“Do you really have a broken heart?”

Darrel straightened my shoulders at this time. I could see the tears on his face and the reddened ends of his eyes.

“How can I not be heartbroken? I love you and I also love our crystallization.”

Darrel looked at me intensely. “I'm more than anyone else looking forward to the baby coming to this world. If something happens like this, I'm the most painful thing, Giselle!”

I couldn’t believe the man in front of me was really too good at acting. No wonder, I couldn't see past his despicable disguise all these years.

When I think about when he first found out that I was pregnant, he was ecstatic, like he had suddenly gotten the ultimate treasure. Darrel was so happy that he couldn't sleep all night.

Later, I was even more meticulous during my pregnancy. Even though I went up the stairs, I was so energetic that I took care of myself. But who would have thought that at that time, he was already planning for the illegitimate child outside?

Darrel was already asleep, but his phone rang. He had a message.

[Darrel, thank you for the things you sent. Edmund likes it very much.]

I was curious at that moment. After my fingerprint was unlocked, my pupils suddenly shrank. I was stunned for a while and let the tears as big as beans fall.

All the clothes I prepared for the baby were changed to the size of the child by Darrel a month ago. Even the villa that I wanted to give to the baby has been inhabited by Karina and her son.

The background of his chat was the garden of the villa with the family of three sitting on the swing. They looked happy. It made my heart numb with pain.

Furthermore, it was a good day when Darrel asked the teacher to calculate a good date for Edmund. Fortunately, there were still three months left.

I closed my eyes tightly. My mouth then felt bitter.  These three months were enough for me to leave quietly.

***

“This dress was specially customized by the designer I asked, absolutely no one will see anything wrong with you.”

My lower body was slightly deformed and even with a cane, I could see the signs of paralysis. Seeing that my eyes were red, Darrel immediately came forward to ask.

I shook my head. “It's okay, Darrel. I just thought of when we first met, you were also so attentive.”

When we first met, I fell down from the mountain and cut my arm. He also carefully prepared a cool summer long-sleeved dress so that I could attend the coming-of-age ceremony.

It was also his meticulousness that impressed me, allowing me to travel thousands of miles to marry him in Luxembourg City. He smiled dotingly and squatted down to wipe my hand.

“I will treat you better in the future, Giselle. Please, don't think too much, okay? I won't dislike you.”

If I hadn't heard those cruel truths with my own ears, I wouldn't have believed that the gentleman in front of me would be the murderer of flesh and blood. I was silent for a while.

He was also an enemy who forced me into a desperate situation. I had to follow the disguise and deliberately pretended to be seriously paralyzed to make him relax his guard.

I knew him very well, even if Karina and her son entered the door, he would not be willing to let me go. I contacted my best friends. I then found a hospital to help me treat the basics.

I said to myself, “Giselle, remember that you must be discovered by Darrel, okay?”

Half a month passed just like that. When he woke up that day, Darrel’s eyes looked red. He did not dare to look directly into my eyes.

“Giselle, I have made an appointment with the best doctor abroad. I can definitely let your legs regain consciousness!”

When I did the rehabilitation test yesterday, I deliberately aggravated my paralysis. As expected, the doctor's examination report today was very unsatisfactory.

“There are no other effects, Mr. Darrel. It's just that if you two want to have children in the short term, it might not be too recommended.”

I said in my heart, “Temporarily unable to have children?” I then laughed coldly inwardly.  I was afraid it was just an excuse that Darrel told the doctor.

Women with amputated limbs were able to pass on their children. But I was declared infertile when my legs were still able to touch the ground. It was really interesting.

In that case, I took the initiative to fulfill him.

“Darrel, I know you have always wanted a child, maybe my legs won't get better. Why don't we adopt one?”

My heart was practically dripping blood when I said this. Darrel didn't pay attention at that moment. He just showed surprise after hearing it and then hugged me tightly.

“Believe me, this is just a temporary solution. When I fulfill my parents' wish, I will take you abroad and start our new life for our family of three.”

I couldn’t believe he thought of everything. Even the place where we would settle down in the future, but the only thing that Darrel wasn't well thought out about was that I knew about Edmund's existence in advance.

Moreover, Darrel was very fast. It was really urgent to make his illegitimate son recognize his ancestors. Within a few days, he brought the child over.

“You are the child's mother, you deserve to be the first to see him don't you?”

Darrel's face hung with caution. He looked afraid that I would refuse.

I looked at the boy who stood outside the hospital room. He dressed smartly and bubbling with nobility at a glance. His hatred reached the extreme.

I asked in my heart, “Why is it that his illegitimate child can bite the golden spoon and grow up carefree? While my poor child suffocated to death without even seeing this world!”

But there was still a smile on the corner of his lips. “You are Edmund, aren't you? Come here.”

It wasn't until I saw the peace sign hanging around his neck that I realized what it meant to have all the thoughts in the world!

The exact same peace sign, Darrel personally handed it over to my hands on the day I was pregnant with a full nine months.  He said it was an ancestral heirloom. I then realized that Edmund's part was obviously older and more valuable than mine.

I swallowed my aggression. “Hey, little boy. Who usually takes care of you? Is she here?”

I also wanted to see who this woman named Karina Reverie is.  I didn't expect that as soon as the words finished, the crisp sound of shoe heels rang in the ward. Darrel's expression changed drastically.

“Darrel, the child is still young. I didn't feel at ease, so I came up. You won't blame me, right?”

I was silent for a while. I then realized it was actually her.

In these years, every time Darrel got drunk, he asked me to pick him up. At that moment I could see her figure. She had long been pervasive in our lives. I gritted my teeth hard, not wanting to show my timidity.

“Hello, Mrs. Giselle. I'm Edmund's mother. I am also the doctor in this hospital, Karina Reverie.”

She said that she and my husband were college classmates. Edmund was the one who had an accident.

On the other hand, Darrel said that Karina was just an adoptive mother. But I knew that it was just one lie after another. The scumbag and the slut had no courage to admit it even if they cheat.

Karina said, “I'm sorry to make you laugh, Edmund just likes to make these little things.”

Her bracelet suddenly loosened and I stared at it in a daze. My eyes shifted to Darrel's empty wrist. I had seen it before. Darrel had brought that rough bracelet back home more than once.

Karina was declaring her sovereignty with me. I could no longer be generous and silently endured the suffocating atmosphere.

“I'm tired, Darrel. You guys can go without me.”

Darrel had no doubts. When Karina left, her smug smile lingered and rolled into my mind. It didn’t dissipate even after a few minutes had passed.

I tightly covered my heart and forced myself not to cry. That night, Karina came to the VIP floor again on her night shift.

“Edmund said that he likes Mrs. Giselle a lot. This is the bracelet you gave to your wife, right? Sorry for today. I forgot to take it off.”

Darrel rubbed his eyebrows. “I usually don't wear it very often, she probably didn't notice it. You'd better not appear in front of her in the future. I'm afraid she will be suspicious.”

Karina replied, “That's good, I was afraid she would misunderstand.”

Karina stared at Darrel closely for a while. She then changed the subject.

“Have you told your wife about going to the ancestral hall to recognize her ancestors? She has inconvenient legs here. Does she need me to come forward.”

Darrel immediately interrupted Karina's words by saying, “No need.”

He refused without hesitation. “You only need to take good care of Edmund, Karina.”

Darrel took a breath for a while. He then looked sharply at the woman who was in front of him now.

“Giselle Siegfried is the lady of the Roderick Family because she is my wife, Karina. For this kind of occasion, it's only right that she should be there.”

Suddenly, the doctor came over to tell my husband that I had fallen out of my wheelchair. Darrel immediately ran back to the hospital room. His body was sweating because of nervousness.

He asked me, “Giselle, are you okay?”

Before he came in, I viciously twisted my wrist cruelly. My tears streamed down my face from the pain.

It hadn't been a fall at all just now. I had recovered and was walking independently when the doctor suddenly came in to measure my temperature. 

In that desperate situation, I could only pretend to have fallen. Darrel hugged me so tightly when he heard the doctor portray the scene. The heartache in his eyes was practically overflowing.

Darrel said, “Giselle, why are you so stupid? Whether you can stand up or not in the future, I will love you.”

I hugged him back. If it wasn't for Karina and Edmund, maybe I would really be the happiest woman in the whole world. But his love was too worthless.

In order to reassure Karina, he told me the next day that he wanted Edmund to enter the ancestral hall and join the family tree.

Darrel looked at me closely. “Even though he's an adopted son, it's the only thing we can do to shut people's mouths.”

I actually realized that sooner or later, this day would come. The day Edmund officially returned to the Roderick Family was the day I left.

Against Darrel's expectant gaze, I nodded without saying a word. I also took care of the clothes that Edmund would wear that day.

Darrel was very gratified and straight said Edmund would definitely respect me. But I did not need his filial piety and respect at all. I just wanted my own child.

My inner roar and collapse were all drowned under my calm appearance. Unfortunately, nobody could hear the slightest.