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.

Gideon gently hugged me. “Emma, take care of yourself first. I will definitely avenge your mom.”

I nodded softly. In Gideon’s arms, I felt a sense of security I had never felt before.

***

Darius got out of bed, put on his clothes and was about to leave.

Camilla reached out from under the blankets and grabbed his arm.

“Darius, aren’t you going to stay with me today?”

Darius put on his clothes and said indifferently, “I’ve already stayed with you for a week. Now I need to go to the hospital to check on Emma.”

Camilla cried. “But my dog died and I’m still very sad.”

Hearing this, Darius frowned.

In the past, whenever Camilla cried, Darius would feel so sorry for her that he would fulfill all her wishes. But now Darius felt inexplicably annoyed.

Camilla cried too easily and he had to comfort her dozens of times a day.

At first, Darius thought she was delicate and he always felt a strong urge to protect her.

But now, he wondered if she was being too dramatic. All this negativity was starting to affect his mood. He couldn’t help but think of me.

In comparison, I seemed much stronger and more composed.

Darius felt a pang of guilt, thinking that leaving me alone at the hospital to take care of the patient wasn’t right.

So he hurriedly put on his clothes and went to see me. Camilla jumped off the bed and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

“Darius, can you stay with me for just one more day?”

Darius shook his head firmly and prised her hands away.

“No, today is my wedding anniversary with Emma. I have to be with her.”

Upon hearing this, Camilla’s face turned gloomy. She bit her lip angrily, then pouted.

“Darius, you’ve already divorced Emma, right? Can we get married?”

Darius suddenly turned around and stared intently at Camilla.

Camilla was startled by his gaze and shrunk back onto the bed.

Darius said thoughtfully, “Camilla, Emma and I will never divorce. She is irreplaceable in my heart.”

“I can give you money and a job, but don’t harbor any other fantasies.”

After that, Darius left her.

Camilla angrily smashed a pile of things.

***

[Emma, I made a reservation at the best restaurant. Today we…]

Darius stopped mid-sentence, suddenly frozen in place.

He held the flowers and stared blankly at the empty hospital bed. He turned around and grabbed a nurse.

“Where is she?”

The nurse shook her head in panic. “I don’t know, Sir.”

He thought I ran as if I were running away from him.

Darius was a bit angry. “Discharged? Without notifying me? Emma, you’re getting more and more outrageous.”

He dialed my number but found that I had blocked him.

Darius suddenly felt a bit panicked. Because this never happened before.

He suddenly remembered that I had once asked him to sign a divorce agreement.

“Emma, you’re not really going to divorce me, are you? No, you’re just trying to scare me into giving in. Hmph, let me tell you, there’s no way I’m giving in.”

As Darius was talking to himself, a cleaning staff member named Steve, who was passing by, glanced at him and reminded him, “Don’t wait; the patient in this bed has already died.”

Darius was startled. “What did you say?”

Steve answered, “Not only did the patient die, but the pregnant woman who was accompanying her also had a miscarriage.”

“No one in the entire hospital dared to help. It was terrible, Sir.”

Darius grabbed Steve by the collar like a madman.

“How is that possible? You must be lying to me!”