Three words had set the Veronatri clan ablaze.

That very night, Bessie was warmly invited to the Veronatri to discuss the wedding.

I had intended to hide in my room, but Bessie took the initiative to come upstairs to check on me.

But as soon as the door closed, she dropped her smile and stared disdainfully at my stomach:

“Julian, I know you were the one who slept with Gilbert last night. Since you’re being so sensible, take this pill.”

“I don’t want any accidents happening between Gilbert and me.”

Looking at the pill in her palm, I assumed Gilbert had asked her to deliver it and take a jab at me, to make me give up any thoughts about him.

Seeing that I obediently took the pill without a word.

Bessie went downstairs, satisfied, and told everyone that I wasn’t feeling well and wanted to rest.

Madre tried to come upstairs to check on me several times, but Bessie and Lytton stopped her.

Not long after taking the pill, my abdomen began to ache faintly.

Not wanting to alarm Madre, I endured the pain and forced myself to sleep.

Between sleep and wakefulness, it seemed someone else entered my room and fed me something.

The familiar bitter taste spread on my tongue, and I instantly woke up.

Seeing it was Gilbert, I habitually whined:

“Gilbert, my stomach hurts so much, I want to go to the hospital...”

He gently brushed away the hair on my forehead, which was soaked with cold sweat, and said coldly:

“Didn’t I tell you to go to my room and take the pill? Why didn’t you go?”

“Did you want to keep the abomination in your belly?”

It was then that it dawned on me that he had just fed me two emergency contraception pills.

The doctor specifically instructed that I could take a maximum of two pills.

But counting the ones Bessie gave me, I took a total of four.

“Brother, didn’t you ask Bessie to bring me medicine? I already took it...”

I got up, wanting to induce vomiting, but Gilbert pushed me back onto the bed:

“Julian!”

“I’m getting married soon. As long as you behave and don’t cause trouble, I can let you be my bridesmaid.”

I clenched my jaw—bridesmaid was your “biggest favor”? I didn’t need it.

All I knew was that my abdomen was experiencing waves of excruciating pain, even more painful than childbirth in my previous life.

The next second, a gush of warm blood flowed out from beneath me.

The panic of losing my life instinctively made me grab Gilbert’s hand:

“I don’t want to be a bridesmaid. Please, take me to the hospital...”

He looked at the bright red blood beneath me, and complex emotions welled up in his eyes.

“Julian, the doctor said it’s normal to bleed after taking the medicine. Just get some sleep and you’ll be fine.”

“By dawn, we can go back to how we used to be.”

He thought that an emergency contraceptive pill should be like an abortion, with heavy bleeding.

The more blood that flowed, the more completely that child who shouldn’t exist would disappear...

I saw him visibly relax his back.

He pried my fingers off his one by one, took my phone, locked me in the room, and strode away.

Separated by a door, I felt like I was back in my previous life, when he left me alone in the bridal chamber.

“Gilbert, we can never go back to how we used to be...”

The blood flowing beneath me increased, and the sounds of celebration for Gilbert’s upcoming wedding had moved to another spot.

My instinct for survival only allowed me to reach the old phone in the drawer.

The call connected, and I only managed to say “Help me” before losing consciousness completely.

The next day, Gilbert, in a good mood, instructed the nanny to clean my room.

The nanny, following his instructions, used the key to open my room door, only to find it wide open.

A strong smell of blood assaulted her senses, but I was nowhere to be found.

She screamed, her face turning pale deathly:

“Something bad happened! Miss Julian, something’s happened to her! She... is gone...”

As if realizing something, his face paled for a moment.