When I woke up, it was already noon the next day.

Andrew stood in front of me and threw a maid’s uniform in my face. Disgust showed plainly in his eyes.

“Sophia is pregnant. She’s been in a bad mood.”

He lit a cigar. His gaze was cold.

“The previous maid was clumsy. I don’t trust her. From today on, you’ll attend to Sophia personally.”

Smoke filled the room, and his face blurred behind it.

“Serve her well. Next month, I’ll arrange your mother’s surgery.”

I froze. I could hardly believe my ears.

She was my love rival.

She carried my husband’s child, yet he wanted me to serve her.

Andrew was ruthless.

After a long silence, I gripped the maid’s uniform.

“I’ll take good care of Ms. Rossi.”

Andrew’s eyes moved slowly over my face.

He snorted before slamming the door.

That night, thunder roared, and rain poured without pause. I was kneeling on the expensive carpet in the living room, carefully wiping the red wine stain on it when Sophia’s arrogant voice called.

“Ella, get me a glass of water.”

I got up and respectfully handed her the glass with steady hands.

She did not take it. Her beautiful eyes moved slowly, looking me up and down.

“Look at you. You’re so pathetic. Do you think Andrew feels sorry for you? Listen carefully. The Donna of the Lorenzo family is going to be me. And you? You’re nothing but a dog Andrew keeps to amuse me.”

Three years ago, I would have shot her without hesitation.

But I could, alas, presently not do this.

My mother’s life was still in their hands.

When I remained silent, Sophia sneered before stepping closer.

Then there was a sharp crack. The glass had hit the floor and shattered.

Sophia let out a scream.

“Ah! My hand!”

A door upstairs burst open.

Andrew barged in wearing only his robe and saw the mess on the floor.

His face instantly turned dark. “What happened?”

Sophia collapsed into his arms. The hurt on her face was perfectly crafted.

“Andrew, Ella is still your legal wife. How can she really serve me? Besides, she spent three years in prison. She may not be used to taking care of anyone.”

Andrew quickly turned to stare at me, and his eyes looked ready to tear me apart.

“Ella, let me warn you. Stop holding on to foolish fantasies. I already showed you mercy by allowing you to stay in the estate and serve Sophia. If you keep on hurting her with your misplaced pride, you can’t blame me for what I do next.”

I stood there and almost laughed. In Andrew’s world, the truth never mattered. All that mattered was Sophia’s happiness.

He raised his hand before I could defend myself, and the slap he gave me echoed throughout the room. His palm struck my face with brutal force. My body slammed into the cabinet beside me, and the blow made my left ear ring. I fell to the floor. Broken glass cut into my palm. A sharp pain swept through me, and my vision went dark.

The smell of blood filled the air.

In the final second before I lost consciousness, I saw Andrew holding Sophia close. He looked down at me with open disgust.

“If you’re going to die, do it somewhere else. I don’t want that bad luck in this house.”

When I woke up, the room was completely silent.

There was no medicine. No clean clothes. Not even a hint of sunlight came through the windows.

I tried to sit up, but the untreated wounds all over my body burned with sharp pain, as if they were tearing open again.

I could not die. If I died, my mother would lose her treatment. I sucked in a breath and forced myself to change out of my dirty clothes.

Suddenly, Andrew stumbled in. He reeked of alcohol.

I tried to get up and move away instinctively, but my legs refused to cooperate, and I collapsed back down. The next second, a burning hand grabbed my wrist. Andrew’s tall body pressed me down. There was no tenderness. No gentleness. He simply ripped at my maid’s uniform.

“Ella…”

He said my name, but there was no care in his touch. It felt like he was only venting his anger, so I struggled with all my strength.

“Andrew, are you crazy? Let me go!”

He ignored me and pressed his face against my neck. A strong rose scent filled my nose. It was Sophia’s favorite perfume. My stomach churned, and the nausea grew stronger than my fear.

“Bleh—ugh!”

I pushed him away without thinking. I hit the carpet and gagged.

The room fell silent again. Andrew went still at the edge of the bed. His face turned dark. He fixed his wrinkled collar and looked at me with a cold, threatening stare.

“You think I’m dirty?”

I was still gagging. I did not even have the strength to explain.

He gave a short, mocking laugh and stepped on my back.

“What are you pretending to be so pure for? Back then, you were willing to kill me for five million from the Rossi family heir, Mark Rossi. You even took the blame for him for five million. I told you I would become the Don one day. Forget five million. I would have given you fifty million! And how did you repay me? For a little money, you went to prison. You went as far as selling yourself. Those three years in prison, how many men did you have? Do you expect me to believe you fought them off like this too?”

Each word felt like a knife stabbing into my heart.

“I told you. I didn’t.”

Three years ago, I gave him the same explanation over and over.

But Andrew never believed me.

Or maybe he simply refused to believe me. I looked at the face in front of me. It was so familiar, yet it felt completely strange. This was the man I had loved for ten years.

“If you think I’m dirty, then don’t touch me.”

“You think I want to? Sophia is pregnant. I don’t want to hurt her or our child. I came to you just to blow off some steam.”

I froze.

So he was worried about their child. His words felt like needles piercing my heart. The pain spread until I could barely breathe.

“Be smart. Otherwise, your mother is in the hospital…”

Andrew did not finish the sentence, but I understood. He always followed through on his threats.

So I stopped fighting.

I even slid my arms around his waist and forced myself to respond to him.

What once made our love burn brighter had turned into nothing more than a cold exchange. We each took what we wanted.

Later that night, after Andrew left, I dragged a metal box out from under the bed.

At the very bottom, I found a dull stainless steel ring.

Andrew had made it for me himself a few years ago.

“Ella, I swear on my family’s name. When I reach that position, I’ll replace this with the biggest diamond ring.”

His teenage promise still echoed in my ears. But the boy who swore he would love me for life was gone. I clenched the ring and limped to the artificial lake on the estate.

Without hesitation, I threw it toward the center of the water.

There was a soft plunk.

It disappeared into the darkness without a ripple.

Goodbye, Andrew.

Over the next two months, Andrew seemed determined to punish me for resisting him.

He piled all the estate chores on me. I had to water the plants, trim the hedges, scrub the floors, and even pick up Sophia’s dog’s poop myself.

At first, Sophia held back a little with her cruelty. But since Andrew kept indulging her, she quickly realized that I meant nothing to him, so she started tormenting me without limits.

If a cup in the living room was found empty, she would order someone to slap me fifty times. If a rose petal fell from a flowerbed, she made me kneel and apologize to the flowers. If dust from the carpet got on her shoes, she forced me to kneel on the stone floor for three full days.

No matter what happened, Andrew would just smile and let it pass.

The last punishment was over me giving her dog a bit less food than usual, and she got mad.

“Andrew, didn’t Ella used to live in the slums of Booklyn?

“Why don’t we send her back there to reflect? Maybe that place will help her remember her position.”

Andrew raised an eyebrow. He seemed to find the idea amusing.

“Fine. Do as you like.”

They laughed and joked as they decided my punishment. Seeing Andrew spoil her like that, I felt a sudden chill. Three years in prison had not earned me even a shred of Andrew’s pity.

Half an hour later, I was brought back to the slums of Booklyn. I looked at the familiar house that had once felt so warm, and a deep sadness settled in my chest. Three years had passed, and the clean walls were now covered in vines. The bricks were full of graffiti and holes from vandalism, and the building looked ready to fall apart.

“Ugh, so disgusting. How can anyone live in a place like this?” Sophia complained as she stepped around the trash and filth on the ground.

Andrew kicked open the peeling wooden door. A faded cross hung on the wall, which he had put up himself five years ago. It was there that he had confessed to me, promised me, and sworn he would love me forever.

Years later, the cross was covered in dust. It shook in the wind, just like this broken marriage.

Suddenly, Sophia pointed at a photo on the table and screamed.

“Ah! Andrew, look! How does this place even have a memorial photo?”

I looked up. My grandmother’s kind smile made my vision blur. Years ago, Andrew had been hunted by a rival family and had fallen sick with a high fever in this attic. My grandmother had spent her last money to buy him medicine and cook him warm pasta. When she was on her deathbed, Andrew knelt in front of her, crying, and banged his head on the floor.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect Ella with my life.”

Today, he stood in front of my grandmother’s memorial with his new lover and openly humiliated me.

“Ella.” Andrew’s voice was cold. “Go. Kneel in front of your grandmother’s memorial.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “What did you say?”

Andrew flicked the ash from his cigar.

“Right here. In front of your grandmother. Bow to Sophia and admit you’re wrong.”

My whole body froze.

That was the elder who had loved him like a grandson.

How could he do this?

How dare he?

“I won’t kneel.”

It was the first time I defied him since I left prison. Andrew’s face darkened. He pulled out his phone and called someone in front of me.

“Stop Ella’s mother’s medicine.”

“I’ll kneel!”

I bent my knees and hit the dusty cement floor with a dull thud. My kneecaps slammed against the floor. Pain shot through me, but I did not flinch. That pain was nothing compared to the pain in my heart. Sophia laughed with triumph. She pressed the tip of her high heel under my chin and lifted my head.

“Ella, just kneeling is not enough.

“Say it loud. Say you are lowly and don’t deserve Andrew.”

I had to tilt my head back and look at her twisted face while Andrew watched coldly from the side. He made no move to stop her. He even seemed to enjoy punishing me.

I opened my mouth. My voice was hoarse, rough like sandpaper.

“I… am lowly.”

“Louder! Are you mute?”

Sophia pressed her heel harder underneath my chin.

“I’m lowly!” I shouted with a shaking voice.

“I don’t deserve Andrew. I’m lowly and shameless. I don’t deserve…”

Before I could finish, my vision went completely black.

It felt like a hand had reached into my stomach and twisted all my insides. I let out a muffled groan and curled up. Sweat started drenching my back. It hurt so much. A hot flow ran down between my legs and soaked my pants. It quickly stained the gray cement red.

The air was filled with the thick smell of blood.

My vision blurred, and my hands and feet went ice cold. I remembered how insane Andrew had been when he was drunk that day. Suddenly, Sophia screamed and jumped back like she had seen a ghost.

“Andrew! She’s bleeding too much!”

She scrambled behind Andrew and pointed at the spreading pool of blood beneath me. She was shaking with fear.

Andrew frowned. A flash of impatience crossed his eyes.

“Ella, what tricks are you playing now? You think you can use this to get sympathy? Don’t bother.”

He walked toward me to pull me up, but he froze when he saw the blood. The pool of red was still spreading.

Andrew’s pupils shrank. The cigar fell from his hand.

“I won’t let you die!”