Nolthen's voice immediately softened and he hung up the phone with a bang, rushing to coax him.

I put the phone down and sneered.

Chris died, what else could hold me back now?

The Hill Family had been reported for corruption and bribery, with a high debt base and bankruptcy and had been removed from the Celestia Stock Exchange business district.

He wanted to freeload my family's arsenal to help the Hill Family make a comeback.

Then I would use theese arsenal to bury him!

He believed I would compromise.

He was eager to use Eaton Corporation as collateral for Hill Group, borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars to repay its debts.

In order to expand Hill Group's business, he even embezzled Eaton Corporation's funds to run it.

But he didn't seem to consider, if he didn't have the funds to cover his willful behavior, the Eaton Family's century-old foundation would be destroyed in his hands.

To please Kaitlyn, he took her on trips all day, often flying for three to five days at a time.

Til a month later when they returned from their trip, Nolthen asked me out and handed me something as a gift.

"Calista, here's the lucky charm."

Seeing the lucky charm on the table, I momentarily froze and lost in thought.

The Aaldorp and Eaton families were old friends and Nolthen and I were engaged since childhood.

But different from ordinary arranged-marriage, genuine affection involved between us.

When I was fifteen, Nolthen and I were hiking the mountain. Unfortunately, we fell off the cliff and suffered heavy bleeding.

Terrified and pale, he picked me up and rushed to the hospital. To save me, he had the doctor draw 1200 milliliters of his blood.

Since then, he had been going to the most sacred and secret place in another city every year to get a lucky charm for me.

No exception for this year.

"Keep it."

Seeing me no response, he urged me with a smile as if waiting for something deeply touching.

Kaitlyn affectionately took his arm and sat down next to him.

Pointed to the lucky charm around her neck, her voice smug as if showing off.

She pointed to the amulet hanging around her neck, her voice proud, as if showing off.

"Calista, please accept it! Nolthen took me on a three-hour mountain hike to get it. Don't be embarrassed. He also got one for me."

"My bad, I have bad physical condition. I ran out of energy after just over ten minutes of hiking. Nolthen carried me up and down the mountain almost the entire time."

The man's face changed slightly. He unconsciously glanced at me and pretended to be calm, picking up a sweet shrimp and popping it into her mouth.

"You talk too much!" He chided.

His action was so natural, as if he had been done them countless times.

I coldly stared at them and pushed the lucky charm back.

"I don't need it."

The sacred and secret place had a special rule: each visitor could only ask for one lucky charm at a time.

Til I noticed -- the lucky charm Kaitlyn was holding was the one he had prayed for, while the one he gave me was just one point four dollars from a street stall at the foot of the mountain.

The air froze for a moment.

Kaitlyn gritted her teeth and her eyes immediately turned red.

"I think Calista isn't happy to see me. I'd rather go, so as not to provoke anyone."

"Don't go."

He immediately said with slightly darkened face and grabbed her.

Then glared at me and threw the lucky charm he gave me into the trash can.

"I'll throw it away since you don't need it. I've spoiled you too much."

"I was thinking of releasing your brother, but now it seems unnecessary. If you still don't know what's good for you, then let your brother stay locked up for a while longer."

He took Kaitlyn away without even looking at me.

I suddenly had a surge of blood, wanted to rush over and tell him that Chris was already dead.

But as soon as I stood up, I felt a wave of dizziness and my eyes went black and I passed out.

When I woke up in the hospital, I received shocking news.

The doctor said I was already two months pregnant.

My mind went blank.

It must have happened the night of our engagement party, when we had drunken sex.

I walked out of the hospital in a daze, with a pregnancy test report in hand, struggling whether to keep the baby or not.

I should have gotten rid of it, but it was a life.

I accidentally bumped into a woman walking towards me.

"Sorry."

I apologized immediately, looking up to meet Kaitlyn's surprised face.

When her eyes fell on the report in my hand, she clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white.

I put the report away and quickly left.

She chased after me with a malicious look on her face, raising her voice and pushing me to the side of the road.

"Calista, why are you near the hospital? Are you feeling unwell? I'll take you inside."

"Nolthen not only brought me home, but also prepared some underwear for me. I have to repay you."

Attracting the attention of passersby, she punched me hard in the stomach from an angle where no one could see.

Her once harmless face suddenly turned sinister and vicious.

"I thought your brother's death would deter you, but I didn't expect you to use your pregnancy to compete for favor. I won't do as you wish."

Like a thunderbolt shattered my rationality.

"It's you!"

The one who killed Chris!

Hatred surged up and I pushed her away at all costs.

She fell backwards, frowning and weeping.

Her fair and tender palm hit the ground, blood dripping out.

"Calista, I just want to do something for you. If you mind it, fine. Why hurt me?"

She bitterly cried, successfully drawing the attention of passersby.

They helped her up, then pointed at me and cursed me.

"Vicious woman! No wonder Mr. Eaton broke off his engagement. We here saw you pushed her."

"Women like you deserve to be abandoned. Shameless!"

The more they spoke, the more excited they became. I didn't know who kicked me, but it happened to hit my abdomen. The pain made me pale and I collapsed to the ground.

"Ah!"

The unfamiliar cramping in my abdomen left me speechless.

Seeing I remained silent, they assumed I was guilty and gripped my hair even more fiercely, attempting to assault me.

Just as the slap was about to land, a large hand gripped it tightly.

"Dare to touch her?"

The man's furious voice exploded in my ears, making my mind clear for a moment.

It was Nolthen!

Seeing my pale face, he rarely felt angry with a flash of rage in his eyes.

"Who hurt her?"

A furious roar sent panic through the crowd.

"Kaitlyn?"

He stumbled upon her in the crowd and startled.

Kaitlyn visibly panicked, frantically opening her hand stained with blood and sobbing.

"I saw her feel unwell and wanted to take her to the hospital, but she blamed me for living with you and pushed me away in anger."

"If only my dad hadn't died, I wouldn't have suffered such injustice."

Seeing her bloody palm, his pupils shrank and his expression suddenly changed.

He came up to me with a gloomy face and questioned, "You did it?"

"Isn't it your own fault?"

I shook my head.

Half-unconscious, couldn't bear the pain, couldn't defend myself.

He lost patience and suddenly kicked me hard in the abdomen.

His harsh, fierce voice chilled down my spine.

"Just this once, if there's another time, your brother will never get out."

With that, he lifted Kaitlyn up and walked away.

The excruciating pain spread from my abdomen and a warm, crimson fluid oozed from my lower body.

I knew I couldn't save the child.

I curled up on the ground in agony, letting my consciousness fade into darkness.

Soon, I woke up, with the passerby brought me to the hospital -- sure, the child died.

The incident of the day was posted online and widely reported by the media:

[A young tycoon, Nolthen Eaton, in a fit of rage, wildly kicked his fiancee to cause serious injury. Does the orphan girl from the Hills have a chance of succeeding to her position?]

Below the headline, was a photo of my blood-stained jacket from that day.

Kaitlyn was thrust into the spotlight for now. With various reactions from netizens.

To protect her reputation, Nolthen immediately hired a network of online influencers.

Falsely claiming that I was the one jealous, intentionally making things difficult for her and causing her to get hurt and that he had only just given me a lesson after losing his patience.

Even my blood-stained jacket belonged to Kaitlyn.

Overnight, all the blame was directed at me, even Aaldorp Group was affected and the stock was on the verge of hitting the limit down.

I was trembling with anger and even after a miscarriage, I was rushed to the hospital.

Upon hearing the news of my hospitalization, Nolthen rushed to see me overnight, bringing my favorite cake.

Seeing my pale and bloodless face, a hint of heartache -- he was not even aware of, flashed in his eyes.

Stood by my bedside, hesitating for a long time before letting out a long sigh.

"Calista, I know you've been wronged, but you shouldn't vent your anger on Kaitlyn, right? Now that things have gotten out of hand, you're the only one left to shoulder the brunt of it. Anyway, it started with you being unhappy about her living in my house."

"You have a brother and parents, your family, but she no longer has parents, not even family. If I don't protect her, who else?"

"When did your jacket get stained with blood? Isn't it red ink?"

He scanned my body with a scrutinizing gaze and breathed a sigh of relief as he found no injuries.

"Okay, let's both make some concessions. And you need to stop looking so sullen."

"I promise to compensate you double after we get married. And I'll invite the media to live stream the entire wedding, okay?"

He said as if he were doing me a great favor and I should kneel down and thank him.

I slowly shifted my gaze from the window to his face and just as he was about to leave, I suddenly called out to him.

"Nolthen, are you sure the stain on my jacket is red ink? Not my blood?"

Hearing this, he paused in his footsteps and suddenly turned around.

"Impossible, I just kicked you in the stomach. Besides, no bandages on your body, how could it be your blood?"

He felt inexplicably panicked, anxious.

Puzzled gaze wandered uncontrollably over me.

I smiled.

"Yeah, I was just teasing you."

This sentence successfully angered him, making his face turn pale with anger.

"Calista! Is this something you can even joke about? I warn you not to test my patience!"

"Get some rest, I'll come pick you up next week."

With that, he turned around and left angrily.

To his unknown, no future for us.

To the wedding day, I got on the Rousselet Family's wedding car early to leave.

While waiting for the red light at an intersection, I unexpectedly ran into Nolthen's wedding procession.

He sat in the back seat, his peripheral vision met mine.

"Calista?"

He shuddered.

The moment he looked back, I had already rolled up the window, blocking his view.

Nolthen felt strangely uneasy and tried to get off the car to check.

At that moment, the red light turned green and Serge Winslet, his secretary hurriedly stopped him, sweating profusely.

"Mr. Eaton, getting off the car now will delay the bride's arrival. More importantly, if we don't immediately secure access to the arsenal, we won't be able to explain to the buyer."

"You must repay the Eaton Corporation's you embezzled today. And if you don't repay the debt you guaranteed for the Hill Group today, the Eaton Corporation will be liquidated."

A single word awakened the dreamer.

Nolthen snapped back to his senses, suppressed his uneasiness and said coldly, "Drive!"

The two wedding processions passed each other.

I rolled down the car window, fiddled with my phone -- a subtle smile crossed my lips.

Nolthen, I hope you enjoy the surprise I've left for you later.