A Marriage Built On Her Survival Novel by WriterLola _ Novel




A Marriage Built On Her Survival Chapter 01

After Veronica Thornton, my husband's cousin, finally achieved her dream of getting into the royal palace, he made me take the Sensation-Swapping Pill, swapping my physical sensations with hers.
When someone poisoned her and destroyed her vocal cords, the agony left me mute for two weeks.
When she offended the Queen and was caned thirty times, the trauma kept me bedridden for an entire month.
And when someone slipped her an abortion pill, I endured cramps so excruciating I almost blacked out.
I begged Ronald Norrington, my husband, for the antidote. He only held me, his expression filled with shallow remorse.
"This is the absolute last time," he promised. "Vera told me she's done with the King. She begged me to get her out of the palace. If you take this suspended-animation pill, she can fake her own death. After the funeral, the three of us can just live a quiet life together."
With that, he slipped the pill past my lips. The second I swallowed it, a sharp, searing pain exploded in my gut.
I knew instantly—something was wrong. The two pills were reacting against each other.
***
I vomited dark blood, my body writhing in uncontrollable spasms.
Something was entirely wrong. This wasn't like the pain I was used to.
The agony from the Sensation-Swapping Pill always felt external. But this pain was different—it began deep within my organs and tore outward.
"Ronald, get a doctor," I gasped out. "Something's wrong with this pill."
He only tightened his hold on me, gently wiping the blood from my lips. "Just hold on a little longer. It'll pass. Nobody can know about this pill, or Vera's life is on the line."
Veronica, always Veronica. It felt like my only purpose in life was to suffer in her stead.
He gave me a sip of water and smoothed back my tangled hair. "This is the last time, Penny. Once Vera is out of the palace, I'll give you the antidote to the Sensation-Swapping Pill, and we can move on with our lives."
The irony almost made me laugh. Even from within the palace walls, Veronica had already made me endure poison, beatings, and endless torment. I didn't even want to imagine what would happen if we lived under the same roof.
But I didn't have the energy to fight him. Shaking, I clutched my stomach. "Ronald, it hurts so bad."
The words barely left my mouth before another wave of intense pain ripped through my abdomen. I curled into a tight ball uncontrollably, drenched in cold sweat.
I tried to scream, but nothing came out except broken whimpers.
Ronald stood nearby, frowning at my pale face in clear annoyance. "Penny, you're the one who swallowed the suspended-animation pill. Vera should be the one feeling the pain right now, not you."
He rubbed his forehead, looking helpless. "Stop pulling this stunt. When Vera gets back, I'll make sure she thanks you. Is that enough?"
I opened my mouth, desperate to tell him the pain was real—that I would die if he didn't call a doctor.
But he had already turned away, his gaze fixed anxiously on the distant palace.
Soon, a bell began to toll in the distance. Ronald mouthed the numbers. One, two, three.
His eyes lit up. "That's the death knell. It worked! Vera faked her death."
He sounded ecstatic. I had never seen him look so happy—not even on our wedding day.
When he first gave me the Sensation-Swapping Pill, he claimed it was to use Veronica's robust health to cure my chronic frailty, to make me strong enough to bear a child.
We had been married for years without conceiving, yet he had never once pressured me. Now, seeing the pure joy on his face, the truth finally snapped into place—one I had been avoiding all along.
"Ronald," I choked out. "Why did you give me that Sensation-Swapping Pill?"
He hesitated, a quick flash of guilt crossing his face as he rubbed his nose.
"The palace is incredibly dangerous, and Vera is just too naive. I was worried someone would hurt her before she even knew what was happening." He shot me an apologetic look. "But you're different, Penny. You're right here with me. If anything happens, I can get a doctor to treat you right away. You're perfectly safe."
So that was the reason.
My body had been absorbing every injury Veronica suffered. And because he believed I could simply be treated afterward, he used me as her shield—without a trace of guilt.
I turned my head and squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to look at him.
After what felt like an eternity, Ronald finally stepped closer and pulled the blankets up to my chin.
"Penny, I'm so sorry about the Sensation-Swapping Pill," he murmured, gently stroking my hair. "Once Vera is back, we can have a child.
"That way, I wouldn't exactly be lying. Just get some rest. I'll check on you later." He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead.
A wave of intense nausea rolled through me. I felt like I was going to throw up.
Three years ago, I had been the one slated to enter the royal palace.
Then Ronald showed up out of nowhere. He arrived with engagement gifts, claiming he'd been in love with me for a long time and wanted to make me his lawful wife. He even swore to my parents he'd never take a mistress.
His sincerity won us all over. So I married him, and the duty of entering the palace fell to Veronica.
Looking back, the timing was way too perfect.
The day of his proposal, the day Veronica left for the palace, and the moment the doctors diagnosed me with a "frail, cold constitution"—it all lined up seamlessly.
Perhaps he'd married me just to pave the way for Veronica from the very start.
Through the closed bedroom door, I could hear Ronald's voice, buzzing with excitement.
"Get the fox fur shawl ready—Vera hates the cold. Bring out the gold-embroidered bed hangings.
"Tell the kitchen to prepare their finest tonics and keep everything warm so it's ready the second she gets here.
"Oh, and move those tulips in here, too. Vera loves them."
I traced the emerald bracelet on my wrist. When Ronald proposed, he'd given me this family heirloom to prove his sincerity, claiming it belonged exclusively to the matriarch of the Norrington family.
If it weren't for this bracelet, I never would have bought into his act so easily. Thinking about it now, he had poured a ton of money and effort into setting all this up for Veronica.
Smiling bitterly, I slipped the bracelet off. That was when I noticed a hairline crack on the inside of the band. I picked at it with my fingernail, and a fine green powder flaked away.
Turned out the jewelry was a cheap fake. Just like his affection.
And yet, I had endured three years of agonizing, very real pain for his lies.

READ FULL NOVEL HERE