“I accepted the institute’s invitation to join the Super Gene Modification Project. I’ll leave in one week.”

“That’s wonderful! Your research is groundbreaking. With you on board, the project is destined for success! But… this is a closed-off study. Do your husband and son agree?”

Clara let out a self-mocking smile — what son? Her son had already been killed by his biological father.

Three days ago, at the award ceremony, the female student Clara sponsored said she hoped Clara could take the credit for the research results.

After Clara refused, she ran away in tears.

Right after receiving the award, Clara learned that Liam had tied their son to a rapidly spinning Ferris wheel.

“You’ve achieved so many results. What’s wrong with giving one to Vanessa? You’re the one who drove her away.”

“I gave you a chance to fix this. If you can’t find her within one minute, the kid stays on for one minute. If you can’t find her within an hour, then he stays on for an hour.”

“Stop!”

Clara grabbed Liam’s pant leg and begged bitterly, “Our son has congenital heart disease. If this continues, he’ll die!”

“He’s only four! I’m begging you, let him go!”

But Liam frowned and shook her hand off.

“Increase the speed by twenty percent.”

Clara screamed and cried, pinned firmly to the ground by bodyguards, forced to watch her son turn around and around again.

Fireworks filled the sky the entire night — each one a love confession from Liam, begging Vanessa to come back.

Three days later, Liam returned with Vanessa holding a pregnancy report in hand, while Clara’s son had already stopped breathing from a heart attack.

“Liam, Noah is dead.”

Liam sneered, “Clara, are you done causing drama?”

He glanced at his watch, impatience in his tone. “I still have to accompany Vanessa for her prenatal check. I don’t have time for your tragic-act nonsense.”

Clara stared blankly ahead, saying nothing.

Liam continued, “He just went a few extra rounds on a Ferris wheel. Kids don’t die from that. You coddled him too much, that’s your problem.”

He pulled a small box from his pocket and tossed it— its contents falling onto Clara.

“There. Noah loved sweets. Use that to shut him up. Stop losing your mind.”

Clara glanced at the chocolate wrappers on her lap and tugged the corner of her lips.

Almond flavor — Noah was allergic to nuts. One bite and he’d break out in rashes, unable to breathe.

Before leaving, Liam handed Clara a document. “Sign it — transfer the research results to Vanessa.”

Clara took the document, staring numbly at the man before her.

When she knelt in the morgue, holding Noah’s already stiff body for three days and nights, she listened to the nonstop celebration across the city — fireworks and cheers in honor of the new life growing in Vanessa’s belly.

She had cried herself dry, just wanting to send her son on his final journey.

——

But the cremation process required the signatures of both parents, and without Liam’s consent, their son could only lie in that freezing morgue, unable to rest.

Clara suddenly smiled. “Fine — but not for free.”

She pulled out the divorce agreement and cremation consent she had already prepared, flipping directly to the last page. “Give me the villas in the eastern suburbs as compensation.”

Liam took the papers from her hand and signed without even looking. “If you’d acted like this earlier, Noah wouldn’t have had to suffer!”

He tossed the documents onto the coffee table, grabbed the signed research transfer, and rushed out.

“I’m busy these days — I won’t be home.”

The door slammed shut, leaving the house in silence.

Clara felt a moment of disorientation — how did a perfectly good family become so broken?

She and Liam had once loved each other — they were the couple everyone envied.

To marry Clara, Liam had kneeled outside the church for three whole months, praying earnestly for the two of them to stay together for life.

He despised every other woman around him, and only his love for Clara had been unwavering and fierce.

Clara once thought life would continue in happiness — until that accident…

The time Vanessa demanded money from Clara and was refused, Vanessa, enraged, drove Clara’s car and crashed into Liam’s mother.

After rushing her to the hospital and learning of the ruptured spleen and critical condition, Clara didn’t hesitate — she donated her spleen to save her.

The moment Clara got off the operating table, Liam stormed in with bloodshot eyes, gripping her neck. “You tried to kill my mother?!”

For reasons unknown, Liam firmly believed Vanessa was the one who donated her spleen and saved his mother.

And no matter how Clara explained, he never believed her.

From that moment on, their relationship completely shattered — they became enemies.

Once, Clara still held expectations for Liam — but now that her son was gone, her heart was dead too.

…

The research institute called again, asking Clara to confirm the news.

Clara answered calmly, “Confirmed. But… I have a condition.”

“Erase all my identity information. From now on, the name Clara disappears from this world.”

The institute accepted immediately. “No problem, Clara. The helicopter will pick you up in seven days.”

The moment she hung up, breaking news flashed across her phone screen—

“Genius Girl Vanessa to Announce Major Breakthrough in Gene Research — Seven Days From Now!”

Clara remained expressionless.

The results she transferred were incomplete — the data still had issues, problems obvious to anyone with expertise. She never planned to publish the report, but since Liam and Vanessa couldn’t wait—

She’d like to see how this so-called “genius girl” would explain research results riddled with flaws.

Clara’s hands trembled violently as she gripped the divorce agreement tightly in her palms.

She immediately hailed a cab and went home to pack.

The moment she entered the house, she saw Liam kneeling on the carpet, carefully applying care oil to Vanessa’s belly as she lay on the sofa.

Vanessa blushed, coyly leaning toward Liam with a shy voice, “Liam, I just got pregnant. We don’t need to do all this yet…”

But Liam responded gently, “I want to do these things for you.”

Clara felt disoriented, remembering how five years ago, when she first got pregnant, Liam had treated her the same way.

When he learned she was expecting, the usually cold Liam had red-rimmed eyes as he pulled her into his arms, his voice full of pain and devotion. “Clara, I will love you and only you for the rest of my life. I swear I will never fail you…”

And these care techniques were ones Liam specially learned from a fertility specialist after finding out Clara was pregnant.

Yet now, all of them were used on another woman. Clara curled her lips in a bitter smile.

Just then, the two on the sofa noticed Clara. Liam’s once gentle expression instantly twisted into disgust. He stood and walked toward Clara. “Vanessa is pregnant. From now on, she will stay here to rest.”

“She is the new mistress of this house.” Liam tossed the bottle of care oil at Clara. “You’ve given birth before and have experience. Take good care of Vanessa.”

Clara did not reach for the bottle, letting it hit her and drop to the floor. She frowned and kicked it aside, letting out a cold laugh. “I should take care of her? Why?”

Liam’s face darkened further as he stared down at Clara from above. “Because you’re occupying the title of Liam’s wife, I can’t give Vanessa her rightful name!”

“Vanessa is the benefactor of this entire family. If you want to stay in this house, you’d better behave.”

Clara didn’t want to argue with him anymore and only wanted to pack her things quickly. She ignored Liam and walked straight toward the bedroom.

Liam’s reprimand sounded behind her, “Where did you hide Noah? People come to our house and don’t even know to greet them. He’ll have to call Vanessa ‘Mom’ in the future.”

Clara froze where she stood, her heart twisting into a painful knot, pulling at every nerve.

Clara thought of the scene right after Noah got off the Ferris wheel — the memory sent uncontrollable tremors through her body.

Noah’s face was pale, foam forming at the corner of his mouth, his little fingers weakly tugging at Clara’s clothes, “Mommy, don’t blame Daddy. It’s because Noah’s not healthy.”

“I’m sorry, Mommy, for making Daddy fight with you. Noah… will be better, so Daddy won’t punish Noah so much, okay?”

Clara clutched her son to her chest and ran frantically toward the hospital, tears streaming uncontrollably, nodding repeatedly. “Okay, Mommy promises, Noah. Don’t sleep yet, sweetheart…”

But in the next second, her son stopped breathing, dying in Clara’s arms.

Clara clenched her fists and turned back to yell at Liam, “Noah will never call anyone ‘Mom’ again — not in this lifetime!”

Vanessa stepped forward, clutching Liam’s arm with a soft sigh, “Liam, it’s okay. Clara has always looked down on me. The child she raised…”

“It’s normal if the child has issues with me. I’ll teach him properly.”

Watching Vanessa fuel the flames, Clara shook with rage. “Vanessa, you better watch your mouth!”

*Slap!*

Liam frowned and raised his hand, striking Clara across the face.

“Don’t shout at her.” Liam spoke calmly.

He picked up a tissue from the coffee table and wiped his hand repeatedly, as if he had touched something filthy.

“Vanessa is right — your parenting was the problem. You spoiled the child beyond recognition.”

Liam pulled Vanessa into his arms. “Starting tomorrow, Noah learns discipline.”

Neither of them looked back as they left the living room, leaving Clara standing alone in stunned silence.

Clara stumbled back to her room, her fingertips icy as though they’d been soaked in freezing water, trembling so hard she could barely hold the doorknob. She dragged out the largest suitcase from the top of the wardrobe — the one Liam had specially picked for her and newborn Noah. The off-white case still bore the faded crayon marks of a tiny dinosaur Noah once doodled; now, it felt like a dull blade slicing through her flesh.

“I’m leaving. I’m leaving right now. I’m escaping this place that eats people alive!”

The scream only echoed inside her mind, muffled into choked sobs.

Her hands moved uncontrollably, grabbing clothes in a frenzy — the couple’s shirts she once shared with Liam, the half-knitted sweater meant for Noah, the gown she wore when she received her award… She stuffed all these memories into the suitcase, as if cramming them in could quiet the despair clawing inside her.

But halfway through, she suddenly collapsed to the floor. Staring at the suitcase full of memories, tears fell without warning — packing used to mean Liam smiling while folding her clothes, Noah tugging at her skirt saying, “Mommy takes Noah too,” but now, she was alone in this cold house, fleeing in panic.

Crying, she eventually fell asleep, and nightmares crept in.

In her dream, Noah was being carried down from the Ferris wheel. His face was as white as paper, foam at his lips, his tiny hand still weakly gripping her clothes, his voice fragile enough to break. “Mommy, Noah hurts… Does Daddy not like Noah anymore?” She went mad trying to hold her child, only to feel that same piercing cold — Noah’s body stiffening little by little in her arms, until he turned into a wisp of smoke and vanished completely.

“Noah!”

Clara jolted awake, chest heaving violently, cold sweat soaking her back. Tears already covered her face, trailing down her jaw and dripping onto the sheets, leaving dark spots on the fabric. She tried wiping them away, but the more she wiped, the more they fell, grief flooding her like a tide — her Noah, the treasure she cherished for four years, didn’t even get to walk his final journey with dignity.

She could no longer sleep. She got up, staggering toward her son’s room. It used to be her safest place — every night she sat by the bed, telling Noah bedtime stories, watching him fall asleep holding his tiny dinosaur plush, his breathing steady.

The hallway was eerily silent, only her footsteps echoing through the hollow house. As she neared the door, she saw warm yellow light leaking through the crack — the little night-light she had chosen for Noah, saying it could drive away nightmares and protect him. Yet tonight, the glow felt painfully harsh.

She slowed her steps, heart pounding wildly, a terrible premonition stitching itself into her bones. She pushed the door open just a little wider — and what she saw froze her blood on the spot, like she had been thrown into an ice cellar.

Liam and Vanessa were lying in Noah’s little bed.

That small bed covered with blue dinosaur sheets was personally assembled by Liam back then, saying he wanted to give their son the best protection; Noah’s favorite stuffed dinosaur was still there—now tossed carelessly onto the floor, stained with dust. Vanessa had her head buried between Liam’s legs, indecent sounds filling the room, and on their wrists was unmistakably the unannounced Neural Empathy Sensor from Clara’s studio!

It was the device she spent countless nights on, revising hundreds of design drafts, created solely to ease Noah’s pain during his heart attacks! She remembered the first time she made a working prototype—Noah smiled and said, “Mommy is amazing. Noah doesn’t hurt anymore.” Yet now, a device forged from her love and bloodlike effort was being used by those two to indulge themselves!

Vanessa lifted her head, eyes watery and hazy with pleasure, purposely glancing toward the doorway, her voice sickeningly sweet. “Liam, this machine is really something. No wonder Clara sacrificed sleep over it… But if we use it like this, won’t she be mad?”

Liam followed her gaze and saw Clara standing pale-faced outside the door. Instead of guilt, a mocking smile curved his lips. He held Vanessa’s head in place, his tone both doting and cruel. “So what if she’s mad? It was always meant to be yours. Think of it as her making up for her ‘mistakes’—a gift to us.”

Shameful fluids stained Noah’s sheets, spreading an ugly mark across the blue dinosaur pattern.

Clara’s entire body shook violently. Her teeth clamped into her lip so hard she tasted blood but didn’t notice. Her nails dug hard into her palms, leaving bloody crescents. Rage, grief, humiliation—like a volcano ready to erupt—crushed against her throat until she could barely breathe.

This was her son. Liam’s biological son! Noah had been gone only a few days, his bones not yet cold, not even cremated—and Liam brought another woman into his room to commit such filth!

She couldn’t bear another second. She turned and bolted back to her room, slamming the door with a deafening *bang*, as if the sound could shut out the contamination outside. She curled up in the corner of her bed, burying her face in her knees. The suppressed cries erupted—raw and ripping.

“Noah… my Noah…” she whispered his name again and again, her heart feeling torn out of her chest, the pain so intense her whole body trembled. This house—once her entire world. Liam’s vows still lingered in her ears, Noah’s laughter still floated through the rooms, yet now, every precious fragment had been shattered by Liam’s own hand—destroyed beyond recognition.

She didn’t know how long had passed before the door opened again. Liam walked in wearing a bathrobe, the satisfied scent of lust still clinging to him, mixed with Vanessa’s perfume—Clara nearly gagged.

Seeing Clara crying in the corner surprised him for a moment before impatience hardened his expression. “Why are you crying? Looking like that brings misfortune. It’s unpleasant.”

Clara snapped her head up, her bloodshot eyes blazing. She wiped her face roughly, her voice rasping like sand grinding against stone. “Get out. Get out!”

Liam merely scoffed, throwing a bundle at her—it was Noah’s stained bedsheet. The pungent smell hit instantly, the marks upon it unmistakable. Clara’s stomach churned violently, and she retched.

“Wash it,” Liam ordered with absolute authority. “Noah had delicate skin. You always washed by hand before—don’t be lazy and use the machine.”

Before? The word struck Clara like a knife. Before, she cleaned Noah’s sheets so carefully—with baby-safe detergent, gently working each spot, terrified of irritating his skin. But now, this sheet—tainted and defiled—no longer resembled anything from their past.

She suddenly grabbed the sheet and hurled it against the wall. The stain smeared across the pristine surface like an ugly scar. She screamed, breaking apart. “Get out! I said get out!”

Liam watched her hysteria, a glint of twisted amusement in his eyes. He stepped closer, towering over her, his voice taunting and cruel. “What are you pretending for? You used to cling to me most. What’s this—jealous now that I treat Vanessa well?”

He turned to leave, but his gaze caught the half-full suitcase in the corner. The earlier amusement vanished. Liam’s pupils contracted, his steps faltered. He whipped around, voice turning ice cold. “What’s that?”

Clara stiffened, instinctively shaking her head. “None of your concern.”

“None of my concern?” Liam stormed forward and seized her neck, squeezing so hard she thought her bones would snap. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with madness, possessiveness, rage. “Clara, you want to leave?”

“I’m telling you, impossible! You’ll never leave me in this lifetime!” His breath hit her face—heavy with alcohol and violence. “You killed my mother, spoiled Noah, and now you want to run? You caused unforgivable mistakes—you’ll take the punishment. You’ll stay by my side and pay for it—for life!”

The suffocation crashed down like a wave. Clara’s face flushed red, her hands clawing at Liam’s arm, nails digging into his skin. Only choked sounds escaped her throat. She stared at the man whose eyes once held only tenderness and saw nothing but brutality now—and her heart sank into bottomless despair.

“I… won’t… leave…” she forced out with the last thread of strength.

Liam loosened his grip. Clara collapsed onto the floor, coughing violently, tears and snot mixing as she gasped for air.

After a long moment, her coughing eased. Liam still stood there, eyes locked on the suitcase, not moving to leave. Clara took a shaky breath, swallowing down the metallic taste in her throat, her voice weak. “I was just… just organizing the room. Too many things. Wanted to sort them.”

Liam visibly relaxed, the insanity fading slightly, leaving only coldness. He stared at her for a long moment—as though verifying her words—before finally turning and slamming the door behind him.