Lorenzo’s eyes filled with disbelief. He had always assumed Francesca was a child I had with another man after escaping the fire.

“Whose... child is she?” Lorenzo’s voice was hoarse, barely audible.

Back then, before the fire, I was still his fiancée and had never been involved with any other man.

Lorenzo’s body trembled slightly. For the first time, he started to question Francesca’s identity.

The doctor shook his head.

“Miss Collins always came to her prenatal appointments alone. Aside from Mrs. Ursula, only one other woman visited her often.”

“But that woman didn’t seem to care about her at all. She constantly yelled at her, hit her, taking advantage of her weak condition.”

Suddenly, I remembered that I had told Lorenzo about the pregnancy. But he had laughed it off, thinking I was just trying to trap him into marriage.

He never believed me. The only one who showed up was Tabitha.

She stormed into the hospital, tore up my prenatal report and nearly pushed me off the rooftop.

If it hadn’t been for Grandma Ursula protecting me, both Francesca and I would’ve died at Tabitha’s hands.

Once Tabitha found out I was pregnant, she did everything she could to cling to Lorenzo, begging, crying and manipulating until she finally stopped him from visiting me altogether.

During the entire ten months of my pregnancy, he never once came to the hospital.

It wasn’t until the fire that he suddenly remembered his so-called “enemy” and went crazy trying to force my mom to reveal where I was.

“Who was that woman?”

Just as the doctor was about to answer, Tabitha walked in. The doctor paused for a moment, then leaned in and whispered to Lorenzo,

“It’s her.”

“That young woman is truly cruel. She nearly tormented a pregnant woman to death.”

“If Mrs. Ursula hadn’t stepped in, Miss Collins’s baby wouldn’t have survived. That woman almost caused her to miscarry.”

Lorenzo froze, then slowly turned to stare at Tabitha in disbelief.

“Lorenzo, aren’t we going to try on wedding clothes?” Tabitha chirped as she clung to his arm, unaware of the change in his expression.

Yes, three days from now was their wedding. No wonder she had looked so panicked when she heard my name earlier.

On the way, Lorenzo seemed distracted, quietly fiddling with the ring on his finger.

“Lorenzo, aren’t you happy to marry me?” Tabitha asked, sounding uncertain.

After a long silence, Lorenzo finally asked what had been weighing on his mind.

“Tabitha… did you already know Yana was pregnant?”

Her face stiffened. She hesitated, then forced a smile.

“Why are you suddenly thinking about her?”

Lorenzo said nothing. Her gaze flickered with unease before she quickly added in a soft, tearful tone,

“Lorenzo, I only did what I did because I saw her meeting another man in secret. I got angry. I just wanted to teach her a lesson… for your sake.”

“Secretly meeting someone?” Lorenzo frowned.

He knew that all those years, I had only ever cared about him. Maybe I had set the fire out of desperation or even to force him into marriage, but betrayal? That was something he couldn't believe.

He started to question Tabitha's story.

“I saw it with my own eyes. A man came to the hospital to see her and he even said things like ‘our child’…”

“Lorenzo, I just felt so bad for you. That’s why I tried to teach her a lesson.”

Tabitha’s tearful, emotional words made Lorenzo waver. She clung tightly to his hand.

“Lorenzo, our wedding is in just three days. Don’t let a murderer ruin it for us, okay?”

At that moment, Lorenzo felt a wave of sympathy. He gently patted her head and said, “Alright, I believe you.”

But despite his words, he spent the next three days quietly looking into my pregnancy.

He even stopped Francesca on her way home from school and secretly took a hair sample for a DNA test.

Back then, there had been a man who visited me at the hospital. He was my senior at university and we had been working together to support an orphaned student.

Lorenzo had known about this, too, but he had only scoffed at me.

“You can barely feed yourself and you still want to play the Good Samaritan? Pathetic.”

But that senior had long been married. He had never once said the kind of things Tabitha had claimed.

On the day of the wedding, Lorenzo finally showed up, his face pale and eyes tired.

“Lorenzo, are you alright?” Tabitha asked, concerned.

He gave a slight shake of his head. For the past few nights, his dreams had been haunted by the fire from five years ago, but this time, the one burning inside wasn’t Grandma Ursula. It was me.

“Let’s go,” he said quietly, rubbing his aching forehead as he walked out, hand in hand with Tabitha.

Back then, he had promised to marry me once I gave birth. We had even cuddled together, picking out wedding venues and imagining our future.

But ever since Tabitha came back from abroad, Lorenzo had thrown away every promise he made to me.

Now, even the role of bride belonged to her.

During the ring exchange at the wedding, Lorenzo’s phone suddenly rang.

The smile on Tabitha’s face froze. She looked at him, helpless.

Lorenzo instantly recognized the ringtone; it was the special one he had set himself.

He raised his hand to stop the officiant.

“Sorry, Tabitha. I have something important to handle.”

He took a deep breath and answered the call.

“President Clark, the paternity test results are back.”

“Francesca is your biological daughter.”

Lorenzo stood there like he’d been struck by lightning. The phone slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor.

“Lorenzo, what’s wrong?”

Seeing him frozen, Tabitha began to panic. This was her only chance to become Mrs. Clark. She couldn’t let it slip away.

“Lorenzo, let’s just finish the ring exchange,” she said, tugging on his sleeve.

But Lorenzo suddenly shoved her aside like a madman and stumbled out the door.

After my death, he had convinced himself Francesca was a child I had with someone else. For five years, he poured all his hatred onto her.

He had bribed her kindergarten teachers, starting with something as small as not letting her nap and then it escalated into outright physical abuse.

Francesca was a thoughtful child. She knew my mother was old and weak, so she never said a word.

But she was only five. How could she possibly bear it all?

Every time Lorenzo saw her, he would either hit her or scream at her.

What he never realized was that the child he was hurting was his own daughter.

Now, dressed in a wedding suit, he stood outside my house and locked eyes with Francesca, who had just stepped outside.

Francesca shrank behind the door, peeking out cautiously, her eyes full of fear and confusion, curious, perhaps, about why this man in a wrinkled suit had come.

Lorenzo stood there, stiff and helpless, clutching the front of his suit tightly. The once-crisp fabric was now creased and messy.

“Francesca, come here and let Unc—Daddy have a look at you.”

He forced a smile that looked more painful than sincere. He reached out his hand.

But that hand had always been the one he raised to hit her.

The moment it lifted, Francesca’s eyes turned red. She curled into the corner, hugging her head, her tiny body trembling.

Lorenzo froze like a child caught doing something wrong. He only snapped out of it when he heard her soft sobs.

“Francesca, don’t be afraid. I’m not here to hurt you,” he said, stepping closer.

“Don’t hit me, Uncle... please don’t hit me…”

“My mommy really is dead… I’ve never even seen her…”

Her fragile voice made his heart stop. He clenched his fists, hatred flashing in his eyes.

“That’s right. It’s all Yana’s fault. How dare she give birth to my child behind my back…”

“And then just leave like that.”

He gently patted Francesca’s head, ignoring the way she flinched at his touch.

“Don’t be scared. Once I find your mother, I’ll make her come to apologize to you.”

Hearing those words, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Back then, I had happily told Lorenzo I was pregnant. But instead of believing me, he accused me of lying, calling me delusional and saying I was just trying to marry into the Clark family.

“Yana, don’t think using a cheap excuse like this will get you through our doors.”

“I’ve always been careful. How could you possibly be pregnant?”

What he didn’t know was that one night, when he was drunk, he mistook me for Tabitha and that’s how Francesca came to be.

He warned me not to get any ideas, saying the title of Mrs. Clark would always belong to Tabitha.

But he was the one who chased after me first. He proposed to me in front of everyone, promising he’d love me forever.

His mother looked down on me, saying my background wasn’t good enough. But he had held me close and told me. “Yana, my mom just doesn’t accept you yet. But once you have my child, she’ll come around and welcome you into the family.”

Now, I have given birth to Francesca. And still, he refused to believe it, going as far as to abuse his own daughter.

“Lorenzo!”

Tabitha, dressed in her wedding gown, had chased him down. The moment she saw him, tears welled up in her eyes.

“Lorenzo, how could you run away from the wedding?”

Her tears fell without end and Lorenzo panicked. He forgot all about Francesca, who was still huddled in the corner and rushed to comfort Tabitha.

“Tabitha, I’m sorry.”

“My assistant just called. The paternity test confirmed Francesca is my biological daughter.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the color drained from Tabitha’s face.

Lorenzo seemed to sense something wasn’t right and asked hesitantly, “Tabitha, did you really see it clearly back then? Did Yana really cheat on me?”

Tabitha froze. At this point, she didn’t even have time to question why he had run away from the wedding. She quickly nodded, her voice a bit shaky.

“Lorenzo, I saw it with my own eyes. That man went with Yana to her prenatal checkup. They looked just like a married couple.”

“Lorenzo, just to be sure, we should do another paternity test.”

Lorenzo glanced at Francesca. After a brief pause, he agreed.

“Francesca, come with Uncle for a moment.” He bent down and took her by the arm.

He was desperate to know the truth and ended up half-dragging her to the car.

This time, Lorenzo was careful. He personally brought Francesca to get their blood drawn. But what he didn’t see was Tabitha standing behind him, exchanging a quick glance with the lab technician.