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?

Seeing her in such pain, Jessica looked satisfied and said mockingly, “Oh, you won’t tell Damian about this, will you? I’m so scared … what if he punishes me?”

Adeline curled up and stayed silent. She knew Damian wouldn’t do anything to Jessica. But those were the lives of three children. Would he feel even a little regret?

Soon, Damian returned with a bag of food. He set a bowl of soup on the table.

“Drink this later. It’ll help your stomach.”

Adeline stared blankly, showing no reaction.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” he added.

“Let’s see if you still dare disobey me in the future.”

Seeing her pale lips, Damian surprisingly blew on the soup and tried to feed her.

“I know you’re upset about losing the child, but you didn’t have to take so many contraceptives to spite me. I told you I’d give you another baby. And I meant it.”

The word ‘child’ set her off. Adeline pushed his hand away.

“Then what? Give birth, take the umbilical cord blood and then have the baby smothered to death by his own father?”

Damian froze for a while, but he then asked, “Who told you that?”

“Your beloved sister, Jessica! She’s not sick at all!” Adeline grabbed the trash can and shoved it at him.

“Look! That’s all your dead children’s blood! I don’t understand … why can’t you accept them, even after getting what you wanted?”

Damian fell silent. His dark eyes deepened, unreadable. Adeline waited, hoping he’d blame Jessica. But his response crushed her.

“Jessica was just a child back then. It’s normal for her to lie for attention. She admitted her mistake. When you have another child, there’ll be no need to take blood. You can raise it.”

Childish? Tantrum? How could he say that so easily?

“Will an apology bring back my children alive?”

With a loud crash, Damian slammed the soup to the floor.

“Don’t go too far, Adeline! Jessica has nothing! You’re already the only daughter-in-law of the Ravenswood Family. What more do you want? Why can’t you just give in?”

Adeline let out a cold laugh that echoed through the ward. Give in? She had done nothing but give in since marrying him.

Before the wedding, Jessica shaved her head bald. Adeline had to give in. Jessica took nude photos of her and threatened her, but she still gave in. Jessica drugged her at a party and almost handed her off to another man, but she had to forgive.

And now, Jessica had killed her unborn children and Damian still wanted her to give in.

In the end, Adeline just looked Damian dead in the eyes.

“I already told you, I will never have another child with you! And I don’t want the title of your wife!”

Damian raised his hand instinctively, but her fearless gaze stopped him. Somehow, he knew he would regret it if he struck her. He dropped his arm.

“You just lost your child. It’s normal to be emotional, but don’t think you can provoke me with words. Don’t forget you were the one who climbed into my bed with your tricks. I married you. You should be grateful.”

Damian, thinking he was being generous, ordered someone to bring another bowl of soup and left.

Adeline was heartbroken. Yes, she had chased Damian and asked him to marry her 99 times. Everyone laughed at her. He rejected her again and again, in parks, on street corners, in malls.

Still, she tirelessly prepared surprises for him. Perhaps, he didn’t love her and she could accept that. However, his parents had loved her.

It was they who had sent her into Damian’s room that night he was drugged. After they slept together, Adeline thought she heard him whisper her name. But she had been too exhausted to be sure.

Her initial plan was to leave quietly once the drug wore off and never use that night against him. But his parents had pushed for the marriage. And only now did she realize that, in Damian’s eyes, it had all been her scheme.

Adeline got out of bed with effort. As soon as she stepped outside, heavy rain poured down. Shivering in the cold, she saw Damian carefully putting Jessica’s shoes on and lifting her into the car.

Once, that sight would have crushed her. Now, she felt nothing.

She took a taxi straight to the old Ravenswood residence and knelt before Damian’s parents. Playing a hospital recording from her phone, she said, “Mr. and Mrs. Ravenswood, I want to divorce Damian.”

After hearing the recording, Mr. Ravenswood slammed the table.

“That idiot man! He’s been defying us his whole life!”

Mrs. Ravenswood pulled Adeline into a hug, tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry. We didn’t even know you were pregnant for three times! Whatever you want, we’ll make it up to you.”

Adeline wanted to cry, but she couldn’t. She knelt again and bowed her head.

“I don’t want anything. Just tell Damian the truth after the divorce. Let him know that I never owed him anything.”

Tomorrow, Adeline would disappear from this life. She would start over, carrying only the memories and toys of her three lost children.

After leaving the mansion, Adeline immediately called the mortician to schedule the toys made from her late child’s hair lock. However, the mortician told her that Damian had already taken the hair.

“Why did you take my child away? What are you going to do?”

Adeline rushed to the mansion, frantically calling Damian along the way. When he finally answered, he was furious at her accusations.

“What are you doing? They are also my children. Do I have to report everything I do to you?”

Adeline broke down completely, crying and begging him.

“I already said I would give up my position as the Ravenswood Family’s daughter-in-law. Why do you still want to hurt them? Just give me back the children’s toys and I’ll disappear. I’ll never appear in front of you again.”

Disappear and never appear again. Those words echoed in Damian’s mind. He clenched his phone tightly. He didn’t understand why Adeline was so desperate to leave him. Wasn’t it she who insisted on being with him in the first place?

For years, Damian had endured her lies and schemes. He married her and was even willing to have another child just to comfort her. So, why was she still not satisfied?

“It’s just a box of toys, but you think they’re more important than me. Adeline, you’re unbelievable!”

Damian hung up and Adeline couldn't reach him again. Overwhelmed with rage and despair, she fainted.

When she woke up in the hospital the next day, she saw a thin, transparent hose inserted into her body and Damian sitting by her bedside.

“You're awake,” he said.

Adeline suddenly sat up, but the bag attached to the hose tugged at her abdomen, causing sharp pain.

“Where are the toys? Where are my child’s toys? What did you do with them? Give them back to me! Give them back!”

Damian’s face, which had initially been calm, turned cruel.

“Toys, toys, toys! You say you don’t want me to have children with you, but you care so much about a dead child’s toys? Who are you trying to fool?”

“You want the toys, right? Then, do what you used to. Take off your pants, please me like before and I’ll let you see the toys.”

Adeline’s lips trembled, while her tears fell like thin threads. Why was Damian still humiliating her when she didn’t want anything anymore? She had simply loved the wrong man and now she had to suffer this cruel punishment.

Her heart ached. She gripped the edge of the quilt tightly. But she had no other choice. She had promised in front of her mother’s tombstone that she would retrieve the children’s toys.

Adeline closed her eyes tightly. Like a puppet whose soul had been taken away, she removed her pants and spread her legs in despair.

“Don’t forget what you said,” she whispered.

“Remember to give me back the toys.”

Damian stared at her like a madman, stunned that she had really agreed. Suddenly, he pulled the quilt up to cover her.

“I’m not interested in lifeless corpse. I’ll let you see the toys after your bile is drawn.”

Bile?

Adeline looked at him in confusion.

“The doctor said Jessica has weak liver and gallbladder function. There’s a possibility that she’ll get healthier if she gets bile, so I took some of yours.”

“Why? Did you even get my consent?”

Adeline was almost hysterical. She couldn’t even control her own body anymore.

Damian, unusually calm, took the bag off the hose and replied as if doing her a favor.

“Bile regenerates. It won’t affect your body. The children’s toys are at the mansion. Come see them if you want.”

With that, he left. Adeline tried to follow, but the doctor stopped her for disinfection and bandaging.

Once they were done, she rushed to the mansion. The fairy tale castle that once stood on the lawn had been removed. In its place was a mourning hall filled with yellow and white chrysanthemums.

Her steps slowed.

Wreaths surrounded the area and several boxes were placed in the distance inside the mourning hall. For a moment, she thought she might have wronged Damian. Perhaps he had taken the toys for a proper funeral.

But the longer she looked, the more something felt wrong.

Why were there three boxes of memorials meant for the dead, but only one photo? When the mourners bowed, she finally saw the photo clearly. And she was instantly shocked.