I felt lightheaded and even taking just a few steps made me feel exhausted.

The doctor encouraged me to walk more. "Only when your body recovers will you be able to get pregnant again."

I asked the doctor, "Can I still get pregnant?"

The doctor could not meet my eyes.

Although I was under anesthesia at the time, I could still clearly remember hearing the doctor calling Elias in a panic, urgently telling him that I was bleeding heavily. "The situation is critical. Come over immediately."

But Elias told the doctor that he could not leave. "Clarissa still needs me. If I leave, she’ll completely fall apart."

The doctor had no choice and told him I needed a blood transfusion.

And the only one with a matching blood type was his beloved, Clarissa Marlowe.

"Just 200cc will be enough…"

But before the doctor could finish, Elias interrupted, "She just had a miscarriage herself. Her body is too weak to handle it."

Even though he could clearly hear the monitor beeping, alerting him that my heart rate was dropping, he still hesitated for a moment and said, "Clarissa won’t be able to endure the process."

In the end, I was forced to undergo a complete hysterectomy to get my uterus removed.

From that moment on, I lost the very right to be a mother.

The doctor sighed and advised me gently to take things more lightly, "You have another checkup today. Go on, hurry up."

He led me away.

I followed him in a daze.

Just as we passed the next room, I suddenly heard a familiar voice.

I turned my head abruptly and saw Elias softly feeding his precious one water and medicine.

His eyes were full of endless affection.

I think after I came out of the operating room, he never showed up, using the excuse that he was too busy. When he finally came, he just took a quick look and then left.

Yet, he had plenty of time to be by her side.

My heart felt like it was being gripped by an invisible hand. It hurt so much I could hardly breathe.

Elias hugged her gently and said tenderly, "I’ve already handled the media. That issue will never trouble you again."

The next moment, a news alert popped up on my phone. It reported that I had been assaulted abroad, became pregnant and was now secretly getting an abortion at the hospital.

As I scrolled down, there was a photo of me being wheeled out of the operating room.

There was even a document showing the surgical details of a uterine curettage.

Everyone began to curse me and spit on me.

More extreme fans rushed into the hospital and beat me up.

They believed I was the one who destroyed the childhood sweetheart romance between Elias and Clarissa. "That’s why you got raped!"

"If you hadn’t stolen their love, they would’ve been together long ago!"

"Even God couldn’t stand it anymore, so He punished you with this disaster!"

***

I was surrounded by people who cursed and condemned me.

But I was wronged at that time.

That day, the fire alarm in the hotel went off. I rushed out, wrapped in nothing but a bath towel and happened to bump into Elias Hawke, who was sitting directly across from me.

The bath towel fell into his arms and given the angle of the hallway, the scene looked compromising.

This moment was captured by a paparazzo and quickly spread all over the internet.

Rumors ran wild.

They called me a scheming woman who offered her cheap self willingly.

There were also reports claiming Elias had betrayed his childhood sweetheart of more than ten years and had an affair with me.

People said all kinds of vile things.

As a result, the Hawke Group's stock prices took a sharp hit.

To control the damage, the Hawke family forced Elias to marry me, which finally ended the scandal.

However, Elias hated me so much that on our wedding day, he cursed me for being shameless. "You really used every trick in the book just to marry me. You’re such a disgusting woman."

"Even if you married me, I won’t let things go your way. I’ll make you feel like an unwanted widow for the rest of your life."

On the wedding day, he left me to find Clarissa Marlowe and even sent me a photo of the two of them kissing in a hotel.

Suddenly, I became the laughingstock of the whole town.

Even now, nothing has changed.

Clarissa’s fans kept harassing me.

During the scuffle, I was pushed into a corner and hit the edge of a table, bleeding profusely.

Elias clearly witnessed the entire scene. He saw my embarrassment and helplessness, but he only frowned slightly before helping Clarissa leave.

He left me behind to be overwhelmed by crazed fans.

At that moment, I was utterly heartbroken.

I called someone and said, "You’re right. I lost the bet, so it’s up to you now."

"Then marry my son."

I responded numbly, "Okay."

"All right, I’ll have that kid come over right away."

Not long after, my hospital room was filled with flowers and all kinds of supplements.

There was even an entire medical team.

And my future husband, whom I had never met even once.

When he saw the injury on my forehead, he rushed forward and carefully bandaged it for me.

He also told me not to let it touch water for the next few days. "Otherwise the wound will get inflamed."

I asked the man, "Why are you here?"

He smiled and said, "You’re my future wife. Of course it’s my duty to take care of you."

Compared to the fact that Elias never showed up, his words made me realize just how foolish I had been.

"I know you’re not in the best mood right now, so I brought this for you."

He handed me a giant stuffed animal.

I was stunned before questioning him once again, "Why are you giving me this?"

He smiled and said, "Well, if a person really wants to know, then there is so many ways to find out."

He personally inspected my room and pointed out that those flowers were not suitable for a hospital ward. "You’re allergic to pollen. Smelling them will only make you feel worse. It’s better to throw them away."

When I heard that, my nose suddenly felt sore for some reason.

Those flowers were from Elias.

I had told him a long time ago that I was allergic to pollen and could not stand the smell.

However, he still sent them anyway.

I did not think he forgot. He just simply never remembered anything I said.

"Do you think you want to… throw them away?"

I nodded and said, "I'll do it."

Just like the relationship between him and me. It was better to get rid of this completely.

So, I threw the flowers out.

Elias happened to walk in and saw the scene. He frowned unhappily and said, "Didn’t you say you were dying after the procedure? You look fine to me now. You even managed to gather so many people around you."

He looked up at my fiancé and asked, "Who’s he?"

"It has nothing to do with you."

"Liora Keane, is this who you are now? You think you can talk to me like this?"

He stepped forward and grabbed my hand. "When you married me, didn’t you say you’d do anything for me? Now I asked you to have an abortion and you’re acting like it cost you your life?"

Did he still think I only lost a child, nothing else?

I found out from the doctor that the reason I got pregnant with just one attempt was because he had secretly given me a large dose of ovulation-stimulating drugs in advance!

Even though the medication was harmful to the body and could make me infertile for life, he did not care at all!

"Aren’t you just fine now? I know what you’re about to say. I’ll keep the promise I made to you before."

He pulled out an agreement and told me that once I recovered, he would be willing to cooperate with me in having a baby.

"But if Clarissa gets jealous, the method will have to be artificial, IVF."

In the end, he said, "You love me so much. A few more injections for me won’t matter, right?"

Staring at the humiliating agreement, I could not hold back my tears.

So, in his eyes, that was all my worth?

"That’s great. I have something for you too."

I handed him a divorce agreement. "Sign it."

Elias frowned, thinking I was just being difficult. "I’ve already given you a way out. Just stop it."

"If it weren’t for that photo, I would’ve been with Clarissa a long time ago and she wouldn’t have had to suffer so much. You only lost an unborn child, so why are you acting so heartbroken?"

"You want me to sign? Fine, I’ll sign it right now!"

He signed the divorce agreement without hesitation and left without looking back.

The doctor standing outside the door sighed. "I asked you to come here to comfort her, not to provoke her. How could you actually sign that agreement?"

"I just want to see how long she can keep up the act."

"What if you really get divorced?"

Elias looked at me with disdain. "She used every trick she had to marry me. How could a bootlicker like her be willing to get a divorce?"

So that was what I was in his eyes?

I laughed so hard that I forgot when I should be crying.

I wiped away my tears, took out my phone and posted a status. [I got divorced today.]

As soon as that went public, people began laughing at me.

[She must’ve been abandoned by her husband because of that scandal.]

[Come to think of it, what man can tolerate seeing his wife being humiliated like that?]

[And she was even pregnant. How embarrassing.]

***

Among all the comments, one in particular stood out.

It was from Cassian Rourke. [She wasn’t abandoned. She chose me. We’ll be getting married in three days and everyone is welcome to attend.]

I returned to the Hawke Family home and took back what was rightfully mine.

When I walked into the room, I saw the wedding photos still hanging on the wall.

My eyes could not help but feel sting.

In fact, Elias and I did have some sweet times after getting married.

Back then, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy and Elias had to bear the burden of supporting the entire family. It was an enormous pressure.

Every time he came home, he reeked of alcohol.

He went up to the rooftop in a daze and was about to jump off the building.

At the last moment, I held him back, stayed by his side and helped him get through the difficulties bit by bit.

Originally, he did not want to see me at all after the wedding, but after that incident, he took the initiative to say to me, "We didn’t take any wedding photos before. Why don’t we take them now?"

I would always remember how he clumsily helped me lift my long dress.

I also remember the moment when he was so nervous that he kept rubbing his hands together before bending down to kiss me.

But all of that was in the past.

I said, "Let's throw this away."

When I turned around, I saw Elias standing behind me. He spoke in an impatient tone, "Are you done acting like a child?"

"Clarissa saved my life back then. I need to repay her."

"You and I are husband and wife. You should support me instead of acting like a spoiled child."

"Her career has finally started to take off and she can’t be stuck here. She won’t be able to handle the blow."

"You know, when she called me that day, she was already standing on the rooftop. What was I supposed to do? Just stand by and watch her jump?"

"She’s a girl who was already devastated after going through something like this. Is it wrong for me to comfort her?"

There was no mention of love in any of his words, but every sentence dripped with affection.

He should ask himself. Hadn’t she received enough so-called comfort from him over the years?

Just because she enjoyed being the center of attention, Elias spent a huge amount of money to pave the way for her acting career.

Even when she failed at every stage of a production, she was still showered by his support.