When I opened my eyes again, the sharp smell of disinfectant filled the air.

Our maid noticed I was awake and quickly handed me a glass of water.

"I already called your husband. He said he’ll be here soon. Just rest, Madam."

I nodded weakly and watched the maid leave the ward. Slowly, I tried to sit up, thinking about handling my discharge papers.

However, before I could even move, Heinry appeared at the door.

"Haven’t you had enough of this act, Yoanne Wilson? Afraid I’d ignore you, so you told the maid to call me all the way here? You’re so childish. Do you think everyone has as much free time as you?"

"This is not an act. Don’t worry, Heinry. From now on, I won’t call or text you again."

He sneered and pulled out the diary my father had always treasured.

"I told you before, nothing connected to that murderer is allowed in my house. Are you deaf?"

"Don’t you dare touch my father’s diary!"

I rushed forward, trying to grab it, but he pulled it out of reach, leaving me with nothing in my hands.

"Give it back! That’s all I have left of him and he wasn’t a murderer!"

My eyes burned with tears as I begged, hoping he would show me even a shred of mercy.

"What’s so special about this diary? That gold watch was worth much more. I had it melted down into a bracelet. Look, don’t you think it’s pretty?"

The cup in my hand slipped and shattered on the floor with a sharp crash.

I turned to Heinry and stared at him in disbelief, my chest rising and falling quickly before a suppressed sob spilled out of my throat.

"You let Wanda touch my father's watch? You knew it was a love token between my parents it even engraved with their names. Why would you do that?"

"Why? Because Wanda wants it. It’s just a watch, worth nothing compared to Helena’s life. I can buy you another if you want, but don’t ever let your father’s trash get in my sight ever again."

"Oh, Wanda also wants a room with walk-in closets. Clear yours out when you get back. I’ll hold on to this diary for now, but if you ever upset me again, I’ll burn it."

I lowered my head and nodded quietly. After leaving the hospital, I moved all my things from the master bedroom into my daughter’s room.

That night, I sat alone in the dark room, unmoving, until the sound of Heinry and Wanda’s laughter echoed through the walls and broke the silence.

Tears streamed down my face in the darkness, but my heart felt numb.

Heinry never noticed I had almost nothing left in this house, only a few clothes, some jewelry and one special wedding dress. It was the dress he had sewn for me by hand, the dress I kept carefully in a dust bag for four years.

He once told me I was a treasure sent to him by God, someone he would cherish forever.

Back then, he planned every holiday with care. Even his proposal had been beautiful as he had always treated me with love.

I never thought it would all change.

Well, at least my daughter studied at a boarding school, I kept telling myself that. However, since Wanda came, I had grown more and more uneasy.

"Heinry, our daughter will be home this weekend. Can you let Wanda leave before then?"

He gave me a cold look from the side.

"I forgot to tell you. From now on, our daughter will stay with my parents. You don’t have the right to see her."

I froze as I stared at him, my lips trembling.

"Why? She’s innocent! She doesn’t know anything. Don't you care if she’ll get hurt when she finds out about this situation?"

My voice broke, pain twisting my face.

"I’ve already told her and she understands. You’ll only see her once a week."

My hands clenched into tight fists so that all my strength seemed to be drained out of me. I covered my face with both hands, my shoulders shaking.

Soft sobs broke through my fingers as my whole body trembled.

Heinry clicked his tongue in annoyance, shot a quick glance at Wanda, who was still sleeping in the bedroom and warned me.

"Take good care of Wanda until I get back. If anything happens to her, you won’t see our daughter this week."

I lowered my head and said nothing. Only after Heinry left the house did I go into my daughter’s room, gripping my phone tightly.

[I have to take my daughter with me. Can you help me?]

The reply came fast. [Okay, I’ll help you.]

But just as I sent the message, Wanda suddenly pushed open the bedroom door. Her face was dark with morning anger and she shouted at me in a commanding tone.

"I’m hungry. Go make me something light to eat."

"The maid will be here soon. Just ask her."

Wanda gave a cold laugh, running her fingers through her hair.

"The maid’s already been fired. You’re just stuck here with nothing to do. Cooking for me isn’t too much to ask."

"Why should I do that? Are you simply useless, or just sick in the head?"

Her eyes flashed with fury as she waved my father’s diary in her hand.

"Don’t say no too quickly, Wilson. Make me upset a little bit and I’ll take it out on you."

My body shook. Clenching my teeth, I couldn't help but walk straight to the kitchen. That whole day, Wanda dragged me around to shop and then forced me to cook for her.

By the afternoon, I was so exhausted that I collapsed on the sofa. Unfortunately, she wasn’t about to let me rest.

"I’ve got some packages. Go pick them up for me."

To my shock, there were nearly seventy of them.

I had to borrow a cart and made trip after trip until I finally piled them all by the door.

The moment I opened the door, the sharp smell of burning smoke immediately hit my nose.

"Wanda, what are you doing?"

"You were too slow with the packages, so I started a little fire for fun."

"What are you burning? You do know the smoke can set off the alarm, don't you? Are you trying to burn the whole house down?"

Anger surged through me at her recklessness and quickly rushed forward to stop her. "What on earth are you doing?"

When I saw her holding the last page of my father’s diary over the fire, my eyes instantly filled with tears.

"What are you making a fuss about? I’m using the fire pit, so there will be no danger. Look, aren’t the flames pretty?"

"Wanda! What is that you're throwing into the fire?"

She frowned, covering her ears.

"Shut up! Can't you just stop yelling? You can see for yourself, it’s just your father’s diary. What a useless pile of junk. Better to burn it."

As she spoke, she tossed the last page into the fire.

"No!"

I shoved her aside in panic and reached into the flames. Ignoring the searing pain, I grabbed what was left of the diary.

"Yoanne! What are you doing?"

Heinry had just come home. His face was dark as he walked over and then he slapped me hard across the face.

"Heinry, my legs hurt! This woman is losing her mind and she’s trying to kill me!"

I clutched the half-burned diary tightly, my cheek stinging from the slap, my right hand scorched and throbbing from the fire.

"Yoanne, must you be so cruel? Hurting someone just over a piece of paper?"

"A piece of paper, you said?"

I tried to hold back the ache in my chest. A bitter laugh escaped me as tears streamed down my face.

"She burned my father’s diary, Heinry. You know how much it meant to me. And now you call it just a piece of paper?"

I looked at my father’s handwriting on the fragile page. My fingers tightened until the paper crumpled. My back slid against the wall as despair filled my eyes.

Heinry lifted Wanda into his arms and shot me a cold glance.

"You won’t see your daughter this weekend. You don’t deserve to."

With that, he slammed the door and walked out.

I stared blankly at his fading figure, whispering into the empty room, as if falling into an endless abyss.

"Just one more week and I’ll get to see my daughter. Heinry, from now on, you’re the one who won’t see her."

With trembling hands and tears burning my eyes, I folded the half-burned diary page and held it carefully in my palm.

[Yoanne, you should know your place. In Heinry’s heart, I’m worth more than you. You’re just like this useless diary. And you dared to push me? Think carefully about how you’ll beg for my forgiveness later.]

After that, Wanda sent me another message with a photo.

In it, my husband's eyes were soft and gentle, just exactly the same way he once looked at Helena. His gaze was fixed only on the woman in front of him, leaving no space for anyone else.

[You’re nothing but a bar girl, Wanda. What right do you have to flaunt yourself in front of me? Heinry only uses you as a replacement of his past lover. You know better than anyone whose face he’s really seeing when he looks at you.]

Her reply came quickly.

[So what? I don’t care who he sees through me.]

[What matters is that he gives me one hundred and fifty thousand dollars every month, a villa on the mountain, endless designer bags and even your father’s gold watch. That’s enough for me.]

[Look at yourself. What do you have, Yoanne Wilson? He won’t even spend money on you. Haven’t you heard? A man’s money shows where his heart really is.]

Her words cut deep and I had no way to fight back. My hand shook around the phone. I closed my eyes, a bitter smile tugging at my lips.

All these years of marriage, I gave Heinry everything I had. But when I thought about it, aside from the wedding dress he once made me, there was almost nothing he had truly given me.

Even paying for our daughter’s tuition, I had to beg him.

The hatred in my heart swelled stronger than ever. I had never regretted marrying Heinry Lorrimer as much as I did at that moment.

I hated him for being so heartless. But more than that, I hated myself for being so submissive.

"Yoanne, the divorce papers will be ready in less than a week. Didn’t Heinry realize he already signed them?"

It was my mother calling, her voice full of worry.

"No. Wanda tricked him into signing. He doesn’t suspect anything. Thanks to her face, it looks so much like Helena’s."

My mother let out a long sigh of relief and reminded me of the deal we had made.

"You promised me that after divorcing him, you’d come to Hazelbourne to find me. You know well that Matthew from the Spencer Family has loved you for so many years. Without his financial help, my company wouldn’t have made it through this crisis so quickly."

"I won’t break my promise, don't worry. But you must keep your promise to me too."

"Don’t worry. Naomi’s transfer papers will be ready soon."

Hearing her reassurance, I finally felt the heavy weight in my chest begin to ease.

Not long after I ended the call, Wanda and Heinry came back. They acted as if I wasn’t even there, not a single glance in my direction.

After carrying her into the bedroom, he walked over to me, his face dark and cold.

Then, he threw a bank card at me.

"Wanda wants some fresh tomatoes from an old farmer. It takes about two days to make the trip. Go to this address and buy them. I’ll forget what happened today."

"Also, the company’s going-public celebration is in a week. Go buy yourself a decent dress. Don’t embarrass me."

With that, he shoved the card against my face. My eyes burned red as I looked back at him.

My chest was full of anger and despair, my voice breaking as I spoke.

"Your lover burned my father’s diary and now you expect me to apologize to her? Heinry, you only saw the scratch on her leg, but did you even notice my burned hand?"

I raised my right hand, the skin raw and blistered, my words sharp with bitterness.

"I know you hate me, hate my father, but what did he ever do wrong? He was kind enough to donate his bone marrow to Helena. Don't forget, I begged my mother on my knees for three days and nights just for you. And just because you wanted a child, I risked my own life giving birth to our daughter."

"I gave everything I had. Didn’t you see that? All those words of love and gratitude… You lied. Now that Helena is gone, you put all the blame on me and my father. Tell me, what exactly did we do wrong?"

My voice cracked as I shouted, the despair spilling out of me.

For a moment, something flickered in Heinry’s eyes. He looked at me with such a complicated, unreadable gaze.