“Come get it yourself.”

I stumbled forward in desperation.

Suddenly, they clutched their faces and burst into loud sobs.

“Daddy, Mommy just hit us!”

When I turned my head, I saw clear handprints on their cheeks.

Mira rushed over and slapped me hard. “Sister, how could you hit the children?”

“To avoid responsibility, you’re faking an allergic reaction just to get Theo’s sympathy? How could you treat him like this?”

I gritted my teeth through the pain and looked at Theo.

“I… didn’t… I really am allergic…”

My face was so swollen I could barely speak. A small smirk tugged at the corner of Mira’s lips.

She was the only one who knew I was allergic to roses.

“Enough.”

He told his assistant to give me some medicine. For a second, I felt a flicker of warmth.

“You believe me? I really didn’t—”

His cold voice cut me off.

“Giving you the medicine is just so you don’t die and cause me trouble.”

“Stop pretending, Zara. Do you really think the kids would lie about this?”

He locked me up, saying it was for reflection.

After a full day and night without food, his assistant arrived with a dress.

“Madam, Sir is hosting a banquet to welcome Miss Bellamy back. You are required to attend.”

Clutching my aching stomach, I weakly shook my head.

“I’m not going.”

The assistant tossed the dress down carelessly.

“Sir said if you don’t go, you’d better worry about your adoptive father…”

He didn’t need to finish his sentence. I already understood.

Using my critically ill adoptive father to threaten me had always been their method.

When I arrived at the banquet in that dress, I realized it was an old white gown, yellowed with age and stained with faint traces of blood.

“Who’s that? Dressed so cheap.”

“Oh, that’s Zara, the one who crawled into Young Master Arden’s bed and stole her sister’s engagement.”

I understood right away that this was exactly what Theo wanted.

He wanted to show me how far beneath Mira I was.

Just then, Mira came downstairs hand-in-hand with Theo.

The butterflies on her gown sparkled under the lights and Theo smiled warmly.

“Mira deserves all the most beautiful things in the world.”

The twins ran up to her, eyes shining.

“Mommy, you’re so pretty.”

Theo looked at me on purpose.

“Well? Aren’t you going to pour the drinks?”

Everyone turned toward me. The waitress next to me hesitated.

“Sir, we’re the ones who serve—”

Theo sipped his wine and said casually, “She enjoys serving people. Isn’t that right?”

I stiffened. The threat in his voice was clear.

“People from the countryside just love to serve, don’t they?”

“Look at her, so pathetic. She’s not even good enough to carry Mira’s shoes!”

The laughter rang in my ears.

Shame burning through me, I picked up the wine bottle and followed behind Theo, pouring drinks and serving food.

Mira couldn’t hold back her laugh.

“I heard sister used to work in a restaurant. No wonder she’s so skilled at this.”

Theo sneered. “That’s all she’s good for.”

Mira walked up to me.

“Sister, I’d like to make a toast. Thank you for raising the children these past nine years.”

Instinctively, I looked at Theo, who was the one who first found out about my severe alcohol allergy.

But he just looked at me coldly.

“Are you deaf or blind? Drink it.”

My hands trembled as I reached for the glass, but Mira let go on purpose. Red wine spilled all over my head.

My hair clung to my scalp, soaked and sticky, carrying a sour, unpleasant smell.

"You!"

I glared at Mira in fury.

The twins clapped and laughed.

“Drenched rat! So gross!”

Suddenly, they threw a small toy at me, which gave off electric shocks.

“No!”

A jolt of electricity shot through me.

I crashed into a table and fell to the floor, shaking uncontrollably.

“Help me, it hurts!”

I cried out in pain. The carpet burned black where I had fallen. Foam bubbled at my lips as my body twitched.

Theo looked truly shocked and started to step forward to turn off the power.

But Mira suddenly covered her mouth, pretending to be horrified.

“Sister, did you just wet yourself?”

Gasps spread across the room. People stepped back, covering their noses like something reeked.

My mind went blank from the shame.

“You… what are you saying?”

Mira pouted. “Look at the floor yourself! What a mess!”

“You’ve never even given birth and you’re already that loose? Did you cheat on Theo with someone else?”

Just then, the guards rushed in and finally shut off the electricity.

But I had already lost control again. Lying there on the floor, soaked and shaking, all I wanted was to disappear.

Theo’s expression turned pitch black as if he wanted to tear me apart.

“Zara, you’re damn disgusting!”

“You’re a grown woman and can’t even control your bladder!”

Trembling, I tried to get up.

“…I didn’t. It was them…”

I looked toward the twins, but Mira had already taken them and disappeared.

Three days later, the headline [Wealthy Wife Humiliates Herself at Banquet Due to Incontinence] spread like wildfire online.

“This woman is disgusting.”

“She probably slept around so much she can’t hold it in anymore.”

My personal info was leaked and I started getting nonstop harassing messages.

I broke down crying more than once and had no choice but to try reaching out to Theo for help. But his assistant blocked me at the door.

“What did you just say?”

Blood pooled under my tongue as I bit down in shock, eyes wide.

The assistant sneered.

“He said your situation reminded him of someone from the countryside, like you were probably used up. He’s on his way to the hospital to check if you gave him anything.”

My chest tightened sharply.

I couldn’t even speak.

So in his eyes, I was already nothing but trash.

“Miss Bellamy, you’re here!”

The assistant's tone instantly shifted. That’s when I saw Mira strutting in confidently in high heels.

“Zara, you still have the nerve to show up?”

“If I were you, I’d have already bashed my head in from the shame.”

I knew then, this was all her doing.

“Why?” I asked, my voice shaking.

Back then, she was the one who wanted to leave Theo. She had drugged me and set it up to make it look like I tried to steal the engagement and sleep with him.

Mira acted like she’d just heard the funniest thing.

“Blame your own stupidity.”

“This was the only way to make Theo think about me forever.”

She lifted my chin with a smirk.

“You didn’t know, did you? For the past nine years, he has spent every holiday with me. Your anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, even New Year’s, he was in my bed.”

“Do you know how good that felt?”

She looked me up and down.

“He told me that every time he touched you, it felt worse than using a dirty rag.”

My vision blurred with rage.

“Then why did you push my foster mother into debt?”

Mira casually slid on her sunglasses, completely unbothered.

"Because she was stupid. The moment she heard something had happened to you, she rushed to take out a loan."

"Zara, let me tell you, so long as I'm around, don’t even dream of returning to the Bellamy Family. And forget about being with Theo!"

"You—!"

I stared at her, helpless.

Suddenly, Mira dropped to the floor, crying out in pain.

"Theo, my stomach... it hurts so bad..."

Blood began to pool between her legs.

Theo rushed out of the office and the moment he saw her on the ground, he slapped me across the face.

"Zara, how can you be so cruel!"

"Just wait, if anything happens to Mira, I’ll never forgive you!"

At the hospital, panic filled Theo’s bloodshot eyes. I had never seen him like that.

"Doctor, please save her. I can’t live without her!"

"I’ll pay anything, just save her!"

Watching him fall apart, I finally asked the question I had buried for so long.

"Theo, aren’t I your wife?"

"You said I pushed her. Did you even check the security footage?"

Tears streamed down my cheeks.

Theo froze. Maybe because he had never seen me cry like that.

Then he grabbed me by the throat.

"Don’t act innocent now."

"If I hadn’t wanted to make Mira jealous, do you think I’d have ever married you?!"

Just then, a nurse burst through the door.

"Family of Mira? The baby couldn’t be saved and the mother was losing too much blood. She’s in critical condition!"

The moment she finished, Theo kicked me hard in the stomach.

A sudden warmth spread between my legs.

I reached down, blood.

"Theo..."

I clutched my stomach, my face going pale.

"I think I’m pregnant. Please, get a doctor..."

Theo slapped me across the face.

"Even now, you're still trying to trick me?"

"Let me tell you the truth. Those pills I gave you? They weren’t birth control. They were abortion pills. I switched them myself. I only ever wanted you to be a nanny!"

"The doctor already said your uterus is useless!"

I looked up, stunned.

"You… How could you..."

So all those years I couldn’t get pregnant. It was because he made sure I never could.

I laughed, then broke into tears.

"Who here is B blood type in Mira’s family? Hurry, we’re losing her!"

The nurse’s voice shook. Theo looked around, then locked eyes with me.

"You’re B type, aren’t you?"

"She’s B type! Take her blood. Take all you need!"

I grabbed his sleeve in shock.

"No! Theo, I’m pregnant! If you take my blood, the baby won’t survive!"

The nurse also noticed the blood under me. "This won’t do! She’s pregnant. We can’t—"

Theo raised his hand and cut her off. "She’s faking it! Just draw the damn blood!"

He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

"This is her organ donation form. As her husband, I’ve signed it. No matter what happens, we won’t hold the hospital responsible."

"I’m Theo of the Arden Family. I only care about the one inside that room surviving!"

The nurse hesitated for a long time.

"Then bring her in, quickly!"

I was forcefully pinned to a hospital bed by several strong bodyguards.

"No! Let me go!"

Pain twisted through my lower abdomen. Sweat blurred my vision.

Until I saw the faces of my parents before me.

My eyes lit up through the haze.

"Mom, you’re here! Please save me!"

What greeted me was a hard slap from my mother.

"You heartless thing! You actually sent Mira to the hospital. I’ll never forgive you!"

My father frowned and looked at me coldly.

"You were drugged. There’s no way you could be pregnant. And you still laid a hand on Mira? This is your karma!"

I squinted in pain, my heart sinking completely.

So they knew I had been drugged all along.

By the fifth vial of blood, I was already on the edge of shock.

The twins stood outside the hospital room, their eyes cold.

"A nanny is just a nanny. Don’t you ever think you can take Mom’s place!"

Theo was shouting like a madman outside the operating room.

"Mira, hang in there! As soon as you come out safe, I’ll marry you right away!"

"Everything we have will go to Zane and Zayn!"

"Don’t leave! I love you! You can’t leave me!"

I thought I saw the shadow of my foster mother.

"Mom, is that you? Did you come to take me with you?"

Mrs. Bellamy heard the noise and rolled her eyes.

"Stupid girl, calling on the dead again. Let’s go. I don’t want her bad luck rubbing off on me."

The nurse increased the rate of blood draw again.

My body started shaking uncontrollably and the warmth drained from my fingers.

Suddenly, the doors to the operating room burst open with a loud bang.

A familiar voice rang in my ears.

"Zara, don’t die! I’ve come to take you home!"