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.

Just moments before I pulled the trigger, Elena suddenly walked over.

"As the victim, I have the right to one final check."

She didn't touch the gun. Instead, she walked up to me and opened her arms in an extremely hypocritical gesture of a hug.

"Ivy, don't be afraid. The Lord will protect you."

To everyone else, this looked like the victim forgiving the perpetrator.

However, when she leaned close to my ear with that sickly sweet perfume, her voice was like a venomous snake crawling out of hell:

"You fool, did you really think it was empty?"

"I switched out Alexander's men long ago. I had it fully loaded. Six bullets. Every one of them lethal."

"Go to hell. Don't worry, once you're dead, I'll send your old man down to join you. I'll have his limbs chopped up and fed to the dogs so the whole family can be reunited..."

The old me might have seen red and tried to kill her regardless of the consequences.

But in this moment, I was unusually calm.

I didn't push her away. Instead, I turned my head and gave Elena a smile so bright it was eerie.

"Is that so?" I whispered, my tone as gentle as if chatting with a best friend. "That's wonderful."

"Elena, thank you for everything. In return, I've prepared a big gift for you too... I hope you like it."

Elena froze.

Seeing my smile, a massive wave of unease rose in her heart. She thought I would go mad or scream, but my calm acceptance of death, mixed with mockery, terrified her.

"You..." She instinctively tried to back away. "What are you bluffing about!"

The moment she stepped back, I didn't give her a chance to think.

I looked at Alexander. The man was watching me nervously, waiting for that crisp click, waiting to "start fresh" with me.

"Goodbye, Alexander."

I mouthed the words to him soundlessly.

The next second, I shifted my wrist outward by an inch—imperceptible to others—avoiding the main artery of my heart, and pulled the trigger without hesitation!

Bang—!

The gunshot exploded in the enclosed chamber, deafeningly loud!

It wasn't empty!

Blood instantly bloomed on my chest, dying my white dress red.

The expression on Alexander's face froze.

The anticipation from a second ago turned into absolute terror and pallor. He let out a gut-wrenching roar: "Ivy—!!"

He lunged at me like a madman.

But I didn't give him the chance to touch my body.

The moment I fell, I pressed the micro-detonator hidden in my palm.

Boom—!

Just as Alexander was about to touch the hem of my dress, the floor shook violently!

Thick white smoke, accompanied by the explosion, instantly swallowed the entire chamber.

"Cough! Bomb! There's a bomb!"

"Protect the Don!"

The scene was chaos, with screams and coughing rising and falling.

In the blinding confusion, enduring the agonizing pain in my chest, I relied on my memory to agilely roll into a secret door in the corner.

Below it lay the underground river channel leading out of the manor, where a speedboat was already waiting.

Clutching my bleeding wound, I jumped into the dark chute.

Behind me, the sound of chain explosions rang out.

Fire swallowed everything.

The Ivy who loved Alexander finally died in this grand display of fireworks.