I woke up in the VIP ward of the hospital, the smell of disinfectant making me nauseous.

Alexander sat by the bed, brows furrowed, holding an unlit cigar.

Seeing me awake, before he could speak, I grabbed his hand desperately.

"Alexander! It was Elena! She admitted it herself!"

I incoherently recounted everything that had just happened. "There was no betrayal! Papa is innocent! She drugged you! She leaked your location! It was all her setup!"

Alexander's look of concern gradually turned into impatience.

He pulled his hand back and looked at me coldly. "Ivy, that's enough."

"To clear your father's name, you're making up such ridiculous lies now?"

"Elena voluntarily sacrificed herself to save me. She was exiled by her family and abandoned by her fiancé for it. She paid such a terrible price just to set up a trap?"

He stood up, looking down at me with eyes full of disappointment.

"Stop letting jealousy blind you. For your sake, I can keep your father alive, but release him? Absolutely not."

Just as I wanted to laugh out of despair, the doctor pushed the door open.

He wore a professional smile and bowed to Alexander.

"Congratulations, Don. The results are in. The Donna is pregnant."

Alexander froze.

Those usually gloomy blue eyes suddenly burst with ecstatic light.

"Really?" He looked sharply at my stomach. The coldness from a moment ago vanished, his voice trembling. "You mean, I'm going to be a father?"

He almost stumbled as he sat back down by the bed, reaching out carefully to touch my lower abdomen, as if a rare treasure were hidden there.

"Ivy... we're having a baby." A layer of mist formed in his blue eyes, a depth of emotion I had never seen before. "This is a chance from God, isn't it? We can turn the page on all the unpleasantness before. For the sake of the child, let's start over."

Seeing the hope in his eyes, my heart trembled.

Hatred surged in my chest, but when my hand subconsciously covered my flat stomach, a strange sense of blood connection made my eyes red.

This was my child.

In this cruel world, this was the only family that truly belonged to me.

Even though I hated Alexander to the bone, the child was innocent.

I started forcing myself to eat. No matter how bad the morning sickness was, for the sake of the child, I forced myself to swallow.

I silently swore that no matter how stormy it got outside, I would do everything to protect this little life.

However, this brief peace lasted only two days.

That afternoon, Alexander walked in with the doctor.

Unlike his previous ecstasy, Alexander's face was as pale as a sheet, and he looked like he had aged ten years in an instant.

"Ivy..." Alexander's voice was terribly hoarse. He sat by the bed and buried his head deep in my palms. "The doctor says your heart can't handle the pregnancy. If you insist on having this baby, you will die."

I felt like I had been struck by lightning.

I looked at the doctor in disbelief.

The doctor avoided my gaze and whispered, "Donna , your vitals are alarming. If the pregnancy continues, there is a high probability that both of you will die. The Don made this decision for your safety."

"No! You're lying!" I pushed Alexander away like a madwoman and shrank into the corner of the bed. "My health has always been fine! How could I have heart disease! I want a different doctor! I want a re-examination!"

"Ivy! Calm down!" Alexander rushed over and hugged me tightly, his eyes red. "I want this child too! But I can't lose you! We can have children later!"

To comfort me, Alexander cupped my face and said something that plunged me into an ice cave:

"Ivy, listen to me. I know you like children... Elena is due soon. I've arranged it. When she gives birth, I'll give that child to you to raise. It will be under your name. That will be our child..."

My blood froze instantly.

This was the ultimate cruelty.

He wanted to kill my own flesh and blood, then make me raise my enemy's child?

"Alexander, you are a devil..." I looked at him in despair, the last light in my eyes extinguishing. "I hate you... I will hate you forever!"

No matter how I resisted, I was forcibly pushed into the operating room.

On the cold operating table, the anesthesiologist injected the drugs.

But I didn't lose consciousness completely.

My body couldn't move, but I could clearly feel the cold instruments entering me. The excruciating pain of flesh being stripped away made me want to scream, but I couldn't make a sound.

Amidst this hellish torture, I heard the sound of high heels outside the door.

Then, Elena's triumphant voice.

"Oh, how pitiful." She seemed to be standing right next to the operating table, looking down at me. "Such a healthy baby, turned into a pool of blood just like that."

"Miss Elena, keep your voice down," came the attending doctor's voice. "Although she was given anesthesia, the patient might still be subconsciously aware."

"What are you afraid of? Here is the check for one million dollars. Take it." Elena chuckled lightly. "Thanks to your forged medical report. Not only did you help me get rid of this bastard, but you also filled Alexander with guilt toward her. Now, let's see who can shake my position."

So... that was it!

Agony and hatred intertwined, almost exploding my chest.

There was no heart disease! My baby was healthy!

They conspired to murder him!

Tears slid silently from the corners of my eyes, mixed with cold sweat.

Alexander, Elena... I swear, as long as I don't die, I will make you pay with blood!

After the surgery, I was wheeled back to the ward.

The anesthesia hadn't worn off, and everyone thought I was still in a coma. Alexander guarded me for a while before his men called him out to deal with a family emergency.

The room was empty.

I struggled to open my eyes.

With trembling hands, I reached into the hidden compartment inside my pillow and found the micro-communicator I had hidden for a long time—the last card Papa left me before he was taken.

I dialed an encrypted number.

It connected quickly, and an old, steady voice answered, "Princess?"

It was one of Papa's loyalists, an expert in explosives and forgery.

My throat was dry and hoarse. "Prepare some supplies for me."

After hanging up, I flushed the communicator down the toilet.

After that, I became like a walking corpse, refusing to say a single word to Alexander.

Meanwhile, opposition within the family grew louder.

The elders were already dissatisfied with me. Now that I was the "daughter of a traitor" and had lost the heir, they unanimously demanded that Alexander depose me as Donna .

Alexander was under immense pressure.

To quell the anger of the masses, and to give me a chance at "rebirth."

"Ivy, you know the family rules." He looked at me with a depth I didn't understand. "Accept the 'Judgment of the Revolver.' Russian Roulette."

"One bullet, one in six chance. If you survive, the past is wiped clean."

The day of judgment was set in the family's underground council chamber.

Alexander slammed a revolver onto the table in front of all the elders.

"Russian Roulette," he said, scanning the room coldly. "One bullet, a one-in-six chance. If the Donna survives, the past is wiped clean."

The elders whispered among themselves and eventually nodded in agreement.

Alexander didn't check the cylinder in public; he seemed confident in his arrangement.

He picked up the gun and strode over to me.

As he handed me the gun, his finger gently grazed my palm.

Those usually gloomy blue eyes were now filled with suppressed tension and deep affection.

He leaned into my ear under the pretense of handing me the weapon, his voice low enough that only we could hear:

"Trust me, Ivy."

"I've already had the cylinder cleared. Just pull the trigger, hear the empty click, and these old geezers will have nothing left to say."

"When this is over, we start fresh."

Start fresh?

I looked at his hopeful eyes, but my heart was a wasteland.

Alexander, you were too naive. With so much blood debt between us, how could we possibly start over?

But I said nothing. I just nodded obediently and took the heavy gun.

"Okay, I trust you."

I raised the gun and slowly aimed the dark muzzle at my left chest.