“Ethan, please, let me and the child go,” she begged. “As long as you agree, I am willing to give your beloved Lily a place. You can even ask me to kneel down in front of her and kowtow to her!”

The lights flickered, casting eerie shadows across the room.

With a look of utter disgust, Ethan sneered, "Casey, are you that cheap?" 

His voice dripped with mockery. "Aren't you the one who always thinks you're superior? The one who refuses to admit your mistakes?"

The woman laid on the ground. She no longer had the innocent smile she once had. Instead, she looked haggard as if she had been forced into becoming a resentful woman in the deep palace.

“I was wrong, Ethan, I know I was wrong, I apologize to you and Lily, okay?

“I should not have slapped her, I should not have gotten pregnant with your child and the worst thing I should have done was fall in love with you in this deal.

“I was wrong, I will never do it again, please let me go!” she pleaded again and again.

Ethan stood up, pinched Casey's chin, looked left and right at the slap marks he had left on her and was very satisfied as he asked, “Wifey, why are you still so naive?

“The blood of my Olson Family will never be left outside. I promise you that as long as you give birth to the child safely, we will live a good life in the future. Also, the honor and title of Mrs. Olson will still be yours.

“As for divorce, there's no way we can get divorced. After all, how could I let you go when your brother refused to let my sister go at that time?

“I want you to live in my hands for the rest of your life, to see you living a life worse than death, to see you begging for mercy.”

He looked at the woman's deathly pale face, a trace of heartache seemed to pass through his eyes and he helped her up. 

Then he added, “Until I'm completely tired of you.”

When she was five months pregnant, late at night, Casey got up and drank water, holding her big belly.

Lily’s screams of pain and enjoyment came from the room downstairs, like a cat in heat in spring, echoing throughout the villa.

Ethan opened the door and met Casey's eyes, feeling a little surprised.

The next second, he raised the corners of his mouth mischievously before he said, “It just so happens that we have run out of condoms at home. Go out and buy a few boxes yourself.”

How ridiculous.

Ethan actually asked his wife to buy family planning products for him and his lover.

“Don't you understand what I'm saying? Lily is still waiting inside!

“Casey, who are you pretending to be wronged for? I am a normal man with physical needs. When my body desires, I should find someone to satisfy it, right?”

“You look like a sea lion with your big belly now, it's disgusting. I won't do it even if you beg me.”

Casey had a numb expression and allowed him to insult her at will, but her heart was calm.

People who had long since lost their hearts had no emotions or desires.

Turning around, Lily rashly ran out of the room, pushed her down the stairs and then screamed.

“Uncle, what should I do? It's all my fault!”

Casey frowned in pain, his stomach was like a deflated balloon and blood was gushing out from under her body.

Ethan looked at her with suspicion and was about to go down to help her when he was stopped by Lily.

“Don't go. This woman is good at pretending! If you go down now, she will only become more dependent on you in the future.”

Lily’s casual words ruined her life.

“Uncle, don't forget that it was her brother who killed Lilibeth. Blood debt must be paid with blood. She should pay the price.”

Ethan believed it and ordered his men to help Casey up and make her kneel upright on the ground.

“Are you still pretending? If you don't want to get up, then kneel here and listen to the sounds of me and Lily making love!”

That night, Lily's screams did not stop until the early morning and Ethan seemed to be working harder than usual.

Casey, who had been kneeling for a whole night, could no longer hold on and fainted.

She woke up again in the hospital, with the smell of disinfectant lingering in her nose.

Lily ordered someone to bring out a bowl of herbal medicine, pinched her chin and poured it into her mouth.

She smirked, her eyes gleaming with cruel satisfaction.

"It's an abortion pill. Go on, drink it!" she taunted.

Her voice turned sickly sweet as she continued, "I had someone find this special formula just for you. It's meant for livestock—once you take it, not only will you lose the child in your womb, but you'll bleed from all seven orifices. Not even the gods can save you."

Relying on the last bit of willpower in her mind, Casey held her hand tightly and the bowl fell to the ground with a bang.

The truth unraveled and Lily waved her hand, a sly smile curling at the corners of her lips before breaking into a sneer. 

"Do you know why my uncle married you?" she taunted.

She let the question linger before answering herself. "Of course, it's because I was kidnapped as a child and had my uterus removed, so that I can never have children!"

Her voice dripped with bitter amusement as she continued, "The Olson Family adopted me because I look like Lilibeth. I've given them everything over the years, so why would I settle for being just an orphan? What I truly desire is the position of the Olson Family's young lady."

Casey was so angry that her whole body was shaking. She endured the nausea from morning sickness, raised her hand high and was unable to utter a complete sentence.

“You... you two are in cahoots with each other, is not that enough?”

Unexpectedly, Lily suddenly took out a fruit knife from her pocket, cut her own face with a loud slash and blood immediately flowed out.

Before falling, she leaned over and whispered in the woman's ear, “No, this is far from enough. I want my uncle to completely hate you and the bastard in your belly.”

The next second, Casey was pushed away by her forcefully and her forehead hit the corner of the chair. The pain intensified and blood began to seep out.

She fell to the ground in pain, covering her face with her hands, at a loss, scaring Ethan, who came behind her, so much that his face turned pale.

“Uncle, it hurts so much, am I going to be disfigured?” she screamed in agony. “I kindly prepared a bowl of medicine for my auntie to preserve her pregnancy, but she actually slashed my face with a knife, saying she wanted to scratch my face, which looked like Lilibeth!”

Casey's eyes were dazed. Before she could say anything, Ethan pushed her hard. 

She tried to defend herself, her voice trembling as she said, "It wasn’t me… With this pregnancy weighing me down, how could I possibly have the strength to stab someone with a knife?"

A hint of doubt flashed across Ethan's eyes and then he was brought back to reality by the crying girl in his arms.

"Uncle, am I going to die?" she whispered, her voice laced with fear. "Just like her brother did to Lilibeth… will I also leave you forever?"

The man lowered his head and spoke softly to comfort her. When he looked at Casey again, his eyes held nothing but cold disgust.

"You truly are a bastard, just born but never raised," he sneered. "No wonder you were discarded at birth and left to rot in an orphanage.

"Just look at yourself now, spiteful, jealous and utterly repulsive. How disgusting!"

Under Lily's stimulation, Ethan threw all the embarrassing words in his heart at Casey.

As expected, the closest people knew each other's weakest points best and blood would come out if they were stabbed.

Casey's face turned pale instantly and she spoke softly in disbelief, “What did you say?

"Three years ago, you promised me a home, you swore to take the place of my cruel parents and love me forever. "But now… why have you become like this?

"Ethan, you knew it would break me, yet you still said it, didn’t you?"

A trace of struggle flashed across Ethan's face and he looked hesitant, as if he knew he had said the wrong thing and was anxious to make up for it.

“Casey, I didn't mean to…."

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Lily. She started crying in his arms and her tears could not be stopped like a broken faucet.

"Uncle, please don’t blame me for the quarrel between Auntie and me. It’s all my fault—I shouldn’t even exist in this world.

"Put me down. I’d rather kneel on the ground and kowtow to Auntie until she is satisfied. Even if I die like this, I would rather not bring shame upon you."

Lily buried her head sadly in Ethan's arms, glanced at her nonchalantly and added, “It's just that my young auntie did not seem to want to. 

“She said I was shameless and that I was still clinging to her husband even though I was so old. She also said that I was a bitch, just like Mrs. Olson, waiting to be the third party to interfere in other people's families and then get promoted.

“Auntie, yes I admit I am shameless, but this matter has nothing to do with Mrs. Olson."

Casey felt a chill in her heart. The disgraceful history of Ethan's mother's rise to power was always the biggest thorn in his heart.

“You evil-hearted bitch, what else do you have to say? If Lily gets a scar on her face, I will never forgive you!”

He picked up Lily and walked out without ever looking at Casey again.

The woman wiped the tears from her face and caressed the baby in her belly, with only a last glimmer of hope left in her eyes.

Lily was not disfigured, but she insisted on asking Ethan to go to the temple with her under the pretext of praying for herself and her deceased Lilibeth.

The man pulled her up from the hospital bed when she was eight months pregnant, as if giving her alms.

“Casey, I'll give you a chance to atone for your sins.

“Your knife skills are just a little bit off. If you stab her eyeball, Lily will never be able to open her eyes and see me again.

“Your sins are so great. Please wash away the sins for you, your brother and the child in your belly.”

In order to make the prayer work, Ethan asked her to climb up the rugged path with a big belly, while he and Lily watched from the side.

“Climb all the way up! You should be glad I did not make you climb up on your knees.”

In the middle of the conversation, when Ethan just made a call, Lily could not help but do something bad.

With a slight push from behind, Casey rolled down the hillside, her body covered in blood and a hot stream flowing from her lower body.

When Ethan arrived, the woman was kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down her face. 

Casey clutched his arm tightly, not caring about her image at all, her eyes filled with her final desire as she begged, “It hurts, it hurts so much. Ethan, save our child, I beg you.

“This is your own flesh and blood. I carried it for eight months. I really cannot live without it.”

There was a hint of struggle in Ethan's eyes. He gritted his teeth and picked up the woman on the ground in front of Lily.

"Casey, don't be afraid. I promise," he said with the same sincerity as when he once vowed to protect her.

After hearing these words, Casey breathed a sigh of relief and fell into a coma.

She had a dream. In the dream there was Ethan. The man was holding a delicate little girl in his arms. 

He raised his hands high with a smile on his face as he said, “Casey, look at our daughter, she is so beautiful, her nose and mouth look so much like yours.

“Her personality is very similar to mine, stubborn and brave. She will definitely achieve great things in the future. I need to think carefully about giving her a unique name.

“Casey, look! Our daughter is smiling. The higher I raise my hand, the more she smiles. She is so adorable.”

Casey was immersed in a sweet dream, a smile gradually appeared on the corner of her mouth and she was just about to ask if she could hold the baby.

In front of her, the man gently raised the little baby in his hand and the next second, he threw it hard to the ground.

After waking up from the dream, Casey broke out in a cold sweat.

She suddenly opened her eyes, sat up straight and ignoring the blood transfusion needle in her hand, she pulled out the needle and went out of bed barefoot.