The next morning, when I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Louise, his eyes bloodshot.

“Honey, are you still in pain?”

“The baby… What happened to my baby? Why am I in the hospital?”

Louise pulled a sheet of paper from behind him and handed it to me with trembling hands.

It was a medical report. The diagnosis was brutally clear: due to “improper diet,” the fetus had developed congenital deformities. Continuing the pregnancy would have posed a fatal risk to both me and the child.

“Honey, I had no choice…” His voice cracked. “This child wasn’t meant for us. It was endangering your life—I couldn’t let you stay in danger…”

His expression was drenched in regret, his tone thick with pain and sorrow.

Hearing his words, my tears finally broke free.

Louise, how could you be so heartless? You took my baby away for that woman and then you blamed it on the child.

He was already five months old—so close to opening his eyes to this world…

Just then, Louise’s phone rang. On the screen, the caller ID read: Treasure.

His eyes flickered nervously, hesitation flashing across his face. But the next second, he grabbed his suit jacket and stood up.

“Honey, there’s a crucial deal at the company. I need to rush back and handle it.”

“Rest here at the hospital. If you need anything, ask the doctor. I’ll be back soon.”

But he didn’t come back the next day. Or the third. Or the fourth.

Days passed without him showing up.

Every time I called, he had the same excuses—meetings, negotiations, urgent deals.

It wasn’t until my discharge date that I finally got him on the phone again.

“Honey, I’m being discharged today. Can you come pick me up?”

On the other end, his voice sounded startled—like he had completely forgotten.

“You’re being discharged today?”

“Honey… I have a crucial partnership meeting right now. Could you go home on your own?”

My anger flared instantly.

“Who’s more important—your wife or your work?”

“Of course you are. But this deal… it really requires me to be there in person…”

I hung up before he could finish.

In the past, whenever I was upset, Louise would drop everything to be by my side. But this time, he didn’t come.

Instead, he sent a car to pick me up.

I didn’t get in. I wandered aimlessly instead, until fate shoved the truth right in front of me.

On the street, I saw Louise—with Karen.

He was singing One and Only to her, his voice tender, every word filled with devotion.

Above them, a drone spelled the same words in glowing letters across the sky: One and Only.

When the song ended, Louise dropped to one knee, looking at Karen with eyes overflowing with love.

“Karen, I love you. Will you marry me? I’ll make you happy forever.”

Karen’s tears spilled as she nodded.

He slipped a jade ring onto her finger.

Petals rained down as they kissed passionately, surrounded by cheers from the crowd.

The scene before me was a cruel echo of Louise’s proposal to me years ago.

So that song, One and Only, had never truly belonged to me. It had always been meant for Karen.

That jade ring he once claimed was a family heirloom, a keepsake for his daughter-in-law—it wasn’t meant for me at all. In his heart, Karen was always the true daughter-in-law of the Darren family.

He wasn’t too busy to pick me up from the hospital after my surgery. He was busy proposing to another woman.

I wiped my tears away and dialed my brother overseas.

“I’m divorcing Louise.”

As though he had expected this, he didn’t sound surprised.

“Are you absolutely sure?”

“Yes. Brother, please send someone to help me with the divorce proceedings.”

Two weeks later, I received a congratulatory package from the hospital.

I froze. I had just lost my child—why would the hospital be sending congratulations?

When I opened it, a family portrait slid out.

Louise stood proudly with a woman who looked strikingly like me, cradling two rosy-cheeked infants.

The four of them beamed with joy. A perfect, happy family.

At the bottom of the box lay a card: “Congratulations to Mr. Darren and Mrs. Lizzie on the safe arrival of their dragon-and-phoenix twins!”

Staring at the photo, my fingernails dug so deep into my palms they nearly broke the skin.

They killed my child—how dare they smile so happily?

That night, Louise came home earlier than usual, his face glowing with excitement. He pulled me onto the sofa and handed me an envelope.

Inside was an adoption agreement.

“Honey,” he began, voice soft, “I know you’ve been heartbroken every day since losing the baby. You don’t know how terrified I was when the doctor said you might not make it. If anything had happened to you, I couldn’t have gone on.”

“So… we won’t have our own. Let’s adopt instead.”

I glanced at the papers. Twins. Less than twenty days old.

My heart went cold. Just as I thought—he wanted me to adopt the children he’d had with his mistress.

He was dreaming.

Fury overtook me. I tore the agreement to shreds, sobbing until my throat burned.

“Our child was just taken from us—and you want me to raise someone else’s?” I screamed. “I refuse!”

Louise clearly hadn’t expected my reaction to be so fierce.

At first, he tried to soothe me. But when he realized I wouldn’t give in, his expression hardened.

“Whether you agree or not, this is happening.”

“I will never agree!” I shouted back, eyes blazing red.

Smack—

His palm cracked across my face. The first time he had ever struck me since we married.

Before I could recover, he dragged me down into the dark basement and locked the door.

“Reflect on your actions. I’ll release you once you come to your senses.”

I never imagined Louise would go this far—for Karen, for their children. He didn’t care about the Scott Family’s power. In his eyes, I was nothing more than a trapped bird, powerless to leave.

I remained in that basement for ten full days.

No matter how I cried, screamed, or begged, he refused to let me out. Only the servants came at noon, silently sliding in a tray of food.

Hunger clawed at me, fear gnawed at me and I began to wonder if I would die down there, alone and forgotten.

But one day, when the servant came, I seized my chance and escaped.

The moment I stumbled into the living room, the phone rang. It was my brother, Jimmy Scott.

“Sis, you must divorce Louise immediately,” he said, voice sharp with urgency.

“I just uncovered the truth. Mom and Dad’s car accident years ago—it was orchestrated by Louise and Karen. Back then, he sent her abroad to cover it up because he was terrified we’d find out.”

Shock rooted me to the floor. But before I could process it, I saw Louise charging at me, a club raised high.

Panicked, I screamed into the phone. “Jimmy, save me!”

The next instant, pain exploded in my skull and everything went black.

When I woke, I was back in the basement, chained by despair.

Tears streamed down my face as my brother’s words replayed in my mind.

My parents had loved me dearly. And yet I had been deceived into marrying the man who murdered them.

No. I couldn’t die here. I would make them pay—with blood.

I grabbed a stone and began prying at the iron bars. Bit by bit.

I didn’t stop, even as my hands split open and bled.

Days passed. Finally, the bars gave way.

When I stepped outside, I was met with the sight of a lavishly decorated house filled with guests.

I hurried up to one of them. “What’s happening?”

The guest beamed at me. “Mrs. Scott, isn’t this your twins’ full-moon banquet? How could you not know?”

He pointed toward the stage. “See? Mr. Darren and Mrs. Scott are holding the babies right there, toasting the guests.”

“Who are you?” I demanded.

Others began to gather, curious at the commotion.

On stage, Louise and Karen’s faces darkened, panic flashing in their eyes before Louise straightened his posture and barked coldly.

“You! Have you lost your mind? How dare you impersonate my wife, the heiress of Scott Group!”

“Security! Get this imposter out immediately!”

Three or four burly guards lunged toward me.

“I’m not—ugh—let go of me!”

A nod from Louise and a guard clamped a cloth over my mouth. My desperate struggles meant nothing.

But then—

“Who said my sister is an imposter?”

At that critical moment, my brother Jimmy appeared.

My brother kicked aside the security guards holding me and yanked the rag from my mouth.

The moment I saw his face, the dam inside me broke. I buried myself against his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

He caught sight of the bloody wounds on my hands, his expression twisting in pain. He gently patted my back, his voice low and soothing.

“I came too late… I let you suffer.”

Then, without warning, he lunged forward and seized Louise by the collar.

“You swore on your life you’d protect her. How dare you treat her like this?” His voice thundered through the hall. “Do you think the Scott Family has no one left?”

Shock flickered across Louise’s face. Clearly, he had never expected my brother to return to US.

It made sense. Since he was five years old, Jimmy had been raised overseas by our grandparents. After our parents’ so-called accident, he’d avoided this place of sorrow even more, managing his affairs abroad instead.

We had stayed connected mostly by phone, oceans apart. If Louise hadn’t pushed things too far this time, Jimmy would never have dropped everything and come rushing back.

Jimmy turned toward the guests, his voice calm but firm.

“Distinguished guests, many of you know the Scott Family once had another son, Jimmy Scott, who resides overseas managing our international market. Some of you have even met me.”

“I testify here today, this wounded woman beside me is the true Scott Family heiress—Louise’s legal wife, Naomi Scott. The woman on stage is nothing but his mistress.”

A flash of viciousness crossed Louise’s face as he roared.

“Nonsense! My elder brother is perfectly fine overseas—why would he suddenly return? You’re just an actor this woman hired! The two of you are conspiring to steal the Scott Family fortune!”

He sneered, “Besides, do you really think I, Louise, wouldn’t recognize my own wife?”

Whispers rippled through the crowd.

“This man does look just like the late Mr. Scott. He doesn’t seem fake at all!”

“What good is looking alike? Didn’t the real and fake wives look alike too?”

“Besides, Mr. Darren and Mrs. Scott’s love was deep as the sea. A true love story! How could he possibly mistake his wife—or cheat on her?”

Hearing the murmurs, Louise’s smug smile returned.

Watching this, my stomach twisted with dread.

For years, Louise had hidden the truth so well, treating me with gentle devotion. To outsiders, we were the picture of a perfect couple.

No one would believe he was capable of such treachery. Not strangers, not even me—just a month ago.

Was my brother’s arrival not enough to save me?

My chest tightened with panic, but then my brother gave me a steady look, as if to say, Trust me.

He pulled out a jade token, carved with his name, the one he had carried since childhood.

“This thousand-year-old cold jade was crafted exclusively for the Scott Family. My sister and I have worn ours since birth. This alone proves who I am.”

But Louise and Karen didn’t flinch. Instead, they held up jade tokens of their own—engraved with my name.

“I have one too,” Karen declared boldly. “I am Naomi, the true heiress of the Scott Family.”

My breath caught. I never imagined Louise would steal my jade token while I was unconscious. He had planned this meticulously, determined to crown Karen as my replacement.

Watching her flaunt the heirloom my parents left me, rage burned through my veins.

That token was my only keepsake of them. I had to take it back.

When Karen turned her head, I seized the chance. I slipped behind the staircase and snatched the jade token straight from her hand.

“Louise, you shameless liar! This is mine!”

In the blink of an eye, a sharp scream split the air.

“Ahhh—!”

Karen tumbled down the staircase, clutching the child in her arms.