I clutched my phone so tightly the edges nearly cracked.

At last, I reached him, collapsing on the ground in exhaustion. Tilting my head up, I gasped, “I… I walked out… let me go…”

Daniel looked down at me, lips curling into a cruel smile. “See? You can walk. So why didn’t you let Vivian in the elevator earlier?”

Before I could react, he suddenly kicked me hard in the stomach!

“Ah—!” Agony ripped through my body. Like a ragdoll, I was hurled back into the freezer, crashing against the icy wall.

“Daniel! You bastard! You broke your word!” I clutched my belly, convulsing in pain, tears mingling with cold sweat.

Vivian giggled sweetly in his arms. “Sister, is that all it takes to break you? Your pain is nothing compared to the injustice I’ve suffered.”

Summoning my last strength, I hurled my phone at Daniel.

He dodged easily. The phone skidded onto the floor outside the freezer. Its screen glowed—showing a call had been connected.

Once, someone had told me:

No matter what happens, just call me—I’ll come right away.

The faint glow of the phone flickered in the freezing air like a dying star.

Did you see it? Did you hear me? Please… save me…

The chill stabbed into my bones like countless needles. My body shook like a leaf in the wind.

Daniel glared down at me, his tone as sharp as ice. “Stop pretending to die. Crawl over here right now and bow to Vivian.”

I stared at the sight of him holding Vivian, lips pressed into a rigid line.

My heart was already frozen. Every word out of his mouth was a cruel joke. I would never believe him again.

Vivian wrapped her arm around Daniel’s, shooting me a smug glance as she spoke in a falsely kind tone. “Mr. Miller, let it go. People might say I’m abusing your wife.”

“No.” Daniel patted her hand, his voice terrifyingly firm. “I have to get justice for you.”

Vivian’s face lit up, rubbing against him affectionately. “Darling, you’re so good to me.”

The sight seared my eyes, my trembling only growing worse.

I didn’t know if it was the cold, or my heart breaking completely.

Forcing myself up from the ground, my lower body numb as if chained by iron, every move weighed a thousand pounds.

Instinctively, I stroked my swollen belly, trying to share warmth with my baby. But the chill had long stolen the heat from my hands.

“Emma Carter, stop putting on that pitiful act.” Daniel’s voice lashed out like a whip.

“Don’t think you can win sympathy with that look. Not from me. Get on your knees, apologize to Vivian, and maybe I’ll let you live.”

I lifted my head, eyes frozen over with cold fury, and spat out two words: “Dream on.”

“You dare!” Fire blazed in Daniel’s eyes. He shouted, “Men!”

Two security guards in suits entered, each carrying a heavy bucket dripping with condensation.

“Make sure she learns her lesson!” Daniel barked.

They seized me—one pinning my arms, the other lifting the bucket—then dumped the icy water straight over my head.

The freezing torrent drenched me, seeping through my thin clothes, pressing against my skin like blocks of ice.

I shuddered violently, nearly suffocating from the cold.

That moment shattered the last trace of hope in my heart.

To him, I was never a wife—only a tool to please Vivian.

Vivian covered her mouth in feigned concern. “Darling, let it go. She’s already like a drowned rat.”

Daniel squeezed her hand, his eyes dripping with indulgence. “You’re just too soft-hearted. That’s why she bullies you. Did she think about you climbing the stairs in this heat while she sat in the elevator?”

Water streamed off my clothes, pooling at my feet before freezing into a thin sheet of ice.

My body shook uncontrollably, my jaw aching from the chattering of my teeth.

Suddenly, sharp pain twisted in my belly. The baby inside thrashed desperately, each contraction so intense my vision blurred.

“Daniel…” I begged with the last of my strength, my voice breaking. “The doctor said the baby isn’t stable… please… let me go to the hospital…”

Vivian’s eyes filled with tears as she tugged Daniel’s sleeve. “She’s still the wife of the chairman. She should see a doctor if she feels unwell. Not like me—I stumbled and hurt myself on the stairs and didn’t dare tell you.”

“Wife of the chairman?” Daniel sneered, his eyes slicing into me like knives.

“Without me, Emma Carter is nothing! I acknowledge her, she’s my wife. If I don’t, she’s just trash!”

The words stabbed into my chest like an icicle.

Back when he was just a poor graduate, I had defied my family, taken our marriage license, and married him.

In the early days of his startup, when he struggled with orders, I ran across the city negotiating deals, helping him build his company step by step.

On the day the company went public, he hugged me in tears, swearing I was the one he’d always be most grateful to.

And now?

He was tired of the wife who shared his hardships, and showered affection on his assistant instead.

Yet I still carried his child!

“Daniel… please…” I clutched my belly, barely able to stand, tears streaming down with the icy water.

“Baby Sam… he can’t hold on much longer…”

One of the guards glanced at my pale face and hesitated. “Mr. Miller, she really looks bad. And the baby is yours—”

Smack! Daniel’s slap cracked across the guard’s face.

“You care about her so much? You sleeping with her too?!”

The guard bowed his head quickly. “No, sir.”

Daniel roared louder, glaring at me. “Stop using the baby to threaten me! Who knows if that child is even mine!”

“What did you say?” I jerked my head up, stunned.

“Vivian told me,” Daniel scoffed. “You’ve been going to a hotel every week with the driver dropping you off. Who knows what you were doing there!”

“I didn’t!” I shook all over.

“I was negotiating deals for you! Mr. Brown only meets clients at the hotel café—don’t you remember?”

“Stop lying!” he cut me off violently. “Apologize to Vivian right now, or I’ll never let you go to the hospital.”

Vivian rubbed her eyes, pretending to cry. “Don’t be so hard on her, darling. I can endure a little injustice. I only nearly fell on the stairs—that’s all…”

Daniel immediately took off his coat, wrapping it around her, then turned his murderous glare back to me. “I gave you a chance. You chose to waste it.”

“Looks like you won’t understand rules unless I teach you a lesson!”

Daniel Miller stormed toward me like a lit firecracker, towering over me as he clenched his fist so tightly his knuckles turned white. When his punch came down, I could almost hear my bones crack under the impact.

“Vivian climbed the stairs until she was drenched in sweat, her ankle swollen, and you wouldn’t even apologize?”

He cursed as he kicked me in the side. “I’ll ask you one last time—will you admit you were wrong?”

Collapsed on the freezing ground, my bones felt shattered, and a metallic taste rose in my throat. My belly clenched in sharp spasms, each wave of pain worse than the last. I forced out three words through gritted teeth: “I… was… not… wrong…”

“Then die!” The last trace of warmth vanished from Daniel’s eyes. He raised his boot, the air hissing as it came down hard against my stomach.

“Ah—!” The pain crashed through me like a tidal wave. Curling into a ball, I felt something warm gush down my thigh.

Looking down, I saw the pale fabric of my dress soaked through—my water had broken!

“My water… my water broke!” I screamed, clutching at his pant leg in terror, my voice trembling.

“Daniel! Take me to the hospital! The baby’s coming!”

But Vivian Lee rushed in first, carrying the empty bucket they had used to drench me earlier. Before I could react, she slammed it down onto my swollen belly.

The jagged ice shards still clinging to the bucket pressed cruelly into me, the chill cutting through my soaked clothes. My amniotic fluid mixed with the freezing water, spilling across the floor.

“What are you doing?!” I shoved her away with the last of my strength, my vision blurring with pain.

Vivian staggered back two steps, her eyes welling up as she pouted innocently. “I… I thought since you looked like you were in so much pain, an ice compress would help… I just wanted to relieve it for you…”

“Emma, are you insane?!” Daniel pulled Vivian protectively behind him, his eyes blazing with rage.

“Vivian was only trying to help, and you pushed her? You think only your pregnancy matters? What about when Vivian was forced to climb stairs while pregnant? Did you care about her then?”

He turned to the guards and shouted, “Bring in the biggest ice block from the walk-in freezer!”

Two security guards in suits quickly carried in a block of ice as tall as half a man, frost clinging to its surface. It looked like it weighed dozens of pounds.

“She says she’s in pain, doesn’t she?” Daniel’s voice dripped with venom. “Then give her some ‘ice therapy.’ Let that block stop her whining.”

The guards hesitated, but moved forward anyway, lowering the looming ice toward me. The air itself felt sharp enough to split bone.

I shook my head in despair, tears mingling with blood as they fell. “No… Daniel… please…”

Just as the ice was about to touch my stomach, a thunderous voice roared from outside the freezer, filled with authority:

“Let’s see who dares touch her!”

Light spilled through the door crack, outlining a tall figure. Against the glow, I couldn’t see his face, but his presence tore through the icy despair surrounding me.

Through blurred vision, I recognized that once-familiar face. Michael Anderson stood in the doorway like a warrior of light, instantly shattering the darkness around me.

Daniel’s face flushed purple as he snarled, “Michael Anderson! This is Miller Corporation’s turf—you have no right to meddle!”

Michael didn’t even blink. Behind him, more than a dozen security guards in black suits filed in, their imposing presence filling the freezer with overwhelming pressure.