“Tom, you’re my everything. Don’t act like that, you’re making me and our baby worried.”

I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to hear more of Lizbeth's words.

The car soon reached a factory on the outskirts of the city.

There was a guy inside the building and was barely breathing. His eyes were full of hatred when he looked at me. But the moment he saw Lizbeth, his eyes turned red and he lunged at her like a mad dog.

“You’ll rot in hell!”

“You've touched my man and now threatening me?” Lizbeth kicked him hard in the chest. “Looks like you didn’t learn your lesson last time.” She pulled out a knife.

“Nobody touched your man, you crazy woman!” The man cursed wildly. “Lizbeth, you—”

Before he could finish, the blade was already in his chest.

She turned to me, a small smile playing on her lips. “Sorry! I hurt him before you did! I got too angry and can't stop myself.”

Lizbeth then pressed the knife into my hand, guiding it the way she’d once taught me. Her hand covered mine.

I didn’t remember how many times I stabbed the random guy. Before I knew it, blood had covered the floor like a lake spilling on the floor.

Each strike felt like it went straight through my own heart.

When we walked out of the factory, she hugged me tightly under the setting sun.

“Tom, stop acting all upset, okay? You know you’re special to me. As long as you behave, I’ll always be with you, right here.”

I just stood there, speechless at her words.

She gently took my hand and placed it on her slightly swollen belly. “Baby, say hi to Daddy. Daddy almost got into trouble today, but Mommy took care of it!”

“Tom, don’t you want to say something to the baby?” Her gentle gaze was locked on me.

Out of instinct, I jerked my hand away. “Sorry, I… I don’t feel well.”

Maybe it was guilt. Maybe I just didn’t want to keep pretending. She didn’t press further, didn’t complain about morning sickness like she used to.

On the way back, she kept glancing at her phone, a faint smile on her lips.

It reminded me of when we first fell in love. Back then, whenever she smiled like that, I’d tease her and grab her phone.

“What are you looking at? Something prettier than me? Tom, you’ve been naughty! No kisses for you tonight!”

She’d always pretend to cry. “Tom stop teasing me! You know I can’t sleep if you don’t kiss me! You’re so mean!”

To everyone else, she was cold and ruthless — a devil in heels. But to me, she’d always acted like a fragile, helpless bunny.

But not anymore. Now, I didn’t even have the courage to joke around with her. I couldn't risk myself to danger. So, I swallowed the bitterness.

Suddenly, she told the driver to stop. “Tom, someone’s causing trouble nearby. You should go home first. It might take a while. Go to bed without me. Text if you need anything.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her phone screen and the chat bubbles.

It was a message from Erick: [Miss you, baby.]

She replied: [What a coincidence. My baby misses Daddy too.]

I got out of the car and walked for three hours before reaching the villa. Just as I was about to open the door, a sharp pain hit the back of my neck. My body went limp and instantly falling to the ground.

When I woke up, the sound of a knife being sharpened filled the air.

There was a man with scarred face and only three fingers on his right hand in front of me. The grin he had was wide.

“Damn that Lizbeth. We've made a deal to stay out of each other’s business. And now she kidnapped my man? Did she think I won’t fight back?”

He spat before staring coldly at me. “Well, fine. Let’s do this. I’ve got both of her men in my hands now. Let’s what she can do about this.”

“Boss, I heard that Lizbeth bitch is pregnant. This time she’s done for!” One of the men spoke up from the crowd.

"Pregnant, huh?" The scarred man laughed cruelly. “If the baby’s real father gets chopped to pieces, that’ll definitely hit her. Heh, maybe she’ll drop dead from the shock! Two lives gone at once!”

He pointed a finger at Erick. “Start with this one. He looks soft! I bet Lizbeth will hate to see him hurt.”

They loosened Erick’s ropes and tore the tape from his mouth. “Wait, don’t touch me or Lizbeth will kill you all!”

“Shut up!” someone barked.

Erick clearly was inexperienced with this kind of situation. The more he screamed, the more excited these gangsters became.

While they surrounded him, I used my knife to cut my own ropes. My eyes remained fixed on the chaos before me.

Then came the sound of fabric tearing. Erick’s white shirt was ripped to shreds. He cried out while calling Lizbeth’s name over and over.

The scarred man slapped him hard and grabbed his hair. “Shut up! Or I’ll cut your tongue out!”

Just as he raised his hand, I finally cut through my ropes and got ready to rush in.

At the same time, Erick shouted, “Don’t touch me! I’m just Lizbeth’s side lover! I mean nothing to her! If you hurt me, she won’t care!”

He pointed straight at me. “But that man, kill him! He’s been with Lizbeth for eight years!

She said it herself, that bastard is her life!”

The scarred man froze, then turned toward me. Erick dropped to his knees, his voice shaking, eyes full of fear and flattery.

“Boss, look at him! He’s been with Lizbeth for eight years! I remembered! he’s killed plenty of your men before! The guy we lost last week? He died taking the blame for him!”

My body stiffened. I stared at Erick in disbelief. He knew who I was. He knew what I meant to Lizbeth.

So this was the ‘innocent guy’ she swore to protect? What a joke.

The scarred man’s face twisted with rage. He grabbed my throat with one hand.

“So you’re the bastard who got my brother killed? Damn it! Kill him!”

Then he shouted to his men, “That one too! They’re both trash! Chop off their heads and send them to Lizbeth!”

As his hand reached for me, I twisted, trying to throw him down. However, he saw it coming. He kicked my wrist hard. The knife flew from my hand.

“Still trying to play games with me?” The scarred man grinned. “Hold him down! Beat him to death!”

Soon the gangsters surrounded me, soon their fists were raining down on me. I tried to escape but I found no chance.

In the distance, Erick was already on the ground, barely breathing. Dozens of people were on top of him.

A fist then slammed into my head and turning my vision blurring red. As I frantically thinking how to escape, the old factory windows shattered with a crash.

Lizbeth burst in with a hundred armed men following her.

In seconds, the scarred man’s crew was pushed back. The fight broke with even more chaos. One of the gangsters realized that they were about to lose and he turned to stab Erick in the stomach.

Lizbeth saw it happen and pulled her trigger in a flash.

Gunfire filled the air.

Next, she pushed through the fight and rushed to Erick’s side. She pulled him into her arms and saw his eyes were staring at me.

“Tommy… I never wanted to steal Liz from you.

Why did you do this to me?” His voice faded and he passed out.

Lizbeth turned her head toward me, her eyes colder than I’d ever seen them.

“Tommy,” she said quietly, “I’ve been far too soft on you.”

Lizbeth stepped over corpse as she approached me.

"You better be ready to get my revenge."

My eyes were red as I clutched my aching lower abdomen. "You really think it was me? Lizbeth, I'm not stupid."

"Are you saying that I'm the stupid one here?" She kicked an unconscious gangster in front of me aside before reaching out to grab my jaw and forced me to look up.

"Didn't I warn you before? I told you to behave. So, why didn't you?"

I laughed, tears running down my face. “I'm just teaching him a lesson. I didn’t mean to get him killed!”

“So Rick was jealous of you and he had to get stabbed and take the blame for you?” Her voice shouted over mine.

“Tommy, do you even know how ridiculous you sound when you lie? He wouldn’t even step on an ant!”

In that moment, I lost all strength to argue.

I watched as she gently helped Erick stand up and walked past me. She said one thing to his men, “You know what to do. Don’t kill him—just leave him breathing.”

“Ah—!”

A knife went straight through my calf. I tried to get up, but another blade pinned my other leg to the ground. The pain was unbearable.

My eyes burned red as I watched her walk away. She held Erick, gently covering his eyes. Her voice was soft, like she was comforting a child.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

Those words… They pulled me back to the eight years ago.

The first time our enemies came for me, I didn’t know how to fight. She stood in front of me, alone and killed everyone who tried to hurt me.

Then she turned around, covered my eyes with her scarf and whispered the same words, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

My mind went blank. Instinctively, I reached out toward her, trying to hold onto her warmth.

The next second, a blade cut through my right arm completely.

When I woke again, I was alone in the abandoned factory. I pulled a blood-soaked plane ticket from my pocket and crawled out from this personal living hell.

“Lizbeth, we..."

"Will never meet again.” Lizbeth helped Erick into the car.