###Chapter 2

Every time before I miscarried, Renaldo would bring me a bowl of brown "pregnancy-stabilizing medicine," personally feeding it to me with eyes full of pity.

"Be good, drink it, so the baby can grow properly."

I always obediently drank it all and smiled at him.

Those medicines were not for preventing miscarriage at all.

I stumbled out of the club and took a taxi back to collect my mother's belongings.

Pushing open the door, I saw a pile of baby toys neatly folded on the bed, along with a half-finished, pale yellow sweater.

My mother was preparing a gift for her grandson, whom she had never met, until her death.

That afternoon, she held my hand, her eyes shining with anticipation, "This time, my precious grandson will definitely be born healthy. Then I'll quit dancing, retire and become his nanny."

She handed me a bank card, "The Robbins Family is wealthy, but Renaldo works hard to support them. This is my life savings; give it to him for help, but don’t let him know."

Such a good mother, killed two days later by the driver Renaldo hired.

He even amputated her legs and gave them to someone else, lying to me that her legs were mangled beyond recognition.

I drifted off to sleep on my mother's bed and when I woke up at dawn, I clutched the unfinished sweater, tears streaming down my face.

"Mom... I'll make them pay for this in blood."

"Pay for what?" Renaldo's voice suddenly rang out from behind me.

He strode in and pulled me into his arms. "I've already dealt with the driver who caused the accident. Deana, you're pregnant; you can not be so agitated, it'll hurt your health."

This embrace, which I once cherished so dearly, now reeked of a nauseating perfume. I used all my strength to barely manage to pull myself out of his arms.

"Honey, I'm so tired... I want to be alone for a while."

He looked at me silently for a moment, his gaze falling on my swollen eyes, then turned and gestured towards the door.

A maid came in carrying a bowl.

The moment I saw that brownish hue, I involuntarily shrank back.

Renaldo's arms wrapped around my waist like iron hoops, immobilizing me. 

He ignored the fear spreading in my eyes, his voice cruelly calm, "Deana, drink your medicine to prevent miscarriage, then get some sleep."

"I won't drink it." I heard my voice tremble. "Please... Renaldo!"

The doctor warned me that another miscarriage might mean I could never get pregnant again. He knew better than anyone how much I longed to be a mother.

But he simply held the rim of the bowl to my lips, "Drink it, be good." 

Fear overwhelmed me and I screamed like a dying beast, "Renaldo, are you going to kill my child again?!"

He paused almost imperceptibly for a moment.

But the next second, with a single glance from Renaldo, two servants forced me down onto the bed.

He gripped my chin, prying open my tightly clenched teeth.

"Don’t be afraid," his breath brushed against my ear, his words icy and chilling, "No matter what happens, I will take care of you for the rest of my life."

The bitter liquid was forced down my throat.

The girl who had been completely devoted to him since she was fifteen was finally, in this moment, strangled to death by his own hands.

I vomited up the medicine and with my last breath screamed, "No, I will definitely leave you!"

His hand, which was wiping the medicine stains from the corner of my lips, suddenly froze. 

He looked at me with a complicated expression, as if he wanted to say something. Just then, his phone rang.

On the other end came Edwina's tearful cry, "Renaldo, my leg hurts so much, is something wrong? I'm so scared."

He glanced at the phone, then looked up at me and finally just tucked the blanket around me.

"There's an emergency at the company, I have to go. You get some rest."

I closed my eyes tightly and turned my back to him.

His footsteps faded away without hesitation.

I did not know how much time passed, but a sudden, excruciating pain, like my internal organs were being torn apart, surged from deep within my lower abdomen, more intense than ever before.

Before my consciousness was swallowed by darkness, I instinctively dialed his number.

"Renaldo... my stomach hurts so much... please... come back..."

His answer was so resolute, "The company is too busy, I can not leave. Have the driver take you to the hospital." 

Before I completely lost consciousness, a woman's short, soft moans on the other end of the phone were muffled by a hand.

###Chapter 3

When I opened my eyes again, all I saw was the stark white light of Robbins’ Hospital.

The doctor's pitying gaze fell on my face, "You were unconscious all day, finally awake. Luckily, the maid brought you in time, otherwise your life might have been in danger."

I struggled to sit up, desperately grabbing the doctor's white coat, "Doctor, how is my baby?"

He shook his head regretfully, "I'm sorry, the baby was gone when it arrived."

Although I was mentally prepared, I still felt excruciating pain, barely able to breathe.

The doctor sighed and left. Outside the quiet ward, the hushed but clear laughter of the nurses drifted in from the corridor.

"Miss Carpenter only twisted her wrist, but Mr. Robbins arranged for a helicopter to fly her over in the middle of the night. All the specialists in the hospital were called in for a consultation; the pain must have been excruciating."

"I heard that once Miss Edwina's leg is fully healed, they're going to hold their wedding on the Robbins Family's private island. The engagement ring alone is worth hundreds of millions; it's truly enviable..."

Lying in my hospital bed, listening to these words, I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen, the place that had just become empty.

Now she had recovered; they were finally going to be together.

What have I been to her these past two years?

"How pitiful you are, sister. Even after six pregnancies, they're all gone, aren't they?"

Edwina walked in, her high heels clicking. She deliberately pulled open her loose hospital gown, revealing mottled hickeys and stopped provocatively in front of the bed.

“I never expected him to be so ‘thirsty.’ We just spent the whole night together last night and he could not resist again today…”

She casually stroked her bitten red lips, “Honestly, everyone says their backs are going to break and he still keeps wanting more.”

My nails dug deep into my palms and I turned my face away, not wanting to acknowledge her.

Edwina’s voice was sweet yet cruel, “By the way, you don’t know yet if your mother’s death was not an accident, was it?”

“That driver who caused the accident was my simp. I casually said I disliked you and your mother and he actually ignored Renaldo’s order to only knock her unconscious and floored the accelerator… Hahaha!” 

My heart felt like it was being torn apart by an invisible hand. My eyes turned bloodshot and I lunged at Edwina.

“You bitch! Give me back my mother!”

But my wrist, which was swinging in mid-air, was suddenly grabbed. The next second, Renaldo, who had entered from outside, threw me aside.

I fell off the bed, my forehead slamming heavily onto the floor. In an instant, a sharp pain flashed through my vision.

Seeing me fall, Renaldo instinctively reached out, but before he could touch me, Edwina threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Renaldo, I'm so scared! My sister...she suddenly tried to kill me..." 

Renaldo tightened his arms around her, protecting her tightly. 

When he looked at me again, his eyes were filled with warning and impatience, "Deana, haven't you made enough of a scene! Edwina came to see you, not to be bullied by you.”

“How could you treat her so badly? Where is your upbringing?"

"My upbringing?" I felt it was all so absurd. 

I lay on the ground, pointing at Edwina, each word dripping with blood, "She killed my mother. What kind of upbringing do you expect me to have with a murderer?!"

"And you! My mother was so good to you, yet you had someone run her over and cut off her legs. Didn’t you think she would die with her eyes open?!" 

A flicker of panic crossed Renaldo's eyes, then he frowned impatiently, "Enough! You're just talking nonsense because you're overwhelmed with grief. If you continue to act unreasonably, do not blame me for being ruthless."

With that, he picked up Edwina and strode past me.

Blood from my forehead, mixed with tears, flowed into the corner of my mouth, a salty, metallic taste. I wiped the tears away violently with the back of my hand and slowly got up. “You took everything from me; you'll have to pay the price.”

I took a taxi to find the forensic pathologist who performed my mother's autopsy.

Once I got the autopsy report, the truth would come out.

###Chapter 4

But when I found the forensic pathologist in charge of my mother's case, the autopsy report he presented stated outright that my mother's car accident was an accident.

"Accident? But my mother's legs were both severed! Are you sure you have not made a mistake?"

I knelt down before the forensic pathologist, Dr. Smith, with a thud.

Dr. Smith avoided my gaze and awkwardly beckoned towards the door. Two security guards immediately stepped forward.

"Madam, please calm down. You say both legs were amputated, do you have any evidence?"

I was stunned. Renaldo had arranged my mother's funeral. 

He used the excuse that "the body was severely damaged and we could not bear to cause you any more distress" to prevent me from seeing her one last time. 

In the end, all I brought home was a cold urn of ashes.

Where was I supposed to find evidence? 

I clung to Dr. Smith's leg, kowtowing frantically, "You must have taken photos of the body, right? I beg you, only you can give my mother the truth."

"Thank you for your hard work, Dr. Smith. A small token of my appreciation has been transferred to your account."

A cold voice enveloped me from behind.

Renaldo.

My blood seemed to freeze instantly.

Had he already bribed everyone?

Seeing the still-damp bloodstains on my forehead and my deathly pale face, the man's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. He was about to say something when I swayed and stood up.

Pointing at each of them, I yelled, "You're all disregarding human life, turning black into white!"

Renaldo's eyes suddenly turned cold, "The forensic report is right here. It was clearly an accident. How long are you going to keep this up?"

"I'm not being unreasonable. Renaldo, don’t think you can cover everything up!"

Edwina timidly approached, her eyes slightly red. "Sister, I'm also very sorry about Auntie. How about this, I'll pay for Auntie's funeral expenses. Will that make you feel better?"

She feigned closeness, whispering with a soft laugh in a voice only we could hear, "One hundred dollars, is that enough to buy that old bastard's life?"

"You beast, give me back my mother's legs!" 

My reason completely collapsed. I lunged at her like a madman, but before my hand could even touch her clothes, she screamed, covered her face and fell into Renaldo's arms.

Renaldo, however, kicked me in the stomach.

I fell heavily to the ground, a tearing pain shooting through my lower abdomen, a warm liquid soaking through my pants.

I trembled uncontrollably in pain, but he would not even look at me, his attention fixed on the person in his arms, "Edwina, does it hurt?"

Edwina seemed to have swallowed a tremendous grievance, sobbing incessantly.

Suddenly, she pointed to the bloodstains spreading beneath me, her voice shrill, "Sister, why are you bleeding? It's disgusting, Renaldo, I'm scared."

Renaldo immediately covered her eyes with his hands, as if they were something filthy. 

He frowned and coldly ordered the bodyguard beside him, "Take her back. She's still restless after just having a miscarriage."

I was shoved into the car by the bodyguard and forcibly taken back.

After washing off the bloodstains, I staggered towards the glass house by the sea in the backyard, clutching the urn containing the ashes of my sixth child.

That was the house Renaldo had built especially for me. He said, "When you miss the children, come here and sit for a while, talk to them. This will always be their home."

Pushing open the door, as if possessed, I walked to the row of exquisite urns and randomly opened one.

There were no ashes inside.

There was only one thick notebook, every page filled with Renaldo's fervent love for Edwina.

I opened the second box with trembling hands; inside was a thick stack of receipts. 

Every time he lied to me about going on a business trip, he was actually taking her to the movies, to see the aurora borealis, on a cruise…

The third box, with a velvet lining, contained the princess crown he had custom-made for Edwina's coming-of-age ceremony.

In the fourth box lay the Robbins Family heirloom jade necklace I had longed for. It turned out he had already reserved it for another woman.

The fifth box contained a copy of a will. All of Renaldo's real estate was designated to be inherited by Edwina. The signing date was a week after our engagement.

Opening the newest urn, I found a pregnancy test inside; the two red lines stung my eyes. 

Underneath was a note, "Thank you for keeping it safe, sister. My baby should, of course, be placed where his brothers 'live,' it'll be more lively." 

He had only just given her my mother's leg and he was already impatiently getting her pregnant.

The only sound in the glass greenhouse was my own suppressed, broken breathing.

Suppressing the burning pain in my chest, I limped back to my room.