Russell frowned as he looked at me, and he replied matter-of-factly, "Didn't I explain this to you already? My relationship with Candice isn't what you think. She just wanted to give herself to me to fulfill her dream. I agreed to marry you, and you're the only woman I'll marry. I would never divorce you."

This sounded even more ridiculous to me, and I replied coldly, "I don't need to be married to you, Russell. What makes you think I'm willing to waste the rest of my life in a loveless marriage with you when you killed our baby and me?"

Russell threw me a complicated look and said, "Annie, it's in the past now. I promise… I'll treat you well in this life."

With that, he quickly pulled the door open and locked me inside the room. I had a bad feeling about this, and I ran to the door, smacking it hard. "What are you doing, Russell?! Open the door!"

Russell was heard speaking obscurely through the door, "You know very well that Candice is pregnant right now. Her reputation would be ruined if she had a baby at such a young age. I promised her that we'll adopt the baby once it's born, and treat it like our own… I know you hate Candice. The only way to prevent you from treating the child badly is to… Make sure that you can't get pregnant. If you aren't able to get pregnant, you'll have no choice but to treat this baby well."

His words chilled me to the bone, and I started yelling crazily from behind the door. "Are you mad, Russell?! If you really want to make it up to her, just divorce me! Why must you do something like this to hurt me? Why must I be the victim in your quest for true love?"

Russell replied softly, "You owe this to Candice. You owe her and the baby inside her their lives… I promise you, Annie, that I'll break it off with Candice once and for all after this. I'll treat you well for the rest of your life…"

I screamed as I cursed at him, but nothing I said stopped him from leaving.

The door to my room was kicked open, and several lecherous-looking men entered. My eyes widened when I saw their faces. These men were death convicts Russell had arrested recently for raping and murdering dozens of people!

I instantly understood what Russell had planned for me. Even though I had already given up on him, my heart still felt like it had been torn apart.

Candice stood not far away as she smiled while holding up the keys to my door. My tears fell uncontrollably as I roared at her, "Why can't you just let me off, Candice?! Why must you do this to me?! I'm your sister!"

She looked angry when she replied, "How dare you ask me that question?! Mom and Dad only cared for you! Do you think I had no idea that they sold everything they had just to pay for your wedding? Why do you get everything, while I get nothing? They want you to marry a good man, don't they? Well, then I'm going to make your man leave you! I want you to lose everything just like I did and live your life in misery!"

Candice's words were like a bucket of cold water over me. I could not stop trembling as I looked at her with despair. "How can you say I'm the only one they cared about? Ask yourself, where did you get the money to pay for university? Where did you get the high allowance you enjoyed while living a carefree life in the city?"

"Did you know that they tore up my university acceptance letter just to let you get your degree?! It's because our family could only afford one university graduate! Do you know why I got married so early? It's because my in-laws agreed to pay for your tuition, which was why I was married off!"

My words did not garner any reaction from Candice. All she did was sneer. "So what? If you weren't born, I would have gotten more. You should never have been born, Annie, but it's all right now. Once you're dead, everything you have will belong to me."

Candice started laughing wildly. "I should be thanking you for finding such a wonderful husband. Otherwise, my baby wouldn't have gotten a good father like him. Don't you worry about us. We'll live a happy life together."

She turned savagely to the death convicts and instructed, "Strip her naked after you're done with her and throw her onto the streets! I want everyone to see what a sl*t this bride is to be sleeping with so many men on the night of her wedding!"

"No!" I screamed as those men pressed me to the ground and started tearing my clothes off. Candice locked the door while smiling gleefully, and she slipped back to the wedding dinner, acting nonchalantly as she stood by Russell's side.

An explosion was suddenly heard, and a fire broke out not far from where the house was. Everyone jumped from their seats.

"What's happening?! The house looks like it's on fire! Oh, my gosh! The bride is still inside! Someone save her!"

Russell felt his eye twitching, and he was filled with panic. He stood up right away, flipping the table in the process, as he ran toward the house. "Annie! Annie's still in the house!"

Candice felt a little unsettled as she stared at the sudden fire. She forced a smile while trying to calm Russell down, but he pushed her away.

By the time everyone rushed to the house, they saw me crawling out from the fire with wounds all over me. Everyone looked at me in shock as I stumbled and tried to stand up. My throat was sore from the smoke, but I shouted, "Everyone! I want to lodge a report against my husband, Russell Loft, for cheating on me with the army doctor! They even locked me up in the room with several convicted rapists, and tried to get me killed!"

"What are you talking about, Annie?!" Russell roared at me while shielding Candice, who looked like she was about to pass out, behind him. "It's one thing to be constantly showing your jealousy, but how can you malign the army doctor this way?! Candice is my personal doctor in the army who treats my wounds. She's always been a help to me, and you're being ungrateful for everything she did for me, even going as far as to accuse her of something horrible like this!"

Russell turned to the superiors, who were looking at all this sternly, and said, "I have to be honest with everyone about my wife's condition. She is mentally ill and is constantly accusing me of having an affair."

He sounded bitter as he continued, "I'm extremely sorry that Doctor Candice Channing has been hurt in the process. I will do my best to make it up to her. I won't defend Annie just because she's my wife. I will personally submit a letter of protest against her, and point out her wrongdoings in a public meeting! I'll make sure she apologizes to you in public!"

Candice teared up. "Thank you, Russell. It makes me safe to hear you say that."

The superiors and colleagues around us started looking at me with disdain.

"I can't believe that's who she really is."

"How can you create a scene like this on such a happy occasion, Annie? What bad luck for Russell to marry a woman like you."

I looked at everyone and laughed coldly.

"How can you say that I'm slandering Candice with such conviction, Russell? Do you dare let your personal doctor go through a medical screening? Do you dare let all the mothers here take a look at her belly? She's probably four months pregnant right now!"

Everyone turned to look at Candice, who was in loose clothing, the moment I said this. She started to panic and cry while saying, "You're just trying to make up stories about me because you know I get embarrassed easily. How can you make me reveal my belly in public? Are you trying to ruin my reputation? If that's what you want, let me just die and prove my innocence with my death!"

With that, she ran toward the cliff.

"Candice!" Russell yelled out at her as he ran over to shield her in his arms. When Candice passed out in his arms, looking pale, he turned to me coldly. "You forced me into doing this."

He said to the superiors with a pained look. "I'd like to apply for my wife to be sent to the sanatorium for treatment. I heard that electrotherapy can help with certain brain-related illnesses. I'd like to apply for her to be sent for electrotherapy!"

I turned to the superiors right away. "Everyone! I'm telling the truth! You can check for yourself if you don't believe that the criminals you arrested a few days ago are missing. The only person who could have let them out is Russell!"

This earned a grim look from them, and as they were about to call headquarters about this, Russell's yell interrupted me. "That's enough, Annie!" He turned solemnly to his superiors and said, "I'm using my future as a guarantee that she's spouting nonsense! There is nothing between Candice and me, and we didn't release any criminals to hurt her. If what she's saying is true, I'll willingly give everything up and accept my punishment!"

The superiors exchanged glances and said to me, "Miss Channing, you should accept treatment at the sanatorium. The earlier you get in, the earlier you'll get better."

"No!" I screamed and struggled as Russell's subordinates held me down. They dragged me into the car, and I could only watch Candice smiling gleefully in Russell's arms through the car window. I was consumed with hate as I wondered what Russell would do if he found out that the woman he protected by gambling his future away was only using him as a stepping stone. Would he still do anything for her like this if he knew?

…

After Russell took Candice to the hospital, he was anxious and could not calm down. After thinking about it, he decided to call the sanatorium. He had heard that electrotherapy was a painful process and patients going through it would often lose control of their bowels and even fall limply to the ground, immobile.

Even the toughest criminals would confess while crying after undergoing electrotherapy, much less a weak and frail woman like Annie. If she was really strapped to that chair, who knew what would happen to her…

Just as he was about to call the sanatorium, a messenger stumbled into the room, looking pale as he shouted to everyone inside, "Bad news! Headquarters just sent news that twelve maximum security convicts have gone missing. Someone on the inside has released them!"