Chapter 3
“Stop talking, it’s all my fault.”
He walked over, grabbed my hand, and pressed it to his face, his eyes turning red.
“I’m sorry, wife. I thought you were only a week along and had just fallen. I saw Sabrina looking so pale, so I thought I’d drop her off and then come back to take you to the hospital.”
He suddenly lifted my hand and slapped himself with it.
“Wife, I’ll apologize for Sabrina. Hit me, hit me harder.”
He said urgently,
“Sabrina was just worried about me and accidentally pushed you. You pushed her too. Let’s just let it go, alright?”
Just as I was about to pull away and question him, Sabrina walked in, holding her back, and screamed at me,
“Ethan, are you even a man? Your wife stabbed you with a knife, and you still kneel down and apologize to her!” “What?!”
“It’s just getting drunk and fooling around. She was probably nowhere near where we slept together before. If she’s that capable, why didn’t you sleep with her first back then?” She jutted out her stomach arrogantly,
“We slept together, and I’m carrying the Graham family’s eldest grandson. You want to divorce, right? You'd better think twice!”
“You’ll divorce once it’s over, and I’ll marry Ethan with our son. Then you’ll be the shameless mistress.” Hearing Sabrina’s filthy words, the smothered agony, and Ethan’s coldness, my fury finally erupted. I grabbed a teacup from the bedside table and smashed it against her shoulder.
“Sabrina, you’re a slut, born to be a mistress. You got dumped by a man, and now you’ve crawled back to cling to your old flame.” Sabrina shrieked, clutching her forehead. Blood seeped slowly between her fingers. Ethan immediately let go of me and rushed to pull her into his arms.
After glaring at me for ten seconds, she shook him off and screamed,
“Hannah, you fool! You can’t even keep your own husband, and you dare to hit me! I’ll never forgive you!”
She lunged at me.
Everyone hurried over to restrain her. Sabrina’s eyes were bloodshot as she glared at me, yelling at Ethan,
“Ethan, she called me a slut and hit me! You must avenge me, or I’ll abort the baby and never see you again!”
“Slap!” A sharp crack rang across the hospital room.
I held my face, staring at Ethan in disbelief. The ward fell silent, broken only by my anguished scream:
“Ethan, I want a divorce! A divorce!”
Ethan’s hand trembled as he slowly reached for my face, his voice shaking with panic.
“Hannah, stop it. Sabrina is pregnant.”
“You may not be able to have any more children, but this is still your child.”
Sabrina calmed down, smoothing her messy hair, looking at me with arrogance.
“If you want my son, you’d better behave from now on, or I’ll not only make Ethan hit you, I’ll get you thrown out of the Graham family instantly.”
With that, she strutted out of the ward, chin raised. A coy voice drifted from the hallway:
“Ouch, my stomach!”
Ethan immediately stiffened and rushed after her.
As she left, she shot me a nervous glance.
“Hannah, rest well. I’ve taken Sabrina to the doctor. I’ll be back soon.”
Watching her disappear, I covered my burning cheek and laughed coldly.
Back then, she was the campus beauty, with suitors lining the road to the south of the city, including Ethan.
At that time, I was disliked at home and constantly mocked and bullied by wealthy classmates at school.
It was Ethan, the class monitor, who angrily scolded the boy who humiliated me, publicly declaring to the class that I was his sister and that he would protect me from then on.
Chapter 4
From then on, he was like a beam of light entering my heart.
Even my father, after hearing about our relationship, softened toward me, telling me to get along well with Ethan.
But Ethan’s heart belonged only to Sabrina, showing me nothing but pity. Even Sabrina looked at me with contempt, as if I were a thief coveting their happiness.
Now, with a simple gesture, the happiness I stole was gone.
The family members in the room exchanged uneasy glances. After a long silence, my father spoke harshly:
“Young man, a brief mistake can be forgiven. But Hannah, if you dare divorce him, I’ll break your legs.”
My mother-in-law pretended to struggle, saying:
“My dear in-law, you understand. We’re a wealthy family; everything is for the children…”
“I understand, I understand. Hannah was just immature. We’ll discipline her later. Jealousy and fighting over a man—how shameful if people hear of it.”
“Hannah, Ethan has treated you well. It was just one drunken mistake. Don’t be so unreasonable. What man stays with one woman all his life? Don’t be petty like your mother and ruin yourself.”
“Even if you don’t care about yourself, Alex Sterling is your brother. If you divorce, will he still study peacefully abroad?”
My tears suddenly burst out, uncontrollable like a broken dam.
I knew that from the moment my mother was driven to death by a mistress, I had lost my home, and I worked hard to raise my brother. But I never thought it would feel so cold, so crushing. Even my late mother was shamed, and my younger brother used it again and again to threaten me.
Feeling the stabbing pain in my abdomen, I finally sobbed aloud.
“Get out, all of you! Get out!”
My father glared at me, turned toward the door, and left behind a chilling sentence:
“If you ruin the Graham-Sterling partnership, you and Alex will suffer. The Sterling family has no divorced daughters.”
Just then, Ethan’s phone rang, his voice filled with tenderness:
“Wife, don’t be upset. I’ll cook chicken soup for you right now.”
“Wife, I know I was wrong. You can hit me, scold me, anything—just don’t mention divorce.”
That day ended in tears and grief.
The only sound in the ward was the ticking of the medical equipment.
Just as I swallowed my cries, helpless and aching, Sabrina sent me a video. In it, Ethan held her tightly, bodies tangled passionately.
Hearing Ethan’s breathless voice,
“Sabrina, you’re incredible! I’ve missed you all these years.”
“Ugh, isn’t your old hag enough? Look at you, starving!”
“Her? Too stiff. Nothing like you—you send me to heaven.”
As they spoke, they embraced again, mouths locked, rolling across the bed.
Seeing their burning, intimate pose, my heart felt chewed by countless ants, and tears streamed again.
Chapter 5
The video shifted scenes—from home to the car, from the countryside to the office.
Below was Sabrina’s smug voice message:
“Hannah, do you think Ethan was just drunk and confused?”
“Ethan said my child with him is the best, the only one worthy to be the Graham heir. You’re just a pitiful, unwanted stray.”
“He’s with our son and me right now, inseparable. Want to come and get pointers?”
I calmly dialed Ethan’s number. After rough breathing on the other end, I heard his flustered voice:
“Wife, the chicken soup is almost done. Twenty more minutes. Wait for me a little longer, I’ll be right there.”
I felt my limbs go numb and stiff, but I still forced myself to throw off the covers and head toward the top-tier VIP ward on the third floor.
The entrance to the top-tier VIP ward was covered in pure white carpet. I slowly approached the door, and a wave of warm air washed over me.
Along with Sabrina’s furious voice,
“Ethan, have you fallen for Hannah? You swore you’d love only me forever, you heartless man!”
Ethan soothed her softly,
“Sweetie, drink the chicken soup. Of course, I love you, or else why would I let you give birth to a son and carry on the Graham family line?”
Sabrina angrily sipped the chicken soup from her lips, “Then what about Hannah?”
Ethan’s voice turned cold at once, “She’s just a helpless orphan. I only pitied her.”
“Back then, when you went abroad, I was depressed and attempted suicide. She stayed by my side with everything she had, and I was moved and married her.”
“If I hadn’t given her so many birth control pills at the start, she wouldn’t be struggling to conceive now.”
I rested a hand on my empty belly. My parents’ marriage was a transaction; my in-laws’ scorn was unbearable. Ethan’s lies were the final straw, crushing the last of my restraint.
My only light went completely dark.
I pushed the door open, tears pouring down my face, staring at the chicken soup in his hand.
“Ethan, I don’t want the candy you gave me anymore. I’m giving it back.”
I stepped back slowly, and Ethan’s face instantly turned ghostly pale. He sensed something and stammered,
“Hannah, let me explain…”
As he got up and lunged toward me, I flipped over the railing, dropping like a bird with broken wings.
With a heavy thud.
I saw Ethan leaning half over the railing, his eyes filled with shattered horror.