Seven months into my pregnancy, I was walking downstairs when I was knocked to the ground by a large dog.

My mother tried to protect me and was bitten all over her body.

The dog’s owner was Camilla Jarrige, a poor student sponsored by my husband. Not only did she not apologize, but she hugged the dog and said, “Baby, did I scare you?”

With the help of neighbors, I cried as we rushed my mother to the hospital.

Upon hearing the news, my husband, Darius, was so enraged that he smashed a teacup.

That evening, he arrived at the hospital with a group of bodyguards to take us home.

My mother was still receiving an IV drip, but Darius insisted on taking us to confront the poor student.

When we arrived, we found Camilla holding a funeral for her dog.

Darius coldly said to my mother, “Camilla’s dog just scared you, didn’t it? You dared to poison it? How could you be so cold-hearted towards a living creature?”

He ordered the bodyguards to force my mother to kneel and apologize to the dog.

I watched my mother being violently grabbed by her hair, her forehead repeatedly smashed against the ground.

I cried in despair. Darius, it’s the end of us.

——

“Make her kneel down,” Darius said coldly to the bodyguards.

Upon receiving the order, the bodyguards immediately kicked My mother’s legs violently.

My mother, being elderly, couldn’t stand steadily and fell to the ground.

The bodyguards pressed her head down, forcing her face into the dust.

I cried out and tried to pull them away. But I was roughly pushed aside by the bodyguards.

I fell backward onto the ground, the pain making my eyes go black.

I endured the pain and crawled to my feet, seeing that my mother’s lips were bleeding from being struck.

I cried out in grief and anger, “Darius, how could you do this to my mother?”

Darius didn’t even look at me.

His gaze remained fixed on Camilla, who was crying and sobbing. Her face was streaked with tears.

He gently wrapped his arm around Camilla’s shoulders and said to me with a cold expression, “This dog has been by Camilla’s side all along. It’s no different from family.”

“But you poisoned it to death. Shouldn’t you at least apologize?”

“Those who do wrong must be punished. No one is exempt.”

I clenched my teeth and said, “But my mother was bitten by the dog and has been in the hospital receiving treatment. She never had the chance to poison Camilla’s dog.”

Darius impatiently said, “Camilla told me earlier that your mother forced the poison in the dog’s food bowl, so that’s why the dog bit her.”

I looked at Darius in disbelief. “So, you’d rather believe Camilla, right?”

Before Darius could speak, Camilla walked over with red eyes.

She cried, “Emma, I know you and your mom don’t like me.”

“You hate me, you can hit me and scold me, but why hurt my dog?”

“If it did something to make you unhappy, can I apologize to you?”

Camilla’s words made Darius feel deeply heartbroken.

He urgently ordered the bodyguards, “Hurry up, make her apologize!”

The bodyguards immediately grabbed My mother’s head and forced her to apologize to the dog.

My mother was in tears but refused to speak.

Darius grew angry, walked over and kicked My mother twice.

I cried out, “Darius Gonson! She’s my mother, your mother-in-law!”

Darius coldly replied, “I don’t have such a cruel mother-in-law.”

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something, turned around and grabbed my neck.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

Instinctively, I covered my belly, trying to protect my child.

Darius looked at My mother and said softly, “If you don’t apologize, I won’t be kind to your daughter.”

I cried in despair.

My mother choked out, “I’m sorry.”

Darius shouted, “Louder! Who can hear you?”

My mother knelt on the ground, repeatedly bowing her head to that dog over and over again and crying out loudly, “I’m sorry.”

I cried out to her, “Mom, I’m fine. Don’t torture yourself.”

But Darius didn’t stop her.

My mother could only keep bowing her head and repeatedly apologizing.

The onlookers pulled out their phones to record videos. More people pointed at My mother and laughed hysterically.

Camilla walked over, looking weak and said, “Auntie My mother, I’m sorry. I just hope the dog’s spirit can rest in peace.”

Darius said, “Camilla, you’re just too kind. You don’t need to apologize to her.”

“In the future, you need to be stronger. These malicious people won’t dare to bully you.”

Camilla nodded softly.

Half an hour later, Darius finally seemed satisfied and pushed me aside.

I ran over and helped My mother to her feet.

I cried. “Mom, I’m sorry.”

My mother’s forehead was bleeding, but she reached out and touched my head. 

“I’m fine…”

Before she could finish her words, her body couldn’t take it anymore and she fainted in my arms.

“Mom!” 

I knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

A hint of pity finally flashed across Darius’s face. He ordered the bodyguards to help my mother into the car and take us to the hospital.

Camilla grabbed his sleeve. “Darius.”

Darius patted her hand. “Wait for me. I’ll be right back.”

On the way to the hospital, Darius sighed and said to me, “Emma, don’t blame me. Camilla had a miserable childhood. She lived in poverty and her parents often beat her.”

“It was this dog that relied on her and grew up with her. I just wanted to comfort her and let her vent her anger. Otherwise, she might have done something reckless.”

I said coldly, “Let her vent her anger, so you forced my mother to kneel and apologize to the dog, is that it?”

Darius said unhappily, “Your mother was wrong in the first place. Isn’t it only right for her to apologize?”

“If she had cooperated a little back then, things wouldn’t have escalated to this point.”

Looking at my unconscious mother, I said calmly, “Darius, let’s get a divorce.”

“Divorce?” He was stunned, a flash of panic crossing his eyes. But it was only a fleeting moment. he quickly regained his composure.

He looked at me with a mocking expression. 

“Emma, how old are you? Are you really using divorce as a threat?”

“Count how many times you’ve said those two words. Do you think I’m an idiot? I always believed you.”

I sighed bitterly. “Yes, I’ve said it too many times.”

When I married Darius, I never imagined I would ever consider divorce.

At that time, my father, Frediano Ruiz, was still alive and our family business was thriving.

Darius was just a man from the countryside who had made it big.

He was kind and considerate to me and I was moved by his care, believing he was the one I would marry.

But after my father passed away, Darius took over the business, drained our family’s assets and transferred all the property to his name. That was when things changed.

His attitude toward me grew increasingly cold and impatient, while he grew closer to Camilla, the poor student he had been sponsoring.

We argued, fought and even threatened divorce. After each argument, Darius would find a way to appease me. But the next time, he would act as he pleased, while my boundaries continued to erode.

Darius saw through this. He knew I wouldn’t leave him, so he became increasingly reckless.

Even when I was pregnant, he secretly brought Camilla home to spend the night with her.

Darius thought I would keep putting up with it.

But he didn’t know that this time, I was really going to divorce him.

As I was deep in thought, Darius handed me a small box.

“Your mother is your mother and you are you. I won’t blame you for her mistakes.”

“Honey, don’t be angry. This is a special gift I picked out for you.”

I opened the box absentmindedly. What caught my eyes was a necklace. It was last year’s model and there were obvious signs of wear.

The design was familiar. It seemed to have been worn around Camilla’s neck all along. It seemed that Darius had bought her a new one and was using the old one to brush me off.

I sighed and tossed the box under the seat. Darius didn’t notice. He didn’t care whether I liked it or not, or whether I would wear it.

We arrived at the hospital. My mother remained unconscious.

After examination, the doctor found that she had been running a high fever and, due to severe mental trauma. Her brain had suffered significant damage.

My mother was immediately rushed to the operating room for emergency treatment.

I crouched outside the operating room and started crying softly.

Darius sighed and gently wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“I didn’t expect this either. Don’t worry, I’ll stay with you the whole time.”

At that moment, Darius’s phone rang. 

It was Camilla’s sobbing voice, “Darius, I’m so sad. Can you come and be with me?”

Darius hummed in response and hung up the phone. He glanced at me nervously, then checked the time.

“I’ll go buy you something to eat.”

He hurried away. He hadn’t shown up until my mother came out of the operating room.

My mother remained unconscious and I struggled to clean her and turn her over while pregnant.

Darius never came once.

Occasionally, he would send me a message explaining that he was busy with an important project. But Camilla kept sending me photos of the two of them.

They held hands while shopping, fed each other cake and kissed on the beach.

Most of them were taken in the wedding room I shared with Darius, showing Camilla and Darius lying on the wedding bed. They got entangled in each other’s arms.

Camilla was taunting me maliciously. But none of this could stir any emotion in me anymore.

I had already decided to divorce Darius. If she wanted him, she could have him.

A few days later, I went to pay my mother’s hospital fees.

When I returned, I saw Camilla standing by my mother’s bedside. I was both shocked and angry and rushed over to push her away.

 “What are you doing?”

Camilla waved the water cup in her hand and said in a sarcastic tone, “Auntie is thirsty, I’m giving her water to drink.”

My mother had been in a coma the entire time. How could she possibly want water?

I looked at the hospital bed and saw that my mother was soaked from head to toe in cold water.

I was so enraged that I lost my mind and shoved Camilla hard. 

“Do you have any humanity left?”

Camilla let out a scream, fell to the ground and burst into tears. Just then, Darius pushed open the door and walked in.

“Emma! What are you doing?”

He didn’t give me a chance to explain and slapped me hard across the face.

I covered my face and was about to accuse Camilla of what she had done.

But Camilla immediately said, “Just now, Auntie woke up and wanted water to drink. Emma wasn’t around, so I was about to give her some water, but Emma rushed in and hit me.”