The Ashford family opposed my relationship with Everett Ashford. To separate us, they drugged him, and his fiancée ended up pregnant with twins.

Everett threatened suicide if I left him. He begged me to stay, swearing he would never see them again. He even told me the pregnancy had been terminated.

Three years later, I spotted him at a parent-teacher conference. Enraged, I kept the twins after school and, on their way home, they were kidnapped.

Everett blamed me for everything. To force me to reveal where the twins were, he strapped my mother onto a high tower ride. However, my mother had a heart condition.

I sobbed that I did not know anything.

Everett screamed at me. "I've been good enough to you! Why the hell would you go after those kids? Tell me where they are right now or I swear I'll push your mother off this thing!"

He shoved her toward the platform's edge. The safety harness hung loose on her frail body.

I had no idea where the twins were. Everett shoved my mother off anyway.

Just then, someone found the twins. Everett walked away without looking back, leaving my mother dying of a heart attack.

While he rushed to pick up his children, I stood in a hospital room pulling a white sheet over my mother's face.

That was the moment I finally stopped loving him.

I stared numbly at Mom's body beneath the white sheet. My eyes were too dry for tears.

The doctor looked at me with regret. "It's too late. If she'd gotten here earlier, your mother could have been saved. She was literally scared to death."

I dug my nails into my palms until they bled, consumed with regret. Why had I not left Everett Ashford when I had the chance? All of this could have been avoided.

Since the day I married Everett, Mom had treated him like her own son.

All I did was keep the twins after school. I never kidnapped them. However, he would not listen to a word I said and, in the end, he killed Mom.

After making arrangements for her body, I dragged myself home, exhausted.

In seven days, I would take Mom's ashes back to my hometown. After that, Everett and I would have nothing to do with each other.

He did not come home until the next day.

He ignored my deathly pale face and said coldly, "Stella Quinn, I never thought you'd watch your own mother fall to her death rather than tell me where the twins were. You know they're still in the hospital because of you, right?"

They were still in the hospital. Mom did not even get the chance to make it to one.

My chest tightened with grief. I stared directly at Everett, but all that came out was a hoarse rasp.

Seeing how agitated I was, a flicker of concern crossed his eyes.

"Fine. As long as they're okay, Autumn and I will forgive you. I know taking care of Mom has been hard on you these past few days. In a couple days, I'll take you out somewhere."

He tried to comfort me, reaching out to hold me like he used to. I shoved him away violently.

"No. There's no need to take care of her anymore."

My voice was so hoarse that Everett couldn't make out the words.

He frowned deeply. "Stop throwing a tantrum. This whole thing was your fault to begin with. I won't be coming home for the next few days. I need to stay at the hospital and look after them."

He turned to leave, but just then, his phone rang.

The next second, his eyes turned red. He grabbed my hand in a crushing grip.

"You're coming to the hospital with me!"

Everett didn't care how weak I was. He dragged me all the way there.

I had not even steadied myself when Autumn Roswell rushed at me. She slapped me hard across the face.

I staggered straight into the corner of the wall. That was not enough for her. She lunged at me again, clawing and biting like a wild animal.

Thinking of my dead mother, rage surged through me. I gathered what little strength I had left to fight back.

The next second, Everett yanked me away and let Autumn slap me over and over again. By the time he finally let go, I collapsed on the floor, barely conscious.

Everett looked at me with an unreadable expression. "The twins aren't doing well. Let Autumn get it out of her system."

I forced out a smile. Tears streamed down my face.

Soon, a doctor emerged from the room.

"We need a blood transfusion."

As soon as the doctor finished speaking, Everett dragged me into the room.

"Doctor, her blood type matches. Take it."

I struggled desperately, but Everett held me down. I could only watch as the needle pierced my arm.

Everett stroked my cheek soothingly and coaxed in a gentle voice, "It'll be over soon. Think of it as atonement for what you did."

I squeezed my eyes shut and emptied my heart of every ounce of feelings I had for Everett.

After two bags, I started to collapse, but Everett gripped my arm tightly. A hint of urgency crept into his voice as he said, "Doctor, shouldn't we draw more for the two children?"

The doctor shook his head quickly. "No, we can't. If we draw any more, Ms. Quinn will die."

Without hesitation, Everett pushed my arm forward.

Cold sweat poured down my face. I opened my mouth, trembling. "Everett, let me go. Their kidnapping had nothing to do with me!"

Everett just looked at me with disappointment. "You're still making excuses."

In the end, they forced me to give two more vials.

Pain flickered in Everett's eyes. He reached out to help me up.

The next second, Autumn called his name frantically from inside the hospital room. Everett turned and walked away without hesitation.

After the transfusion, they tied me to the floor beneath the twins' hospital bed like some kind of animal.

Everett's parents glared at me furiously. When they saw I was awake, his mother, Emilia Crawford, slapped me across the face.

"You're an animal! We were right to oppose you and Everett from the start! How could you hurt two three-year-old children?"

Emilia beat me until I could barely breathe. Everett just stood there watching.

In the past, he would have rushed over to shield me and take the blows with me, but now...

His hand trembled slightly as he fed the twins their soup. The eyes that used to look at me with love now held only coldness.

"Just bear it, Stella. You brought this on yourself."

Emilia laughed coldly and kicked me in the stomach.

I felt blood flow from between my legs. The very next second, I collapsed heavily to the floor.

In the last moments before I closed my eyes, I saw Everett running toward me in a panic. When I woke again, I heard Everett's voice before I even opened my eyes.

"It's better that this baby's gone. Stella could hurt the twins even though she didn't have a child of her own. If she'd had her own kid, God knows what she would've done.”

"Let's just pretend this baby never existed. Don't tell her.”

"The Ashford heir will only be Autumn's child anyway. My parents would never accept Stella's baby."

A tear slid silently from the corner of my eye. Had Everett ever truly loved me?

I waited until the footsteps faded before opening my eyes. My hand trembled as I touched my stomach.

I should have left all those years ago. One wrong decision had cost two lives.

I stared at the ceiling lifelessly. Then the door opened.

Autumn looked at my half-dead state and smiled.

"Stella, you're still alive even after all that? You really are hard to kill."

She sounded almost impressed, then pressed hard on my wound.

"Oops, sorry. That was an accident. But compared to a miscarriage, this is nothing, right? You couldn't even protect your own baby. You're not fit to be a mother. I'd say I did you a favor."

Autumn burst into shrill laughter. I used the last of my strength to hurl the thermos at her.

Autumn did not get angry at all. A flash of triumph crossed her eyes. Then she collapsed heavily to the floor.

The next second, Everett's furious roar echoed from the doorway.

"Stella! What the hell are you doing?"

He slapped me hard across the face. I spat out a mouthful of blood.

When he saw my deathly pale face, Everett's hand began to tremble. Soon, Autumn spoke from the floor, her voice thick with tears.

"Everett, don't hit Stella. This is my fault. I came to apologize because I know Stella lost her baby because of me. Even though Stella hurt our babies first, I still wanted to say I was sorry. But..."

Autumn let out a sob.

"Forget it. I'll just take this as my apology to Stella. Everett, please don't be angry anymore."

Everett looked at me with utter disappointment, then scooped Autumn into his arms.

"Stella, I never thought you were this vicious. You're nothing compared to Autumn. Maybe I should have listened to my parents back then."

With that, he turned and walked away without hesitation.

Watching Autumn's triumphant expression, I laughed until tears came.

The one who made the wrong choice was not just Everett. It was me too.

A week later, I was finally discharged. When I opened the door to the house, I saw Autumn and her twins.

When Everett noticed me staring at them, he stepped forward to block them from view. He frowned and said, "Thanks to what you did, the twins still have psychological trauma. I brought them here so I can take care of them more easily."

Accusation flickered in his eyes. I just looked at him expressionlessly and nodded.

Seeing my calm attitude, Everett froze for a moment. Something felt off to him, and he reached out to grab my hand.

I was about to avoid him when Autumn intercepted his outstretched hand.

"Everett, if Stella doesn't agree, the kids and I can stay somewhere else. As long as you come back in the evenings to see them. After all, they only recognize you right now."

After Autumn spoke, she shot me a smug look. I continued to gaze at them calmly.

Seeing this, Everett said almost spitefully, "This house belongs to the Ashfords. I can let whoever I want stay here. If Stella won't let you stay, I'll kick her out instead!"

After he spoke, he looked at me with a testing expression, as if waiting for me to lose my temper or give in.

In the past, I would have made a scene. I would have either forced Everett to kick them out, or packed my bags and left to make him choose. But now…

I forced a bitter smile and spoke with lifeless eyes. "Everett, I'm only here to get my documents. Sign the divorce papers and give them to me. When you have time, we'll finalize the divorce. I'll let you have them."

Panic flashed across Everett's eyes. Then he blurted out, "Fine, let's get divorced! A vicious woman like you won't find another rich man after you leave me anyway!"

Seeing my dead expression, he softened his voice and added, "Once they're better, I'll send them away. This will still be our love nest, okay?"

He spoke coaxingly and reached out to pull me into his arms, but all I could smell from Everett's embrace was the stench of rot.

This man had decayed at some point without me noticing. I avoided his hands and headed upstairs to get my documents.

When I turned around, I saw the twins had found the urn I had carefully stored away!

They had poured water into it and were now using it like paint, smearing it everywhere.

My heart felt like it was being stabbed. I rushed over immediately.

"You monsters! Put that down!"

Seeing how frantic I was, the twins grinned. Then, right in front of me, they smashed the urn on the floor!

I lunged forward desperately, scrambling to collect Mom's ashes from the ground.

The twins thought it was fun. They stomped on the ashes hard.

Watching Mom's ashes covered in their footprints, I could not hold back anymore. I shoved them to the ground!

The twins fell and were cut by the broken pieces. They immediately burst into wails.

Autumn rushed forward and glared at me with hatred.

"Stella, if you have a problem, come at me! It's just an urn! How dare you push my children!"

Everett looked at the twins crying on the floor. His face turned black with rage.

I continued collecting the ashes from the ground. He slapped me across the face.

Everything spun. I fell heavily onto the broken shards. Blood flowed from my wounds, but Everett did not care at all.

His frown deepened as he looked at me coldly.

"Stella, you haven't learned your lesson at all. You actually hurt the twins again. I need to give you a harsher punishment."