Sophie had no sense of how much time had passed when she woke, pain tearing through her body.

“Water… someone…”

She used every ounce of strength, but the sound that came out was barely more than a weak, breathless whisper.

Just then, Clara’s muffled sobs drifted in from outside the door.

“I’m sorry… Daniel, this is all my fault…

“I remembered my blood type wrong. I almost got her killed… You should punish me… Whatever it is, I’ll accept it.”

Through the narrow gap in the door, Sophie caught sight of Daniel’s face—soft and tender, enough to melt anything in its path.

He reached out and gently touched Clara’s hair, his voice softer than Sophie had ever heard.

“It’s alright. Don’t blame yourself. Sophie’s fine, isn’t she? You meant well. I could never punish you.”

Something in Sophie’s chest twisted sharply.

Of course.

Even if she had nearly died, he wouldn’t let Clara be hurt, not even a little.

As if something amused him, Daniel let out a quiet chuckle. “If I have to punish you, then you can hold little Leo through his shots.”

Clara laughed.

“You’re terrible, Daniel. You know he’s attached to you! And he’s gotten so chubby. I can barely carry him anymore.”

With that, she looped her arm through his, the two of them leaving together, chatting and laughing as they went to take the baby for his vaccinations.

Sophie trembled where she lay, a wave of aching bitterness crashing over her, nearly swallowing her whole.

Leo was the name she chose.

She remembered leaning against Daniel’s chest, suggesting it softly. “If it’s a boy, let’s call him Leo. He would grow up brave, just like you. What do you think?”

Daniel had smiled then, gentle and warm. “Alright. And if it’s a girl, we’ll call her Lily. She would grow up to be just like you.”

And now, all she could do was watch as Clara walked away with her husband, holding her child, calling him by the name she gave him.

Each word cut deeper than any blade.

She didn’t know how long she lay there alone. Just as sleep began to pull her under again, the door suddenly opened.

Daniel froze for a second, then his face lit up. “Sophie! You’re finally awake!”

He helped her sit up, carefully holding her as he gave her water, checking her temperature.

Clara rushed in behind him, her face full of concern. “Are you feeling alright? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

She bent down as if to tuck the blanket around Sophie, all soft concern on the surface, but when she leaned close, her voice dropped to a whisper.

“If you tell Daniel I gave the wrong blood on purpose, you’ll regret it.”

A bitter smile touched Sophie’s lips.

Did Clara really think that if she spoke up, Daniel would believe her?

He had already handed her child over to Clara.

What wouldn’t he do for her?

Sophie knew better than to humiliate herself.

A sharp wail suddenly broke out from the hallway.

The aide rushed in, carrying a crying infant, his face strained. “Captain… Mrs. Hart… Ms. Bailey, sorry to interrupt. I can’t calm him down…”

Sophie’s heart clenched tight, tears spilling over before she could stop them.

That was her child…

Clara smiled as she took the baby and cradled him, gently soothing him.

Once his crying eased, she looked up at Sophie. “You haven’t seen my son yet, have you? Then again, we gave birth the same day, and yours didn’t make it. Why don’t you hold him? Just to see how it feels.”

Sophie instinctively nodded, then shook her head.

She didn’t dare.

Because if she held him once, she might never want to let go and try to take him back.

And she knew Daniel would never allow it.

Worse, he’d make her family pay the price.

As expected, Daniel frowned, displeasure written all over his face. “Clara, stop it. Sophie’s still injured. She can’t hold a baby.”

Clara ignored him, smiling as she pushed the baby toward Sophie.

“What’s there to be afraid of? I just want her to feel it…”

In the struggle, Clara suddenly let go.

The baby slipped from her arms and hit the floor, his cry piercing the room.

“Leo!”

Clara scooped him up, sobbing, then turned and grabbed Sophie by the collar, dragging her off the bed.

“If you have a problem, take it out on me! Why would you hurt my child?!”

Sophie collapsed to the floor.

The surgical wound tore open, and blood spilled out at once.

She looked up in panic. “I didn’t! Clara, I wasn’t trying to hurt the baby. You were the one who let go—”

“Enough!”

Daniel’s voice cut through the room, sharp and furious, his eyes cold.

“Clara is his mother. No one loves that child more than she does. If it wasn’t you, then who was it? I never thought you could be this cruel to lay a hand on a baby.”

Sophie stared at him, stunned.

Cruel?

More than anyone, he knew she was the child’s real mother. Even if she died, she would never harm him.

Pain swallowed her whole.

“I didn’t… I really didn’t…”

But Daniel didn’t love her, so why would he believe her?

His expression darkened as he ordered the aide to take Clara and the baby for a checkup.

Then he turned back to Sophie, his gaze heavy, his voice low and chilling.

“Sophie, I understand that you resent me for giving our child to Clara. That’s on me. I’ll make it up to you. But you crossed a line today. It seems you still haven’t come to your senses.”

He slammed the door and walked out.

As he stepped over the blood spreading from her body, he didn’t spare her a single glance.

Sophie was pushed back into surgery to have her wound stitched up again.

In the days that followed, Daniel never came. There wasn’t a single person by her side to take care of her.

She had to get her own meals, collect her own medication, even make her way to the bathroom alone.

Once, while hooked up to an IV, she fell asleep—when she woke, blood had flowed back into the line, filling half the tube, and no one had called a nurse for her.

Just as she thought being left alone in the hospital was the extent of his punishment, Joanne came rushing in, breathless with panic.

“Sophie! Your parents came into the city to see you… Your father… he was accused of groping a woman in a public restroom. They’ve taken him in. They’re saying they’re going to charge him with sexual assault!”

Sophie’s mind went blank, her whole body turning cold.

If the charge stuck, her father could be facing years in prison.

Her father had spent his whole life being kind and honest. If he were branded like that, it would destroy him, drag the entire family down with him, leave them with no way to hold their heads up again.

Sophie tore out her IV and ran barefoot toward the base.

At the entrance, her mother sat on the steps, pale and worn, her face streaked with tears.

Sophie’s chest tightened. “Mom…”

Her mother scrambled to her feet, lost and shaken like a child.

“Sophie, what’s going on? Daniel had someone pass word that you were in the hospital, told your father and me to come see you.

“But on the way, a woman suddenly ran into your dad, fell to the ground, and started accusing him of touching her!

“No matter how we explained, no one would listen. Your father’s already in poor health from all the hard labor, and now they’ve taken him.

“How is he supposed to survive this…? Daniel was just here. I wanted to beg him for help, but he said he’d wait for you. Did you two have another fight?”

Sophie froze. “Daniel told you to come?”

A chill shot up her spine.

Could it be… all of this was deliberate?

The anger she had been holding back snapped. She turned and stormed into Daniel’s office.

“You did this, didn’t you? You had someone set my father up, just because Clara said I hurt her child?!”

She hadn’t expected Clara to be there.

Clara looked at her and smiled, slow and mocking.

“That’s right. I asked Daniel to stand up for me. You dared to hurt what’s mine, so now you get to see how it feels.”

Daniel stood in the dim light, his expression unreadable, his gaze cold as it landed on her.

“You refuse to admit your jealousy and resentment toward Clara. Without a lesson, how are you ever going to understand?”

His voice dropped, quiet and chilling.

“Sophie… don’t forget, an accusation like this can ruin a man’s life.”

Sophie’s heart, already battered beyond repair, felt nothing now, not even pain.

She suddenly remembered five years ago, when Daniel brought her into the city to marry him and stood before her parents, making his promise.

“Don’t worry. I may not have much now, but I’ll protect Sophie with everything I have. I’ll make something of myself. I’ll take care of both of you.”

Her parents hadn’t looked down on him. They had been moved and overjoyed.

Her father brought out the best food the family had been saving for months, and her mother pressed a pair of handmade shoes into his hands, stitched together late into the night.

They gave him everything they could.

And in five years, they received nothing in return.

Now, her father’s life was being used as leverage, just to force her to bow her head.

She should have understood long ago.

In front of Clara, whether she was right or wrong, whether she explained herself or not, the truth had never mattered to Daniel.

For the woman he loved, there was nothing he wouldn’t do.

Sophie looked at Clara, steady and quiet, then bent at the waist in a deep bow.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been jealous of you. I shouldn’t have hurt your child. This is all my fault.

“Please… let my father go. I’ll take responsibility for everything.”

Clara nodded, satisfied. “At least you know your place. But words alone aren’t enough.”

She slapped a sheet of paper down on the table, her eyes glinting. “Write me an apology in blood. Promise you’ll never harm my son again.”

Daniel’s brow tightened.

After the explosion, Sophie had already lost too much blood.

He almost told her she was going too far, but Sophie had already broken the skin of her finger and begun writing, line by line, in blood.

The rough paper scraped against her wound, her pale fingers quickly turning raw and torn.

Because of the blood loss, the wound clotted too quickly, and she bit into a second finger.

Daniel narrowed his eyes, a flicker of discomfort passing through him.

But Sophie didn’t even flinch.

She still looked as gentle and composed as ever, yet there was something in her eyes he could no longer understand.

Daniel had a vague sense that Sophie was different from before.

Was it because of the child, or because of her father? Had he gone too far?

“Sophie…”

A flicker of unease stirred in him, but before he could say more, Clara cut in.

She took the apology Sophie had written. “Daniel, your wife seems sincere. I forgive her.

“Your place was damaged in the explosion. You can’t stay there for now. I don’t mind her staying with me for a while. Can you come back with me and help get a room ready for her?”

Daniel glanced at Sophie, her gaze lowered, then at Clara, her eyes full of expectation.

In the end, he nodded.

It could wait. He would make it up to Sophie later.

With Daniel’s order, Sophie’s father was released soon after.

Seeing her father, his hair gone gray overnight, his face drawn with exhaustion, Sophie felt a surge of guilt and pain, yet there was nothing she could do.

She used the money Daniel gave her to buy her parents some clothes and supplements, then sent them back to the countryside.

After that, Daniel’s aide brought her to Clara’s home.

Standing at the doorway, Sophie looked inside. The small two-bedroom apartment was warmly decorated, and the sight struck her like a needle to the heart.

Every detail in that home was something Daniel once promised her, but never gave.

He said that when they had a place of their own, he would plant sunflowers for her himself.

The sunflowers she imagined now stood neatly arranged on Clara’s balcony.

He also said he would take her to a studio for a proper wedding photo, one they would hang proudly in their home.

Now the walls were covered with pictures—of him and Clara, holding the baby, like a family of three.

Daniel cleared his throat, his voice a little strained.

“Sophie, I let Clara stay in our place before because she was grieving. Don’t take it to heart. I’ve already put in a request for another place…”

Sophie pulled her gaze away and cut him off.

“There’s no need.”

She would be leaving soon.

There would be no chance of ever living in his house again.