No taxis were available on the winding mountain road, so I took off my high heels and walked back to the villa. Halfway there, my phone rang.

“Abigail, Aaron has been rescued. Should we take him straight to your place or...”

“No need!”

I cut Dylan off before he finished.

“Find him a place to stay first. I’ll visit him later. Also, help me check a few more things...”

By the time I hung up, I had reached the villa gate. A sharp pain shot through my foot. Lifting my leg, I saw that my sole was pierced by scattered gravel, bleeding.

It was like my marriage to Carter, clearly in ruins, yet I stubbornly refused to face reality.

After a quick bandage, I slipped on sneakers, hopped into a taxi and headed straight to the hotel where Aaron was staying. Just as I pulled the child into my arms, a WhatsApp notification chimed.

I tapped it open and saw a photo of Audrey smiling and drinking with someone. On her finger, gently holding the glass, sat a familiar diamond ring. It perfectly matched the one on my middle finger.

[Cheers! Happy 26th birthday to me! Thanks to my kind big brother for coming to spend time with me every year. Love you!]

The screen was full of pink hearts and my eyes went bloodshot.

It turned out Carter had been with Audrey all along after their marriage; he had never lost his memory.

And I, foolishly, believed he had forgotten her and would keep his promise to love only me for the rest of his life.

Staring at the diamond ring on my finger felt like a cruel reminder of my five years of wasted devotion.

After finishing dinner with my son, I hurried home to pack my bags. Just as I finished folding the clothes, the door creaked open.

Turning around, I crashed into the arms of a man reeking of liquor.

“What are you packing for?”

He wrapped his arms around my waist, his voice rough and breath ragged. “I’m glad you found Aaron. I was too impulsive during the day.”

Knowing it all, I felt nothing. I calmly pushed his hands away.

His drunken face made his features look unusually gentle. Those broad shoulders had once been a safe harbor for Aaron and me. But now, they had become chains binding us.

“Don’t you think we’re filthy, both mother and son? Why come back to us?”

“Wouldn't it be better to spend the night with your lover, Audrey?”

“Are you jealous?”

He smirked wickedly, gripping my chin with a tease in his voice. “You're my woman. What’s wrong with me talking to you?”

“I know you're afraid Aaron will drown like Nicholas did. I'm scared too!”

The moment he mentioned our eldest son, hatred surged within me, burning my eyes.

“How dare you bring up Nicholas!”

I shoved him hard, sending him stumbling onto the bed. Perhaps intoxicated, he closed his eyes and muttered, “Nicholas was naughty. Are you going to run away like him?”

Fury made me want to slap him, but his phone slipped from his pocket and buzzed.

It was a message from Audrey. [Carter, Sevi's having another attack! Can you come hold him?]

Below the text was a photo of the child crying, his brow furrowed. The thought that Nicholas’s heart now pulsed inside her son’s chest tore at my soul.

If Nicholas were still alive, he would be about the same age as the boy in the photo.

My vision blurred as another message appeared in the chat. [I forgot to ask during dinner, have you already arranged to evict Abigail from the house like you mentioned last time?]

After reading it, I felt a knot tighten in my throat. They plotted to kill my eldest son and now they want to get rid of me, too?

I gripped my phone tightly, glaring at Carter on the bed, rage burning in my eyes.

The vase on the nightstand was thick and heavy; smashing it over his head would split his skull.

Just as I was about to strike, the phone suddenly rang.

“Give me the phone...” Carter murmured the order with his eyes closed.

“My phone’s ringing.”

I quickly composed myself, carefully deleting the call record before placing the phone back beside him.

“Your ringtone is the same as mine?”

He raised an eyebrow, half-opening his eyes. My face, which had just calmed, was now red and wet with tears.

“You’re the only one allowed to use that song as a ringtone?”

I lifted an eyebrow in fake composure, countering his question. Before he could reply, the urgent ringtone sounded again.

“Audrey, what’s wrong?”

“Carter, come to the hospital now! Something happened to Sevi!”

He jumped up from the bed with a start, pushing me aside as he rushed toward the door.

Just as he reached the doorway, he halted abruptly, turning as he ordered, “Wake Aaron! Hurry!”

I clenched my teeth in refusal. “Aaron was traumatized today. I sent him to my uncle's house.”

“You come with me to the hospital first. I'll send someone to pick him up from his place.”

He grabbed my wrist, dragging me forward until I stumbled and yanked my arm free.

“He just came back from the hospital. He can't go again.”

Carter's face darkened. With a cold smirk, he then lifted me up and carried me away.

“Carter! Put me down!”

I struggled violently, but he tossed me into the car with brutal force. My head slammed against the window with a thud.

Ignoring the throbbing pain, I grabbed his collar and hissed, “Is this how you kidnapped Nicholas two years ago?”

Carter held me down.

Panic crossed his eyes before his face turned cold. “What are you talking about?”

“Nicholas never went out alone. Why did he go to the beach by himself that day?”

“He clearly couldn't swim. Why did he take off his shoes and jump into the sea?”

My flood of questions left him silent. His long fingers gripped the seat, making a soft cracking sound. It reflected the strain between us.

“Kids are just playful. They don’t think about things like that.”

But as he spoke, he avoided my gaze.

A sudden pain pierced my heart, leaving my throat burning with bitterness.

Nicholas was his eldest son; how could he have done that?

Tearing out the heart of a three-year-old child, didn’t he have nightmares?

I suddenly sneered. “Really? Sevi and Nicholas look more and more alike. Is it because they share the same heart?”

“Enough!”

Carter suddenly stood up, his tone cold. “Don't push me further. Otherwise, both you and Aaron will suffer.”

With that, he slammed the car door with a loud bang.

My expression hardened as I quickly took out my phone and texted Dylan. [Carter is looking for Aaron. Escape now!]

The car sped forward and soon Carter dragged me to the emergency room entrance.

Audrey, wrapped in her coat, leaned against the doorframe, her face buried in her hands as she sobbed uncontrollably.

“Audrey, how is Sevi?”

Carter pushed me aside and rushed over, holding the trembling Audrey in his arms.

“The doctor said he has myocarditis. His condition is serious…”

Audrey's voice was hoarse and trembling, her long lashes still wet with tears.

“The transplanted heart has been rejecting Sevi's body all along. I’m afraid he can’t hold on…”

As she spoke, her cold gaze shifted toward me.

My chest tightened in that instant, then was pierced by a cold voice. “If it comes to that, I'll do whatever it takes to find a second heart donor.”

The word heart kept repeating in my mind like a demonic sound, striking me like lightning, freezing me completely.

Just yesterday, he had been as caring as a loving father toward Aaron. The three of us had even taken a new, heartwarming family portrait.

Yet the gentle father in that photo seemed stripped of his skin, revealing the terrifying, cruel monster beneath.

Carter’s gaze was as cold and cutting as a blade.

I trembled, stepping back until I hit the corridor bench. At that moment, the operating room door slowly opened.

“The child’s inflammation is too severe. The heart must be replaced immediately!”

Audrey let out a sharp scream, collapsing like an empty puppet into Carter’s arms.

I pushed myself up from the bench and ran toward the elevator entrance. I couldn’t let Aaron fall into their hands.

“Abigail! Get back here!”

The elevator doors suddenly chimed open and a spark of hope crossed my face. The next moment, I ran straight into a group of men dressed in black.

My arms and shoulders were seized in an iron grip. I fought with all my strength, but couldn’t move an inch.

“Let me go! You bastards!”

“Abigail, have you finished causing trouble?”

Carter walked over with a dark expression and slapped me hard across the face.

“Aaron wasn’t even at his uncle’s house. How dare you lie to me?”

Pain shot through me as blood trailed from the corner of my mouth, but I looked up at him with a cold smile.

“What kind of father are you? Even a tiger won’t harm its cubs, but you’re worse than an animal.”

Carter’s face darkened with fury, on the verge of exploding, when his bodyguard reported.

“Mr. Thompson, we’ve sent twenty men in pursuit.”

“They’ve stationed two thugs at the hotel. It’ll take some work to get the child back.”

Carter snorted coldly, gripping my chin tightly, forcing me to look at him. “You've hooked up with another man?”

“Who is he? Speak up!”

I curled my lips into a smirk, my eyes filled with disdain. “You cheated on me while I supported your sister. Why can't I have someone else?”

“You don't deserve to be Aaron's father. You'll never see him again in this lifetime!”

He trembled angrily, his fingers digging into my jaw as if he wanted to break it.

“So Aaron is your child with that bastard?”

“You've been playing the victim all this time just to make me raise someone else's son?”

I jerked my head free from his grip. “You're such a fool! If you don’t believe me, why didn't you get a paternity test?”

Rage nearly boiled over in his eyes as he whipped his head toward the bodyguards and roared.

“Tie her up and take her to the rooftop. No one lets her down without my order."

"Send more men immediately. Bring Aaron back!"

"Yes, Mr. Thompson."

As soon as he finished speaking, I was dragged into the elevator.

The bodyguards tied me up with ropes and hung me high above the rooftop railing.

My body swung in the air, hands bound tight. I looked down to see tiny figures shrinking like ants eighteen stories below.

“Help... help me...”

Before my words died away, Audrey’s sharp voice. “Abigail, you really are incredibly lucky!”

I snapped my head up, meeting her dark, distorted face.

She aimed the scissors in her hand straight at the rope, her eyes burning with hatred. “That car accident six years ago didn't kill you and it forced Carter to donate a kidney to you.”

“You monster! Why did you drag Carter into that car that day?”

I clenched my fists tightly, gritting my teeth as I asked, “Did you plan that accident?”