Hailey's POV

"Why are you apologizing to us?" The doctor asked in concern.

The nurse beside him glanced at him before chiming in, "The one you should be apologizing to is yourself, Mrs. Wilder. If you don't take care of your body, your uterus might not recover."

I froze.

Their words dropped like stones in my chest. For a moment, I couldn't breathe.

And then, I remembered something.

"Who… brought me to the hospital?" I asked.

"The man who said he was your husband," the nurse answered. "We scolded him pretty hard for what happened."

My throat tightened. I bit down on the inside of my cheek to hold back the emotions clawing their way up.

The door creaked open, and I instinctively braced myself, half-expecting Caden's shadow to fill the room.

But it wasn't him.

It was someone I hadn't seen in a decade—Killian Maxwell, my stepbrother.

I blinked in disbelief. "Killian, brother, it's been so long. What are you doing back in the country?"

He stepped in casually, hands in his pockets, as if he hadn't just walked in on my disaster of a life.

"I'm here for an international conference," Killian said. "Didn't expect to see you. I was on my way to the winery."

That was it. The car I saw through the snow—it had been his.

He walked over to me and gently placed a warm hand on my head. The comfort of his touch made my throat ache even more.

"If you're tired," he said softly, "come back with me. Mom's gone. You don't have to stay here—don't stay with someone you don't love to avoid me. I told you before. I'll always be here for you."

I stared at my blanket, unable to look him in the eye. "I chose Caden… because I loved him."

Killian exhaled, a sigh laced with both pain and patience.

Then he reached into his coat and pulled out a plane ticket, placing it carefully on my bedside table.

"It doesn't expire. Any time, take this to the airport, and a private jet will take you to me. Save my number. If you ever need me, just call."

And then he turned and walked out without asking for anything in return.

I stared at the ticket for a long moment. My fingers curled around it and then slowly let it fall back to the table.

I didn't know what I was holding onto anymore.

Pride? Grief? Habit?

After he left, I pulled out my phone.

My hands trembled as I booked the first available flight. Then I dialed the number for the legal office in Holland, the one that had processed our marriage certificate.

The woman who answered sounded cold and clinical. "If you're requesting a unilateral divorce, you'll lose all your assets to your husband. You'll also face up to one year in prison for breach of contract. I suggest you think carefully."

I didn't hesitate. "This marriage is already a prison. I'll give up everything. I just want out."

There was a pause. Then her voice returned, "One week from now, your marriage will be dissolved."

I hung up, the silence around me as sharp as broken glass.

A notification pinged on my phone.

An anonymous message. There were no words, just a series of screenshots.

They were all from Veronica's social media.

The timeline began the night I collapsed in the snow.

Post after post—more than ten in total—documented their tropical vacation.

The first showed Caden and Veronica on a beach, their fingers intertwined, silhouetted against the sunset.

Another had them cut a cake together, and the gender reveal caught mid-slice—blue frosting.

In the comments, people were starting to notice:

[Caden Wilder is still married. What is Veronica doing flaunting her position like this?]

Veronica didn't reply.

But Caden did:

[The one who isn't loved is the mistress.]

That line hit harder than anything else.

It didn't matter that it wasn't true. It didn't matter that I had been his wife in every legal and emotional sense.

All that mattered was that I'd been erased, and he wanted the world to know.

I stared at the screen until my vision blurred.

My heart ached dully, despair crested, and I could only smile weakly.

...

That afternoon, I checked myself out of the hospital without waiting for permission.

While they were away playing house on some tropical island, I went home to pack my things.

The moment I opened the front door, I gagged.

The smell hit me like a wall—musty, rotting. And scattered across the floor were dozens of tiny plastic Smurf figurines.

Some were broken. Some had bite marks. All of them seemed to leer at me.

I forced myself to move upstairs.

The master bedroom was gone.

In its place: a nursery.

The walls were plastered with photos—Veronica grinning, her pregnant belly cradled by Caden's hands—pictures of him kissing her forehead, painting the baby's room, holding up tiny clothes.

Every inch of space that once belonged to me had been overwritten.

My closet? Empty.

My things? Gone.

They were all in the backyard, buried beneath trash and rainwater.

Then, I found our wedding photo.

Our once-treasured photo, which used to hang above our bed, now lies discarded amongst the filth.

Hailey's POV

My face had been slashed beyond recognition, bruised and smeared with the imprints of Caden's leather shoes pressed into my skin.

I took a deep breath. 'Forget it.

There was nothing left to pack anyway.'

Then and there, I grabbed my passport and a few documents, my hands shaking as I shoved them into my bag. I had nothing left here. The life I once knew was shattered.

I was done.

Just as I was about to leave, the door swung open.

Caden walked in, holding Veronica in his arms, just like he had on our wedding day when he carried me across the threshold.

The same words he had once whispered to me, words I used to cherish, came tumbling from his mouth. "The bride's feet should never touch the ground; only then can she have happiness for the rest of her life."

Veronica giggled, utterly charmed by him.

But the moment their eyes met mine, everything stopped.

The warmth between them turned to ice.

Caden's face shifted, a flicker of satisfaction and mockery flashing in his eyes.

"Aren't you proud of yourself, Hailey? I told you not to come back. You ran off, and now you're here? Jealous, huh? Regretful now that you've seen me and Veronica on our honeymoon? Too late. Even if you get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness, I won't go easy on you this time."

Veronica, pale but smiling stiffly, shifted in his arms.

"Caden, please," she said, her voice shaky but polite. "Put me down. I'm not really your wife. If you keep holding me like this, Hailey will get upset."

But Caden remained indifferent.

His gaze stayed cold, unyielding, locked on mine. "I've made it clear. Even if I marry Veronica, what's it to you? I don't love you, so you're the outsider. You don't deserve to carry my kid. Hailey, you get me?"

I felt the weight of his words sink deep inside me, hollowing me out.

My chest constricted, and it hit me that there was nothing more to express, nothing more to strive for. Everything was lost—everything we had created and everything I had faith in.

Caden had destroyed it all.

I reached into my bag, shaking my hands as I pulled out the divorce papers.

"Go ahead and sign it," I said, keeping my voice steady even though I was burning inside. "Make Veronica your wife—for real, on paper and in your heart."

Caden swiftly scooped Veronica into his arms, ignoring her panic, and strode over to me. He snatched the papers from my hands and, with a cruel smile, ripped them to shreds, throwing the pieces in my face.

I closed my eyes, the sound of Caden's grinding teeth almost drowning out the bitter words that followed.

"You want a divorce? Dream on. You've wasted so many years of my life, and now you want to walk away just like that? Dream on."

And that was it. There was no chance for reconciliation.

There was no chance for anything other than the cold truth that I was nothing more than a discarded memory of him.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

I turned to leave, but Caden's hand shot out, grabbing my wrist with a brutal grip.

"Where do you think you're going?" he barked. "Trying to run away from home again? Ever since Killian came back, you can't even stand to stay in this house, can you?"

I snapped, losing the last shred of restraint I had left. "What does Killian have to do with this? You want me to stay here and watch the two of you play house? Pretend this is some happy little family?"

Then I glared at him, my disgust flooding through me. "My God, Caden! Do you have a fetish for cuckoldry? Do you need to see me here, watching you and her be affectionate to get off?"

Caden's chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, shock briefly crossing his face.

A sick grin spread across his features. "You're jealous?"

I turned my head away, refusing to engage.

But the weight of his presence was suffocating.

"Yeah, I really do have that fetish," he mocked.

He released my wrist and strolled toward Veronica, who had been silent all this time.

Then, he taunted, "I love watching you stay by our bed, Hailey. After all, you know my rhythm in bed better than anyone. You know when to pass the Smurfs and when to hand me the wet wipes."

His words were a slap. A gut-wrenching, heart-crushing slap.

I closed my eyes, repulsed, my hands trembling as I tried to steady myself.

I wanted to scream. To hit him. To lash out. But I couldn't.

"Besides, I'm not as shameless as you," he scoffed, a dark, bitter laugh escaping him. "I can't even imagine marrying someone else while carrying another man's child… and still sleeping with him."

The accusation landed with the force of a thousand knives, each one twisting deeper.

I shook.

From the anger, from the devastation.

My entire body trembled as I tried to push him away, but the shock was too much. Numb and broken, I stumbled toward the door, desperate to leave.

But as I walked by Veronica, her expression turned cold. Without warning, she stuck her foot out, blocking my path.

I couldn’t dodge in time.

The next thing I knew, I was falling. The world tilted, my body hurtling down the stairs. The sound of my bones cracking was deafening, the searing pain nearly unbearable.

I heard Caden's frantic cry just before everything went black.

Hailey's POV

When I finally woke up, the first thing I saw was Caden's tired face. His eyes were hollow, his skin stretched tight, and that scruffy stubble he'd let grow for days made him look even more worn out than usual.

His gaze shifted when he realized I was awake, like a flicker of guilt washed over him. "You're awake? The doctor said your uterus couldn’t be saved. It’s already been removed."

I just stared at him, my head still fuzzy, trying to make sense of the words he’d just thrown at me.

He hesitated, and his voice softened, but there was still tension hanging in the air. "Your medical record says you were rushed to the hospital yesterday. You didn’t run away from home, so... what happened?"

I reached for my phone instinctively, trying to ignore him, but his hand shot out, grabbing mine before I could unlock it.

"I'm calling the police," I said flatly, my voice a whisper of resolve, "Veronica pushed me down the stairs. She caused all of this. Doesn't she deserve to face the consequences?"

Caden's grip tightened for a moment, but he didn't seem surprised.

"I've already punished her," he snarled.

Then, his lips pressed together in a thin line as if his words were a secret.

"Punished her?" I blinked, the confusion clear on my face. "How? How did you punish her?"

He hesitated, then muttered, like it was something shameful, "I told her... she's not allowed to eat today's cake."

My laugh was dry, the bitterness almost slipping from my lips.

"Is that so?" I scoffed.

The absurdity of the situation hit me all at once.

His brows furrowed, frustration overtaking him.

"Can you stop being so sarcastic?" he snapped. "Look, you've lost your uterus. You can't have children anymore. Instead of being angry about that, shouldn't you be hoping that Veronica can give me a child? What else do you want, Hailey, to just hurt her more?"

I didn't respond. I couldn't.

His words kept ringing in my ears, but I was too tired, too hollow to fight back.

Then his tone softened like he was trying to placate me, to smooth things over. "This time, it's my fault. Didn't you want a child? I couldn't give you one before. When you're better, I'll ask Veronica to let you be the godmother so you can still be a mother, just not the way you imagined."

I felt numb. His words didn't touch me. They couldn't.

Caden's patience seemed to wear thin.

His face twisted in anger, and he raised his voice louder than I had expected. "What's the meaning of your silence? What's wrong now?"

"Don't think I don't know," Caden continued, his voice rising, "You married me because Killian wanted you because he slept with you and got you pregnant. You were scared your mother, who finally climbed the social ladder, would get dragged into it, so you chose me as your backup."

I felt my chest tighten as he stepped closer, his anger boiling over. "You made me wear the cuckold's hat, and I made sure you couldn't have my child as punishment. But you went behind my back, sending all those flirtatious messages to Killian, selling my company's secrets to him! If Veronica hadn't told me, I would've been a fool, believing you."

The words hit me hard. They left me gasping for air. I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I didn't!" I yelled, my voice shaking with frustration. "I didn't do that!"

Without warning, he stormed over, grabbed me by the hair, and yanked something from between the sheets.

My heart sank as I saw him suddenly turn red in the face, grabbing my hair and slapping me hard.

Then, in one quick move, Caden slapped me hard.

"You're still denying it? The boarding pass is for private jets! A private plane named after you by Killian! What the hell do you think he gave you that ticket for? To run away with him? And you have the nerve to say there's no affair between you two?"

Then, he shouted, "You've dragged me into your secret affair with Killian. And now? Now, you'll be the unwanted mistress. I'll never let you go, never let you find happiness with him. Even if you die, you'll still be mine."

His words stung, carving deep into me, but before I could even gather my thoughts, his foot came down hard on my chest, sending me tumbling off the bed.

The IV stand crashed beside me, glass shards digging into my skin.

Blood pooled beneath me, warm and sticky, as my vision swirled.

I weakly lifted my head, everything spinning around me.

My body felt distant as if I wasn't even in it anymore.

"Caden," I whispered, barely able to get the words out. "Are you really that insecure? Do you honestly think you don't deserve love?"

His eyes were red with frustration.

"Hailey…" Before he could finish, the housekeeper rushed in, her voice frantic.

"Sir Caden," she said urgently, "Miss Steele is emotionally unstable, and she's just had a miscarriage. You should come check on her right away."

Caden's expression immediately shifted.

The anger was gone, replaced by panic. Quickly, Caden grabbed me by the arm without thinking, dragging me out of the room.

"If it weren't for you," he snapped, "Veronica wouldn't have felt guilty and had a miscarriage. You need to come with me and calm her down."

His grip was iron-tight as he dragged me down the hallway. When we reached the VIP ward, Veronica's blotchy and swollen face rushed into Caden's arms without a second's hesitation.