Margot reached out her index finger and put it on his lips, shaking her head. "No, Cornell, if I don't leave, what about Hailey?"

Hearing her mention my name, Cornell was stunned for a moment and then his face darkened.

"She? She's just saying breaking up with me out of spite. When the baby is born, she'll ask me to come back and help take care of the baby. She's a daughter of a merchant family, she only cares about profit, she doesn't have any dignity."

"Have you forgotten how she rushed to be my girlfriend? That disgusting face of hers makes me sick just thinking about it now."

My tears silently fell down.

It turned out that my brave confession back then disgusted him for so many years.

The Leander Family were renowned expert in language and literature in Rivendell and Cornell was the youngest professor of language and literature in Rivendell.

Five years ago, he came to my father, Edward Wijnbergen, with a handwritten book, asking him to invest in Brainwave Academy.

My father praised him highly and specially introduced him to me.

I fell in love with him at first sight, then in order to be close to him, I insisted on learning literature from him.

He was so angry that he pointed at me and yelled. "Stupid, no talent!"

I smirked and said, "Then you can be my boyfriend, we can complement each other perfectly."

He glanced at Margot who was writing with her head down, then suddenly held my hand and chuckled to himself. "Okay."

I jumped up and hugged him with joy, completely ignoring Margot rushing out and his instantly stiff arms.

Now, I understood, the one in his heart had always been Margot.

No wonder later he refused to teach me literature and even refused to let me step into his study.

My heart felt uneasy and I was about to turn around and leave, but I remembered my mother's hand-sewed quilt. I couldn't throw it away.

"Hailey!" Cornell suddenly turned his head and sneered. "What are you doing standing sneakily at the door? I threw all the things away for you and now you regret it?"

I tightly held my palm and said, "Where's my quilt? Give it back to me."

He was stunned for a moment, his face even colder. "A torn quilt, do I care about it?"

"It's my mom's hand-sewed quilt." My voice began to tremble. "Give it back to me! And I'll leave right away."

Seeing that I was about to cry, he frowned and said, "You're crying! Are you sick? Is it that important?"

"It's important!" I yelled, tears finally streaming down my face.

He impatiently tugged at his tie, as if trying to say something but stopping himself.

Margot on the side seemed to remember something and quickly spoke up, "Hailey, stop yelling at my brother. I already asked the servants to put your belongings in the guest room."

She gently stroked her belly with her fingers and tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

"Hailey, can you stay here? If it's because of this child ... I can abort him. His coming here was a mistake and none of you welcome him ...."

Before she could finish her words, she was already crying uncontrollably.

"I won't allow it!"

The man's voice was almost out of control. He trembled as he hugged her tightly in his arms, then turned around and stared at me fiercely.

"She can leave as far as she wants, but she can't touch my child! You and the child are everything to me now!"

"Hailey, if that's the reason why you came here, please get out of here!"

I sneered and walked straight to the guest room.

The quilt was thrown on the ground at random, covered with stains and vomit and the original flower embroidery became dirty.

My fingers trembled as I pointed to the quilt. "Margot, explain it!"

She timidly shrank her neck and replied, "I didn't mean to, I just had a sudden nausea ...."

She bent down to pick it up and said, "Hailey, don't be angry, I'll help you wash it clean."

But as soon as she bent down, she cried out in pain.

"Ah! My stomach hurts."

Cornell immediately rushed over and pushed me to the ground.

The back of my head hit the leg of the bed hard and at the moment of the sharp pain, warm liquid flowed down my forehead.

I bit my lip without making a sound. I just looked at him with a smile, trying to see clearly whether he had any heart or not.

He hugged Margot, his cold and stern eyes filled with extreme disgust.

"How much? I'll pay for it! I'm begging you, stop messing around! Do you feel a sense of accomplishment when you torture me and Margot with such insignificant things?"

I felt like I had a hole in my heart.

He used to treat me coldly, but he never looked at me with such gaze. He must hate me now.

I suddenly found it extremely boring, why bother annoying him here?

I compromised.

It stained with blood and vomit, dirty, I didn’t want it anymore.

And, I didn't want the man either, dirty and disgusting.

I propped myself up and spoke, "Cornell, I'm not short of money."

Then, I left, but he suddenly grabbed me, with a helpless look on his face. "You're not in a good mood today. You better go back to the Wijnbergens' house and I'll come pick you up in three days."

I shook off his hand and left quickly.

In a home we had been living for several years, I was ultimately just a passer-by.

In the Wijnbergen Family's house.

I had already explained the farce at the wedding to my parents.

Seeing me back home, my mother breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hailey, I should be grateful to God! If you found it out after you got married, what would you do?"

"The Leanders always complains about us businessmen being greedy for money, but their academic family has raised such a shameless person!"

My father let out a light sigh and said, "Alright, stop talking about it. Our dear daughter is feeling uncomfortable. I've already asked my assistant to withdraw our investments from Brainwave Academy and from now on, the Wijnbergens and the Leanders will have nothing to do with each other!"

Then, just as I remembered and hesitated to mention about Jeremiah Lynch, my mother suddenly brought him up. "By the way, Jeremiah came here today and even brought some gifts."

She took out a velvet box from the drawer of the coffee table. "He's quite fast," she said as she handed it to me, "Here you are."

When I opened the box, I found a pair of diamond bracelets passed down from his ancestors.

Only then did I truly realize that Jeremiah was serious about the wedding three days later.

At night.

Margot sent me a message.

[Hailey, please come back.]

[I'm moving out now and I don't want the child anymore.]

[Your five-year relationship with Cornell can't be ruined because of me, as I'll feel guilty for the rest of my life.]

I stared at the screen and sneered. If she had to make a scene, she could go find her brother. Why bother looking for me?

I replied with four words. [Do as you wish.]

Then, I simply blocked her.

I leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window in a daze, feeling a little melancholy.

Soon, my ringing phone broke my daze and Jeremiah's video call invitation pooped up.

"Hailey!" His eyes sparkled on the screen. "Give me a heart!"

I froze. "Why suddenly ...."

A heart? So tacky.

"I don't care," he said, leaning closer to the camera, "I want it now."

Amused by his childish expression, I helplessly made a quick heart shape with my hands and got goose bumps all over myself.

He immediately covered his heart, closed his eyes and made an exaggerated intoxicated expression.

When he opened his eyes, he suddenly blinked his right eye at me.

But, for some reasons, my heart skipped a beat.

"Hey! Look out the window! Here's a gift for you."

He ordered me with a chuckle and the video call came to an abrupt end.

The night sky outside suddenly lit up.

Hundreds of drones formed a flashing heart, which then transformed into a line of words. [Happy Birthday, Hailey.]

Tears instantly blurred my sight.

Today's farce made me even forget my own birthday.

But he still remembered it. Even though it sounded a little rustic, I felt his sincerity and I liked it very much.

As for Cornell, every year on my birthday, he would just pick up a brush and paint the words "Happy Birthday", not even mentioning my name.

"My painting and writing have collection value." He explained every time. "If I put your name on them, no one will be willing to collect them."

This year, he simply said, "I’m too busy preparing for the wedding, so I don't have time celebrating your birthday."

However, the so-called preparations for a wedding, I tried over twenty stores alone to choose a wedding dress.

I compared over thirty quotations to book a hotel.

I stayed up the whole night writing more than 300 handwritten letters to send out the invitations.

The only thing he participated in was when I tried on the main veil. He barely spared five minutes to come over, but he kept staring at his watch the whole time.

It turned out that he didn't love me and there had been signs of it all along.

My heart suddenly tightened, then I quickly raised my head and blinked.

I had shed too many tears today, at least, on my birthday, I wanted to save a last bit of dignity for myself.

In my sleep, my phone vibrated and I pressed the answer button in a half-conscious.

Cornell's roar could be heard from the other end of the phone. "Hailey, hurry and come to the hospital! Something happened to Margot."

I instantly woke up. Could it be that the message she sent was serious?

I didn't even change my clothes and rushed out wearing pajamas and slippers.

As soon as I arrived to the ward, I saw Margot leaning against the head of the bed and Cornell was gently peeling an apple for her.

The two of them spent their time peacefully, while I slipped out with half of my foot in slippers, like a clown.

Seeing me appear, he suddenly jumped up and dragged me to the bedside, ordering. "Kneel down and apologize to Margot!"

I looked up in shock, but before I could react, my leg suddenly got hit hard.

My knee hit the ground hard and the excruciating pain made me unable to move for a moment.

"Cornell! Are you crazy?" I stared at him fiercely.

His eyes were filled with terrifying anger, he said, "Margot cut her wrist! It almost killed two people! Don't say I'm crazy, I really want to kill you now!"

Margot started sobbing at the right moment and said, "Cornell, I sent a message to Hailey, apologizing, but she blocked me. She must hate me to death. And she doesn't want to see me again, does she? So what's the point of me living ...."

Even though I did hate her, I didn't want to cause any harm.

I quickly looked up at her. I noticed a half centimeter long wound on her wrist that had been treated with iodine and had already scarred.

Is this a suicide cut wound?

I felt a sense of sadness in my heart and I pursed my lips.

"Cornell, if I come here tomorrow, will her wounds heal?"

He was furious. "Hailey! How could you be so vicious? If I hadn't discovered it in time ... do you know what consequences a pregnant woman have to lose too much blood?"

It was probably what it meant to be too concerned.

A small wound made him flustered, but he turned a blind eye to the blood flowing from my forehead.

He must be terribly in love with his adopted sister.

My heart sank and I furrowed my brow, not saying a word.

It seemed to completely infuriate him. He threw the fruit knife at me and said angrily.

"Since you don't even care about her, then cut the same wound and feel the pain yourself. You owe it to Margot!"

I looked at him in disbelief. He was the man I had loved wholeheartedly for five years.

I felt chill in my heart.

It was just a knife, wasn't it? I could just give it back to her.

Lowering my eyes to hide the tears, I picked up the knife and gently cut my wrist.

Margot screamed in fear.

I struggled to stand up and held my hand in front of Cornell, saying, "Is that enough?"

Blood kept dripping down.

He glanced at me with disdain.

He then turned around to comfort the frightened sister, cursing under his breath.

"Who told you to go so deep? You're so hopelessly stupid."

I smiled helplessly and stumbled to the door.

He suddenly said, "Hailey, go reflect on yourself in your family's house! I will come to pick you up in three days."

I laughed so hard that tears streamed down my face.

Cornell, we would never see each other again.