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.”

Darius listened. His eyes turned red with anger.

He kicked me hard again and his voice filled with hatred, “Emma, how did you become such a despicable person?”

“Camilla’s dog was killed by your mother. She forgave you and even came to the hospital to visit your mother.”

“And this is how you treat her? Do you even know the etiquette of hospitality?”

“Or are you just like your mother, with cruelty in your very bones?”

I shouted at him in anguish, “Don’t you dare talk about my mother. You have no right to speak about her.”

Darius slapped me across the face. “Do you think I want to talk about her? I can’t even be bothered to look at you two.”

He embraced Camilla and said gently, “Let’s go. Don’t bother with them.”

Camilla didn’t move. She lowered her head and said, “Darius, I know you’re busy at work. You go ahead. I want to stay here to take care of Auntie and mend my relationship with Emma.”

Darius sighed, “You’re just too kind.”

“But I can’t leave you here alone.”

Camilla thought for a moment and said, “Darius, please leave the bodyguards here.”

“As long as Emma doesn’t hit me, I can endure anything else.”

Darius thought for a moment and told the bodyguards, “The two of you stay here. Do everything as Camilla says. Don’t let anyone bully her.”

The bodyguards agreed.

I coldly said to Darius, “I don’t need Camilla here. Please have your people leave.”

Darius pulled me aside and whispered threateningly, “Emma, don’t be ungrateful.”

“Camilla has already given you a way out and you’re still being stubborn?”

“Let me tell you, if you dare to target Camilla again, I won’t let you off the hook.”

I didn’t say a word.  I just silently pulled out the divorce agreement.

Darius glanced at it and sneered, “Divorce? Who are you trying to scare?”

He casually wrote his name on it and slapped the divorce agreement in my face.

“Do you think I’ll keep spoiling you and pampering you like before and not sign it?”

“Emma, it’s not that I look down on you. I know you’ll keep your face and continue being my wife.”

He mocked me and walked away.

Only Camilla and I stayed in the hospital room. As soon as Darius left, Camilla revealed her true colors.

I wasn’t surprised at all because she had always been two-faced in front of Darius and me. 

Camilla looked at my mother’s hospital bed and sneered, “Emma, I know a folk remedy that can cure your mom.”

I shielded my mother. “What are you doing?”

Camilla gave the bodyguards a signal. The two bodyguards immediately grabbed me and dragged me to the corner. She brought cold water and poured it cup after cup onto my mother’s body.

I cried and cursed her. I struggled desperately to stop her. But the bodyguards held me tightly and I couldn’t get to her.

Finally, I gave up hope and cried, “Camilla, I was wrong. Please let my mother go.”

Camilla smiled and said, “Sure, but will you kneel down for me?”

Without thinking, I knelt down on the ground. With my swollen belly, I bowed my head to her.

My tears streamed down my face and I softly said, “I’ve already divorced Darius. I have nothing to do with you anymore. Please stop tormenting my mother.”

Camilla walked over, suddenly raised her hand and slapped me across the face. 

“Divorce is enough? As long as Darius still has even a shred of feelings for you, I won’t let you off the hook.”

Camilla hit me for a while, then turned around and began to remove the tube from my mother’s body.

I was shocked and angry. I was crying and shouted, “Camilla, I’ve already knelt down and apologized.”

She glanced at me and said with a smile, “Yes, but unfortunately I don’t keep my promises.”

Then she pulled hard. My mother’s body began to tremble violently and within seconds, her heartbeat became a straight line.

My mind went blank. I didn’t know where I found the strength, but I went crazy, breaking free from the two bodyguards.

I charged toward Camilla without caring about anything else. I pinned her to the ground and choked her neck fiercely.

But within two seconds, I was dragged away by the bodyguards.

Camilla stood up, rubbing her neck angrily and said, “This woman is yours now. Take good care of her.”

The bodyguards hesitated. “But she’s pregnant.”

Camilla snorted coldly, “So what if she’s pregnant? Does she deserve to carry Darius’s child?”

The two bodyguards exchanged glances. Their eyes grew increasingly greedy as they looked at me.

They dragged me to the ground and pinned me down.

I screamed and begged for help, but no one paid any attention.

They actually intended to rape me beside my mother’s corpse.

Meanwhile, Camilla held her phone, smiling as she filmed the scene.

I struggled desperately. The two bodyguards grew angry and kicked me twice with all their strength.

I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen and blood gushed out everywhere.

I had miscarried. The bodyguards looked at me with disgust and lost interest.

Camilla spat at me. “What a bad omen!”

She left with the bodyguards.

Outside the door, I heard her instruct the doctors and nurses, “No one is to help the person in this room.”

The doctors and nurses knew she was Darius’s woman. They didn’t dare offend her and obediently agreed.

I lay on the ground in despair.

I didn’t even have the strength to get up. I closed my eyes and looked around for a long time before finding my phone.

I dialed a number. “Do previous promises still stand?”

***

When night fell, I managed to crawl to my feet.

No one in the hospital dared to help me, so I gritted my teeth, pushed my mother’s body and walked step by step toward the exit.

Every step brought excruciating pain.

When I stepped out of the hospital building, the blinding sunlight hit my face and I felt dizzy, then collapsed forward.

At that moment, a pair of strong arms caught me.

I looked up and saw a familiar figure.

It was Gideon Sagredo.

He looked at my mother’s body. His voice hoarse, “Emma, I’m so sorry I’m late.”

I shook my head slowly. “It’s not your fault. I chose the wrong path in life.”

Gideon was the arranged marriage partner chosen for me by my parents. But I had fallen deeply in love with Darius.

On the day I became engaged to Darius, Gideon was drunk out of his mind.

He called me and said, “Emma, even if we can’t be husband and wife, we can still be friends.”

“If you want to continue your research, my company will always have a position for you.”

“If you need help, I’ll be there for you anytime.”

After that day, Gideon avoided me to maintain appearances and never appeared in my life again.

After I married Darius, I quickly became a housewife. All my former aspirations became dust.

With Gideon’s help, I buried my mother. Although there were only a few people at her funeral, at least she was able to leave this world with dignity.