Chapter 3

By the time work was over, Hunter was drunk out of his mind.Winter helped him back home. The moment they stepped through the door, Bella charged toward him.Both of her front paws were already bloody from scratching at the glass all day. She bit into Hunter's pant leg and desperately tried to drag him toward the balcony.She barked desperately, begging for help on behalf of the owner who could no longer speak for herself.Looking at Bella's bloodied paws, I felt my heart shatter. "Bella, please stop begging him… There's no point when he's a monster!"Hunter stumbled as Bella tugged at him. The irritation and hostility inside him exploded. "Get off me! You miss that bitch, don't you?"He kicked her so hard that she was sent flying. She slammed into the wall and let out a painful whimper. Even then, she struggled to get back onto her feet.My soul trembled. I threw myself around her, trying to shield her, all while shrieking at Hunter, "Stop hitting her! Please, just stay away fr

Chapter 4

My body hit the carpet with a dull thud.What a tragic sight it was. I wore nothing but thin pajamas, my body swollen and mottled purple from the cold. Frost clung delicately to my face and hair. Even in death, my hands curled protectively around my stomach.Amid the deathly silence, only the cheerful tune of Christmas songs played in the background.The cold smile on Hunter's face melted. He stumbled backward two steps. "S-Stella? W-What are you doing? This isn't funny! Come on, get up!"He whipped his head around and searched through the crowd. Then, he grabbed a man who was quietly backing away. "Luke! Luke, get over here!"Luke Miller was his childhood friend and one of the city's top surgeons.Hunter clutched him by the collar and dragged him to my body. The muscles in his face twitched. In his voice was sheer manic pleading."Check on her! She's just pranking me, right? Tell everybody that she's still alive! She's just… frozen stiff. Once she warms up, she'll wake up, righ

Chapter 5

When Hunter woke up, he found himself in a VIP hospital room. Luke sat by his bedside, his expression complicated."My condolences, Hunter," he said, handing him a glass of water.Hunter didn't take it. He stared at the ceiling like he had lost his soul. After a long silence, he asked in a hoarse voice, "What did the cops say?"Luke sighed. "They've taken over the case. The autopsy report is also out. The time of death was estimated to be around midnight yesterday. The cause of death was severe hypothermia leading to cardiac arrest."In other words, she… froze to death."Hunter's hand tightened around the bedsheet until his knuckles turned white."And there's more."Luke hesitated, then pulled another report from the folder. "About that photo you showed at the party, and about Winter claiming she was drugged… Well, the police investigated both."The so-called proof of them eloping is a heavily edited photo. The original image was a college photo of you and Stella, except that y

Chapter 6

Hunter went mad.After finishing his statement at the police station, the first thing he did was go to the funeral home and take my body back. Ignoring everyone's objections, he spent a fortune having a temperature-controlled glass coffin made.He then placed it right smack in the middle of the living room. The place he had once deemed unpleasant and detestable had now become his sanctuary.Not only did he not move out, but he even tore down the balcony door, the very one where my frozen fingers had clawed at. The freezing wind howled through the open space and poured into the villa.The temperature inside became just as cold as outside.Hunter sat beside the coffin, wearing just a thin white shirt, barefoot. His lips had turned blue from the cold. Frost covered his eyelashes. Still, he refused to put on a coat or turn on the heater."Stella must've felt colder than this," he murmured, holding my hand through the glass. "I'll stay with you. Only when I'm freezing will you believe

Chapter 7

Mom and Dad came to the house a week after my death.Within days, they looked as if they had aged a decade, their hair grayer than ever. Dad came holding a stick, ready to beat the man who had killed his daughter to death.Hunter didn't dodge. He knelt on the floor and let every blow land on his back. The hits tore his skin open, yet he didn't make a sound."Mom, Dad… Please let me stay with Stella a little longer…" he pleaded humbly, head on the floor.Mom looked at Hunter's broken, barely human figure. There was no sympathy in her eyes, just a hatred born from unbearable grief.She pulled out a thick diary from her coat—its corners worn from years of use—and threw it at his face."We found this while sorting through her belongings. Read it carefully and see what you missed over the past three years! Most importantly, I want you to see what kind of monster you'd been to her!"That was my pregnancy diary.Hunter's trembling hands slowly opened it. The first page was written a y

Chapter 8

I didn't know if it was mercy from the universe, but somehow, Hunter survived.I hovered midair in the ICU, watching coldly as he was tortured by the stomach pump, his body writhing in pain. The timing of his assistant breaking in was almost too perfect, perfect enough to make me sick.When Hunter opened his eyes, his throat was raw and swollen from the tube. When he spoke, his voice sounded like a broken machine. "Why'd you save me? I wanna be with Stella…"His assistant didn't answer. Instead, he threw a document onto the bedside table. "Gibson Group is done, sir."The stock price had collapsed. Investors pulled out. Partners terminated their contracts. And after spending the past month throwing money around like a madman to build a case against Winter, the company finally ran out of cash. The man who once held enough power to make the entire city tremble with a single move was now drowning in debt. People now avoided and looked down on him.I thought Hunter would lose his min

Chapter 9

Three years later, on Christmas Eve, a familiar tragedy repeated from that night.Another heavy snowfall, another night where the snow sealed the doors shut. Inside the haunted villa, it bore no difference from an ice cellar.It had been three days since Hunter last ate anything. He could feel his life slowly slipping away as easily as a feather drifting along the wind.He leaned against the freezing wall, clutching the blood-stained diary and the yellowed ultrasound report. "Stella, it's Christmas Eve again… Say, do you think there will be a surprise this year?"His cracked lips moved slightly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a match he had picked up from the roadside. With a scratch, the match ignited.A tiny flame flickered in the darkness, the weak light reflecting in his cloudy eyes.Just as the match was about to burn out, Hunter slipped into a dying hallucination. The darkness before his eyes faded. Instead, the ruined villa was restored to its glorious state fro

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