Evelyn's POV:

As my consciousness slowly blurred,

I heard a dull thud.

Lena deliberately collapsed to the floor and screamed loudly.

“Evelyn, I know I was wrong.”

“Please, don’t be angry with me.”

“I didn’t mean to take your room…”

“James, help me…”

She acted the part perfectly.

Through the haze, I vaguely heard footsteps quicken.

James rushed over, completely ignoring me, and ran straight to Lena.

“Lena, are you okay?”

She sobbed as she leaned into his arms, crying uncontrollably. Her tears soaked into his clothes, making her look unbearably fragile.

James turned in fury and pointed straight at me.

“Evelyn, how can you be so vicious?”

“How could you push Lena?”

The accusation was so absurd that I almost found it laughable.

My voice was hoarse, my life force draining away with every breath.

I couldn’t help thinking of the child in my womb.

Perhaps the baby didn’t want a terrible father,

and a weak, powerless mother like me,

and so had chosen to leave instead.

“Push Lena?”

“If I pushed her, why would I be the one lying here in a pool of blood?”

“James, are you blind, or are you stupid, to believe everything Lena says?”

My words, filled with exhaustion and despair, made his eyes flicker with a trace of hesitation.

But Lena weakly clung to him, sobbing softly.

“James, my stomach hurts so much… my leg too, it feels like it’s about to break.”

“But you shouldn’t blame Evelyn.”

“After all, when she pushed me down, she fell down too…”

Her words were like pouring oil onto a fire, instantly wiping away the hesitation in his eyes.

He let out a cold, mocking laugh.

“Pushed Lena and then fell herself?”

“That’s your retribution.”

“Now stay here and suffer through it.”

I froze, my eyes widening in shock.

When I saw him bend down to lift Lena up and prepare to leave, I disregarded everything and grabbed the hem of his pants.

My entire body trembled violently. My voice was weak and broken from excessive blood loss.

“James, you can’t be this cruel.”

“Please… can you take me to the hospital?”

“Our child… are you really this heartless toward our child?”

His movement paused for a moment.

But at that instant, Lena let out a weak cry of pain in his arms.

James’s gaze turned icy.

He coldly kicked me away.

“That’s enough, Evelyn.”

“Stop pretending.”

“If you still had the strength to question me just now, then you also have the strength to go to the hospital by yourself.”

“Take good care of yourself.”

With that, he carefully carried Lena away, leaving me alone on the staircase.

Blood continued to flow, even staining the jade bracelet on my wrist red.

I gasped weakly, trying to crawl back to the room to get my phone and call Anne.

But with no strength left, I collapsed in the hallway.

Before losing consciousness, the only thought in my mind was,

I’m sorry, baby.

I couldn’t protect you.

The child, the only bond connecting me and James, was likely gone as well.

This marriage, too, no longer had any reason to exist.

…

When I woke up, my mind felt hollow, as if my soul had left my body.

I saw the doctor standing beside the bed, and Anne sitting anxiously nearby.

Her eyes were red-rimmed with panic.

“Evelyn, how are you?”

“How did I leave for just a moment and come back to find you lying in a pool of blood?”

“What happened?”

I closed my eyes in exhaustion, my hand resting on my abdomen.

There was nothing there. Only emptiness.

As if the child wasn't appeared.

“James brought Lena home, and Lena pushed me down.”

Anger flared in Anne’s eyes.

“Lena again, that bitch…”

I calmly looked at the doctor.

“My child…”

I hesitated.

The doctor sighed, his voice lowering.

“I’m very sorry, Mrs. Claire.”

“But you lost too much blood, and you were brought to the hospital too late…”

“The child couldn’t be saved.”

I closed my eyes, too tired to even cry.

Maybe, my tears were dried, in this bury marriage.

The child I had carried for three months, barely even formed, was ultimately killed by my husband’s mistress.

And James had stood by coldly, indifferent.

How ridiculous.

If before, I still had a little hope that James would change his mind, would save me, would love me like in the past.

Now, that hope is gone.

Only utter despair remains.

After explaining how I should take care of my body after the miscarriage, the doctor left the medical report on the table and walked away.

I lay there silently, staring at the ceiling.

My gaze was utterly empty.

Anne looked at me, her expression falling as well.

“Evelyn…”

I tilted my head toward her, my voice hoarse.

“Has lawyer Charlie sent the divorce papers yet?”

She nodded.

“He called earlier. I answered for you.”

“The divorce papers will be delivered to the hospital soon.”

Good.

From the moment I saw James carry Lena away, leaving me in a pool of blood, I regained my senses.

At this moment, all I wanted was to end this rotten marriage between James and me.

I just want to leave him.

The sooner, the better.

Evelyn’s POV:

The next morning, I went to the company as if nothing had happened.

The pallor of my face was concealed beneath delicate makeup.

My steps were steady as ever.

No one knew I had just lost my child.

Rumors from last night had already spread everywhere. The people around me whispered their accusations, saying I had fought with Lena, that in jealous malice I had pushed her down the stairs.

I heard it all, yet I did not react. I simply returned to my office.

After arranging the documents, I stood before James’s office.

He was on the phone, his voice unusually gentle.

“Lena, don’t be afraid. I’ll come with you tonight.”

“I am always with you…”

Suppressing the wave of nausea, I waited for him to hang up before knocking and stepping inside.

James looked at me, surprised in his voice.

“You came to work today?”

“Yes", my tone was so calm it felt unfamiliar even to myself.

“There are a few contracts that need your signature,” I said, placing the stack of documents on his desk.

James frowned.

“What contracts?”

He was about to flip through them when I replied indifferently.

“There are two cooperation contracts between our company and two partner companies.”

“They require your signature.”

James nodded after hearing that. Without bothering to read carefully, he quickly picked up a pen.

He signed.

And signed again.

I watched each stroke of ink and quietly let out a breath of relief.

His signature lay clear and decisive upon the divorce papers.

The resignation letter.

Three years of marriage ended in the blink of an eye.

James pushed the folder back toward me.

“Is there anything else? I’m really busy.”

I lowered my gaze and pressed my lips together. In the end, I still took the medical report out of my bag and spoke in a hoarse voice.

“James, this is…”

Before I could finish, James’s phone rang. He glanced at it quickly and saw Lena’s name flashing on the screen.

Without hesitation, he answered.

Even from a distance, I could hear Lena’s sobbing through the phone.

Utterly pitiful.

“The room is too dark? Wait a moment, I’m coming right now.”

James spoke urgently as he sprang to his feet. He did not glance at the paper even once, only hurriedly putting on his suit jacket.

“I have something urgent to take care of. We’ll deal with the other documents later.”

“Tonight, go home and sleep first. You don’t need to wait for me.”

He offered those perfunctory words of comfort, then disappeared in haste. The door slammed shut with a heavy bang.

My hand still rested on the report, my lips curving into a self-mocking smile.

If only James had lowered his eyes, even once.

He would have known.

His child was gone.

But he did not.

Then this no longer mattered.

I placed a hand over my abdomen and suddenly let out a laugh.

“My baby, your father has already signed the divorce papers.”

“After thirty days, I will leave him, and never come back.”

“I’m sorry that I’m too stupid, I can't keep you.”

The child I lost, perhaps it was all my fault. I had trusted the wrong person, and because of that, my child had to leave in grief as well.

Tears streamed down uncontrollably.

I sniffed, folded the medical report, and put it back into my bag.

As for the divorce papers and the resignation letter, I clenched them tightly in my hand.

The thirty days were not meant for reconciliation, but for me to sever everything completely with James.

Never to see him again.

I stepped out of the office and slowly made my way to submit the resignation letter to the head of Human Resources.

“Evelyn, you…”

She looked visibly surprised when she saw the letter, her eyes filled with confusion as she looked at me.

“I’m pregnant, so James wants me to rest at home and focus on the baby,” I said sweetly, masking anything unusual.

She quickly believed it and kept admiring, saying how fortunate I was to have a husband like James.

A trace of irony surged within me. I responded perfunctorily, then returned to my office.

I packed up all my belongings.

My nameplate.

One of the couple of ceramic mugs I bought with James.

The wedding ring on my finger.

I threw them all into the trash.

As for the rest of my personal items, I neatly placed them into a box. Carrying it in my arms, I walked out of the company unhurriedly.

Without ever looking back.

At another place,

The moment James pushed the door open, Lena immediately threw herself into his arms,

sobbing.

“James, I was so scared…”

James cupped her cheek and held her tightly.

“Don’t worry. I’m here now…”

Lena choked on her tears.

“Did Evelyn… make things difficult for you?”

James thought of the documents he had just signed and narrowed his eyes slightly. For some reason, his heart felt a faint sting of pain.

“No. She finally learned to be well-behaved.”

But he didn’t know,

Thirty days later,

that “well-behaved” woman

would disappear from his life completely.