I frowned, confused. “What do you mean?”

Jeremy slammed the letter against my face. The sharp edge of the paper cut a line across my cheek, drawing blood.

“Still playing innocent? Molly left a note! She said you couldn’t tolerate her and, while I wasn’t paying attention, you forced her away! She’s pregnant and her baby’s unstable! Do you want to kill her?!”

Suddenly, I remembered the look Molly had given me earlier, full of meaning, and everything clicked.

“Jeremy, I don’t know where Molly went. Can’t you see she’s orchestrating this herself?”

His face flushed red with rage. Without another word, he lifted his foot and kicked toward my stomach with full force.

By then, my wound split open, and blood poured down.

He acted as though he could not see it at all. Orders were shouted, and I was dragged into the cold storage. My phone was taken to prevent any contact with the outside world.

Fortunately, I was one step ahead. Before he confiscated it, I managed to send a message to a mysterious contact.

[Help me!]

…

They threw me into the cold storage like a criminal. To punish me, Jeremy had a truckload of rotten fish and shrimp brought in, dumping it all on top of me.

The stench of fish scales and decay clung to my body, bringing back memories I wanted to forget.

Back when I was younger, my family worked in the fish trade. My classmates looked down on me, mocking me as “the fish girl” and bullied me relentlessly. They would grab dead fish and slap me across the face with them, even shoving fish bones into my mouth until it bled all over.

Jeremy had seemed like an angel, saving me from their torment.

Now, he was tearing open my wounds and stabbing my heart himself for Molly.

The infection from my wound spiked my fever. My head spun, blood poured from my abdomen, and darkness closed in. Despair and helplessness wrapped around me like chains.

“Zoe!”

Before losing consciousness, I vaguely saw a figure sprinting toward me, scooping me up and holding me tightly in their arms.

…

The next day, Jeremy finally located Molly and brought her home safely.

With Molly found, much of his anger subsided, and he ordered the bodyguards to release me from the cold storage.

Molly, wiping her tears, objected, "Jeremy, Zoe drove me and my baby out into the freezing street all night. You cannot just let her go. You have to do something for us!"

Jeremy immediately called the bodyguards back.

“Don’t release her yet. Keep her in there. She needs to learn her lesson!”

Just then, Jeremy’s phone rang. It was the hospital.

As soon as he answered, the doctor’s voice came through:

“Mr. Lane, we cannot reach your wife, Miss Zoe. We’re calling you because she just had a termination procedure. Being discharged too early could leave lasting complications, and the hospital cannot be held responsible. We strongly advise her to remain hospitalized for recovery!”