###Chapter 3

I didn’t know when I returned to the villa, but as the evening glow lingered, I found myself walking into the pink muhly grass garden.

Only in this sea of soft pink could my wounded heart find a moment of peace.

Then faint rustling came from deep within. I followed the sound and, in the next instant, stumbled upon a scene I could hardly bear.

“Oliver, be gentle… didn’t we just… in the daytime…”

The flower field was trampled. His movements were rough, yet his voice was tender. “It’s only because I love you too much, baby. How could I possibly hold back?”

I hid behind a tree, barely able to stay upright.

“You and her, did you also…”

“Silly girl, of course I’m only like this with you!”

It felt as though countless arrows pierced my chest. Covering my mouth, I fled the garden as if escaping for my life.

When I rushed back to the bedroom, the wedding photo on the wall caught my eye at once.

In the photo, the twenty-year-old girl leaned against the handsome man, her smile bright and radiant.

She once thought a smile would keep her happy for life, but now it only showed the pain of a failed marriage.

I began packing my things. This house had never held much that truly belonged to me.

In the wardrobe hung an unfinished white shirt. Oliver liked handmade shirts, so I had taught myself to use the sewing machine.

In the drawer was a notebook filled with his favorite dishes. I had once planned to cook them for him, one by one, but that day would never come.

In the corner stood the half-finished painting we once worked on together. He had said he wanted it completed before our tenth anniversary as a gift to me. Now, it was left under a layer of dust.

“Seeing me and Oliver making love in your garden, you must feel awful, right? But who told him he likes to play such thrilling games with me?”

I hadn’t even noticed when Vespera appeared behind me.

She curved her lips into a seemingly gentle smile. “He always says you’re nothing but a block of wood, unworthy to carry the Garrison Family’s seed. Only I am fit to bear his bloodline.”

I turned back coldly. How could such a delicate face hide such shamelessness? “Then congratulations, you got what you wanted.”

Just as I moved to drive her out, heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway.

Vespera’s eyes flickered. In an instant, she grabbed my hand and slapped herself hard across the face. “Ah!”

Clutching her reddened cheek, she collapsed to the floor. By the time Oliver entered, all he saw was her kneeling before me, crying.

“Leah, I already apologized, didn’t I? Is it such a crime that I love Oliver? Do I deserve to die for it? Then hit me again if you must, I won’t resist. Even if you beat me to death, I’ll still love him. I’ll love him forever.”

My eyes widened in shock, but before I could respond, a sharp sting exploded across my face.

Oliver’s strike was so heavy I staggered back, my head slamming against the corner of the cabinet.

A sharp pain tore through me as I collapsed, my uniform quickly soaking in blood.

“Leah, are you out of your mind?! If you’re angry, take it out on me. Vespera is just a fragile girl; how could she endure your cruelty?”

Lying on the cold floor, misery pressed down on me as a stabbing pain spread through my lower abdomen.

Through tears, I looked up at him. “Oliver, if I say I did nothing, would you believe me?”

I thought I could take one gamble, that ten years of devotion might earn a shred of trust. But I had been hopelessly naïve.

“I saw you hit Vespera with my own eyes and you still dare to deny it! Leah, I’ve indulged you too much.”

With gentle hands, he lifted Vespera and brushed away her tears. “Don’t be afraid, I’ll call a doctor right away.”

Vespera buried herself in his shoulder, sobbing as though she had suffered the greatest grievance in the world.

“Forget it, don’t blame Leah. I shouldn’t have fallen in love with you. I should just leave. Oliver, I’m not worthy of you….”

Oliver’s eyes lingered on her swollen cheek, fury blazing to its peak.

“She’s the one who’s unworthy! Leah, if you dare bully Vespera again, tomorrow I’ll make your family bankrupt!”

How absurd, how pitiful, how laughable. He actually believed the rumors of my family’s decline and for Vespera’s sake, he was willing to destroy everything I had.

Oliver strode off with Vespera in his arms. If he had turned back even once, he would have seen me collapse onto the marble floor, bleeding and unconscious.

###Chapter 4

When I opened my eyes again, night had already fallen.

The white wall of the hospital loomed before me and the doctor stood at my bedside with my chart in hand, his voice heavy with regret.

“Fortunately, the butler brought you here in time. We’ve treated the wound on your head. But your child… I’m sorry. By the time you arrived, it was already gone.”

Child?

Blankly, I reached for my lower abdomen. So, I had once carried my own baby? It had slipped past the drugs, only to be destroyed by its own father’s hand.

Hatred surged in my chest. I turned to the clock on the wall and it was already past ten. Ignoring the doctor’s pleas, I forced myself to leave the hospital.

On the ride home, the taxi radio blared the latest gossip. I let out a cold, mocking laugh.

Back at the villa, I tore the wedding photo from the wall and smashed it into pieces. Everything that had once recorded my love, I threw into the trash and set it on fire.

The crackling flames lit up the night.

Oliver hurried into the yard, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. “What are you burning?”

“Just some garbage that should have been dealt with long ago.”

He halted in his tracks. “Today, when I hit you, it was just a small punishment. Luckily, Vespera is fine. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have let you off.”

A small punishment? So, giving me a head injury, forcing me to miscarry and lose my child, was merely that?

Yet for his precious girl, with nothing but a little swelling on her cheek, he had summoned the best experts across the city to ensure she wouldn’t feel the slightest pain.

“Oliver, don’t worry. There will never be a next time.”

My voice was distant and at once he sensed something amiss.

In front of him, I had always smiled, gentle, tolerant, accommodating. When had I ever turned so cold, unwilling even to look at him?

Suppressing his sudden irritation, he frowned. “Enough, stop pretending to be pitiful. You’d better not stir up trouble at the banquet the day after tomorrow, or even my parents won’t be able to protect you.”

I closed my eyes, his indifferent voice still lingering.

“Let me tell you, I’ll have that patch of pink muhly grass dug up and replaced with roses.”

The night wind brushed across my cheeks, sending a chill through me. That flower field had been planted by his hands the year we married, not only because I loved pink muhly, but because he had once told me beneath the stars that its flower language was the throbbing of first love, the beauty of waiting.

Even if we were apart, one in Newport, the other in the capital, he would always be waiting for me in that field.

And now, only because his little lover preferred roses, he would erase it all.

“Oliver, does our past mean nothing at all?”

He sneered. “A business marriage and you took it seriously? I even regret ever risking my life to save you.”

At last, I laughed, laughing as tears poured down in heavy streams.

A friend had once warned me kindly that Oliver’s true nature was not what I believed. I thought she was only jealous, envious of what I believed was a perfect marriage. In the end, I was the foolish one.

My tear-reddened eyes made Oliver’s heart tighten for a moment, but irritation quickly replaced it. Then, as if recalling his superiority, he looked at me with disdain.

“Stop pretending, Leah. Remember, as long as you behave, you will retain the position as my wife.”

How could he think I cared about such an empty title?

“Oliver, I was wrong.”

Wrong to be blind, wrong to give my heart to the wrong man. Wrong to abandon everything in the capital, only to come to Newport and live as nothing more than a police officer for him.

Wrong to waste my youth chasing a false love that never belonged to me.

“So you finally admit what you did to Vespera was wrong? Then stop being so ungrateful.”

This time, I didn’t argue; there was no need.

“Then I’ll bring Vespera to the banquet the day after tomorrow. You’ll apologize to her sincerely and this matter will be over.”

So, he wanted to show off Vespera on the very day that was meant to matter most to us. My heart sank and the love I once held turned completely to ashes.

Oliver went inside, picked up a few things and left.

The next day, I went to the police department as usual. I had just sat down when Zachary handed me a USB drive, his expression grave.

“This is what you asked for. But Oliver is someone we can’t afford to offend, Chief. Please think carefully.”

###Chapter 5

“Zachary, anyone who makes a mistake must bear the consequences. Even if it’s the son of a king, it’s the same.” I raised my hand to stop him.

After sending him back to his seat, I plugged in the USB drive. I wanted to see just how Oliver planned to make me apologize to his precious darling.

As the video played, the gloom on my face slowly curved into a smile.

The day slipped by. On my way home from work, my phone buzzed with another trending alert.

#Mr. Garrison’s Proposal Successful? Model Girlfriend a Perfect Match!

#President Garrison’s Pregnant Wife-to-Be

So, Vespera was already pregnant?

My breath faltered and after a brief pause, I clicked on one of the trending links.

The screen opened to a billion-dollar villa by the bay, lit up for a private proposal party. By the pool stood a tall, broad-shouldered man, an old scar running from beneath his vest down to his waist, giving him a sharp, masculine edge.

The petite girl nestled against his chest, deliberately flaunting the ring on her finger as it sparkled on his shoulder, a ten-carat diamond shining with blinding brilliance. I closed the phone at once.

For the next two days, Oliver never returned home.

When our tenth wedding anniversary finally arrived, I came back from work to find a luxurious evening gown lying neatly on the bed. Only then did I notice Oliver’s message on my phone. [Wear this to the banquet. My mom had it custom-made for you.]

I hadn’t prepared an outfit anyway, so I slipped into the gown, applied some makeup and hurried to the family estate.

“Our Leah is truly beautiful. In the blink of an eye, you and Oliver have already been married ten years!”

Kayla’s eyes shone with affection for me, but no matter how warm her gaze was, it could never compare to the bond of blood she shared with her son.

The family had long known about Vespera, yet every one of them chose to turn a blind eye.

As long as they could keep it from me, one more day hidden was one more day gained.

“Thank you, Mrs. Garrison, for taking care of me all these years.” I smiled.

“Why suddenly call me Mrs. Garrison, so distant?” She didn’t hear the farewell in my words and asked someone to call Oliver into the living room.

He entered and saw me adorned with jewels. It was the version of me he hadn’t seen in a long time, the Leah who had set aside the uniform and returned to being one of the Four Young Ladies of the Capital.

He froze for a moment, then seemed to sense something different. Though I smiled, the smile never reached my eyes.

Kayla pretended to scold him. “You must treat Leah well, or your father and I won’t forgive you.”

Oliver glanced at me impatiently. “I know, Mom, I will.”

Inside, I watched them finish their act with complete indifference. “All right, your father isn’t feeling well. I’ll go upstairs to take care of him. You two enjoy yourselves.”

Perhaps thinking I had complained, Oliver grabbed my arm the moment his mother left and dragged me in front of Vespera. Through clenched teeth, he hissed, “Leah, I had originally intended to let you go. But since that’s how it is, today you must apologize to Vespera!”

I straightened my back and met his eyes with cold defiance. “And if I don’t? Will you make my head bleed again, just for her?”