It was late at night by the time I was done dealing with the funeral arrangements for Arlene and finally went back to the Bale household.

This was the second time I had gone to the hospital today. And both times, I had been told that I had lost a child.

My numb fingers twitched a bit. I found it simply ironic.

I looked around at the villa where I'd lived for the past ten years and saw that it was full of traces of another woman.

Ruth's house slippers were there, along with her cashmere rug, her paintings… There were too many of her belongings around, blatantly taking over my and Camden's home, and drowning my world out.

However, these all would have nothing to do with me anymore very soon.

Camden had come with me to the hospital earlier and cried before Arlene's body. However, after a single, explosive phone call from Ruth, he immediately left the hospital and went back home.

When I walked past his bedroom, I could hear Ruth's whimpering and Camden's patient and comforting voice as he lulled her to sleep.

I recalled the time when Camden suggested that we sleep in separate rooms because he was always going out on business trips. He said he didn't want to disturb me or wake me up because of it.

But now that I thought of it, I realized that he was probably already sick of me at that time.

He had been going out on "business trips" very often over the past two years. I had just assumed that he had really meant what he said because Bale Group was indeed growing and expanding exponentially at that time.

I just never realized that some things had already begun to rot the moment he started lying to me.

I went back to my room and tapped on Ruth's post again. Then, I tapped into her social media profile and scrolled all the way down. I soon found out that she and Camden had reunited at an artist showcase in Newtonville three years ago.

After that, Camden kept appearing in Ruth's posts and story highlights. She often referred to Camden as "Mr. B."

Ruth was a designer with quite a following online. She had a few thousand fans and followers on her account. Many of them often left comments asking her to show off more of her love life online.

"The first time Mr. B ever cooked for me. Zero stars for taste; five stars for confidence.

"Mr. B is coming with me to see the sunrise today. Currently enjoying my breakfast in bed that he made at 3:00 am today.

"Meet Mr. B, my personal blowdryer."

I kept scrolling down every post she made. They all lined up perfectly with the dates that Camden told me he was on his "business trips".

One year ago, Ruth finally returned to the country.

That night, Camden never came home, and I got into a huge fight with him over it.

We gave each other the cold shoulder for a whole month. It was only resolved because Arlene played the peacemaker between us.

My chest hurt even more at the thought of her.

I buried my head between my knees and sobbed.

"Why are you still up?"

Camden pushed the door open and walked in. He sat next to me on the bed and caressed my hair.

"It was my fault, Angie," he said quietly. "I didn't keep an eye on Ari."

I shoved his hand away and wiped away my tears. Then, I glared at him and said, "Where the hell did you go? Ari was such a good kid, and you still managed to lose her! You don't deserve to be her dad!"

Camden sighed and propped his head up with his hand. "Don't say that, Angie. Ari's going to be upset if she learns that her parents are arguing again."

He lowered his eyes and spoke gently despite the guilt reflecting in his voice. For a brief moment, I thought I could pretend that nothing terrible had happened—Ruth never came back to the country, and Arlene was still alive.

Yet, a split second later, Camden's words rudely yanked me back to reality.

"About Ruth's son… We were both drunk, and… She insisted on keeping the baby. I only brought her back because I needed an heir."

He glanced at me. What he said sounded like an explanation, but it felt more like he was blaming me for not giving birth to a son instead.

"But don't you worry. Nothing will change the fact that you're still my wife. When the baby's healthier, I'll bring him back, and we'll raise him like our son. He'll call you 'Mom.'"

I opened and closed my mouth a few times before sound finally escaped my throat.

"My daughter is dead, and now, you want me to raise somebody else's child instead?"

Camden didn't notice me caressing my own stomach at all. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he said, "I didn't mean that. My son will be the future heir of the Bale family, and you're my wife. What's wrong with that?

"Or, we could just have another kid together. Ari's already dead. We can't keep living in the past—"

I grabbed my pillow and threw it in his face.

"Are you crazy, Camden Bale? Ari only just passed today! Nobody can ever replace my Ari! Nobody!"

Camden easily dodged the pillow.

"Since you don't want to, then forget about it. Also, Ruth is a career woman. She's different from a housewife like you. I know that you don't like her. If you have nothing better to do, then you can just stay home and do whatever you want and leave the caretaking to the maids."

Ruth's voice suddenly sounded outside the door.

"The hospital just gave us an update on our son's condition!"

Camden was about to say something more when he heard her and hurried out of the room, leaving me behind.

"Do you even remember why we named our daughter Arlene in the first place?" I whispered to the empty room.

Arlene Bale.

Camden was the one who had suggested giving her that name. He told me that the name meant "a pledge" or "an oath", and he wanted Arlene to witness his oath to love me and protect me for the rest of his life.

I married him when I was 18 years old.

At the time, his family was on the verge of bankruptcy. On the other hand, I had a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars.

I had gotten pregnant before marriage back then. Dad didn't want me or his grandchild to suffer, so he gave me a huge sum of money, and I used part of it to pull Bale Group back from the brink of collapse.

Even now, I still owned 30% of the shares in their company.

At first, I had thought of giving Camden both my pregnancy test result and the share transfer agreement as a surprise. After all, I knew that he was still being controlled by the other older shareholders of the company.

But now, it wasn't necessary anymore.

I couldn't sleep the entire night.

Saul emailed me the drafted divorce agreement, and I immediately went to print it out in the study.

When I came out, I ran into Patricia bringing up a big bowl of chicken stew up the stairs. She shielded the stew from me and yelled, "What's the hurry? Don't you know that I spent three hours making this stew for Ruth? How's she going to eat it if it's spilled on the floor?"

I didn't hold back like I used to anymore. I knocked the bowl to the floor and said, "Well, she can't eat it now! Arlene never got to eat it anyway."

Patricia's temper cooled halfway down at the mention of Arlene's name. However, she still stubbornly said, "That's a different matter altogether! Who would have thought that she'd still be disobedient and run off on her own when she was already ten years old?

"That's enough, Angeline. Arlene was my granddaughter too. How could I now be upset about her death? But you can't keep using her as an excuse to act crazy everywhere you go!"

The last strand of my sanity snapped as soon as she talked about Arlene.

"What do you mean by her being disobedient and running out on her own?" I roared. "You watched her grow up! You know how obedient she was! You were the ones who never kept an eye on her! You were the ones who caused her death!"

Camden appeared and pulled me back, dark circles hanging under his face.

"Angeline! How could you talk to Mom like that? Don't you know that she stayed up all night out of guilt? Look at her; her eyes are still bloodshot! You're not the only one who loved Arlene!"

I shoved him aside with all my strength. "Are her eyes bloodshot because of guilt? Or, is it because she stayed up all night making the stew for her new daughter-in-law? Don't you dare use Arlene as a shield against me. I'm not blind!"

Patricia was at her wits' end. She shook her head and exclaimed, "You're out of your mind! You've clearly lost your marbles!"

Ruth pushed the door open and walked out, massaging her temples.

"What's all this noise about?"

Patricia glared at me before smiling brightly at Ruth.

"It's nothing. Go back to bed. I'll bring you another bowl of chicken stew in a while."

Ruth, however, didn't budge. She just smiled lightly at Patricia and said, "Thank you."

Then, she cast me a look of pity and said to Camden, "I know a few skilled psychologists, Camden. Maybe you should bring Ms. White in for a visit. Her condition seems very unstable and abnormal."

Then, she turned and went back into the room.

Camden stared at me like he was seriously considering Ruth's suggestion.

"I'm not sick," I said coldly before returning to my room.

Camden wanted to come after me, but there was a sudden loud cry, and he immediately ran back to hug Ruth.

My lips curled upward in a self-mocking grin. He really was his mother's son. Why did I even get my hopes up about what he wanted to say to me?

The family doctor was quickly summoned. After the checkup, he diagnosed Ruth with food poisoning and recommended that she get her stomach pumped at the hospital as soon as possible.

"Ruth's meals have been personally put together by the nutritionist. How could she possibly get food poisoning all of a sudden?" Camden demanded.

Then, he looked at the butler and said, "Reginald, find the person behind this! Nobody in this household will be exempted!"

Camden's sharp gaze swept across everyone in the villa. Then, he went out after Ruth, clearly planning to drive her to the hospital.

An idea suddenly struck me, and I called out to him.

"Camden."

"If you want to talk, we can do it after I return from the hospital," he said, not stopping at all.

I spoke up again.

"I want to transfer the shares to you."

Camden gradually slowed down. He told the doctor to send Ruth to the hospital first, then started walking back toward me.

"Why are you bringing this up now?"

I mocked him internally for prioritizing money over his so-called first love.

"I had prepared a surprise for you on Ari's birthday, but so many things happened these past few days, and I forgot about it. Since it's the annual shareholders' meeting tomorrow, I was thinking of transferring the shares to you before it happens."

I then handed him the share transfer agreement, along with the divorce agreement, feeling my heart pounding in my chest.

Camden flipped through the documents and asked, "Why is this document so thick? Is there another document in here?"

Before I could explain further, Camden's phone rang. He quickly answered the call.

It was Ruth. She was making a fuss on the other end of the line after realizing that he wasn't there when she woke up.

I urged him lightly, "Go keep her company after you sign."

Camden hurriedly comforted her in a low voice and tried to suppress his anxiety. Then, without further scrutiny, he signed his name with a flourish on the documents and handed them back to me.

"Wait for me to come back, Angeline…"

I took the documents from him and turned away without sparing him another glance.

He started after me, feeling a little insecure, but he got another call from Ruth again. So, he turned and went off to the hospital instead.

If Camden had caught up to me, he would have seen the pure hatred in my eyes.

I resented him deeply.

I swore that one day, I was going to take back everything he owed me.

After carefully setting aside the signed divorce agreement, I threw the share transfer agreement into the fire without hesitation.

It was just a front, after all. If it weren't for this agreement, Camden would never have signed the documents that easily without a second glance.

While Camden and Ruth were at the hospital, I began packing. I realized that I had held on to all of Arlene's toys and clothes ever since she was a baby because I couldn't find the heart to part with them or throw them away.

Eventually, I managed to fill a few huge boxes of her belongings.

While packing these things up, I felt as though Arlene was still right by my side, calling me "Mommy".

…

I had just finished packing when Camden came back from the hospital with Ruth.

"What are you doing?"

Camden looked at me in confusion.

I didn't look at him and continued sealing up the boxes. "Ari's things. I'm donating them."

I wasn't. I was planning to store them in her favorite sunroom so that she would forever have a home to come back to.

Camden grabbed the things from me and said, "Ari just passed away. It's not like there's no place to store her things here anyway. Leave them here for us to remember her by."

I stared into his eyes with a resentful look.

"You don't have her in your heart. What's the point of remembering her anyway?"

Camden frowned. "How could—"

"Camden! Come here for a while!"

Ruth's voice cut through the air.

He immediately turned and went out to the living room.

Ruth was leaning back against the couch with her cashmere rug covering her body. She looked weak and fragile. Meanwhile, the housekeeper, Emily Jackson, looked like she was hesitant to speak.

Camden raised his voice at her. "Were you the one who poisoned Ruth?"

"No! No way," Emily said, shaking her hands in denial. "It was… It was Mrs. Bale. She was the one who told me to add the stuff to the food."

Everyone turned to look at me. Ruth then said, "Ms. White, do you really hate me that much? Camden, are you sure that I can leave my son here with you in this house?"

Camden grabbed hold of me at once.

"Angeline! What is going on? Was it really you?"

I grabbed his arm in return and dug my nails into his flesh.

"Haven't you always been the smart one, Camden Bale? Can't you even tell who's the one lying here?"

"I'm not lying, sir!" Emily shouted. "It really was Mrs. Bale who told me to do it!"

Reginald then ran down the stairs with a small pack of pills in his hand.

"Sir! I found this in Mrs. Bale's room! Its described symptoms are exactly the same as the poison that Ms. Carroll had been suffering from!"

Camden shook me by my shoulders so hard that it hurt.

"Have you lost your mind, Angeline White? Don't you know how weak Ruth is now? You nearly killed her!"

He shook me so hard that I felt myself getting dizzy. However, I suddenly realized that if I, a fully-grown adult, could be so easily framed like this, then it would be even easier for anyone else to trick Arlene into leaving the villa on her own!

I put up with my dizziness and grabbed hold of Ruth.

"It was you, wasn't it? You killed Ari! And now, you're trying to frame me! It was you!"

I screamed in her face, demanding an answer from her.

"That's enough!" Camden roared. "Ruth has never even seen Ari before! Why would she want to kill her? Wake up and get back to your senses, Angeline!"

I was very much awake. I couldn't possibly be more awake and aware than I was now.

"She was the one who killed our daughter! Camden Bale, you also played a part in Ari's death!"

The look in Ruth's eyes told me everything I needed to know. She was the one who had killed Arlene!

I grew even surer of my hunch. I couldn't care for Camden, who was trying to hold me back, and grabbed a pair of scissors before rushing toward her. However, Camden slapped me hard, and I fell to the floor.

"You've gone mad, Angeline White!"

Ruth's voice carried a hint of smugness as she said, "I understand your pain, Ms. White, and I won't hold the past against you. But Camden, I'm still going to ask you the same question. Are you sure that my son will be safe in the Bale household?"

Camden had gone numb with anger. He was looking at me with a guarded expression and disappointment in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it, Ruth. I'll take care of everything."

I lay on the floor. My body still hadn't recovered from the miscarriage, and I felt like a broken doll that couldn't move anymore.

I glared at Camden and kept repeating, "I hate you. I'm going to make you all suffer terrible deaths!"

Camden's veins bulged in anger, his eyes turning bloodshot.

"Sedate her. And moving forward, unless I say otherwise, Angeline will stay in the basement!"