Thinking of that, I took a deep breath and became even more certain of my decision.

Alaric no longer loved me, and I no longer needed to cling to him.

I loved him, but I loved myself and the child growing inside me even more.

I didn't want to keep tormenting myself or make my son suffer because of him anymore.

Looking at the triumphant expression on Delilah's face, I replied.

“No need. I have no interest in becoming the godmother of my husband's mistress's illegitimate child.”

My voice was ice-cold as I turned and headed back to my room.

Delilah immediately put on a wounded, fragile expression. Alaric seemed to say something to me in a stern voice, but I couldn't care less.

Quietly closing the bedroom door behind me, I began packing my belongings, taking only the things that truly belonged to me.

Everything Alaric had given me, from jewelry and clothes to shoes from luxury brands, I no longer wanted any of it.

In the past, those gifts had been proof of Alaric's love, evidence of how happy I had once been.

Now, they only served as reminders of how foolish I had been in love.

I packed everything into cardboard boxes, intending to have the maids throw them away later.

Click.

The sound of the door opening broke the silence.

Someone walked in and casually sat down beside me.

“Why are you throwing all these away, darling? Weren't these your favorite things?”

Looking at the gifts he had once given me now piled carelessly inside the boxes, Alaric frowned, and his voice turned slightly colder.

My hands never stopped moving. Nor did I spare him a single glance.

“Oh, those things are old now. I don't want them anymore. I'll donate them to an orphanage later.”

The scent that belonged to Delilah grew even stronger in the air as Alaric sat down beside me.

“Stop being so stubborn over Delilah. Estelle, haven't you always been reasonable? Why have you suddenly become like this?”

“You were deliberately mocking Delilah, and he'll be very hurt by that.”

Reasonable.

Again, it was that word.

Because I had been reasonable, I had forgiven Alaric for countless affairs.

Because I had been reasonable, I had personally delivered his mistress's baby and watched her move into our estate as though she were the true mistress of the house.

I was tired of being a reasonable fool.

Pretending not to hear him, I continued packing my belongings.

“You don't actually have to move out of the Vaughn estate. I'll talk to Delilah for you..."

“I can move out, Alaric. It's good for all three of us.”

I interrupted him coldly.

In response, I only heard a quiet sigh.

“Alright, darling. Then you'll have to endure some hardship for now. I'll make it up to you later.”

Make it up to me.

He had said those words so many times that I had lost count.

I bit down hard on my lip.

Suddenly, a gentle force caught my chin. Alaric leaned closer, intending to kiss me as he always did.

But the moment I thought about how many times those lips had kissed Delilah, all I felt was disgust.

My stomach twisted violently.

Clapping a hand over my mouth, I rushed into the bathroom and retched into the sink.

“Urgh... urgh...”

The bitter, acidic taste lingering in my throat only made me feel worse.

I retched for a long time, but nothing came up. My throat burned as though it had been set on fire.

“Darling, are you okay? Why has your morning sickness been getting so severe lately?”

Alaric hurried over and gently patted my back, his voice filled with concern as he patiently checked on me.

Exhausted, I shook off his hand and walked out of the room.

Heading downstairs, I intended to find one of the maids and ask about several keepsakes belonging to my late grandfather, which I had previously entrusted to them for maintenance.

But before I could do so, a sharp smell of something burning suddenly drifted into the air.

A warning bell rang in my mind. Without a second thought, I ran barefoot toward the source of the burning smell, straight into the garden.

Amid the flickering crimson flames, I caught sight of the red cover of my late grandfather's diary, along with part of a watch that had nearly been burned to ashes. Scattered within the fire were several other belongings that had once belonged to my grandfather.

My breathing seemed to stop. The blood in my veins turned cold, and my mind went completely blank.

Then, refusing to let myself stand there in shock any longer, I rushed to grab the watering can the maids kept in the garden and frantically poured water over the flames.

My tears mingled with the water streaming from the can as the fire gradually weakened, then finally died out.

All that remained were blackened objects, some of them already reduced to ash.

I hurriedly picked up my late grandfather's watch. The scorching heat radiating from the metal instantly burned my palm, but I clenched it tightly as if I could no longer feel the pain.

Only then did the panic raging inside me finally begin to settle.

I spun around abruptly, my eyes bloodshot as I glared at Delilah, who was standing nearby with a look of satisfaction on her face.

“Are you crazy? Why did you burn my things?”

“Who gave you permission to touch them? Who gave you permission to go through my belongings?”

I had only entrusted the watch and a pendant to the maids for maintenance. As for my grandfather's diary and several of his clothes, I had always kept them neatly stored away in my closet.

So the moment I saw them in the fire, I knew it had been Delilah who had gone through my things.

“Were you never taught that you shouldn't touch other people's belongings?”

As I gathered up the remaining items and clutched them tightly in my arms, I shouted at Delilah through gritted teeth.

Delilah merely crossed her arms and casually rubbed her still-flat stomach.

“Estelle, I was only helping you get rid of some old junk. Why are you getting so worked up?”

She let out a faint laugh.

“Besides, I just gave birth. The doctor said my health is weak, and I shouldn't be around dirty things.”

“I heard your grandfather used to be a waste picker to raise you. I was worried that the things he left behind might be dirty too..."

Smack!

Before she could finish speaking, I completely lost control and swung my hand across her face with all my strength.

A bright red handprint instantly appeared on Delilah's cheek, streaked with a few smudges of black ash.

She glared at me resentfully, her eyes burning with hatred.

“You bitch..."

She screamed through clenched teeth and strode toward me.

Just as she was about to raise her hand to strike me back, she suddenly dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

“Estelle, I'm sorry. I didn't know those were your grandfather's keepsakes. I just thought they were things nobody wanted, so I burned them.”

“It's fine if you're angry, but why did you have to hit me?”

Delilah's sobbing left me momentarily stunned.

Before I could understand what was happening, a powerful slap landed squarely across my face, sending me stumbling to the ground.

When I looked up, I saw the furious expression on Alaric's face.

“How could you hit Delilah? How have you become so unreasonable and vicious, Estelle?”

Alaric looked at me with irritation and disappointment before hurriedly helping Delilah to her feet. He pulled her into his arms and carefully wiped the dirt from her face.

Delilah sobbed pitifully, tears streaming down her cheeks, yet a triumphant smile flickered across her lips as she glanced in my direction.

“Alaric, don't be angry with Estelle because of me. Maybe my moving into Vaughn Manor has made her unhappy. She probably just wanted to vent her frustration.”

“I can endure it..."

Delilah's voice was soft and pitiful. Combined with her youthful, sweet-looking face, she appeared like the most wronged person in the world.

She sounded as though she were defending me, yet every word only made the situation worse.

The way Alaric looked at me grew even more resentful.

“Delilah, you don't need to defend Estelle.”

After soothing Delilah in a gentle voice, Alaric suddenly turned cold and snapped,

“Estelle, apologize to Delilah right now!”

I tightened my grip on the belongings in my arms. The burns on my hands had already blistered, and my voice came out thick with emotion.

“Alaric, I hit Delilah because she burned my grandfather's keepsakes first.”

My eyes reddened the moment I mentioned my grandfather.

“She even insulted my grandfather, saying he was nothing more than a waste picker..."

During the years of my childhood, when my parents divorced and abandoned me, it was my grandfather who pinched every penny to raise me and put me through school.

To earn enough money for my college tuition, he had even collected scrap and recyclables, working tirelessly just to make a few extra dollars.

It was the most painful and helpless memory of my entire life, and Alaric knew that better than anyone.

He also knew exactly how important my grandfather was to me, and how much I cherished everything that had belonged to him.

Especially the diary I had once shown him.

Inside were the stories of my childhood, the record of my growing years, and countless gentle words of love written by my grandfather himself.

He knew all of it.

For a brief moment, I had thought that no matter how much he loved Delilah, he would still be a reasonable man. I had thought he would stand on my side.

But the moment he spoke, he shattered the last remaining piece of hope I had left.

“Delilah only misspoke. Stop making such a big deal out of it.”

Alaric's voice was icy cold as he lazily glanced at the belongings in my arms, half-burned and reduced to ashes, his eyes filled with disdain.

“Delilah didn't do it on purpose. She's already explained herself.”

“And besides, keep these filthy things away from her from now on. She's still weak..."

Bitterness surged up my throat, and I let out a mocking laugh.

“Alaric, how did I never realize before that you're such a bastard?”

“They were my grandfather's keepsakes!”

I practically growled the words through clenched teeth.

“Do you remember kneeling in front of him and promising that you would protect me for the rest of my life?”

“He hasn't even been gone for three years, yet you've allowed your mistress to burn everything that belonged to him and torment his granddaughter like this?”

“Do you even have a heart?”

My voice was hoarse and sharp as I stared straight into Alaric's eyes, mocking him without restraint.

For a brief moment, surprise flashed across his face. His lips parted as though he wanted to say something.

However, Delilah suddenly let out a sob.

“Alaric, ouch... my stomach hurts so much...”

“Maybe the fall earlier injured me..."

Delilah doubled over, panting heavily as she clung to Alaric's arm.

The trace of guilt that had appeared in Alaric's eyes vanished completely. Supporting Delilah, he immediately swept her into his arms.

Then he glared at me and shouted.

“The maids!”

“Lock Estelle in the storage room immediately! Until she apologizes, don't let her out!”

His voice was vicious to the extreme.

The maids rushed forward at once and grabbed hold of me so tightly that I couldn't struggle free. All I could do was desperately protect the belongings clutched in my arms.

“Alaric, how dare you? I still have to go to the hospital and work!”

I shouted in protest, but he didn't care at all.

“I'll request leave for you. Now be a good girl and reflect on your mistakes.”

He signaled to the maids before carrying Delilah away without another glance.

As for me, they dragged me off like a chicken and threw me into the dark storage room.

Thud.

The pain from hitting the floor made cold sweat break out across my body.

Then came a click.

As the door slammed shut, the room was swallowed by complete darkness.

The musty scent of dust filled my lungs, making me cough violently.

Slowly pushing myself up from the floor, I carefully ran my fingers over the belongings in my arms.

The watch still retained a trace of warmth from the fire.

Half of the diary had already been reduced to ashes, and one side of the watch face had been burned black.

Beside them were several old pieces of clothing, shriveled and twisted from the flames.

Tears slipped silently down my cheeks as the dull ache on my face left me utterly exhausted.

Alaric hadn't always been like this. In the past, he was really gentle.

If I mentioned craving pastries from a bakery on the outskirts of the city, he would drive for two hours through the rain in the middle of the night just to buy them for me.

If one of his friends mocked me, he would immediately turn against that person and even use his influence to make that friend's company suffer.

I once believed I was the happiest woman in the world.

But after Delilah appeared, everything changed.

He would leave home in the middle of the night because of a single phone call from her.

He would abandon me on my birthday.

He would leave me to attend prenatal checkups alone.

For her, he had forgotten everything about Jamie.

About the pitiful first child we had lost.

How ridiculous.

Now, he couldn't even remember who that name had belonged to.

...

For the next six days, I was almost completely cut off from the outside world.

Each day, I survived on a few slices of stale bread that the maids casually tossed to me.

Along with a small amount of water placed in a dog's water bowl.

"Young Mistress said that's all you deserve."

Now, every maid in the mansion had begun calling Delilah "Young Mistress," while I was nothing more than an unwanted outsider.

My stomach cramped relentlessly from hunger, but I had no choice except to pick up the bowl and drink.

I was pregnant.

I had to eat and drink properly.

I couldn't allow my body to deteriorate.

The more Delilah wanted to destroy me, the more determined I became to protect my baby.

On the seventh day.

As I lay weakly on the floor, the sound of a key sliding into the lock echoed through the room.

A thin beam of light spilled in from outside. The sharp click of high heels followed, accompanied by a malicious female voice.

"Oh, how pitiful, Estelle. Once a respected obstetrician, and now you're no different from a dog."

"Actually, maybe you're even worse off than a dog. At least stray dogs are free to roam the streets."

Exhausted, I slowly lifted my head.

Delilah stood against the light, a baby cradled in her arms. Step by step, she approached me, her voice bright and piercing.

"How does it feel to be abandoned, and no one cares whether you live or die?"

"In the end, I'm still the one who came to visit you. Aren't you touched?"

Looking at the smug expression on her face, I forced myself to sit up. But after days of hunger, my body had long since run out of strength.

A wave of dizziness hit me without warning. The world spun, and darkness clouded my vision.

"Get out."

"I don't want to see you."

Faced with my feeble resistance, Delilah merely let out a mocking laugh.

"I came to set you free. If you're not grateful, fine. Why are you so angry?"

"What do you want?"

I asked through gritted teeth.

I stared at Delilah warily, every nerve in my body on high alert. But she merely shrugged.

"Nothing, hmmm...."

She smacked her lips lightly.

"I was just thinking... if my son becomes Alaric's only child, then no one will be able to fight him for the inheritance in the future, right?"

A chill shot down my spine.

Instinctively, I wrapped both arms around my stomach as Delilah's gaze slowly dropped to my abdomen.

Panic surged through me as I staggered backward. My heart pounded so violently it felt as though it would burst out of my chest.

My baby.

The only thing I had left in this world.

The only relative I had left.

"You can't hurt my son."

The smile on Delilah's lips deepened. Calmly, she let out a whistle.

Two large maids stepped into the room. Their faces were unfamiliar to me, I had never seen them.

"Help me get rid of the bastard growing inside that bitch."

Delilah's voice was icy, as though it had risen straight from hell itself.

My heartbeat nearly stopped. Bracing myself against the floor, I forced myself upright and tried to flee with the last bit of strength I had left.

But one of the maids reacted faster.

She grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked hard, as if she intended to tear my scalp off.

"Stay away from me!"

"Get the hell away from me!"

One maid swiftly pinned my arms behind my back while the other dragged me by the hair.

I was hauled out into the hallway like a slaughtered animal.

Alarm bells rang wildly inside my head. I struggled desperately, but it was useless.

In return, one of the maids slapped me twice across the face. The force was so brutal that my scalp went numb.

Pain exploded across my cheeks, making even breathing feel unbearable.

Several times, I tried to plant my feet and stop moving.

Each time, I was met with a vicious kick that nearly sent me crashing to the floor.

Step by step, I was dragged closer to the grand staircase.

My vision blurred. My body turned ice-cold.

The blood in my veins seemed to freeze.

"No..."

"I'm pregnant."

"If you do this, you're committing murder."

My voice trembled so violently that it came out hoarse and broken.

The moment I lifted my head, I met Delilah's gaze.

Holding the baby tightly in her arms, she looked down at me with undisguised amusement.

"Hurry up."

She urged them impatiently.

At that exact moment, the maids released me.

Then a tremendous force slammed into my back. My body instantly lost its balance.

I pitched forward as the world spun violently around me.

Instinctively, I wrapped both arms around my stomach. The next second, I tumbled down the staircase.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Each impact felt as though every bone in my body was being shattered and pieced back together again.

My screams echoed through the mansion, mingling with the sickening sounds of flesh and bone crashing against marble.

Blood streaked across the stairs.

A shocking, glaring red.

"Ah! Estelle, don't push me!"

Suddenly, Delilah's shrill scream rang out.

A figure appeared within my blurred vision.