By the time I woke up the next day, Simon had already gone.

When I opened the door, I was greeted by Kelly’s smug face.

The second she saw me, her eyes filled with disdain. “Why are you still here? Didn’t you say you were leaving? You already know Simon loves me now. Why are you still clinging on like some pathetic parasite?”

I had not slept well the night before and so I did not have the energy to argue with her. Instead, I turned away and started making breakfast, while ignoring her completely.

She lifted her hand to show off a massive diamond ring. “This was custom-made in Roman by Simon just for me. It’s worth several million dollars. Have you ever seen something this nice? Oh, wait ... you probably don’t know, huh? All those luxury goods Simon gave you were fake. Every last one of them. Then again, fake goods are perfect for trash like you.”

“I’m officially the Payton Family’s daughter-in-law now. If you had even a shred of sense, you’d get down on your knees and beg for my forgiveness. Maybe if I’m feeling generous, I’ll let you off the hook.”

Her words grew nastier and nastier and finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I snapped, “Are you done? Then get the hell out!”

Thinking she was about to become the young mistress of the Payton Family, Kelly was so full of herself that she couldn’t tolerate the insult. She raised her hand to slap me, but I blocked it. She stumbled back a few steps and fell hard to the floor.

“Do you think you’ve won, Jane?” she hissed as she rose from the floor, venom flashing in her eyes. “Let me tell you something... you won’t be smiling for long. When that thing in your belly is born, it’s going to call me mommy. And if you don’t start kissing up to me now, I swear I’ll make sure that bastard child suffers!”

At those words, cold fury flashed through me. Without hesitation, I slapped her hard across the face.

Kelly stared at me in disbelief, clutching her cheek. Then, in a fit of rage, she charged at me.

Caught off guard, I lost my balance and tumbled down the stairs from the entryway. My head slammed against the ground and pain exploded instantly.

At that moment, Simon’s furious voice rang out from the doorway. “Janey! Are you okay?” He turned sharply to Kelly. “Are you insane? How dare you push her down the stairs?”

He rushed over, scooping me into his arms without giving Kelly another glance and carried me outside.

Behind us, Kelly’s voice rang out, full of disbelief. “Simon! How could you yell at me for that cheap woman? She hit me first! I was just—”

“Enough!” Simon cut her off coldly. “She’s pregnant. No matter what happened, you should never have laid a hand on her.”

Without another word, he rushed me to the hospital.

As soon as the doctor finished the initial check-up, Simon anxiously asked, “Doctor, is the baby okay?”

The doctor hesitated, clearly puzzled, but before he could speak, I quickly interrupted, “I’m fine. The baby’s fine too. There’s no need for further examination.”

I couldn’t let Simon know I had already terminated the pregnancy. If he found out, there was no telling how mad he would get—and escaping from him would be so much harder.

Simon still looked worried, but I sounded so certain that he didn’t press the doctor further. Instead, he insisted I stay for a few days for observation. Since I didn’t have the strength to argue, I just agreed.

He gently kissed my forehead and brushed my hair back tenderly. “You really scared me just now. Just stay here for a few days, okay? Listen to the doctors, get some good rest. Be good, alright?”

I nodded faintly, a hint of irony flashing across my face.

Simon stayed beside me until late into the night. I eventually drifted off to sleep from sheer exhaustion.

However, sometime in the middle of the night, I woke up thirsty. As I got up to drink some water, I accidentally overheard a conversation between Simon and Kelly on the hallway.

“Baby, none of it’s real. I’m only pretending to be nice so she’ll keep the baby. I don’t actually care about her at all. You have to believe me—after all, you’re the real lady of the Payton Family.”

Quietly, I finished drinking my water without making a sound and slipped back into bed.

Simon’s voice remained gentle as he kept coaxing Kelly. “As soon as she gives birth, I promise she’ll disappear from your life forever. Don’t be mad, okay?”

Kelly’s voice came through sweet and coy. “I knew you loved me the most. That cheap woman could never take you away from me.”

I lay back down on the hospital bed before Simon returned, my eyes wide open.

I did not sleep a wink the rest of the night.

Early the next morning, I got up and quietly completed my hospital discharge paperwork. Not long after, my phone buzzed. It was a call from the embassy—my visa had been approved.

Without wasting another second, I confirmed my departure plans with Chris.

Another call came through just minutes later and this one came from the hospital.

Tears of overwhelming joy blurred my vision. I rushed outside, flagged down a taxi and headed straight to the hospital.

However, when I pushed open the door to my mother’s room, my steps faltered. There, standing by her bedside, was someone I never expected to see.

Kelly.

She stood there like a viper, “Hello, Auntie. Remember me? I used to work with your precious daughter. Do you know what Jane’s been up to while you were lying here helpless?”

Her voice oozed false pity and cruelty. “She stole my fiancé. She even shamelessly got herself pregnant just to claw her way into the Payton Family. She’s nothing but a cheap, disgusting woman.”

My mother, weak and fragile, struggled to breathe as her face flushed an angry red. Yet even with her muscles stiff and atrophied from months of immobility, she forced her trembling hand to grab the water cup on the table … and hurled it straight at Kelly.

The cup struck her squarely and splashed water all over Kelly’s expensive clothes.

She glared at my mother and hissed, “Like mother, like daughter. You’re both equally disgusting.”

When my mother reached for the call button, Kelly lunged to stop her, but before she could do anything, I slammed the door open.

“What the hell are you doing to my mother, Kelly?!”

I shoved Kelly to the floor and pinned her down. With rage clouding my face, I did not hold back. I delivered one slap after another across her face with raw fury.

There were many things I could tolerate. Except for one, only one reason. I would never allow anyone to hurt my mother. She was the only family I had in this world.

Kelly shrieked and thrashed beneath me. “How dare you hit me, Jane! You psycho! Let me go!”

However, I held her very tight, my eyes cold as steel.

Simon happened to be at the hospital visiting a friend. When he heard Kelly’s scream, he followed the voice, only to witness the chaotic scene.

“Jane, have you lost your mind? Let Kelly go!” he shouted. Then he rushed over and yanked me off Kelly, throwing me hard to the side.

I didn’t even have time to react. My body crashed into the ground and landed right on the shards of the broken cup. Sharp glass tore through my skin. Blood spilled instantly and pooled beneath me.

Kelly scrambled into Simon’s arms, her cheeks red and swollen. She sobbed uncontrollably, playing the perfect victim.

“Simon, I only came because I heard her mom had woken up. I just wanted to show a little care, but Jane attacked me out of nowhere. I don’t even know what I did wrong, I swear…” Kelly’s voice trembled, dripping with false sadness as she pretended to be the wronged one.

Simon turned to me, “Janey, maybe Kelly said something wrong, but she didn’t mean any harm. Hitting someone is still out of line. Can’t you at least apologize?”

I clenched my jaw and pushed myself up despite the pain shooting through my arm. “You want me to apologize, huh? Do you even know what really happened? What gives you the right to ask me that?”

“I get it, you’re upset. However, violence doesn’t solve anything. Let’s calm down and talk this through, okay?”

I let out a bitter laugh, my eyes turning cold and distant. “What if I told you I meant to hit her?”

Simon’s expression darkened. When he heard Kelly sobbing again beside him, he gave in, scooped her up and stormed out of the room.

Just before they left, I caught the glint of triumph in Kelly’s eyes, as if she were silently saying, "See? He still chooses me in the end."

After patching up my wounds, I threw myself into my mother’s arms and sobbed uncontrollably. I had endured too much over the years.

I had kept all the bitterness, the betrayal, the loneliness buried deep inside my heart with no one to confide in. However now, my mother, Madam Luxton was awake. I was no longer alone. I finally had someone I could lean on again.

“Mom.” I choked out through my tears, “Let me take you to the Gaul Nation, okay? I’ve paid off all our debts. We can leave this place for good and never look back.”

My mother raised her arm with difficulty and caressed my face. “Wherever you go, Janey, I’ll follow.”

That very day, I made all the arrangements. I filed the paperwork to transfer my mother to a hospital in the Gaul Nation and hired professional caretakers to accompany her on the flight.

Everything was finally falling into place. For the first time in what felt like forever, I could breathe.

However, on my way back to the hospital to meet her, something went wrong. The taxi driver did not follow the usual route.

Then came the sharp sting of a chemical stench. Before I could react, my limbs went limp and darkness swallowed me whole.

When I woke up, I found myself tied up inside what looked like an abandoned factory.

Panic surged in my chest.

The noise caught the attention of a group of men lounging in the distance. They looked up from their game of cards and slowly approached, their eyes glinting with sick amusement.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to yell hoarsely, “I paid off my debts! Who sent you? If it’s money you want, let me go! I can get you more! However, if you hurt me, you’ll get nothing!”

They didn’t respond. One of them casually picked up a baseball bat and tapped it against his palm, his gaze fixed on my legs.

"People say she used to be a model," he sneered. "Shame if something happened to her legs, huh? Wonder how she’d strut the runway then.”

Realizing what they intended to do, horror and rage twisted in my heart. "Who sent you?" I snapped, my voice shaking.

“That’s not your concern,” another one smirked. “After tonight, you’ll be lucky if you can even walk, let alone talk. Before we wreck those pretty legs, we’re going to have a little fun.”

Two of them laughed and exchanged a glance. One of them stepped closer. His eyes were leering at me with a disgusting light.

Disgust churned in my stomach.

After getting a nod from the leader, he stepped forward, groped my face and began tearing at my clothes.

I struggled violently, screaming at the top of my lungs, but a hard slap cut me off.

"Shut up!" the man snarled. "Scream again and we’ll make this even worse for you."

Just when desperation crushed what little strength I had left, a loud engine roared outside.

Simon burst through the entrance like a hurricane. He swung the golf club he’d grabbed from the backseat of his car with savage fury.

I stared in a daze at the crazed Simon, watching him smash the golf club into the kidnappers without any hesitation, like a man possessed.

However just before I blacked out again, a chilling thought flickered across my mind …

Kelly must have been the mastermind behind this. She hated me enough to want to see me destroyed.

What made this thing even worse... it was possible Simon had been involved too.

Maybe this whole kidnapping was something they had planned together.