Until the next afternoon, Tobias Ryan was nowhere to be found.

Aware of the chills that often accompany recovery after childbirth, I bundled myself up, feeling frail and devoid of strength, as I completed the discharge process. To my surprise, I encountered Tobias and Marleigh Wagner in the elevator.

"Tobias, I can walk to the exam room by myself. You don't need to carry me," Marleigh giggled, her tone playfully shy. "Put me down; it's too embarrassing."

"Stop fussing," he said, his voice tender and caring.

The elevator was spacious, yet I found myself huddled in a corner, leaning weakly against the railing. As I lifted my head, my eyes met Tobias's tall, broad figure, cradling the petite Marleigh in his arms. Once, just a glance at him would fill me with happiness and excitement; now, it felt like a dagger piercing my heart.

Nearby, a doctor quipped, "Your husband treats you really well, doesn't he?"

Marleigh playfully sighed, "Oh, really? He's so strict with me. He hasn't taken his eyes off me since yesterday. No phone, no takeout, and I'm not even allowed to take a single step out of bed."

Tobias looked down at her. "If you don’t take care of yourself, you'll feel worse later, and it would hurt me even more."

Their light-hearted banter brought smiles to everyone in the elevator—everyone except me. I felt like I was drowning, desperately looking at Tobias.

So, this is where he's been all this time, by Marleigh's side.

He is capable of caring, but it’s directed at someone who isn’t me.

He had forgotten he had a wife who had just given birth, a wife who was left weak and mourning the loss of their child, a wife who needed care too. As he said, Marleigh mattered more than anything else.

This façade of a marriage needed to end.

I took a cab home alone.

Just when I thought my heart was utterly broken, I saw the crib in the room and felt a wave of hopelessness that suffocated me. I curled up on the floor, trembling all over, and cried until my heart felt like it was tearing apart. My little Emma, it's all my fault. I couldn't protect you.

In my haze, I recalled how Tobias Ryan never wanted to accompany me to baby stores. At the time, I assumed it was just a man disliking shopping. Now I realized he never intended for Emma to have a future. A bitter smile crossed my face as I fought against the pain of despair and printed a copy of the divorce papers.

The social media account I hadn't logged out of pinged with Marleigh Wagner's latest update. She posted a picture of a table full of healthy meals, captioned: "Someone's really going overboard! It's just a minor procedure, but they seem to want to fatten me up like a pig!"

Having gone all day without food, I rubbed my stomach that was aching with hunger and hastily made some instant macaroni and cheese. In the evening, Tobias finally called, frustrated and demanding to know where I had gone. Upon learning I was home, he scolded me, "You're a grown woman and always making people worry. Take a cab to the family estate; Mom wants us to come over for dinner tonight."

"I'm exhausted, and I don't want to go..." I started to say.

"You have to come." He cut me off, "Kinley, don't upset Mom."

The call ended. Before it disconnected, I heard a sweet voice on the other end, "Toby, kisses and hugs."

I forced a bitter smile, grabbed the divorce papers, and took a cab to the estate. The driveway was filled with parked cars. Turns out the drivers were all home, but I wasn’t important enough for them to pick up.

As I pushed open the door, I saw Tobias and Marleigh sitting on either side of his mother, Julie Ortiz, laughing and chatting like a family. Marleigh was dressed in designer clothes, looking surprisingly well for someone who had just had surgery. In contrast, I was still wearing the oversized and wrinkled hospital clothes, my complexion pale as a ghost. Knowing she bore my baby's kidney, I glared at her with hatred.

Marleigh sprang to her feet, looking timid, "Kinley, don't be mad, come sit here."

"Marleigh, sit down, be careful with your stitches," Tobias shouted anxiously, glancing at me with disdain. "Kinley, why the long face? You're here to join Mom for dinner, and you drag your feet until now. Marleigh just had surgery and is still recovering, yet she's been keeping Mom company. You're ungrateful and throwing a tantrum at her. Apologize to Marleigh right now."

"Toby, it's okay." Marleigh quickly reddened her eyes, "Kinley's not doing it on purpose. She just dislikes seeing me close to you. You're the family; I'll just leave."

"No, if anyone leaves, it's her!" Julie Ortiz pulled me closer and slapped me, "What a curse, can't even give us a proper child. How did our family end up with someone like this?"

"Tobias, what's the point of keeping someone who only brings disgrace to our family? Divorce her and throw her out."

Tobias hesitated but quickly spoke up, "Mom, Kinley didn't mean to. She was careful with her diet during pregnancy; the baby just had congenital issues..."

"Enough! I don't want to hear it. Tell her to get lost!"

I was shoved out, tripping and landing on the ground.

Tobias chased after me, "Kinley, Mom's extremely upset over Emma, she's just angry. Don't blame her."

I shook my head; it didn't matter anymore. I was leaving anyway.

Tobias sighed in relief, smiling, "I knew it, my wife is the most understanding. I'll talk to Mom, don't be sad. Come on, I'll take you home."

He helped me up.

Suddenly, a piercing cry from Marleigh rang out from inside, "Toby, my stitches hurt!"

His hold on me loosened abruptly, shoving me hard into the doorframe. When I looked up again, all I saw was Tobias lifting Marleigh in his arms, his face fraught with worry, as he hurried upstairs, instructing the butler to call the doctor immediately.

I stood there like a fool at the doorstep, as a few servants bumped into me on purpose, loudly mocking me right to my face.

"Hmph, a crow trying to become a swan, doesn't even look at herself in a mirror to see if she measures up."

"She thinks she can become the lady of the house just because Miss Marleigh went abroad to study, and she managed to worm her way into the master's bed?"

"She's not even worthy of being the dirt under Miss Marleigh's nails."

No, it's not true, it's not like that.

I was also the one Tobias prepared 999 roses for, kneeling on one knee to propose. I was married officially, brought into the family with honor. Has everyone, even he, forgotten?

Countless experts worked late into the night to ensure Marleigh Wagner's health was perfect. They even conducted a routine urine test before Tobias Ryan arranged for a helicopter to escort her back.

Invisible to everyone, I dozed on a garden chair until midnight, shivering from the cold, completely overlooked.

Hoping for a ride home, I headed upstairs to ask Tobias to arrange a driver for me.

To my shock, I overheard Marleigh’s playful voice coming from the bedroom.

"Toby darling, I really want it, just for a little while, please?"

Tobias hesitated, "Marleigh, let's not. You've just had a kidney transplant; if I'm too rough, it could harm you..."

"Don't worry about me, Toby! Aren't you frustrated that Kinley is pregnant? I want to make you happy. Don't you want me, Toby?"

"And don't worry about the kidney failing; Kinley can just have another baby for a new one, right?"

Tobias eventually relented, "True, she’s in great health. She could definitely have more kids."

"Then I'll start getting undressed, just to be respectful."

Feeling sick to my core, I couldn’t listen anymore and fled downstairs, tears streaming uncontrollably.

Tobias, that was our bedroom! Our wedding photo still hung above the bed. How could he betray me like this with Marleigh right there?

How could he live with himself, turning our child into her life-support system?

I sat in the garden, heartsick and lost, until suddenly a bucket of cold water was dumped over my head.

Marleigh appeared with a mocking smile. "Kinley, you look just like a drowned rat now."

“Your husband’s very handy. Your daughter’s kidney was quite handy too.”

"But your daughter was so unlucky. Toby was worried the anesthesia would harm the kidney, so he told the doctor not to use any. The little girl cried so much during the surgery."

"They said she was still gasping when they cremated her."

Every part of me felt as if it was being torn to shreds, a pain so intense I wished for death.

My sweet Emma must have been so terrified, so hurt.

She was a living, breathing soul, my precious child whom I carried for ten months, Tobias’s own daughter. How could they so callously strip away her life and speak of it with such indifference?

They are murderers, every one of them!

I lunged at Marleigh, wanting to throttle her for my Emma’s sake.

But Marleigh slammed herself against a stone pillar and screamed, "Help!"

Suddenly, a brutal force hurled me to the ground.

Tobias cradled Marleigh and turned to me, furious. "Kinley, how dare you harm Marleigh? Do you think I’ll let you leave this estate alive?"

Marleigh sobbed in his arms, breathless between sobs. "Toby, I just wanted to keep Kinley from catching a chill, and she tried to kill me."

"I should never have intruded on your family. Toby, send me away. Don’t be so good to me anymore."

Tobias held her close, glaring at me with ferocity.

"Kinley, if you’re going to lose it, do it elsewhere! You can’t act like this here!"

"Marleigh’s been part of this family longer than you. She’s my family. You have no right to bully her or chase her out!"

To my surprise, the numbness shielded me from the heartbreak that should have consumed me.

"She's your family? Then what am I?" I said, a bitter smile on my lips. “Tobias Ryan, what do Emma and I mean to you?”

For a moment, panic flickered in his eyes, but he hardened his gaze and warned me, “I know you’re upset about Emma, but you shouldn’t take it out on Marleigh. She's just had an appendectomy, she doesn’t need this.”

“An appendectomy?” I laughed so hard tears welled up, "Tobias Ryan, doesn’t your conscience hurt? Aren’t you afraid of justice?"

Julie Ortiz stormed forward, slapping me hard across the face, "You wretched thing, cursing my son! Someone drag her to the cellar. She needs to learn a lesson."

“Mom, leave it. She’ll just disrupt Marleigh's rest here. Throw her out — it’ll serve as her punishment.”

Tobias scooped Marleigh into his arms and left without a backward glance.

Every tender moment we shared evaporated instantly, as if they never existed.

Rain began to fall. I was cast out of the estate by the butler.

Under the leaden sky, I was alone, struggling onward.