Vera panicked. "Orion, why are you keeping this gold-digger? Isn’t she bad luck?"

Orion merely kept kissing Vera’s hair, again and again. "Baby, don’t you think it’s interesting to keep her here and let her watch how affectionate we are? Baby, I’m not done playing yet. Let’s go for another round, okay?"

A rag had been stuffed into my mouth. I could only watch helplessly as the man who had once loved me for five years now held another woman and tangled with her in passion.

Time passed, second by second. Orion showed no intention of getting up. Instead, he carried out wave after wave of deliberate, extravagant psychological humiliation against me.

Three hours had already passed since I came to find him. I had no phone, no way to contact Mrs. Hale, no way of knowing what was happening at the hospital.

Thinking of her bearing everything alone, I closed my eyes in despair.

I didn’t know how much time passed before the sound of a phone ringing pulled me out of unconsciousness.

It was Vera’s phone.

A heavy voice came from the other end. "Hello, is this Miss Rhodes? We haven’t been able to reach Mr. Hale. Please inform him to come to the hospital immediately.

"Mr. Hale has passed away despite resuscitation efforts. Mrs. Hale’s mental state is extremely unstable and requires a family member to sign for surgery."

Vera let out a mocking laugh. "Isn’t it boring to use the same trick twice? Break it up already. Lyra doesn’t even have the money to pay you acting fees. Why work so hard putting on a show for her?"

I struggled and whimpered behind the gag, clinging to the hope that a miracle would happen and that Orion would believe it this time and rush to the hospital to save Mrs. Hale.

Just as Vera was about to hang up, Mrs. Hale’s voice came through the phone.

"Orion, come quickly and see your father one last time! Come now!"

Orion suddenly grabbed Vera’s hand, his face drained of color. "Wait… that was my mother’s voice?"

Vera hung up the call and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Orion, AI technology is so advanced these days. It’s probably just their little trick. AI-generated audio, you know? Just to lure you over and make you pay for surgery."

Orion thought about it for a moment, then lifted his hand and lightly flicked Vera’s nose.

"My baby really is smart. You’re right. Mom would never sound as hysterical as that woman on the phone. I almost got fooled by Lyra again. Come on, let’s continue."

However, that short audio clip haunted Orion. He tried several times but couldn’t summon any further interest.

He spat in irritation, abruptly grabbed his shirt, and pulled it on. Then he roughly yanked me down from the window pillar.

Orion’s gaze was dangerously cold. His teeth were clenched as he spoke in a chilling voice, "Lyra, if I go and find out you were fooling me, I’ll kill you."

He sped to the hospital. The moment he rushed through the entrance, he saw Mrs. Hale being wheeled into the operating room.