Her words shattered Sebastian's heart. He held her tightly and blew the little burn mark on her thigh gently, even though it was only as big as a fingernail. "Sofia, you are too kind. It's because you love me so much and love me so humbly that this evil woman, Chiara, dares to treat you so badly. You don’t know how much it breaks my heart to see you cry.”

“You’ve given me everything. You’ve saved me time and time again. You are both my savior and my love. I won’t allow anyone to hurt you, not even Chiara, my wife, who is carrying my child," he promised.

A flicker of unease flashed across Sofia’s face. Then, she blushed and said coyly, “Brother, actually, I was burned in more places than just this one, but ... I was too embarrassed to ask the doctor to check.”

Sebastian's eyes instantly darkened with desire. He immediately pushed her down. “Then let me see personally if my Sofia is all red and tender.”

Sofia lay beneath him. She was wearing the couple’s pajamas that Sebastian had personally designed for me for our wedding night. She rolled on the silk sheets I had chosen so carefully and had intercourse with my husband.

When Sofia was almost at her climax, Sebastian grabbed her leg and as a result Sofia's leg swayed and she accidentally kicked off the framed photo on the bedside table.

It was a picture taken by a passerby the day Sebastian and I registered our marriage. It was a photo that was supposed to symbolize our happiness on that day. Now that the shattered glass had divided us both into two.

It was impossible to fix a broken glass so it could be whole again and yet I still foolishly hoped that if I gave birth to our child, maybe Sebastian would come back to me and our child. It turned out, that even after my death, I could still feel heartbroken.

As I listened to Sofia cooing to Sebastian asking to have another baby from him, a fresh wave of agony gripped my soul.

Sebastian had been right, though. In that scalding and excruciating pain, my baby had been born in a very fast way.

I just hope my child could have stayed in my womb a little longer. Just for a little while so, I as his mother could endure the pain of the high fever for him and I could give him a slim chance of survival.

However, my child was too obedient. Within minutes, he was born.

I used all my strength to push open a crack in the steamer and begged the people who were waiting outside. “I’ve just given birth! My baby isn’t crying and he’s barely breathing! Please, I beg you, just take him to the hospital, save him, even if you don’t save me!”

The guards outside looked horrified. One of them reached out his hand toward the power switch.

However, before he could act, a wailing voice rang out from the cafeteria entrance. “Sebastian, how could she use her own child’s life to gain your sympathy? Does she not realize that saying bad things might actually harm the baby?” Sofia sobbed.

“She was lucky enough to conceive your child and give birth safely, yet she doesn’t cherish it at all. Instead, she’s cursing her own baby!”

“She knows how much I long for a child. Is she saying this on purpose? Is she trying to rub salt into my wounds?”

When he watched Sofia wept pitifully in his arms, Sebastian's anger flamed into another high.

“So, my punishment wasn’t harsh enough. Do you still have the energy to use your child to provoke Sofia? Bring me that iron chain! Tie up the steamer! I don’t want her to have the chance to shout!" he roared.

None of the subordinates dared to move. Sebastian became so angry that grabbed the chain and personally bound the steamer shut with the chain as tight as he could.

As he tied the steamer, he heard a faint sound of the baby crying. Its kitten-like cry echoed from within the steamer and for a moment Sebastian struggled with doubt.

However, then Sofia whispered in his ear, “Chiara is really good at imitating voices. It reminds me of that night ... how it was supposed to be our first time together. Then the next morning, she faked my voice and tricked you into believing it was her instead ...”

Sebastian's expression twisted and his eyes were full of disgust as he ordered, “All of you, get out. Don't let that wretched woman, Chiara, deceive you any longer. Lock her in."

"She'll be released only when Sofia's wounds no longer hurt. I’ll personally release her when that happens."

He drove all staff out and left me trapped inside the scorching steam chamber. Without care of my wailing cry, he closed the cafeteria door and sealed my fate.

My baby, my poor, fragile baby, cried only a few times before his tiny body stiffened in my arms. His skin had lost its elasticity, his breath had faded into nothingness.

I sobbed but my cries of agony eventually swallowed by the searing heat. My body slowly disintegrated and turned into boiling water.

While my flesh melted away, Sebastian was busy making grand gestures of love for Sofia to compensate for the six months of being pregnant alone. Sebastian would orchestrate a grand proposal that shook the entire city.

Even without a marriage certificate, he swore to give her the honor of being his wife.

As my lifeless body turned into a bloody mess, he dominated the top ten trending searches with headlines celebrating his love for Sofia. Every major city’s billboard broadcasted his vows to Sofia in an endless loop.

As I took my last breath, he stood aboard a helicopter and showered the city with rose petals in a publicized, extravagant proposal that was broadcast live to millions of netizens.

Now, I watched them spend their wedding night while lying on what was once my marital bed.

Sebastian held Sofia lovingly in his arms and said, "I'm sorry, Sofia. Chiara tricked me back then. She claimed she willingly gave herself to me that night to save me from the effects of the herbal medicine that I took. I married her because I felt responsible to her, after all, we had already done it and I was not the kind of person that abandons someone after having sex."

"You don’t have to worry though. She owes you too much. This time, I made sure she paid for everything. From now on, she’ll have to behave. She won’t dare interfere with our life again. Once you're fully recovered, we'll have another child. The three of us will become a family and ..." He hesitated for a moment. "Since Chiara already has a child, she and her baby can live with us. The five of us will coexist peacefully."

Sofia’s smile faltered, a flicker of unease and malice flashed in her eyes. "What?"

"Don’t worry," Sebastian reassured her. "She may still be my legal wife, but to the world, you're my true partner. Just think of her as a live-in nanny. She will help you to cook and clean for us. Besides, our child will have a playmate."

When she heard this, Sofia's eyes flashed with a hint of viciousness and satisfaction that she quickly masked it with a soft smile. "Of course, I agree. I'll get along with her."

I laughed bitterly at the absurdity of it all.

After everything he had done, he still did not want to let me leave. He truly believed I would willingly watch him showering Sofia with love while serving as a maid in my own home.

I took a deep breath but my tears were now nothing but an invisible memory.

I understood why he was so confident that he thought I would never leave, no matter how much he hurt me. It was because I had endured everything in silence.

A month ago, Sofia, Sebastian's first love collapsed at my doorstep. Out of compassion, I rushed her to the hospital. However, when she woke up, she cried to Sebastian and accused me of pushing her down and causing her to lose her child.

Shocked, I tried to explain to him that I did not do anything to her except take her to the hospital.

Sebastian's eyes turned icy as he stared at me.

Seeing the doubt in his eyes, I pulled out her medical report to prove that she had lost the baby long before I ever found her. However, before I could show him, Sofia burst into tears and sobbed pitifully in his arms.

With a cold glare, Sebastian struck me across the face and sent me sprawling to the floor.

"Enough! You’ve gone too far! Sofia has already forgiven you, yet you still refuse to admit your wrongdoing! “He ordered the guards to take me home and lock me up while demanding that I reflect on my actions.

I foolishly believed that once he calmed down, he would listen to reason. However, after half a month of imprisonment, when I finally saw him again, his gaze held nothing but seething hatred and he looked at me as if I were his greatest enemy.

Back then, I couldn't understand how things had come to this. I had clung to a sliver of hope and believed that maybe, just maybe, once our child was born, he would change his mind.

However, I finally understood that all of these stemmed from what happened a year ago. At that time, Sebastian’s company faced a major crisis and it was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

At that time, Sofia disappeared after she took every last penny that he had and left him without saying a word.

The double betrayal crushed him. In his devastation, he shut himself in his room day after day.

I became frantic and did everything that I could to pull him back from the edge. I worked tirelessly, chasing every potential deal and searching for clients.

Day after day, I drank with a potential client and finally got a big order that could bring the company back to life.

I rushed to his place, fell to my knees and begged him to remember the man he once was and to give himself another chance and not give up.

Something in my words must have reached him. He agreed to meet with the client.

That night, the business mogul we were negotiating with brought along his mistress. However, the woman fell in love with Sebastian. She determined to have her way with him and slipped a drug into his drink.

This caught me in a dilemma. If I made a scene, I was afraid the boss would cancel the deal if he knew. On the other hand, I could not stand to see Sebastian struggle in agony.

So, I claimed to be his girlfriend and led him away to a hotel room. That night, he held me tight, his burning body pressed against mine and we had intercourse all night.

The next morning, when I woke up, panic took hold of me. I feared that if he knew that his former partner had become his bed partner, he would push me away. So, I ran in a hurry.

Then three months later, when I discovered I was pregnant, with a blush on my face and a thumping heart, I went and met Sebastian then confessed.

Sebastian stared at me for a long time in silence. There was a complicated look on his face. Just when I thought he wouldn't take responsibility, he suddenly exhaled, smiled pulled me into his embrace and said, "Chiara, maybe you are an angel sent from heaven to save me. Help me to start over."

I laughed through my tears. I cried for how pitiful I was and laughed at how foolish I had been.

Now, I realized that while I was being locked up for half a month, Sofie had managed to twist the truth of that night and told him her version. She told Sebastian that she was the one who had given herself to him and ran away with a child in her womb. Meanwhile, I, a vile and scheming woman, had stolen her place and tried to saddle him with a bastard.

No wonder Sebastian looked at me with such deep hatred.

“Boss, it's already been a day and a night ah, you are really going to kill someone if this goes on …." the subordinate said jitterily,” Maybe even, she's already...”

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Sebastian cut his subordinate off impatiently. "It’s just one night. What could possibly happen?"

His voice dripped with irritation. "The appliances in the cafeteria are all high-tech. There are built-in safety measures. If they detect someone inside, they’ll shut off automatically. I was only trying to scare her."

The subordinate’s face was pale. He swallowed nervously. "Um but … but the fire was always on …"

"Enough!" Sebastian slammed his tableware onto the table. "Did Chiara put you up to this? If you plead for her one more time, I’ll lock her up even longer!"

The subordinate fell silent.

Sofia spoke hesitantly, "Maybe we should stop now … If this goes on any longer, sister might truly hate me and if she ever…"

She trailed off, her voice soft and pitiful. "I’m not saying she would hurt me. However, … if she did, I suppose I’d deserve it. It’s only right for her to resent me …"

Seeing her eyes glisten with unshed tears, Sebastian pulled her into his arms protectively. “Sofia, she has made you scared like this. She deserves everything that’s happening to her. You are my love, my savior. I won’t let anyone hurt you."