Before Ethel could finish speaking, Isabel cut in, saying, "Look, Walter. Mrs. Gray Senior's complexion doesn't seem too good. Maybe Alice hasn't been taking good care of her, or maybe Alice has been threatening her!"

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity.

"Ethel raised you herself, Walter, and you've been gone for five years. You know better than anyone why she's in poor health."

Scoffing derisively, Isabel walked up to me and said, "Don't you know why Walter left? You were the one who got in between Walter and me, ruining our relationship."

The moment she finished speaking, she shoved me violently. My belly hit a hospital gurney that was out in the hallway, and immediately, I felt a sharp pain shooting through me. Something warm began flowing down my leg.

Upon seeing that, Ethel became extremely anxious.

"We need a doctor, quickly! Nothing must happen to Alice's baby!"

A team of doctors and nurses quickly came over to check on me, but Walter roared at them, "Don't you dare! No one is allowed to check on her. I'm going to make sure she aborts that bastard kid today!"

Once Hugo signaled them, all of the doctors and nurses dared not move.

Isabel started mocking me again. "Who knows who the father of Alice's bastard kid is? How can she be shameless enough to ask the doctors from the family's private hospital to check on her when she cheated on Walter?"

Seeing that, Ethel frantically searched her bag for her phone to call for help. However, Walter got his bodyguards to snatch her phone away.

"What kind of spell did Alice put on you, Grandma? Why are you still trying to help her at a time like this?" Walter snapped. "I'm telling you right now, Grandma—I won't let that bastard kid survive."

Ethel was shocked beyond words. "Walter! I'm your grandmother! You won't even listen to me?"

After coming forward to help me up, she tried to lead me out of the hospital to take me to a different one for help, but the bodyguards stopped us.

"Walter, stop acting like a lunatic!" I snarled.

I held my stomach. It was incredibly hard for me to remain standing. I had broken out in a cold sweat.

"You don't have the right to harm my child. Let me go right now, or you won't be able to handle the consequences."

For a moment, Walter stared at me in silence. During this time, Isabel started a live stream using her phone. Then, she tiptoed and whispered something into Walter's ear. He took the phone from her and pointed it at me.

"Alice, since you refuse to comply with the more dignified method of getting a professional abortion from the hospital, then I'll resort to other means instead. I'll see to it that you remember the consequences of betraying me."

He got his bodyguards to tie me to a hospital bed.

My eyes widened in terror as I stared at the bodyguards, who were now holding bats. My hands and feet were bound, but I flailed around with all my might in an attempt to break free anyway.

I couldn't care about anything else now. I had no choice but to reveal the identity of the father.

"Have you lost your mind, Walter? I'm pregnant with—"

Before I could finish, Walter gave the signal, and a bodyguard swung a bat at me. Pain shot through my body, and I screamed in agony. My wrists and ankles began bleeding from the way I was struggling against my restraints.

"This is what happens when you sleep around behind my back and get pregnant with some bastard kid."

After hearing what was happening, the live stream viewers flooded the comments in agreement.

"One look and I can tell that woman isn't the faithful type."

"All cheaters should go to hell! Make sure she doesn't get off the hook so easily."

"What a shameless woman. Beat her to death! Let all the women watching see what happens when you cheat on your man."

Walter showed me the live stream.

"Not only did you cheat on me, Alice, but you even manipulated my grandma into helping you deceive me! I'm going to teach you a lesson today."

Back when the bodyguards were tying me up, Walter had ushered Ethel into a doctor's office on the side to keep her away.

Just as Walter's bodyguard was about to hit me with the bat again, a different bodyguard charged in and stopped him.

"Mr. Walter, you no longer have the authority to do anything to Ms. Carter. Things might go a little easier for you if you stop now and apologize to her," Peter warned.

When Isabel saw Peter, her expression darkened a little, but she didn't say anything. Meanwhile, Walter stared at Peter, the unexpected intruder, for some time before remarking, "You look a little familiar… I remember now. You're Jeremy's bodyguard."

Then, without warning, Walter grabbed the bat from the nearest bodyguard and smashed it against Peter's head. "You're just a goon we hired! How dare you touch my woman?"

Blood immediately spurted from Peter's head, and he collapsed to the floor. My heart dropped when I saw Peter, who had been my bodyguard for a while now, lie unconscious on the floor. I didn't even know if he was still alive. He'd been my only hope, and now, I had nothing.

"Walter, I beg you. I admit I made a mistake. Please just spare the child in my belly!" I cried in despair.

Walter glanced between the phone and me before instructing his bodyguards to untie me from the bed. "Kneel in front of me and tell me what mistake you made. If the live stream viewers forgive you, I'll let you go as well."

Supporting my agonizing belly, I got on my knees in front of him with great difficulty. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have cheated on you. I shouldn't have gotten pregnant. I'm despicable. But the child is innocent. Please spare the child."

Walter remained silent as he took in my pathetic display. He picked a viewer at random and allowed that viewer to connect their mic to the livestream. The viewer's furious voice rang out.

"She deserves to die! Kill her!"

Isabel walked over to Walter and said, "Walter, Alice still refuses to give up on the child or say who her affair partner is. It seems to me that she isn't sincere about owning up to her mistake."

Their words made all the color drain out of my face, but for the sake of my child, I had to do everything I could. Pushing through the pain, I shot to my feet and ran out of the ward. My only option was to escape from the hospital and ask someone to call the police for me. That would give my child a fighting chance to survive.

But just as I was about to reach the hospital entrance, Walter grabbed my hair from behind. He yanked me back with brutal force. I felt an excruciating pain coming from my scalp.

"I can't believe you're still trying to escape. You're not going to learn your lesson if I don't make sure it sticks."

While speaking, he handed me off to his bodyguards and had me tied up in the operating room.

"Cut the fetus out of her, doctor," Walter demanded.

When the medical staff attempted to give me a dose of anesthesia, he stopped them, saying, "Don't bother with the anesthesia. She's nothing but a shameless woman, and her baby's a bastard child."

Staring at the bright lights in the operating room, I said weakly, "You're definitely going to regret this, Walter."

"Maybe you'll be thanking me after this," he replied nonchalantly. "Don't you know? You're famous now. You'll be the first person in internet history to livestream your abortion."

I sank into utter despair. I kept apologizing to my child. I was too weak and powerless to save it.

I saw pity in the nurse's eyes, but all of the medical staff had no choice but to proceed with the surgery out of fear for their boss.

When the pain of the scalpel slicing through my skin hit me, I couldn't stop myself from letting out a heart-wrenching scream.

Annoyed, Walter stuffed a rag into my mouth.

All of a sudden, footsteps could be heard outside the operating room. Arthur Dixon, the Gray family's butler, came running in. When he saw the state I was in, he quickly shouted for the doctor to stop. By now, I was barely conscious. I couldn't feel anything apart from the pain.

Confused to see Arthur, Walter asked, "What are you doing?"

Arthur looked anxious as he declared, "You can't do this to Ms. Carter, Mr. Walter! You two have already gotten a divorce!"

Hearing that, Walter put the phone away before snarling through gritted teeth, "I never agreed to it, so it doesn't count! In any case, she cheated on me behind my back and got herself knocked up with some bastard child. Don't I have the right to teach her a lesson?"

Arthur had seen the live stream and the tragedy that was happening to me. The moment he found out, he immediately got in touch with his boss, Jeremy, and rushed over as well.

Just then, Jeremy appeared in the doorway. Walter was stunned to see that he had come. Isabel's face also lit up with delight.

Walter hurried forward to stop Jeremy from entering while saying, "Jeremy, you don't need to get involved in such an insignificant matter. You shouldn't come into the operating room either. It's full of germs and bacteria."

Isabel chimed in, "Although we've divorced, Jeremy, I still feel the need to help keep an eye on the things happening in this family. She cheated on Walter and even got herself pregnant!"

Jeremy's expression darkened, but he ignored them. He shoved past the two of them and hurried to the operating table. His eyes were filled with concern when he saw my pitiful state.

"Where's the hospital director? Get your ass here right now!"

Hugo, who'd been standing outside the operating room, ran in at once. "What's the matter, boss?"

Fixing his bloodshot eyes on Hugo, Jeremy snarled, "She's my wife. That makes her your boss too. You'd better arrange for the best surgeons to treat her now. If anything happens to her… Well, I'm sure you've heard about what I'm capable of."

Then, he shot a fearsome glare at Walter and Isabel, saying, "I don't have the time to deal with the two of you right now."

He had his bodyguards haul them back to the Gray family's memorial hall. It was where members of the family were punished as per the family's centuries-old tradition.

When Walter and Isabel realized that Jeremy was the father of my child, they were stricken with terror.

"How is that possible?"

"I can't believe Jeremy's the father!"

Isabel's voice was filled with regret and vicious resentment as she exclaimed, "Why didn't she say sooner that Jeremy's the child's father? She was trying to get us into trouble on purpose!"

Isabel's family, the Larsons, had once done the Grays a favor. Because of that, Isabel and Jeremy entered a contractual marriage for five years. During that time, if Isabel failed to get Jeremy to fall in love with her, the two would get an amicable divorce.

Over their five-year marriage, Isabel had witnessed Jeremy's ruthless methods firsthand. She had once been attracted to how decisive and merciless he was, but now, it made her fearful.

Walter and Jeremy didn't share the same mother. Jeremy was the son of their father's first wife and had been a golden child since birth. Meanwhile, Walter was the son of the second wife, who was just a gold digger.

Even from a young age, Walter had known that he and Jeremy were worlds apart. More importantly, the Gray family had dealings on both sides of the law, and Jeremy was known for his notoriety. Even among criminals, he had a reputation for being ruthless and cold-blooded.

It was rumored that he got to his position after killing their father. Anyone who offended him always ended up dying by suicide the next day.

Despite being in his 20s, Walter could count on a single hand the number of times he'd met Jeremy in person.

All in all, Walter and Isabel were both in awe of and feared Jeremy.

Standing outside the operating room, Jeremy silently waited for fate to take its course. He hoped that nothing would happen to the child and me.

At the same time, he regretted ever agreeing to keep the news of our marriage under wraps. He had used his connections to file the divorce between Walter and me. Walter didn't need to be present or even notified.

Out of concern for Ethel's age, he arranged for people to escort her back home for some rest.