After losing three children in succession, Adeline Wyndham knelt before her mother's tombstone, holding a box of toys and stood solemnly.

“Mum, the five-year period is almost over. I want to divorce Damian. I’ll take the boxes of toys meant for my three children and leave this place.”

There was no one else in the cemetery. A breeze rustled through the leaves, soft and whispering, as if her mother were replying.

Five years ago, Adeline’s mother, her only family, had died of a serious illness. On her deathbed, she had held Adeline’s hand and made her promise something important.

“Adeline, I can tell. Even though Damian married you, he doesn’t love you.”

“If you have a child within five years, I’ll accept your decision to stay with him. But if not, I hope you’ll let go of your obsession, find the retreat I’ve prepared for you and live your own life.”

“Otherwise, I won’t be able to rest in peace, even in the afterlife.”

Her mother’s voice still echoed in her ears. Adeline closed her eyes, filled with regret. She regretted the five years she had wasted. She hated how humbly she had loved him.

In five years, she had still failed to warm Damian Ravenswood’s heart.

When she returned to the mansion, Adeline passed by Damian’s room and heard soft, melodic music. She already knew what scene awaited behind the door, yet she still walked toward it like a masochist, peeking through the crack with trembling eyes.

Once again, she saw the massive screen that covered the wall, playing a video with only one star. Damian’s adopted sister, Jessica. Jessica was wearing a white slip dress, dancing at her graduation party, looking very pure.

Meanwhile, Damian stared at Jessica on the screen. His breathing ragged, his shirt half open and his hand faintly moving below his firm abdomen.

Adeline lowered her eyes and stepped back silently. She no longer reacted. After all, this wasn’t the first time she had discovered Damian’s secret.

Leaning against the wall, she smiled bitterly.

No wonder he claimed he didn’t have time to bury their child’s toys with her. It turned out that he had spent all his time on this.

Eventually, the music stopped, reluctantly fading. Damian opened the door abruptly. His tall frame cast a shadow over Adeline and his voice was hoarse with lust.

“Did you bury the toys?”

Adeline didn’t look up.

“Yes … ”

“Go change your clothes then. The white slip dress.”

Shame burned through her, but hearing that, she clenched her fists tightly.

Again?

She couldn’t remember how many times Damian had asked her to wear Jessica’s clothes to satisfy his desires.

Today was the day they buried their child’s toys, but he still wanted to do that?

Since their marriage, Damian had given her only one gift. It was an extravagant walk-in dressing room. Later, she discovered that every single item of clothing in it had once belonged to Jessica.

Normally, she wasn’t even allowed to wear them. Damian would only choose one for her to wear after watching a video of Jessica. Then, he would take her to bed.

At first, Adeline thought it was just a strange fetish. She didn’t care. But strange things kept happening.

The first time, when she undressed to please him, Damian suddenly looked disgusted and told her to get out.

The second time, she moaned without restraint. Damian lost control and nearly suffocated her with his hands.

The third time, she looked at him lovingly. In the next moment, he turned off the lights and finished quickly, without a word.

He told her coldly, “In bed, I don’t need you to react. Just open your legs.”

Adeline had felt humiliated, but her blind love kept her from questioning him. At least Damian still wanted her body, didn’t he? Until a few days ago when she discovered the truth.

She watched the video again, then manically compared each outfit in the video to those in the dressing room. And finally, it all made sense.

For five years, she had been nothing more than a tool. A body in Jessica’s clothes, expected to remain silent and still, like a lifeless doll.

With her fingertips digging into her palms, she fought the urge to vomit. For the first time, she resisted.

“I just gave birth not long ago. My body hasn’t recovered. Let’s not do this today.”

Damian’s brow twitched slightly and his voice turned cold as he spoke, “It’s your fault the baby didn’t survive. Don’t take it out on me. Even if I went to bury the ashes, they wouldn’t come back. It’s a waste of time.”

It felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over her.

Adeline’s lips trembled.

She kept repeating to herself, “Yes, my fault. It’s all my fault.”

Meanwhile, Damian grew impatient.

“Go change your clothes. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Her body shook. In the past, she would have obeyed immediately, afraid of making him unhappy. But now, she only gave him a bitter smile. Her eyes were full of sorrow.

“Fine. Since it’s all my fault … I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

“I won’t bother you anymore, Damian. Let’s get divorced-”

Before she could finish, Damian’s patience snapped.

He grabbed Adeline and dragged her into the room, throwing her onto the bed.

“So much nonsense. It’s just three kids, so what’s the big deal? If they died, we’ll have more. Who are you trying to impress with this act? Tell me … how many do you want? I’ll give you as many as you want!”

Damian ripped off her clothes roughly. Her eyes filled with horror. She didn’t want to get pregnant again. She couldn’t go through that pain anymore.

Adeline didn’t want to hear a doctor tell her the baby had died again.

“No! Damian! I don’t want this! Let me go! Please!”

But Damian ignored her cries. He entered her abruptly, punishing her and it lasted longer than ever before. When it was over, he got dressed and left without a backward glance.

“If the baby dies, we’ll make another. I can tolerate the disgust. Next time, take off your underwear in advance. Don’t waste my time.”

The door slammed behind him, plunging the room into darkness.

A tear slid down Adeline’s cheek. She was lying still, tangled in the mess on the bed as if she was being paralyzed.

A waste of time. Again. But he had never asked whether she was willing.

No. She had to be willing, whether she wanted to or not. And in the end, it was always her fault.

A while later, her phone rang. She picked it up with a blank expression.

The voice on the other end was respectful as they asked, “Miss, the five-year period is about to end. Are you … ”

Adeline turned slowly and glanced at the big screen, now dark. But those images had already burned themselves into her memory.

She exhaled and composed herself.

“After seven days, erase all of my identity records. Take me abroad.”

The person on the phone responded quickly, “Understood. No problem.”

The next day, Adeline planned to buy emergency contraceptive pills.

As Adeline walked downstairs, she was surprised to see the mansion decorated like a fairytale castle. A group of people waited nervously in the living room. Damian, wearing medical gloves, was squatting beside Jessica. They were tending to a large dog giving birth inside a plush doghouse.

Seeing Adeline, Jessica deliberately picked up a newborn puppy and said loudly, “Damian, look, Winnie is amazing. Every puppy she gave birth to is fat and healthy.”

The words pierced Adeline’s heart, but she pretended not to hear. Jessica continued, “Today is Winnie’s special day. Damian, you should give her a gift.”

Damian smiled gently and stroked Jessica’s hair. “Alright. What does Jessica want?”

Jessica pouted playfully, saying, “Hmm ... then let’s give her the opal bracelet Adeline’s mother left behind.”

Adeline’s heart skipped a beat. She rushed down the stairs, but twisted her ankle on the last step and fell to her knees. Jessica laughed mockingly. “I know you can’t give birth to a healthy child, so I tried everything. But there’s no need to give Winnie such a big gift.”

Everyone laughed. Damian’s expression turned cold. “Stop embarrassing yourself. Go back to your room.”

He took the opal bracelet from a servant and prepared to fasten it around Winnie’s neck. Jessica suddenly changed her mind and asked him to try it on the newborn puppies one by one.

Adeline, enduring the pain in her ankle, struggled to stand. “Give me back the opal bracelet!”

Damian didn’t even look at her. He tossed a credit card close to her feet.

“Today is a happy day. Winnie gave birth. Don’t cause trouble. There’s 30 million pounds on this card. More than enough to buy that opal bracelet.”

Adeline’s eyes turned red.

Happy? A dog gave birth and they celebrated. Yet, no one had mourned her lost child.

She watched Damian gently place the lock on a puppy and shouted, “That was my mother’s gift to my children. Give it back!”

Jessica reacted as if the item were filthy. She picked it up with two fingers and threw it across the room. It hit the ground and shattered.

“Oh no, our puppy can’t wear this! What if it dies like your baby? Such bad luck!”

Adeline crawled toward the pieces, ignoring her pain and gathered them in her hands. It was the last thing her mother left behind. Something she couldn’t even protect.

She turned and saw Damian still tending to the dog with a soft smile on his face. He looked just like he did when they first met, standing under a maple tree in a white shirt, smiling gently. Perhaps, he didn’t hate children. He just hated the ones she gave birth to.

Damian finally noticed her. Just as he was about to have someone send her upstairs, he saw her limping away from the mansion. Watching her lonely figure disappear, he felt an odd discomfort. But his attention quickly shifted back to the puppies.

At the hospital, Adeline first treated her sprained ankle before going to the obstetrics and gynecology department to get contraceptive pills. Just as she spoke with the doctor, Jessica burst in carrying Winnie.

“Doctor, help! My dog is having a difficult labor!”

Damian followed, sweeping everything off the table with one arm before placing the dog on it.

The doctor was stunned, but quickly said, “This is a hospital for humans. You need to go to a vet.”

Jessica cried, begging, “But Winnie is family. To me, she’s a person!”

Damian immediately called the hospital director, “If you don’t find someone to save this dog, your hospital will shut down tomorrow.”

Adeline watched them, finding the scene ridiculous. Bringing a dog into a human hospital … were they trying to save it or kill it? But none of it mattered to her anymore. She just wanted to leave.

Unfortunately, Jessica noticed her.

“Adeline! This is all your fault! You and your dead mother cursed my Winnie! You can’t even give birth to a healthy child. Are you jealous of a dog?”

“What did you say?!”

Jessica could insult her all she wanted, but not her mother. Furious, Adeline raised her hand to slap her, but Damian caught her wrist. He stared at her as if trying to read her soul.

“You said you didn’t want a child yesterday. So why are you secretly visiting the obstetrics and gynecology department now?”

Adeline tried to pull away, but Damian’s grip left red marks on her wrist. In anger, she bit his hand until he let go.

“I’m not here to prepare for pregnancy!” she snapped.

Damian frowned at the bright red teeth marks. “If not for pregnancy, then why are you here? For contraception? Do you expect me to believe that?”

“Yes!” she said without hesitation.

Damian sneered, responding, “So now you’re using this as an excuse to get my attention? Competing with a dog for favor … is that fun for you?”

Just then, the doctor who had treated Adeline came out and handed her the pills as he said, “You forgot these earlier, miss.”

Without a word, Adeline took five pills and swallowed them dry, right in front of Damian.

“Wait! Don’t take so many!” the doctor warned.

“It’ll hurt your body. You may never be able to get pregnant again!”

Damian stared at her in disbelief. He hadn’t expected Adeline to actually come for contraceptive pills. She really didn’t want his child.

At that moment, Damian didn’t care about Jessica or Winnie on the table. He stepped forward, pried open Adeline’s jaw and tried to dig the pill out of her throat.

"Contraception? Who allowed you to take this?"

Adeline bit his hand and shouted hoarsely, "I told you, I won’t have children with you again! Not now, not ever. I-"

"How dare you!" Damian cut her off, enraged.

After that, he turned to the bodyguards.

"Tie her up. Send her for gastric lavage!"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why? Because I’m your husband!"

Adeline froze. Damian had never allowed her to call him that since they got married. Hearing it now, from his own mouth, showed just how furious he was. In fact, he was so furious that he had begun spouting nonsense.

With irritation in his eyes, he barked again, "What are you standing around for? Take her away!"

Adeline was dragged off. Soon after, the head of the hospital arrived and Winnie was rushed into the operating room. Damian waited outside with Jessica until the doctor returned.

"I’m sorry. It’s too late. If the puppy had been brought in sooner, there might’ve been hope."

Jessica collapsed, wailing at Damian, "It’s all Adeline! She took that pill in front of you on purpose to waste time! She killed Winnie!"

Damian held Jessica gently and whispered, "It’s okay. We’ll get another one. But first, I’ll make her pay for what she’s done."

He then led Jessica to the gastric lavage room and told the doctor casually, "Give her three rounds."

The doctor looked at him, stunned.

"She only just swallowed it. Her body hasn’t even absorbed it yet. There’s no need-"

Damian shot him a cold glare, cutting the doctor off, "She’s grown wings and thinks she can act on her own. She needs a reality check, so she will know her place."

The doctor sighed and gave in.

Yet, Jessica burned with jealousy. Was Damian doing this for Winnie or because he couldn’t stand the thought of Adeline leaving him? And what did he mean when he called himself her husband?

After the procedure, Adeline was pushed into the ward. When she woke, her stomach felt like it was on fire. She was about to call the nurse when the last person she wanted to see walked in.

"You must feel proud," Jessica sneered, then signaled the bodyguards to pin Adeline down and pour a glass of ice water down her throat.

Agony twisted Adeline’s stomach. She writhed on the bed, clutching her abdomen. Jessica leaned close, her voice cold and sharp like a blade.

"Do you think Damian wants a child with you because he loves you? Dream on. Why would a proud man like him want kids with a woman who’s had three stillbirths?"

The room fell silent.

After a long pause, Adeline asked with her slightly raspy voice, "What do you mean?"

She was no longer focused on the pain. She held her breath, waiting for the answer she was beginning to fear.

Jessica traced a cruel line down Adleine’s belly with her nails as she answered, "Because those babies weren’t stillborn. Damian suffocated them right after the umbilical cord blood was collected."

Adeline’s eyes widened in horror. The truth hit like an icy knife to the chest. She felt faint.

Jessica didn’t stop. She opened a freezer and dumped three vials of cord blood into the trash in front of her.

"He did it all for me. I told him I had leukemia and needed cord blood. That’s why he married you. That’s why he made you pregnant."

She smiled, victorious. "He’s always loved me."

Adeline’s ears rang. A sharp, unbearable pain tore through her body. Far worse than anything she'd felt before.

She cried out, a sound of anguish and disbelief.

Now, it all made sense. Why had Damian agreed to marry her so suddenly? Why did he never use protection? It turned out that he never loved her. He sacrificed everything. Her body, her trust and their children … for Jessica.

Her love, her pregnancies, her persistence ... all a cruel joke.

Three innocent lives were lost because she was too stubborn to see the truth.

Adeloine regretted it so deeply that it felt like even her bones hurt. How could she have fallen in love with someone so heartless?