When our eyes met, I saw a flicker of hesitation in his gaze.

But the moment Rosalie let out a soft whimper, he grew impatient.

"They're just a few useless weeds and they even pricked Rosalie's finger. They have to go."

My eyes red-rimmed, I watched as the servants uprooted each of the roses I had painstakingly cared for twelve years.

They threw them into the dirt, stomped on them and crushed them until their broken juices oozed out.

"Stop! All of you, stop it!"

I burst into tears and couldn't help rushing forward.

Before I could even reach them, Sawyer grabbed me and pulled me back. "That's enough! Rosalie is pregnant. Do you really want to see her and the baby get hurt before you're satisfied? When did you become so malicious and selfish?"

Furious, he strode forward, his leather shoes trampling over the withered roses, grinding them mercilessly beneath his heels.

His voice was icy as he issued his warning.

"This is just a small lesson. If you dare harm Rosalie again, I won't let you off so easily."

I stared at him in a daze as if someone had me by the throat. Every breath I took was thick with the metallic tang of pain.

The tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over, streaming down my face.

Sawyer would never know that what he had trampled wasn't just a rose. It was twelve years of love between us.

Seeing me like this, his heart tightened and his expression involuntarily softened. "Christy."

Without waiting for him to get close, Rosalie raised her index finger with a mini band-aid on it, covered her chest and fell into his arms.

"Sawyer, I can't breathe. It's probably because I was pricked by the rose thorns just now and lost too much blood. If my Christy likes it, you should plant it back for her. It's okay for me to suffer a little. After all, she is your wife."

"Nonsense! You're the mother of my child! Who dares to make you suffer?"

With that, he yelled for the servants to call the family doctor.

Rosalie gave a pitiful sigh. "It's no use. I'm too frail. The priest said only a blessed safety amulet from the old church can keep me safe."

I suddenly looked up, my face pale, my trembling hands pressing down hard on the safety amulet around my neck.

It was the only keepsake my mother left me.

After she died, Sawyer, fearing I would be too heartbroken, found a professional restorer who, without damaging the amulet, placed a lock of my mother's ashes inside it.

He frowned, a flicker of struggle in his eyes, as Rosalie, putting on an act, started to sob.

"It's okay. I was never worthy of anything that belonged to your wife anyway. I'm just a nameless tool. It's just a pity for our poor baby, having to suffer along with me."

As soon as she finished speaking, the hesitation in Sawyer's eyes vanished instantly. His tone turned icy.

"Just let Rosalie borrow it for a while. Once she gives birth, she'll return it."

My eyes burned, my voice trembling uncontrollably. "Sawyer, that contains my mom's… "

He cut me off impatiently. "She's been dead for years. What's with all the melodrama? Besides, if your mom can protect Rosalie and the baby, it'll only bring you blessings."

"Christy, hand it over. I don't want to lay my hands on you."

I knew that if I didn't hand over the amulet today, Sawyer wouldn't stop.

He could destroy my most cherished roses for a small scratch on Rosalie.

Naturally, he could also destroy my mother's keepsake for her flimsy lie.

I helplessly lowered my gaze, took off the amulet and handed it over.

A blatant malice flashed in Rosalie's eyes.

"Oh! So, your mom's ashes are inside? I'll be sure to take good care of it."

Bang!

The moment our fingers touched, Rosalie suddenly let go.

The amulet fell to the ground, shattering into several pieces.

The ashes instantly scattered.

"Oh, no. Your mom's ashes, they're gone."

Rosalie feigned panic, kicking and stepping on the fragments.

I quickly reached out to stop her. However, before my hand could even touch her, she stumbled backwards. That woman clutched her stomach and collapsed onto the ground.

"Ah! Christy, don't push me!"

I froze in place and Sawyer pushed me away forcefully.

Seeing Rosalie's pale face and painful groans, he raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face.

I fell backwards. My face instantly swelled, my head spinning.

"Christy, if anything happens to Rosalie, I'll make you pay with your life."

He picked up Rosalie and rushed out like a madman.

I knelt on the ground, carefully gathering the shattered pieces of the amulet, sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm sorry, Mom. It's my fault. I loved the wrong person."

I lay down on the bed, still clutching the remains, when someone suddenly yanked me up.

I met Sawyer's furious, dark gaze when I opened my eyes.

"Rosalie has been with me without any status or recognition, even bearing a child for you and instead of being grateful, how could you do something so monstrous?"

"How could you become so vicious?"

Before I could react, a voodoo doll covered in needles was thrown at my face.

I picked it up and saw Rosalie's name and a string of birth characters written on it.

"Rosalie is in critical condition, fighting for her life in the emergency room because of her premature labor and it's all your fault!"

I stared blankly at the doll, feeling nothing but exhaustion.

It was such a clumsy setup and he didn't even investigate. He just immediately assumed I did it.

Seeing me remain silent, he took it as guilt.

Ignoring my struggle, he dragged me from the bed, shoved me into his car and drove straight to the hospital.

Then he kicked me to my knees in front of the operating room.

"Kneel here and repent. You can only get up when Rosalie Stevens is out of danger and forgives you."

A dull ache spread through my lower abdomen. I remembered the child in my belly and tried to grab his sleeve.

Someone ran from the end of the hallway.

A woman in a halter top dragged a middle-aged priest with her. "Sawyer, this is the one who has been telling my daughter's fortune since she was little. He's already prepared the exorcism talisman water. As long as the person who cast the curse drinks it, my daughter and the baby will be safe."

I stared at the bowl of dark, unknown liquid and my blood ran cold.

I trembled and took two steps back, only to be restrained by Sawyer's bodyguards.

"Christy, drink the talisman water. Once Rosalie is out of danger, I'll help you persuade her. Rosalie is so kind, she'll definitely forgive you."

My face was pale as I desperately shook my head. "I didn't do anything. I won't drink it."

He sighed with a look of disappointment, then turned around. "Hold her down and force it down her throat."

I gagged. My whole body was convulsing, tears streaming down my face. "Sawyer, you're blind and heartless. You'll definitely regret this."

He just looked at me coldly.

"Christy, you have to accept punishment for what you've done wrong. You owe this to Rosalie."

After being forced to drink it, I was thrown against the wall. Before long, an excruciating, gut-wrenching pain exploded from my lower abdomen.

The agony was so intense that my vision darkened and what little strength I had left drained away rapidly.

Feeling the warm, relentless wetness spreading beneath me, my face twisted in terror.

"Sawyer."

From inside the operating room, Rosalie's weak cries rang out.

"Sawyer, I'm sorry. After I die, take good care of our child. We weren't meant to be in this life. Let's be husband and wife in the next life."

Sawyer's eyes turned bloodshot and his voice trembled. "Rosalie, I won't allow you to die! I can't live without you, do you hear me!"

Rosalie went silent. Sawyer lost control, rushing forward, frantically pounding on the operating room door.

"Rosalie, Rosalie, don't you dare die! I love you! If you come out alive, I'll marry you right away. I don't want a next life; I only want you in this time!"

He had his assistant quickly print out a divorce agreement.

Turning around, he froze for a moment at the sight of the large pool of blood beneath me, then quickly scowled in disgust.

"Rosalie is fighting for her life inside and you still have the nerve to fake your injuries with blood packs? You're truly not even half the person she is."

He grabbed my hand, forcing me to sign the divorce papers.

Then, he casually dipped my thumb in the blood from my dress and pressed it onto the agreement.

"Let's get the divorce over with. Rosalie needs me more right now."

As the divorce agreement was handed into the operating room, I, hemorrhaging badly, was discovered by a passing nurse and rushed into the emergency room.

"Severe internal organ failure. Oh my god, her uterus is completely ruined. We can't save the baby."

"She's unconscious. Get the defibrillator, now!"

In a daze, I heard the doctor's excited voice from outside the door, "The mother is conscious!"

"Congratulations, Sir. Your wife and daughter are safe."

Tears streamed down my face onto the operating table.

My hands were also falling.

At the same time, the electrocardiogram drew a straight line.