(Giselle's POV)

I had no idea when my consciousness faded away, but I woke up to my left arm burning.

It felt as if someone had set a fire on it. How could Travis be so cruel?

How was I so blind back then to fall for him?

A drop of tear slid down.

I had met Travis at his lowest.

He had leukaemia and our bone marrow was a perfect match.

My father worked for Mr. Hayes, Travis’ father and out of loyalty for him, my father agreed to the transplant.

And, I was more than willing to save his life.

Mr. Hayes in return gave my father some of his company’s shares. He didn't want to take it but Mr. Hayes gave my father the responsibility to train Travis to be the next chairman, and so he had accepted it.

Travis, after recovering, thanked me. He courted me, confessed to me, and proposed to me.

And, I had fallen for him too at that time.

My father also wished to return back the shares to Travis after he took the company’s control but the board contained many enemies, and he had become all of their enemies for supporting Travis. And, he knew that it wasn't the right time to leave yet.

My father had always been honest and so was I.

But how did it all change?

How could Travis even say I manipulated him into this marriage? He was the one who took the first step, and I simply fell for him.

We had been married for ten years.

Our relationship wasn't always like this. He had never put his hands on me until today.

I bit my lips, suppressing my pain.

Since Esther came, our marriage ended.

Esther was the same person who had left Travis years ago for his leukaemia.

But Travis changed once she returned.

The first day she came back, Travis started sleeping in his studies.

In a month, he grew cold towards me. Even my son of my blood pushed me from the stairs for disturbing his and aunt Esther’s time together.

In the second month, I caught them kissing.

And this was the third month only, but Travis was a changed man.

Tears bubbled inside my eyes. How can a person change so much? Even my son turned against me.

Just as I was about to fall unconscious again, I heard someone open the door.

I grew restless, trying to break free from the chains. “Pl…ease… Tra…vis… let… me go…” I managed to huff out, but I was shocked when I saw Esther enter in a wheelchair.

“Wh—what are you doing here? Why don't you tell the truth?!” I questioned, growing restless as Esther came towards me.

Esther laughed aloud as she stood up.

My eyes widened.

“You must be wondering how I am so safe, and what I am doing here,” Esther smirked.

“You… you're faking it…” tears slid down my cheeks.

“You're correct, I'm faking it. I just used a body double and she is doing well because she was saved by the firefighter before she could have any serious impact.”

I froze in a moment of disbelief. “H…how? Why would you go for such lengths?!”

Esther laughed. “What are you talking about? All of this which belongs to you should've become mine. But you came in between, and ruined everything…”

“You're the one who left Travis when he had leukaemia!”

“He proposed to me! How could I marry a dying person? It'd be a waste! I wanted to return to him… I loved him… But you already snatched him away, but now, I'll take him back from you!”

I laughed in disbelief.

Esther’s face twitched but she composed herself and let out a smirk. “And, you know, why am I here? I wanted to stay with Travis and wanted him to accompany me. So, he brought me here to live. With him. He even arranged my room with all the medical appliances I need and booked me with private doctors. Do you understand how important I am to him?”

I faltered at her words. Travis had brought her home, and gave her room to Esther without a second thought.

Esther laughed, adding salt to the wound, “I had specifically asked for your room. Only she deserved to be in that room.”

That room was the master room. So, Travis planned to give this all to this scheming woman.

Tears blurred my vision when Esther smirked again, “And, do you want to know why Travis became so cold to you and thought this marriage was manipulated by you?”

I looked up, my lips parting. Was she behind that too?

Esther laughed, seeing my expression as if she enjoyed hurting me. “I had told him that it was your father who threatened me not to be near him otherwise, you wouldn't donate the bone marrow to him. Later, step-by-step, he wanted you to get married to Travis and control the company. Now you know why he hates you and your dad so much… In his eyes, you and your father separated us, and manipulated this marriage to steal his company…”

I shook my head, refusing to believe. “How… how could he believe… how could he believe these words?”

Esther laughed. “But he believes me. Even now, he believes that you're behind everything and you hurt me…”

My face twitched with anger and gathering my strength, I kicked her.

Esther gave me a scornful look but soon, she pretended to fall hard and cry.

I was amazed and couldn't understand what happened until I saw Travis rush to her help.

Esther trembled in his arms as he pulled her gently and placed her in the wheelchair.

“Travis… Travis, listen… Nothing happened to her… She's faking it… She told you lies… Nothing she said was the truth…” I managed to spew out, hoping Travis would believe my words but instead he slapped me.

“Even until now you're spewing lies! How can you be like this?! How can you?!”

I trembled, my heart shattering into pieces as he again refused to believe me.

“How can you hurt Esther again?!”

Esther pulled his sleeves gently as if she had no strength. “I… I just came here to ask why she pushed me… I didn't expect her to do this…”

Travis grunted as he punched me again. “Looks like you need to know your lesson the hard way.”

I shuddered. Was he going to hammer me again?

But Travis casually called a number.

My heart thumped loudly but as he spoke, I was in complete despair, “Throw out Hugh Kelson out of the company right now! He has such a daughter. How can he stay in the company? Throw him out of the company so that he doesn't dare to enter the company again!”

“No! No, Travis! You have problems with me! Don't go for my dad! Come at me!”

Travis only scoffed, looking at me with stern eyes. “You’ll only learn a lesson this way.”

As he said it, he left, cuddling with Esther.

(Giselle's POV)

My heart throbbed in panic. I didn't even care about my arm and the blood loss anymore, I only cared about what was going to happen to my father.

He had always been an honest person. He could never bear such a shameful incident.

Hours later, a servant came, releasing me from the chains, looking scornful.

I rushed, dragging my bloodied body out but I was stopped by Travis in the living room.

“Look at this. Look what you've done to your father.”

My lips parted and I looked at him for a second. He signed for me to take the tab from his hands.

My hands were shaking as I took it from him.

It was recorded live some hours back. And the person… the person in the live was my dad…

My heart seemed to have stopped as I saw my father kneeling and saying that he believed me that I could never push someone from the roof.

While others, many of them were the same persons who once looked up to him and respected him, kicked and punched him.

Commenters cursed him for having such a heartless daughter, and failing to be a father.

‘HAHAHA you deserve it for raising such a heartless daughter!’

‘This is your retribution!’

‘You must not be a good person either looking at how you raised your daughter!’

‘Don’t play the victim!’

‘You and your daughter should just go to hell!’

‘Die, bastard!’

Tears dropped from my cheeks while the tab fell from my hands, unable to read it anymore as it shattered on the floor.

What must he have faced… And, it was all because of me… It was all because of me…

Travis laughed at the scene. “See what your father got because of you… You. Deserve. It.”

Tears ran down, and even though it hurt, I dragged my body in the middle of the rain to go to my dad’s place.

As I went home, and rang the bell, there was no answer.

I rang again and again as I grew more nervous each time.

And, I finally got a call —

‘Mr. Hugh Kelson died in an accident. Please collect his body from the Central Town Hospital.’

The world around me seemed to have stopped.

That must have been a joke.

My father was perfectly healthy. How could he die? It wasn't possible… It wasn't…

Still I dragged myself to the hospital.

There I saw my father's body on the corner of the ground…

Many passed across him and some even stepped on him.

Tears streamed down and I rushed to hug him.

It was indeed my dad.

How could this happen?

I looked at the doctors, and screamed, “How can you place him here?! Why is he on the ground and near the toilet too?!”

Others murmured around me, cursing my father as they realised it was the same man on the live they had seen today — whose daughter mercilessly pushed someone else.

“Tch, she did such a thing and her father doesn't show any shame, who would care for his death?!”

“He should be lying in the garbage instead, along with his daughter!”

“It's good that he died. He faced his retribution! And, it's better if her daughter died too!”

I gasped, unable to bear hearing all of them speaking nonsense about my father.

Everyone was thankful that such a person died because he must not have been a good person to raise such a daughter.

It felt like someone was stabbing me with a thousand knives inside my chest.

I stood up while the world spun around me.

All of this had happened because of Esther and Travis. They caused it and ruined my dad. It was because of them my dad’s body was lying in the ground cold. Even after death, people were cursing him.

They were the reason behind it.

The vision around me constantly blurred while I tried to suppress my rage. I was about to take my father away, away from the place where everyone was cursing him but I lost my balance and my consciousness grew weary…

*****

As I woke up, I found myself in the hospital bed.

“How come you haven't come to the hospital as soon as after you injured your hand?!”

I was still in a daze when the doctor sighed. It felt as if nothing had happened and my dad was still here but…

“This hand can't be saved. You broke many bones, lost a lot of nerves and blood.”

For the first time, I paid attention to his words.

My heart throbbed as I looked at him in disbelief, tears threatening to fall down. “Doctor, please tell me… what's going to happen to my left hand…?”

He shook his head again. “It needs to be amputated. Please get ready for it and during this time, you also need to nourish your body. Also, should I register a police file for you?”

I was still in a daze and disbelief as I shook my head in denial.

It's not possible… My hand can be saved, right?

I tried to move my left hand but it was all numb and didn't budge an inch.

I tried again, giving all my effort but it remained futile.

The doctor patted my shoulder when I let out a drop of tear.

It was just losing an arm. It wasn't as serious as losing my dad…

I gulped, trying to control my tears.

The doctor patted again, “You need to be strong and make a police report. These are clear signs of someone causing you violence…”

As he was explaining, I cut him off and looked at him, “Where is my father, doctor…?”

He let out a worried sign as I broke down into tears, recalling my dad’s cold body.

Clearly, we had done nothing wrong, but why would this happen to us?

Our honor was in shambles. Everyone now wished for our deaths. My left hand was about to be amputated and my dad was no more… He died, and he was still cursed till now.

He died… It was all because of me… All because of me…

No… It started with Esther and Travis… Nothing would've happened if it weren't for them…

I clenched my teeth. They needed to pay the price for what had happened.

(Giselle's POV)

I had just returned from the hospital when the door slammed open from the inside.

I hadn't even had a chance to step inside, but the sound of Travis yelling had already hit me like a sledgehammer.

"Where have you been? Were you planning to run away?" his voice echoed loudly even though his voice was low, shaking the cold, damp air from last night's rain.

His eyes blazed with anger, his jaw hardened, and the veins in his neck seemed to tighten.

His face was bright red, like an ember ready to burn anything in its path.

I stood in the doorway, still wearing my shabby hospital clothes.

“I don't need to run, Travis. Nor am I planning to.” I paused. Not until I got my divorce, and take my revenge against them. “I was at the hospital.”

My left arm was now wrapped in a thick bandage and hung limply at my side.

The wound hadn't healed yet, but Travis didn't care. His stern gaze was fixated me as if I had just ran away after committing a crime.

"You think pretending to be sick will make me feel sorry for you? I know your games. Don't pretend. Who knows where you really have been?" he said again, striding quickly toward me with an accusatory look in his eyes.

But he paused, looking at my shabby clothes. I was still wearing the patient's gown because my own dress was drenched with my blood.

“Tsk, you're really good at scheming. Don't be dramatic. I didn't even hit you that hard… Don't test my patience, Giselle.”

I swallowed, restraining myself from screaming.

Yes, he wasn't hard with me enough! He destroyed my left hand, and he was the reason my dad died. But he still thought that it wasn't enough?

But my chest was tight, and the anger I was holding back finally exploded.

"I'm not faking it, Travis. I… I… I can't feel my left hand anymore! You destroyed it! You made me lose my hand!”

He snorted harshly, his eyes narrowed in mockery.

He didn't care. He had no heart. His compassion for me was non-existent, already taken by Esther.

“Who are you lying to? Do you think that little injury can destroy your hand? Tsk, I should've been harder with you. I should've specifically asked for an edged hammer to teach you a lesson. Who would believed that you lost your arm because of that?”

I fell silent. His words slapped me harder and I let out a little laugh.

He didn't believe my words. Since when did I become such a scheming person in his?

Ten years together, and he didn't believe a word I said at all.

I felt my tongue clamp down, but Travis had already walked into the kitchen without waiting for me to speak.

"Henry hasn't eaten yet because of you! Stop your drama and get to cook. That's the only thing you're good at.”

Rage boiled inside me and I felt hard to stand.

Henry had a stomach problem. I heard Travis had it when he was young too. He couldn't eat all kinds of food. So, I specifically learned cooking to suit his tongue and stomach.

Biting my lips, I decided to control my rage. Henry was still my son. I couldn't let him go hungry.

“Hurry up!” Travis ordered, throwing the appron at me.

I stood transfixed, unable to process everything. Travis didn't feel a tinge of guilty for me.

I gulped, swallowing the tears.

With unsteady steps and heavy breathing, I walked into the kitchen.

The floor was still cold, and I had to support my body with my remaining right hand.

Simple tasks like turning on the stove and slicing ingredients now felt like a life-and-death struggle.

I cut carrots with clumsy movements, the knife almost slipping from my grasp every now and then.

The pain from the scar on my arm stung, but I refrained from complaining.

"You're even slower now," Travis' voice came back from the dining room. "You can really act. You didn't even use your left hand all this while… Good, I want to see how long you can keep up acting like you lost your hand.”

I held my breath. I wanted to reply to his words, but my throat was parched. I couldn't utter a single word.

I looked up and saw Henry coming in.

My lips parted and I dragged myself towards him but his eyes remained cold and he grunted, “I know what you did! You're an evil mom!” he shouted suddenly, pointing at me with his small forefinger trembling with emotion.

I backed a step away, still in disbelief that even my own son turned against me.

I tried to keep up my smile. “What… are you saying, Henry…? Would you like to have soup?” My words stuttered while I gasped for breath.

I suddenly felt as if I was cooped in a small room.

“How long are you going to lie? Admit your fault and apologise to aunt Esther immediately! You are a bloody murderer! You thought, you wouldn't get caught trying to kill her? I hate you!”

The tears I tried to hold on, dripped down my cheeks. "No, Dear... it's not what you think. I–”

Before I could finish my sentence, the tiny foot kicked my knee.

Not hard, but enough to make my tired body stagger and kneel on the kitchen floor.

I held my knee as I looked up at Henry who was staring at me hatefully.

I was still in disbelief but then I saw Henry’s eyes. They were cold, and filled with hatred. His eyes had the same glint his father had.

My body quivered unconsciously. Travis was just letting it all happen, without stepping up.

“I hate you! You should've just died!” My lips widened, hearing his words.

The words were heartbreaking, hurting me more than what Travis had given me.

I believed at least, he would understand me. He was my own flesh and blood.

But he didn't care. He only believed Esther, just like his father.

Henry kicked me again and this time — he spat, looking disgustingly towards me. “I don't want to eat food cooked by this disgusting woman!” He said, pointing towards me before he left.

I was still in a trance when Travis came over.

“Did you enjoy getting hated by your son? This is what you deserve! Even your son can't handle your cruelty!” Travis mocked as he slapped my cheeks. It was as if he was trying to make me see the reality.

I held back my tears and glared at him, clenching my fist.

“What are you looking at now? Won’t you cook?” Travis said, glaring at me.

My teeth clenched as I staggered to stand up.

“Keep up acting like you lost your arm. I'd like to see how long you can keep up this act. And, also, even if you lost your hand, it's nothing compared to the pain you caused Esther. Even if you got paralysed, that is what you deserved.” He said, coldly at me before shifting to a gentle tone, “I shouldn't have been gentle with you. You still need to be taught a lesson to drop this act.” He grunted, clenching his jaw.

I looked away and dragged myself to the counter as I began to cut the vegetables again.

Travis stood for a moment as if he was entertaining himself, seeing me helpless but as Esther called him, he rushed to her.

I clenched my jaw, trying to hold back my tears but as soon as he exited, my tears slid down and the kitchen was filled with my wailings.

The room seemed to grow tighter and tighter as I gasped for breath.

Their words echoed in my ears, replaying every moment again and again.

Now, there was no part of me in this home. I was nothing.

I was just someone Travis had kept for his convenience.

I had no family anymore.

My husband and son — they were no more.

My father — dead.

Only my bedridden grandmother was there.

But as I looked at Esther, Travis and Henry laughing and cuddling in the couch from the distance, the shred of pain became numb.

I no longer cared.

From this moment on, I had no bonds with them. I had no son, and I had no connection with this family.