A few seconds later, a familiar voice came through the phone.

Clement let out a helpless laugh. "Mom, come on. I already sent Mr. Wagner ahead, didn't I?

"Don't worry. I'm on my way. When I get there, I've got your back, and you can handle things however you want."

Those few sentences crushed whatever hope I had left.

Agnes' face drained of color. She asked, "Why would Clement call anyone else 'Mom'? I carried him for nine months and went through everything to have him. How could he do this?"

Before I could react, she faltered and collapsed right in front of me.

"Agnes! Agnes! Please, wake up!

"Call an ambulance! Please, I'm begging you. Someone help us!"

Right then, a wave of regret washed over me. I never should have brought her here. The scene turned chaotic, and the crowd grew nervous, afraid that something terrible was about to happen.

After a lot of pleading on my part, someone finally agreed to call an ambulance.

But when Ruth saw this, she looked annoyed. She aimed her phone at my face. "What are you yelling for? You're way too loud!"

I looked up and met Clement's eyes through the screen. He froze for a moment, then slammed on the brakes. "Ronnie? What are you doing there?"

Ruth pounced on his words, her eyes blazing. "Clement! She's claiming that you're her husband! Care to explain? Since when did you have a wife I didn't know about?"

I let out a bitter laugh. "Clement, when did you get yourself another mom?"

His face turned as pale as a ghost. His hands trembled, and his voice faltered.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he clenched his jaw and forced the words out. "Mom… I'm not married. I don't even know her."

After saying that, he hurried to hang up the phone. At that moment, all the hope in me disappeared.

Clement, my husband, had just flat-out denied our relationship. Even worse, he had called a stranger his mother.

Ruth looked smug as she jabbed her finger at my forehead. Her freshly done nail easily pierced my skin. "You just don't know when to quit, do you? Now what? Even my son says that he doesn't know you. And you're still going to mouth off?"

I bit my lip in despair, tears streaming down my face helplessly. The scene from earlier kept replaying in my mind, crushing me all over again.

"Ronnie! Honey, where are you?"

Suddenly, a strong voice rang out. I waved my arms frantically. "Otto, over here!"

Everyone exchanged confused glances. "Why is Mr. Garrett here?"

"Did he just call her 'Ronnie'? That's short for Veronica, isn't it? Could it really be…?"

Otto stormed in, his composure shattering the second he saw Agnes unconscious. "Did anyone call an ambulance? What happened? How did this all happen?"

Then his eyes fell on Agnes' swollen face—and mine. His voice trembled with pain, almost breaking. "Ronnie… tell me, who did this to you and Agnes?"