Amybeth’s POV

When I returned to the villa, I hadn’t even stepped through the door before hearing Shannon’s high-pitched moans echoing inside.

Her voice was flirtatious, mixing with Bolton’s low, rough breaths. The sound filled the entire villa.

The “usual place” Shannon mentioned… turned out to be the house I shared with Bolton!

They were actually making out on my favorite bed!

Shattered pieces of our wedding photos were scattered all over the bedroom floor.

Everything that once proved Bolton and I had loved each other had become props in their affair.

Just then, still lost in her pleasure, Shannon sensed my presence.

She looked straight at my furious face and flashed a triumphant smile.

Then she moaned even louder, as if deliberately putting on a show for me.

My fists tightened. I desperately wanted to storm in.

But right now, the divorce papers had only just been submitted to the clerk’s office

If I made a scene and tipped him off, getting out cleanly would be much harder.

With that in mind, I turned around and headed back downstairs to the villa’s entrance.

Her smug expression still floated in front of my eyes as I expressionlessly dialed Bolton.

He picked up after three rings.

“Bolton, I’m back. Can you come get me at the door? I think I’m running a fever.”

He cursed under his breath on the other end, and I could hear Shannon whining unhappily beside him.

But in the end, he still agreed.

“Fine. Wait for me downstairs. I actually have something to tell you.”

Soon, he rushed down the stairs.

He was clearly in a hurry—marks on his skin barely covered, his shirt half-buttoned.

The moment he saw me, he said bluntly, “Shannon’s not feeling well. She needs new data for her experiments. Since we still have your old fragrance studio here, I told her she could stay for a while.”

As he stepped closer, the scent that belonged only to Shannon hit me—thick, cloying, suffocating.

They had cheated in front of me again and again, treating me like a fool.

And now they wanted her to move in?

Before I could respond, Shannon appeared at the top of the stairs—her body covered in red marks—walking toward us openly and without shame.

With a smug smile, she said, “Amybeth, your husband really is so kind. He’s letting me stay here for a bit. I’ll be sure to… properly return the favor.”

Her voice dripped with seduction, and the way she looked at Bolton was downright provocative.

I clearly heard Bolton swallow beside me.

“I don’t agree,” I said coldly. “My fragrance studio isn’t for other people to use. Shannon can just rent a place outside.”

Bolton’s expression darkened instantly.

Shannon hurried downstairs and clung to his sleeve, pretending to be deeply wronged.

“Bolton, did I do something wrong? Why is my sister treating me like this? Maybe… Maybe I should just leave.”

Then, she turned around as if to walk out.

Bolton quickly pulled her back and looked at me with disappointment.

“Amybeth, when did you become so petty? Shannon just wants to stay for a short while. Why won’t you agree? If you really care that much, then you can move out for now. Your due date is coming up anyway. I’ll arrange a hospital for you.”

His tone was calm, but the meaning was crystal clear.

If I didn’t let Shannon move in, I could get out. And with me out of the way, dealing with the child in my belly would be even easier for them.

“Okay,” I said quietly. “I’ll leave now.”

Temporary tolerance was the first step toward revenge anyway.

The more arrogant they were today, the more miserable they would be a month from now.

I didn’t look at either of them again. I turned and went upstairs.

The bedroom was a mess—rumpled sheets, overwhelming stench.

Acting as if it didn’t bother me, I began packing.

That was when I realized all the gifts commemorating our seven-year marriage had been smashed or torn apart and tossed aside.

A stabbing pain shot through my chest.

Even if he no longer cared about me, I never imagined he’d use our memories as props while having sex with Shannon!

They came upstairs as I continued packing, silently watching.

Seeing my expression, Shannon rushed to mock me.

“Oh, I’m sorry about this, Amybeth. This was all my dog’s fault. I didn’t expect it to cause such trouble. I feel so bad! If you want, I can go beat it for you later.”

She casually pushed all the blame onto her toy poodle.

I ignored her and kept packing.

When I reached the last drawer, I realized the emerald pendant my late father gave me was gone.

I jerked my head toward Bolton.

“Where’s my emerald pendant?”

He frowned impatiently. “Amybeth, haven’t you caused enough trouble? Shannon’s dog didn’t do it on purpose!”

“And besides, these things aren’t important,” he added. “If they’re damaged, they’re damaged. Why make such a big deal?”

He lumped all our memories—our entire marriage—into a pile of “unimportant things.”

But I didn’t look away. My eyes stayed locked on him, and his brows tightened further.

Then Shannon suddenly said, “Amybeth, maybe check under the bed? Maybe earlier… things got a little intense, and it fell there.”

I shot her a vicious glare.

She knew perfectly well that the pendant was the only thing my father gave me.

I swept under the bed with a broom, and the broken pieces of my emerald pendant rolled out!

The moment I saw it, something in me snapped.

I lunged forward and slapped Shannon hard across the face.

“How dare you?! How dare you smash it?!”

Bolton immediately grabbed my wrist. His voice dropped cold.

“Enough!”

He shoved me away roughly, and I stumbled back and fell onto the bed.

He hurried to help Shannon up, and when he turned to look at me, his eyes were filled with disdain.

“Amybeth, I must’ve treated you too well before, letting you develop such an arrogant temper. You even raised your hand against your own younger sister!”

Then he suddenly turned off the bedroom lights. My heart lurched instantly.

“For the next few days, stay in the bedroom and reflect. I’ll have the power cut.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“Bolton! You know I have claustrophobia!”

But he glanced at me indifferently.

“I know. That’s exactly why this counts as a lesson for you.”

He continued, “When you finally realize your mistake, apologize to Shannon, and agree to let her stay here, I’ll let you out.”

With that, he mercilessly grabbed my phone and then helped Shannon to her feet, turning to walk away.

Out of his sight, she shot me a mocking look, her smile flickering as she pressed close to him.

I struggled toward the door, but the bodyguards behind him suddenly slammed it shut.

The room was instantly swallowed by darkness. I trembled and sank to the floor, my breathing quick and shallow.

“Let me out… I won’t bother you… Help… Someone… Please…”

But no one heard my faint cries.

The last thing I felt before passing out was the taste of my own tears sliding down my cheeks.

Amybeth’s POV

The pitch-black room made it impossible for me to feel time passing.

I had no idea how many days I’d been locked up. All I knew was that every time I woke up crying, I would pass out again, and that cycle repeated ten whole times.

Just when I thought I was going to die in there, the bedroom door clicked open. I instinctively shut my eyes.

“What a disgusting mess. Bolton said he cut your power, not your water. How could you not keep yourself clean? Go wash up in the bathroom right now. Don’t come out until you’re presentable!”

A voice dripping with revulsion filled the room.

I lifted my head and saw my mother.

She stood in the doorway looking regal and elegant, but the way she stared at me was like I was trash.

She only cared about whether I met her standards—never about the fact that I had claustrophobia.

I looked at her numbly. I knew that if I didn’t obey, she’d just send people in to pin me down and force me to comply.

That had happened more times than I could count.

After I finally cleaned myself up and came out, she narrowed her eyes, gave me one quick, displeased once-over, then coldly ordered the bodyguards to drag me to the living room.

The villa’s living room was huge, yet my gaze landed immediately on the body lying in the center—a dead dog. It was Shannon’s poodle.

Next to the dog’s corpse, someone was kneeling. I frowned, surprised to see it was one of the servants who’d always been kind to me.

Mom swept a cold look over the servant. “Tell me. Who told you to do it?”

Off to the side, Shannon was crying as if her heart were breaking, while Bolton held her gently, comforting her.

The servant glanced at me, terror flickering with a trace of guilt in her eyes. Under my mother’s threatening stare, she finally raised a shaking finger—pointing at me.

“M-Ma’am Amybeth told me to do it… She said the dog destroyed something important to her and had to pay with its life. Please, I’m begging you, spare me. I was only following her orders! I didn’t mean it.”

She rambled in panic, practically ready to bang her head against the floor at their feet.

The moment Shannon heard that, she let out a sharp sob. She sniffled pitifully and said, “Amybeth, if you were upset with me, you could’ve just come at me. Why did you take it out on my dog? I know the little one did something wrong, and I already apologized to you. If you really needed a life in return, you could’ve taken mine. Why did you have to hurt him?”

Her tears flowed even harder.

Bolton’s and my mother’s eyes immediately hardened as they stared at me.

After Bolton finished soothing Shannon, he finally turned toward me with a cold expression.

“Amybeth! I thought locking you in the room would make you calm down and reflect. I didn’t expect you to actually hire someone to hurt a dog!”

Disappointment clouded his eyes. “I’m your husband. I can’t watch you keep making mistakes. Take responsibility for what you’ve done. Apologize. Apologize to Shannon’s dog and make up for what you did.”

My mother glared at me with the same disgust.

“I knew from the beginning you were no good. You always targeted your sister, and now you won’t even spare her dog! I agree with Bolton—if you don’t get properly punished, who knows what you’ll do next!”

Their words and their stares cut into me so sharply it felt like I couldn’t breathe.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth. “Let me get this straight—while I was locked in a room with no phone, terrified because of my claustrophobia… I supposedly instructed someone to kill Shannon’s dog?

“I’ll say this once: I didn’t do it. And I’m not apologizing to a dog!

“As far as I’m concerned, the dog wasn’t at fault. Someone else was.

“Bolton, if you don’t believe me, check the surveillance footage!”

I didn’t even look at my mother. Even if she knew the truth, she would still blind herself and take Shannon’s side.

My mother always had.

I stopped hoping for anything from her a long time ago.

My words seemed to shake Bolton for a moment. He frowned, as if weighing whether I was telling the truth.

Sensing that, Shannon quickly tugged on his sleeve, her voice dripping with false concern. “Forget it… if Amybeth doesn’t want to apologize, then let her be. My poodle was with me for years, but my sister is still more important. I know I can’t compare to her. If she wants to hurt my dog, I can’t stop her. If she wants to hurt me, I guess I deserve it.”

The moment she said that, Mom snapped toward me. “Look at what you’ve driven your sister to say! First her dog, then who knows what’s next? If Bolton doesn’t want to punish you, then I will do it as your mother!”

Her face twisted with rage. “Today, you’ll apologize whether you want to or not!”

Bolton frowned at me. “Mom’s already said her piece. Just do it. It’ll calm her and Shannon down.”

“I will never admit to something I didn’t do.” I let out a cold laugh and turned to leave without hesitation.

Amybeth’s POV

Shannon immediately blocked my path. She reached out to grab me, and I reflexively shook her hand off.

She smirked in triumph, then deliberately threw herself backward with a heavy thud.

“Shannon!”

Bolton shoved me aside and rushed toward her, carefully helping her up as she cried out in pain.

His push was so forceful that I hit the floor hard.

If I hadn’t curled around my belly on instinct, the consequences would’ve been unimaginable.

I already knew Bolton only saw the child in my belly as Shannon’s experimental subject, but even so, a cold tremor ran through me.

Before I could say anything, my mother suddenly marched forward and slapped me across the face.

The sharp crack echoed. Blood quickly spilled from the corner of my mouth, my vision spinning.

“Bitch!” she shouted. “I just warned you, and you still dared to lay a hand on Shannon! If anything happens to the baby she’s carrying, just you wait!”

Her face twisted into something monstrous.

Only then did her words sink in; everyone already knew Shannon was pregnant with Bolton’s child. Everyone… except me.

I was her biological daughter, yet she chose to stand with Shannon.

At that moment, my heart went cold and hollow.

By then, Bolton had already coaxed Shannon into calming down.

Then he walked over to me, expression blank, ignoring my bleeding mouth and my eight-month rounded belly. Without the slightest hesitation, he yanked me up from the floor.

The pain made me gasp, but he didn’t care.

The next second, he forced me down on my knees right in front of the dead body of that little toy poodle.

Before I could even struggle, he slammed my head down.

“Bolton… let go of me…”

I forced the words out, my throat tight and trembling.

He only gave me a cold glance before pressing down even harder.

With a sickening thud, my forehead smashed against the floor.

The hit made my head spin, nausea rising uncontrollably as I dry-heaved.

When he finally released me, I collapsed onto the floor like a dead fish.

He looked down at me—pathetic, heaving, covered in humiliation—and ordered the bodyguards.

“I’m taking Shannon to the hospital. Keep an eye on this woman. Make her apologize to the puppy ninety-nine times, then make her dig a grave and bury him herself. And remember, she’s not allowed to use any tools.”

He gave me one last calm look.

“Amybeth, you need this lesson. Cooperate with them. Don’t make things harder than they already are.”

Then he carried Shannon out of the villa.

My mother, still fussing over Shannon, followed them without looking back.

I shut my eyes tightly. I hadn’t even managed to get up when the bodyguards grabbed my shoulders and forced me down again.

No one spoke. Only the sound of my knees slamming against the empty villa floor echoed again and again.

By the time warm blood gushed down my face, the ordeal finally ended.

I lay there, my forehead torn open, the wound so shredded it was almost raw meat. Blood streamed down my cheek and dripped onto the floor—grotesque and terrifying.

“Ma’am, you still need to go to the backyard to dig the grave. Please forgive our disrespect.”

They dragged me out to the garden and forced my hands into the dirt, making me dig one handful at a time.

When everything was done, my hands were a bloody mess, bone showing through torn skin.

Shaking violently, I used the only finger I could still move, my thumb, to dial an emergency call.

The moment I finished giving the address, my strength finally gave out.

I collapsed on the ground and lost consciousness.

When I woke up again, I was in the hospital. Bolton was nowhere in sight.

The attending doctor told me that I was lucky—they got me here just in time. The baby was still alive. But I needed at least half a month of hospitalization before I could be discharged.

Just then, my phone buzzed. It was an updated video on Shannon’s Instagram.

I didn’t want to look, but my hand slipped and the video opened.

In it, Bolton gently kissed her belly, his eyes full of tenderness.

The caption read: [Baby, with a daddy who loves you this much, you’ll be so happy when you’re born!]

A shock went through me. Even while I was unconscious, bleeding, fighting for my life… Bolton never stayed by my side. This video shattered the very last sliver of hope I had left.

A single tear slid from the corner of my eye. I swore it would be the last tear I ever shed for Bolton!

I picked up my phone and sent Gibeon a message along with the hospital address.

[Gibeon, I can’t wait a month anymore. Just half a month. Come pick me up then.]

A second later, his reply came. [Okay.]

[Also, about Bolton and Shannon causing your multiple miscarriages. We’ve already found evidence. We’re securing everything now. What do you want to do next?]

Seeing his message brought a faint warmth back to my chest. I typed my reply.

[The day you come to pick me up, we’ll execute everything we planned.]

In half a month, I'll be leaving this city forever and end my marriage with Bolton once and for all!

The fire of vengeance burned in my eyes. This time, it would be for me and for the children they stole from me!