###Chapter 4

“Just some things I don’t need anymore,” I replied evenly. “The house was too full. I just cleared it out.”

He nodded, then said, “Oh, right. Riley said the guest room isn’t very comfortable. You can move out for now. The master bedroom gets better sunlight. It’s good for her pregnancy.”

I looked at him calmly. “Since you’ve already decided, I’ll move.”

Then I turned around and started packing my clothes.

My quiet acceptance seemed to unsettle him. He watched as I carried my suitcase downstairs and moved into the unused maid’s room on the first floor. His brows slowly drew together.

He leaned against the doorframe and looked at me. “Vexia, there are other empty rooms upstairs. They have better light.”

I didn’t respond.

Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around me from behind. His voice lowered.

“I know a lot has happened lately. I might have neglected you.”

His lips moved close to my cheek. “But don’t be jealous. Riley is only staying for a short time. After the baby is born, her husband will take her back.”

I turned my face to avoid his touch and gave a faint, mocking smile. “I’m not jealous. She can stay as long as she likes.”

His expression darkened. “Then stop targeting her. Riley has always given in to you since we were kids. And now you’re even trying to hurt her child.”

The anger I had been holding back suddenly exploded. I remembered the message I received not long ago and my voice rose.

“I didn’t do anything! It was her! She knew my dad couldn’t swim, but she still called him and asked him to rescue me. She even gave him a boat that had been tampered with. When he finally found me, the boat sank. There was only one floating plank left… Riley killed him!”

Darren’s expression turned serious. “Where did you hear that?”

For a second, I thought he might actually listen. My eyes instantly got wet. “One of your friends sent me a message.”

“My friend?” His eyes darkened and a cold smile appeared. “Vexia, you’re really something. You even tried to seduce my friend behind my back?”

Before I could explain, his phone rang.

Riley’s soft voice came through the speaker. “Darren, the baby is kicking. It hurts so much. Can you come stay with me?”

“I’m coming right now.”

He hung up and looked at me sharply. “Stay away from other men. If you betray me, you won’t like the consequences.”

Betray?

How ridiculous.

He had the nerve to say that word to me.

It was already late at night when I finally fell into a heavy sleep.

Suddenly, the sound of a door being kicked open broke the silence.

Darren rushed in, grabbed my hair and dragged me off the bed.

“Vexia, how dare you? Where did you hide her? Give Riley back to me!”

In the moonlight, his face looked twisted and frightening, like a wild animal that had lost something precious.

I had never seen him so frantic and furious.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Let go of me!”

My explanation and struggle were useless. He dragged me across the gravel road. Pain shot through my stomach again and again. Then he shoved me into the car.

“Tell me! Where is Riley?”

“I don’t know!”

He slapped me hard. My ears rang and I almost fainted.

At that moment, his phone rang again. After listening for a few seconds, his fingers shook as he started the car. His voice was hoarse.

“If anything happens to Riley or the baby, I will show you what real hell is.”

The car ran through several red lights before stopping in front of an old warehouse.

He dragged me inside.

Riley, with messy clothes, immediately ran into his arms. Her elbow “accidentally” hit the wound on my stomach.

“Vexia hired someone to kidnap me! Why won’t she leave me alone? I’m so scared, Darren!”

Another show carefully planned by her.

I curled up in pain and looked at Darren with all my strength. “It wasn’t me. Please believe me just once…”

One of the bodyguards stepped forward. “The kidnappers already confessed. Vexia Solmere ordered them to do it. She told them to make Ms. Trelmont lose her baby because she is jealous that after Ms. Trelmont came back, she got all of your love.”

Darren stared at me like I was his enemy. “Vexia, you crossed my bottom line.”

Fear tightened around my chest. My whole body trembled. “I didn’t. I swear I didn’t!”

“You forced me.” His eyes were cold as ice. He turned to the bodyguard. “Put her in the trunk.”

“What? No, Darren. Please don’t!”

“This is your punishment.”

He knew. He knew very well that I was scared of closed space.

The bodyguards roughly stuffed me into the dark, narrow trunk.

The lid slammed shut.

Panic flooded my body. Cold sweat covered my skin. My heart pounded so hard it felt like it would break through my ribs.

The car began to shake.

At first, I thought the engine had started. Then I realized the movement had a rhythm.

A sticky, slow rhythm. Mixed with a man’s heavy breathing and a woman’s soft moans. Tears streamed down my face as I gagged uncontrollably.

This, too, was part of his punishment.

###Chapter 5

In the darkness of the trunk, the sickening movement went on for a long time.

Riley’s broken voice drifted in from outside, deliberately soft. “The baby is fine but… slow down… be gentle… I can’t take it…”

She always knew how to crush my dignity and hurt me in the deepest place.

“After all, Vexia just lost her baby… If she hears us… she’ll be heartbroken…”

But Darren moved even harder. The dull sound of impact echoed and his words were cold.

“Then let her hear it clearly.”

I bit down so hard.

I didn’t love him anymore. So why did it still hurt like this?

After a long time, everything finally stopped.

When the trunk opened, the bodyguards dragged me out like a broken doll and threw me onto the ground. Fresh air rushed into my lungs. My heart, which had nearly stopped from panic, slowly began to beat again.

Riley walked toward me barefoot, wearing Darren’s oversized white shirt.

“Four years… and you never satisfied him?” She bent down. Her voice was so low that only I could hear it. “My waist almost broke just now.”

I shut my eyes tightly, holding back my tears in the last darkness before dawn.

Then I heard Darren’s footsteps.

He acted as if he didn’t see me covered in cold sweat, dirty at the mouth. He simply picked Riley up carefully and placed her back into the soft car seat.

Then he knelt down on one knee. With the same hand that signed million-dollar contracts, he gently held her bare feet and rubbed them to warm them.

“You’re pregnant and still walking barefoot?” He lowered his head and kissed her playful lips. “From now on, don’t touch anything cold. Remember that, okay?”

“I will… I was wrong.”

Suddenly, I remembered the seven months of my pregnancy. Every morning, I woke up early to make breakfast for him. I ironed his expensive shirts by hand. But I never received a single look of concern.

Love and indifference had always been clear.

After settling Riley into the car, Darren finally walked toward me. The smell of perfume and sweat clung to him. My stomach twisted again.

He pulled me up roughly. His voice was flat. “You should be grateful Riley is fine tonight.”

His eyes moved to the dry dirt at the corner of my mouth. He paused for a second, then let go of me.

“Walk back by yourself.”

I couldn’t believe what I just heard. “It’s more than ten miles. You want me to walk?”

“That’s the only way you’ll learn, Vexia.”

The car sped away, leaving a cloud of dust behind. I stood alone in the cold night wind, wearing thin clothes. I didn’t even have money for a taxi.

My wound opened again in the cold. I was freezing and in pain. Every step felt like walking on knives.

When dawn finally broke, a giant billboard by the roadside lit up.

[Eugene Family Heir Spends Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars! Grand Banquet in Two Days to Celebrate the Family’s Heir!]

I heard people talking nearby.

“I heard Darren invited the most important people in the city, even half of the entertainment industry… He even bought a castle for his fiancée and their baby.”

“That child is the future heir. His fiancée is so lucky.”

On the screen, the castle shone bright and beautiful.

Her child was his treasure.

My child, even until death, received nothing from his father.

I stared at the flashing screen and took out my phone. Then, I dialed my assistant's number.

“Prepare a gift. Congratulate Darren and his precious heir.”

Darren, the DNA test report of your child will be the third gift I give you.

Just after I hung up, a message from Darren’s father came. [The procedures went smoothly. The day after tomorrow, you will receive what belongs to you.]

I licked my dry lips and tasted blood.

By the time I finally reached home, my feet were covered in blisters.

As soon as I entered the yard, I saw decorations everywhere. The servants were busy preparing for the coming banquet.

I walked inside in a daze and went straight to the nursery that had once been prepared for my baby. I wanted to pack my child’s things to take them away.

However, the moment I pushed open the door, my whole body turned cold.

###Chapter 6

The nursery I had spent seven months preparing was completely changed overnight. The soft pink and pale yellow walls were gone. Now everything was bright blue.

The crib I had carefully chosen had disappeared. In its place stood a larger, more expensive one. The small toy castle I built by hand was gone too. Instead, a shiny Disney castle sat in the corner.

Even the curtains were changed to a custom design from a top luxury brand. They looked beautiful and costly.

Every trace of my child had been erased. It was as if Darren had never waited for that baby at all.

Anger rose inside me like a tidal wave.

Light footsteps sounded behind me. Riley walked in.

“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked with a small, mocking smile. “Your baby is gone anyway. Darren said this room belongs to our child now.”

“So, I told them to throw all your old things away. Keeping items from a dead baby would bring bad luck.”

She was waiting for me to lose control. But I only looked at her stomach and smiled softly. “His child? Are you sure?”

Her expression changed instantly. I didn’t wait for her answer. I turned and walked toward the stairs.

“Go to hell, Vexia.”

I heard her angry whisper behind me. Before I could turn around, she suddenly shouted loudly, “Vexia! Don’t hurt yourself!”

A hard shove hit my back and I wasn’t prepared. My body fell forward and I rolled down the stairs hard.

Warm blood ran from my forehead, blurring my vision.

Just before everything went dark, I heard Darren shout, “Vexia!”

***

When I opened my eyes again, I saw the white ceiling of a hospital room.

“Vexia, how are you feeling?” I turned my head and saw Darren sitting beside my bed, looking exhausted.

I slowly raised my trembling hand and pointed at Riley, who stood behind him. “She pushed me.”

Tears quickly fell from Riley’s eyes. She shook her head and looked very innocent.

“I didn’t. Darren, I didn’t even touch her. You can ask the maid!”

The maid came in from outside the door and said in a low voice, “Sir, I was downstairs preparing for the event. I saw Miss Solmere trying to push Ms. Trelmont, but she slipped and fell by herself…”

Blood rushed to my throat.

“You’re lying! You and Riley planned this together!”

“That’s enough!”

Darren stopped me. His eyes were filled with disappointment.

“Vexia, look at yourself. Jealousy has changed you.”

Riley cried and shook. “If Vexia can’t forgive me, Darren, I’ll leave. I’ll give you back to her. I just want the baby to be safe…”

Darren pulled her closer. When he looked at me again, his gaze was icy. “The one who should leave is you. After the party, you’re moving out.”

I thought my heart would hurt, but I felt nothing.

“You really want me to leave?”

“You brought this on yourself.”

“Alright,” I said quietly. “Then let me cut your nails one last time.”

My calm tone made him hesitate.

I sat on the hospital bed. He sat beside me. Like many afternoons in the past, he rested his head on my lap. I held his hand and carefully trimmed each nail.

His hands were still long and elegant.

Once, those quiet moments had felt warm.

But I no longer felt anything for them.

Darren looked up at my pale and calm face. Suddenly, he seemed to feel uneasy.

“This is only for a while. After the baby is born, you can come back.”

“Okay.” My obedient answer made him feel even more worried, as if once he let go, he would lose me forever.

Suddenly, he grabbed my wrist. And I looked at him in surprise. But right at that moment, Riley’s soft voice came from outside the door.

“Darren, it’s time for my checkup.”

Darren looked at me and said with some hesitation before saying, “Vexia, if you don’t feel well, I can stay with you.”

“I’m done cutting your nails,” I said calmly and pulled my hand free. “Go. Your child needs you.”

His face darkened slightly and he left without another word.

After he left, I called my assistant and gave him the nails I had collected.

The assistant spoke quietly. “We also got Riley’s blood sample. The DNA test result will be ready soon.”

For the first time that day, a real smile touched my lips.

“Good. At the banquet the day after tomorrow, make sure the gift is delivered on time.”

“Understood.”

Not long after my assistant left, a doctor rushed into the room.

“Miss Solmere, please come to the emergency department immediately!”

I followed him quickly and learned that my mother had ended her business trip early. On her way home, she had been in a severe car accident.

She needed an urgent blood transfusion.

But the doctor looked troubled.

“All the RH-negative blood in the city has already been reserved. Mr. Eugene gave the order earlier… because Ms. Trelmont cut her finger.”

Before he could finish speaking, I was already running out of the room.