After I finished speaking, I grabbed a bottle of alcohol to prove my sincerity and drained it in one gulp.

Alan was a playboy with countless women around him. He had once declared he would never settle down with any woman. I refused to believe it and fought my way to his side with bloodied determination, thinking I could move him with my love.

I was indeed the woman who had stayed by his side the longest. However, Leilani's arrival shattered everything.

It turned out that Alan would settle down for someone—that person just was never going to be me.

Amid the lively commotion and laughter, I walked out with a smile while clutching the pregnancy test report and the check. I should not disturb their wonderful time.

The first heavy snow of winter fell quietly. This was my seventh year with Alan. He remained young, reckless, flirtatious, and thrill-seeking, but I was no longer young.

I pulled out my phone. Alan had sent me a message: [Send me proof of the abortion when it's done.]

I knew he was worried I would go back on my word, but seeing those words still made my heart ache. Before coming here, I had already mentally prepared myself for two outcomes.

It was either going to be marriage or a breakup. However, before I could even speak, Alan had already made his choice.

My phone showed a new post from Leilani on social media. [From love at first sight to a lifetime together. Alan, please take care of me from now on.]

The attached photo showed their hands intertwined, both wearing rings. Many people had already liked and commented with words of congratulations. I liked it too, then pulled out the diamond ring from my pocket that I had bought seven years ago.

When I first purchased it, I never imagined I would be entangled with Alan for seven years. In the end, I never gave it to him.

I laughed bitterly and tossed both the test report and the ring into the trash.

Opening my phone, I dialed a number. "Yeah, I've made up my mind. This time, I'm the one leaving him."

After hanging up, I went home. Perhaps the baby in my belly was unwilling to leave just like that, or maybe it was the alcohol. Sharp, icy pain shot through my abdomen.

I curled up on the bed, drenched in a cold sweat. My consciousness drifted hazily back to the past.

I first met Alan when I was 18, and it felt like a small miracle. I had just gotten into college, finally escaping my father and his endless cycle of drinking, gambling, and violence. I thought I could leave behind all that sadness and pain.

Yet, within three months, my father tracked me down. He said he had raised me for 18 years, and it was time for me to repay him. Naturally, I refused, but I was just a frail woman who had never eaten her fill growing up. How could I fight off a tall, brutish thug?

He beat me until my face was bruised and swollen, breaking both my hands and legs. He took the living expenses I had earned from working day and night, even the money from my student loans.

I lay in that alley in despair. At that moment, I truly felt that dying would not be so bad.

Alan happened to pass by and found me. He took me to the hospital. I was not grateful to him, at least not then. I was full of resentment.

Why did I have to suffer all this? I hated everything, and I hated him for saving me. What was the point of living such a desperate life?

However, Alan seemed to see right through me. After I went on another hunger strike, he grabbed me by the collar and dragged me to the hospital rooftop.

The howling wind swirled endlessly around me, and I shivered from the cold. He looked at me expressionlessly.

"You want to die? I'll help you! You think your gambling addict of a father will get what he deserves if you die?"

Death was just one step away, and suddenly, I felt the injustice of it all. Alan was right. I had done nothing wrong. Why should I be the one to die?

Trembling, I grabbed his hand and said word by word, "I don't want to die. I want to live!"

A brilliant smile bloomed on his face as he pulled me into his arms. "Then live well!"

After that, the Rivers family supported me financially under the guise of aid for impoverished students. My father later died in a car accident.

During my four years of college, I fell hopelessly in love with Alan. On graduation day, I gave myself to him as a gift, and Alan did not refuse.

I officially stepped into Alan's life, becoming one of his countless women. Back then, I truly believed we could have a future together.

…

The next morning, I got up early and went to the hospital. I scheduled the earliest abortion appointment available. The procedure went quickly, taking just an hour. That little life I once looked forward to, the child who shared both mine and Alan's blood, disappeared just like that.

I sent the completed procedure report to Alan. He did not reply.

After the observation period, it was confirmed that there were no issues, and I took a cab home. The moment I walked in, I saw Alan holding Leilani on the couch I had carefully chosen. Alan gently peeled grapes and fed them to Leilani.

Seeing me arrive, Leilani touched her belly and smiled at me. "What a coincidence, Summer. I'm pregnant too."

I clutched my cold abdomen and looked up at Alan. He smiled indulgently. "Silly girl, Summer's baby was aborted today."

Seeing my pale face, Leilani stuck out her tongue and covered her mouth in mock surprise. "Oh no, I'm sorry, Summer. I forgot Alan didn't want your baby and you already got rid of it. What a shame. If your baby were still alive, maybe they could have kept my baby company!"

My heart felt like it had been slashed open and was bleeding from every corner. Alan called my child a burden yet treasured another woman's baby.

On the very day I lost my child, he brought a pregnant woman home. From beginning to end, he never considered my feelings, or perhaps my feelings simply did not matter to him.

Without love, there was no care. The difference between being loved and not being loved was painfully clear.

Alan gave me orders as if nothing had happened. "Leilani just got pregnant. She's still young and doesn't know anything. Since you just had an abortion and need to rest anyway, stay home and take care of her.

"Leilani has already moved into the main bedroom. I need to watch over her these next few days. I had your things moved to the maid's room."

I looked at him calmly. "Hire a nanny. I don't have time to take care of a pregnant woman."

Leilani looked displeased. "Summer, I don't trust outsiders. Alan told me he saved your life, so you're reliable. I can't believe you're making excuses over something this simple. Even ungrateful wretches don't act like this!"

I said nothing, only looked at Alan. "Is this what you think too?"

Alan lit a cigarette. The smoke blurred his expression.

The man I once loved deeply, who had been by my side for seven years, now seemed completely unrecognizable.

After a long silence, he said, "Summer, be good."

The last shred of hope in my heart shattered completely. I forced out something that might have been a smile. "Since this is what you want, I'll oblige."

Then, we would be even.

Leilani's first request was for me to cook her lunch. She demanded an elaborate seafood stew, the kind that took hours of careful preparation.

Leilani gave me a sweet smile. "Alan said you're really good at cooking, Summer. The baby and I are going to eat well from now on. We'll even save money from not having to hire help."

I dragged my weakened post-abortion body around the kitchen for three hours. When I finished, Leilani insisted I bring it to the bedroom myself.

I opened the door. The bedroom I had slept in for seven years looked completely different.

Everything that belonged to me had been thrown on the floor like trash. The previously bare walls now displayed photos of Alan and Leilani together.

Leilani wore a flimsy camisole nightgown, her expression coy. Her chest was barely covered, and Alan's hand rested on it.

Seeing me, she directed me to place the dish on the nightstand. Just as I was about to leave, she called out to me, "Summer, this stew is too salty. The baby is still small and can't handle this much salt. Make me another one!"

I could tell Leilani was deliberately trying to torment me. Alan looked at my pale face and, for once, spoke up for me. "Leilani, how about I order something from a hotel restaurant?"

Leilani glanced at Alan, then at me, and suddenly burst into tears. "But I want to eat this. I can't control myself. The baby wants it too! Alan, do you think I'm being too demanding? This is all my fault. I shouldn't have asked Summer to cook for me!"

Seeing her tears, Alan looked distressed and pulled Leilani into his arms, comforting her repeatedly. "Summer, go make a lighter version of the stew."

The entire afternoon, I went back and forth, making the stew three times without complaint. I stood for five full hours straight. My entire body felt like it had been dragged out of water.

I had just returned to the maid's room and had not even had time to unpack my belongings, which had been packed up like garbage, when I collapsed onto the bed. Clutching my stomach, I curled into a ball as bone-piercing pain radiated through my abdomen.

It felt like countless needles were stabbing into it, yet my heart hurt even more.

Before I could fall asleep, Alan suddenly kicked my door open. His face was twisted with unconcealed rage. He grabbed me from the bed and slammed me against the wall.

"Summer, didn't I tell you not to play your little games?"

I trembled from the pain, looking at him in confusion. "What games did I play?"

Alan patted my face mockingly. "Still pretending? Who told you Leilani was allergic to mango? Summer, I never realized how scheming you were. Then again, when you shamelessly crawled into my bed back then, I should've known your ambitions were sky-high!

"You think if you kill my and Leilani's baby, I'll let you have a child? Dream on, Summer. Any child that comes from your belly will always be worthless trash!"

Without listening to my explanation, he dragged me across the floor to Leilani. He completely disregarded how my body had been battered and bruised from hitting corners and edges.

Alan threw me in front of Leilani's bed and kicked my knees hard, forcing me to kneel on the ground. His voice carried undisguised disgust. "Get on your knees and apologize to Leilani and the baby!"

Leilani lay on the bed, her face flushed red as if she could not breathe, yet her speech was completely unaffected. "Summer, I know you're heartbroken about losing your baby, but you can't hurt mine. My baby's innocent!"

She threw herself into Alan's arms, her face full of anguish. "Alan, our baby will be okay, right? Save our baby!"

Alan held her. "Leilani, it'll be fine. I already called an ambulance. It'll be here in five minutes."

I forced myself upright and spoke word by word. "Alan Rivers, I didn't add anything to the stew! I swear on my life, I'm telling the truth."

Alan sneered and kicked me in the stomach. The full force of a grown man's kick sent me flying. My back slammed against the wall, and I coughed up a large mouthful of blood.

Seeing me vomit blood, Alan just watched coldly. "Still being stubborn when death is at your door. Summer, when did you become so vicious? I truly regret saving you back then! If anything happens to Leilani and the baby, I'll make you understand what regret truly feels like!"

I lay crumpled on the ground, blood continuously pouring from my mouth. Actually, it was not just Alan who had regrets. I regretted it too. I regretted meeting him, and even more, I regretted falling in love with him.

I had wasted the best seven years of my life nurturing a love that was never mine to keep.

Watching his back as he carried Leilani away without hesitation, so resolute in his choice, I remembered how Alan had once led me toward a new life in the same way. Now, he was personally delivering me to hell.

From now on, I never wanted to see Alan Rivers again.