When Joanna opened her eyes again, she thought she was in hell.

But the tubes inserted in her body and the running ventilator made her realize she was still alive.

After all that, how was she still not dead?

The doctor sighed, "Thanks to your luck and fate, you held on until the rescue team arrived. You inhaled too much toxic gas and were unconscious for three days and nights. Fortunately, the baby in your womb was saved!"

So, Darren really did disregard her life and death, right?

Joanna struggled to sit up, but the doctor ordered someone to hold her down, "Don't move! You just had skin graft surgery. Are you trying to risk your life?"

Her whole body stiffened, like falling into an ice cellar.

“What? Skin graft surgery? Who authorized this?”

Facing Joanna’s furious question, the private doctor’s tone turned icy cold.

“We only took instructions from Mr. Grive. He was worried that the wounds on your legs would scar, so he ordered us to take healthy skin from your arm and graft it there. We had to follow his orders.”

When Darren arrived, Joanna threw everything she could grab at him, screaming hoarsely, “Zaylee is a living, breathing person you cherish, but my life means nothing to you? You had no right! How could you perform a skin graft on me without my consent?"

The man frowned, looking at her coldly. "Joanna, stop making a scene. Please calm down."

Joanna laughed until tears came out, pretending to be calm as she asked, "Take a guess. If your elder brother were still alive, what do you think he would have done?"

A flicker of struggle flashed in Darren's eyes. He didn’t know what to say and his voice turned somewhat flustered. "Joanna, once Zaylee gives birth to the baby, everything will be fine! If my brother… had survived, he would’ve made it up to you. He wouldn’t have let you down."

Joanna said nothing. She simply looked at him calmly, her gaze as still and lifeless as a pool of dead water. “Is that so? Then the child and I will wait and see.”

Darren quickly turned away, but it felt like something was stuck in his chest, making it hard to breathe.

Just a wall away, Darren’s assistant arrived as instructed.

Zaylee sat up.

“Darren, your birthday banquet with your twin brother is in a few days. Why don’t we take the opportunity to humiliate Joanna a little, just a small lesson. If something were to happen while the car is passing over the West Brigde…”

Before she could finish, the man interrupted her. He frowned, a trace of guilt flashing in his eyes. “Zaylee, how could you come up with such underhanded tactics? Is this really the gentle and delicate you I once knew?”

"You used to be so kind. Back then, you didn’t hesitate to donate one of your kidneys just to save me from that fire. I saved you this time, consider it repaying the favor. But now, why are you speaking of nothing but schemes and violence?"

Zaylee’s gaze flickered, then she suddenly pouted and wiped away a tear in a show of emotion. “I… I only did it all for you, for our child. I was afraid you’d get back together with her. I was afraid you’d leave me. I was even more afraid you’d be heartbroken if Joanna remarried.”

Leon, Darren’s assistant and longtime friend, exchanged a glance with Zaylee. At this moment, he also stepped in to mediate.

"Boss, don’t tell me you’ve really fallen for Joanna? This is just a minor punishment, that’s all. Back then, didn’t you only plan to marry her because you admired her capabilities? All these years, she’s only ever had the title of Mrs. Grove in name. You never truly loved her, did you?"

"I’ve seen with my own eyes how deep your bond with Zaylee is. She’s pregnant, how could you bear to let her feel hurt?"

Zaylee burst into tears again. "Forget it… maybe it was all just my wishful thinking. I don’t want to make things difficult for Darren."

At that moment, an image of Joanna’s once bright and innocent smile flashed through Darren’s mind, only to be quickly replaced by her current cold and emotionless expression.

He nodded, giving a stern warning in a low voice. “Just a punishment. Make sure there’s no danger to her life. No matter what, that woman is carrying the Grive Family’s blood. Nothing can be allowed to happen to her.”

Joanna stood at the doorway, her gaze dim. She dialed a number to the Spencer Family. “I have one last request. Create a lifelike corpse, modeled exactly after my proportions and appearance and real enough to pass for the real thing.”

If Darren could fake his death… then why couldn’t she?

Nine days left. The love story of Darren and Zaylee spread all over Jaskara.

When Darren spent millions to buy a necklace for Zaylee, Joanna took out the engagement ring he had used to propose to her three years ago. She rubbed it twice, then threw it into the trash without hesitation.

When Darren lavishly lit fireworks by the sea for three days and nights to celebrate Zaylee's birthday, Joanna contacted the most prestigious lawyer in Jaskara to draft a divorce agreement.

When Darren and Zaylee hung wish plaques at a temple, praying for each other and the safety of their unborn child, Joanna scheduled a termination and uterine clearance procedure for the following day.

After being wheeled into the operating room, Joanna lay on the operating table, drenched in sweat from the pain, trembling all over. The feeling of flesh being torn from her body cut deeper than any blade. After a rush of warmth, her once swollen belly deflated in an instant, like a balloon losing air.

Speculums, scissors, forceps… the placenta was separated and removed.

An older female doctor glanced at the bloodied mess in the tray and couldn’t help but sigh.

“What a sin…”

“Don’t look! It’s too broken and can’t even be wrapped in a blanket…”

Joanna’s vision was blurry as she clung to the tiny box, whispering words of repentance again and again, tears streaming down uncontrollably.

Nine hours left on the countdown. For the first time in ages, Darren unexpectedly called.

“Joanna, Mom is holding a birthday party for me and my brother at the banquet hall. You must come!”

Joanna’s voice was soft and distant, echoing through the phone. “Mm, I’ll definitely be there.”

“At that time,” she added, “I’ll give you a birthday surprise you’ll never forget for the rest of your life.”

As the banquet reached its peak, Darren stood amidst the crowd in a tailored suit, laughing heartily among clinking glasses and lively chatter.

Time ticked by, minute after minute. As the event drew near its end, Joanna still hadn’t shown up.

A flicker of unease crept into Darren’s heart. He furrowed his brows and dialed Leon, his assistant. The line was busy.

Meanwhile, on one side of Jaskara’s West Bridge, the rescue team sent for recovery wore grim expressions as they rushed over.

Back elsewhere, Leon took a calm sip of tea, entirely unhurried. “Didn’t I tell you to delay things a bit longer? If she drowned, then let her soak properly. She brought this on herself by offending the wrong people. And besides… how dare you ignore Garcia’s orders?”

One of the recovery workers leaned in and whispered two sentences into Leon’s ear, his expression changed instantly. Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the riverbank, urgency written all over his face as he demanded details.

For this birthday banquet, Garcia had gone to great lengths, even inviting numerous media reporters. Bored and idle, they loitered around the entrance of the banquet hall, hoping for a story.

Suddenly, someone burst into the hall, panic-stricken.

Leon was utterly flustered now, hesitating over how to break the news.

Darren sneered coldly, his lips curving into a mocking smile. “What is it? Did Joanna catch a cold, or did she drown? Do you want me to go invite her myself? Tell her this. If she doesn’t show up today, she never needs to come again.”

Under the watchful and curious gazes of the crowd, Leon could no longer contain the fear in his heart. He suddenly dropped to his knees.

“Mr. Grive, something terrible has happened! Miss Spencer really drowned! When the rescue team pulled her out, all that was left was a cold, lifeless body!”

The next second, the Grive Family’s housekeeper burst in frantically, holding out a package with trembling hands.

“This was something Miss Spencer left behind before she left. You’d better open it yourself!”

With trembling hands, Darren unwrapped the package.

He felt as though he’d fallen into an icy abyss. That cold smile on his face froze completely.