Out of nowhere, a black Maybach came speeding toward me and slammed straight into my body.

I couldn’t stop myself from being flung into the air, landing hard on the ground.

A searing pain shot through my abdomen, and warm blood began to gush out beneath me.

But Ryan didn’t even spare me a glance. He rushed forward—only to cradle Daisy and the children in his arms with trembling care.

Daisy curled into his embrace, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Mr. Parker, please don’t blame Madam Alba... she only did this because she’s angry with us.”

Ryan gritted his teeth and turned to me, his gaze filled with nothing but disgust.

“Therese, how could you be so vicious?”

I bit down hard on my lip, forcing myself to endure the unbearable pain shooting through every inch of my body.

I had no strength left to explain. My whole body trembled as I reached a blood-soaked hand toward him.

“Ryan... p-please... save our child...”

However, he slapped my hand away without hesitation, his voice colder than ice.

“Stop pretending. The only one who deserves saving is Daisy!”

“The twins are only three years old, and she’s pregnant again—yet you made them kneel and bow to you!”

“If you can’t even tolerate their presence, then don’t bother coming back. When you finally realize how wrong you are, maybe then I’ll come for you.”

The pain made my scalp go numb, and even my breath began to weaken.

All I could do was watch as Ryan gently carried Daisy and the children into the car.

To him, they were treasures. To me, he showed nothing but cruelty—like I was trash to be discarded.

I tried to crawl after them, but he slammed on the gas and drove away without a backward glance.

By the time the ambulance brought me to the hospital, I was barely conscious.

But fate was cruel—I ran into Ryan again.

He was at the emergency entrance, holding Daisy in his arms and demanding a full-body examination for her.

When he saw me on the gurney, his face instantly darkened.

“Therese, when did you learn to play the pity card so well? Even using an ambulance now?”

“Keep acting. As long as I’m here today, you’re not stepping foot into that ER. I want to see if you’re really hurt or just putting on a show!”

The hospital corridor felt like an icy tomb. I lay helpless on the stretcher, feeling every drop of blood in my body slowly freezing over.

Three hours passed before Daisy finished all her tests.

Ryan held her protectively, casting a scornful glance my way as he opened his mouth to mock me.

But before he could speak, I couldn’t hold on any longer.

Blood surged up from my throat, and I began coughing it out uncontrollably.

Only then did something crack in Ryan’s frigid expression.

He spun around and grabbed the doctor by the collar, shouting, “Why the hell is she vomiting blood? Don’t just stand there—stop the bleeding!”

They quickly determined that my injuries were severe and I needed emergency surgery and a blood transfusion.

Ryan kicked over a nearby trash can, his face thunderous.

“Take me to sign the papers! If there’s not enough blood, take mine!”

“If anything happens to her, this hospital won’t continue operating!”

While the doctors pulled him aside to sign the consent forms, Daisy suddenly lunged toward me.

She grabbed my hand, then slammed her other hand against her own belly—hard.

Dropping to the floor in front of me, she wailed like a broken doll.

“Therese, you can beat me to death if you want—but please don’t hurt the child I’m carrying!”

Ryan turned around just in time to see this, and his face twisted with fury.

Before I could get a word out, he struck me across the face with the full force of his rage.

The slap was so powerful it knocked me right off the hospital bed and onto the cold floor.

I curled up, trembling, unable to make a single sound from the pain.

I was the one who had been betrayed.

The person who claimed to love me for ten years didn’t even ask a single question before condemning me.

The agony in my lower abdomen made everything brutally clear.

Our child was gone.

Along with the loss of my child, the last trace of affection between us vanished as well.

Ryan tore up the blood donation consent form and hurled the shredded pieces at my face.

“Therese, you’re perfectly fine, aren’t you? Since you love playing the victim so much, then stay here and keep acting!”

He turned his back on me and walked away with Daisy in his arms, never looking back.

I lay in a pool of blood, my heart shattered into pieces.

My consciousness blurred as I was wheeled into the operating room.

Even lying on the cold surgical table, I could feel the instruments stirring inside me—metallic, cold, and unforgiving.

The child I had prayed for, kneeling step by step before the Buddha, was reduced to nothing but a pool of blood.

Through the entire operation, Ryan never sent a single message.

He didn’t care whether I lived or died—let alone about the child I carried.

When the anesthesia wore off, I trembled as I reached for my phone, intending to ask someone to help prepare the divorce papers.

Instead, I stumbled upon a trending post.

Ryan had just bought out every maternity store in the city for Daisy.

The photo showed him on one knee before her, eyes filled with adoration, his face gently pressed against her swollen belly.

A flood of memories came rushing back.

Five years ago, Ryan had been trapped in a mudslide during a business trip.

I was already eight months pregnant at the time.

My mother and I rushed through the night to find him, and together, we dug him out from beneath the rubble with our bare hands.

All ten of my fingers were scraped to the bone. I lost the child in my belly from the sheer exhaustion.

When the mountain crumbled again, my mother used the last of her strength to push him out of harm’s way.

A falling boulder struck the back of her head—she’s been in a coma ever since.

I didn’t even have time to grieve. I was rushed into intensive care and fought for my life for three days straight.

When I finally woke up, I learned I had damaged my uterus. The chances of conceiving again were slim to none.

At that time, Ryan knelt before me, just like he did for her today, and vowed that even if we couldn’t have children, he would still stay by my side for life.

But now, I was left with nothing.

And he had become the blade that pierced through my heart.

The fragile strength I had clung to finally snapped.

Sobbing, I called my lawyer and asked him to prepare the divorce agreement as soon as possible.

Before I left the hospital, I visited my mother’s room.

I knelt at her bedside and broke down in tears.

“Mom... I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ve been living a happy life at all.”

“The baby is gone. I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want Ryan or this family.”

“You won’t blame me... will you?”

My mother lay silently in her hospital bed, unmoving.

But a single tear rolled down from the corner of her eye—saying more than words ever could.

When I finally returned home in a daze, Ryan was kneeling in front of Daisy, gently holding her foot and massaging it with tenderness written all over his face.

When I was pregnant, even when I was wracked with cramps, he never once did that for me.

He always claimed that, as someone of his status, giving a woman a foot massage was beneath him.

But now I understand—love and indifference could be painfully obvious.

The moment I stepped through the door, Ryan sneered coldly.

“You’ve got some nerve coming back. That performance at the hospital was Oscar-worthy—anyone who didn’t know better might think you’re the one who’s pregnant.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, swallowing the pain, and walked silently toward my room.

But Daisy stepped in front of me, dragging the two children with her.

Her face was filled with faux remorse as she pleaded pitifully.

“Therese, I didn’t listen to you and leave like I promised. You can punish me however you like.”

“If you want to hit me, I deserve it. Once I give birth, I’ll leave—I just hope you can acknowledge Ryan’s children.”

She tried to kneel, but Ryan pulled her into his arms.

He let out a scoff and looked at me with cold, mocking eyes.

“There’s no need for her to beg you. I’m the one who couldn’t keep it in my pants. What did she do wrong?”

“Therese, whether you acknowledge it or not, those children are my flesh and blood. You must treat them well!” Ryan thundered.

“If you don’t want to be thrown out, change your attitude and apologize to Daisy. Do that, and I’ll let today’s incident slide.”

I lifted my eyes, my gaze colder than ice.

“Ryan, you and she are the ones who wronged me. Why should I apologize?”

“Do you even realize the child in my womb... It was because of you—”

Before I could finish, Ryan cut me off with a mocking snort.

“You’re not seriously saying you’re pregnant too, are you?”

“Lie if you must, but at least make it believable. The doctor already said your uterus was damaged. You can’t get pregnant. You can’t even fake it properly, can you?”

“If you’re so stubborn, then get out there and kneel in the rose garden until you come to your senses. Don’t come back until you apologize!”

My whole body trembled. I stared at him in disbelief.

That rose garden... was the one he had personally planted when he proposed to me.

He knew I loved roses, but I had a severe allergy. I could only admire them from afar.

Since I couldn’t accept bouquets, he gifted me an entire field of roses instead.

He once said, “Flowers will wither, but my love for you never will.”

But now... that same love had become a prison of thorns.

Ryan ignored my struggles and forced my head down, pressing me to kneel among the roses.

The thorns pierced into my flesh, sharp and merciless. I couldn’t stop trembling from the pain.

Pollen filled my throat with every breath, suffocating me. I could barely breathe.

I screamed out in desperation.

“Ryan, are you insane?! You know I’m allergic to pollen! You’re going to kill me!”

He simply stepped back with cold detachment, wrapping his arms around Daisy as he watched me suffer.

At that moment, I felt my heart turn to ash.

All the love I had given him was reduced to nothing but dust.

I knelt there all night, drifting in and out of consciousness, until someone finally dragged me out of the roses.

In the haze, I fell into a familiar embrace.

Ryan let out a sigh and gently brushed the dirt from my face.

“Therese, why do you have to be so stubborn? You can’t have children anyway. I’m only doing this for your own good.”

“As long as you agree to raise the kids, I’ll send Daisy away. We can go back to how things were.”

I pushed him away, face expressionless.

His stunned eyes followed me as I pulled out the divorce papers I had prepared long ago.

Through gritted teeth, I spoke each word clearly, “Ryan, I want a divorce.”

He stared at me, completely stunned, his gaze became frighteningly cold.

After a long moment, he snatched the papers from my hands, signed his name, and threw them in my face.

“Therese, you’d better not regret this!”

I ignored his shouting, picked up the signed papers, and turned to leave.

That’s when my phone began to vibrate uncontrollably.

I answered it, and a panicked voice from the hospital filled my ears.

“Miss Alba, your mother’s condition is critical. Please come immediately!”

The phone slipped from my fingers.

My legs gave out, and I collapsed to the ground.

For once, a flicker of pain crossed Ryan’s face.

He helped me up, voice trembling for the first time.

“Therese, don’t panic. I’ll take you to the hospital right now!”

But footsteps echoed behind us.

Daisy came running from the villa, her hair a tangled mess, crying pitifully as she flung herself at Ryan.

“Ryan! The child—our child is missing!”

Before the shock could settle, she dropped to her knees in front of me, clutching my legs in desperation.

“Therese, I was wrong! I know I was wrong!”

“Punish me however you want, just please... give my child back!”