That year was a year full of deep hatred for me. I pushed Jacob's pregnant mistress down the stairs, causing her to miscarry on the spot.

To exact revenge, he brutally stabbed my uterus, permanently robbing me of my right to motherhood. I didn't hold back either. I severed his little finger as a memorial.

I thought we would torment each other until death. But unexpectedly, not long after. He drove me to the edge of a sheer cliff. He tossed a divorce agreement at me.

“Kiara is undergoing test-tube baby treatment. She's sacrificed so much for me. I need to give her a home.”

“Now you have two choices.”

“One, we jump together. Let fate decide our lives or deaths.”

“Two, sign the divorce papers and we'll never see each other again.”

——

“Laura Benico, you're a smart woman. You know what choice to make.”

Jacob's fingertips tapped lightly on the steering wheel. The dull thudding sounded like a countdown to my answer. 

Just like when I caused Kiara Phillips to lose her child. He brutally stabbed my womb. I lay in a pool of blood, barely clinging to life.

He stood over me, looking down at me and watching the countdown on his wristwatch.

“Ten.”

“Nine.”

“Eight.”

Only when he reached one did he leisurely call his bodyguards to take me to the hospital.

Not forgetting to remind them, “Save her life. As for her ruined womb, there's no need to keep it.”

He said I caused him to lose his child. My damaged womb meant I could never be a mother again; only then would it be fair.

I woke up in the hospital after surgery. Dressed in a hospital gown, Kiara came to me with smug satisfaction. She straightened her back, looking down on me with haughty pride. 

“See, Laura? I’ve always told you that the only one Jacob loves is me. You ruined our child. He won't let you off the hook.”

I laughed, propping myself up to sit. I grabbed the vase from the bedside table and hurled it at Kiara with all my strength.

She screamed in panic. I leaped off the bed, seized her hair and slammed her head against the wall.

“Kiara, who gave you the courage to dare provoke me?”

Jacob had ruined me. Did they think they would have it easy now? No. I would haunt them like a ghost. I would cling to them, relentless until death.

“Ahhh! Laura, you lunatic! Let go of me! Or I'll make Jacob kill you!”

Her forehead was a bloody mess. Her eyes, stained with bright red blood, were swollen shut.

If Jacob had not arrived in time, I truly would have killed her.

I recalled the day she was taken away by Jacob. Her face was streaked with tears like pear blossoms in rain.

I couldn't help but chuckle softly. Jacob's gaze was cold and deep. He gave me a faint, warning glance.

Warningly, he said, “Laura, you don't have much time left. You'd better make your decision quickly.”

When my parents were alive, no one ever dared to threaten me. Because everyone around me knew I was a complete madwoman. After my parents died, no one dared to mess with me anymore.

“Jacob, did I ever tell you not to be so naive?”

Just then, a light rain began falling outside the window. Raindrops hit the windshield, spreading into tiny ripples.

Jacob's brows furrowed. A hint of confusion and vigilance crossed his eyes as he looked at me.

“What do you mean by that?”

I silently rolled down the window, letting the raindrops scatter inside the car. A playful smile curved my lips.

“Jacob, look over there. I'll give you two choices too.”

“Either you die or she does.”

Kiara's slender figure was bound to a crane not far outside the window.

She faced a thousand-foot cliff that was completely unobstructed. She was terrified. Her face was pale and she trembled uncontrollably.

“Jacob, save me!” she cried out, sobbing.

Jacob’s vision blurred as he took in the scene, his head splitting with pain. He ripped off his seatbelt and lunged at me. His hands were tightening around my throat.

“Laura, have you lost your mind? Get her down this instant!”

His usually cool eyes now held a savagery impossible to ignore. His grip tightened relentlessly.

It was the third time I had seen him lose control. The first was when I watched my parents die in a car crash, consumed by flames. 

I ran toward them, sobbing. Jacob yanked me back with all his might.

He screamed, “Laura, calm down! If you charge in now, you'll die! What would I do if something happened to you?”

He held me tight, terrified I'd throw caution to the wind and rush into the flames.

He whispered in my ear over and over, “Laura, we'll have a new home, just you, me and our baby.”

The second time was when I pushed Kiara, who was pregnant and came to provoke me down the stairs. He lost control, clutched the bleeding Kiara and raged at me.

“Laura, you fucking crazy! If anything happens to Kiara, I'll never let you go!”

The third time was today. And it was the second time Jacob lost control over another woman. It was clear enough. He truly was in love with that woman.

“Laura, don't fucking play dumb! Get your people to put her down right now!”

Jacob's eyes were bloodshot. His gaze was seething with violent fury.

My breath was stifled, but I wasn't afraid at all. I laughed, but it was a strained and hollow laugh.

“How can I let her go when you haven't made your choice yet?”

Fear gripped him, his hand tightening around my throat, trembling slightly. He knew I meant every word. Kiara's life or death depended on his every thought.

“You're insane! You're completely insane!”

He couldn't make a choice. He loosened his grip, flung open the car door and lunged to save her.

My gaze flicked to his left hand, the missing little finger glaring like a wound. A mocking laugh spilled from my throat.

“Jacob, what do you think you're doing?”

He turned and roared at me. But in the next instant, a heart-wrenching, agonized whimper escaped him. 

I watched his face contort in extreme pain. Unable to hold back, I burst into laughter. Yet my hand turned the knife in my grasp, slow and deliberate.

“Jacob, you robbed me of my right to be a mother. How could you possibly have a child of your own?”

The day I severed his little finger was when I had wanted to do just that. It was just unfortunate. He sensed it ahead of time. And dodged it.

Jacob was drenched in cold sweat. The color drained from his face. His eyes were red as he stared at me, suppressing his pain.

Gritting his teeth, he snarled, “Is this what you wanted? If so, you can release Kiara now.”

Hearing this, I froze. My gaze drifted involuntarily to the spot where blood poured relentlessly from his wound.

Under such excruciating agony, I'd assumed he'd prioritize his own survival, so he'd asked me to take him to the hospital. Unexpectedly, his first concern was still that woman.

“Ahhh, Ah Jacob, help me!”

Kiara's terrified cries pierced through the window. Jacob didn't spare me another glance.  Gritting his teeth against the pain, he opened the car door. 

The agony made the veins on his neck bulge. Yet he charged forward without hesitation. Stumbling and staggering, he raced toward Kiara at the cliff's edge just as he had before.

When I was sixteen, I was kidnapped by my father's business rivals. Jacob stormed into the kidnappers' hideout alone and fought them tooth and nail.

He was beaten to a pulp with three ribs broken and a right leg shattered. He still gritted his teeth and carried me out of that abandoned warehouse.

Jacob was afraid I would be terrified, so he kept my eyes closed the entire time and whispered reassurances in my ear. 

“Don't be afraid, Laura. I'll get you home safely. I'm here and nothing will happen to you.”

And now, he was using the exact words he once spoke to me to comfort another woman.

“Don't be afraid, Kiara. I'm here and nothing will happen to you. I'll get you home safely.”

Jacob's men arrived quickly, but they had no time for me. They rushed straight to rescue Kiara. They also took him to the hospital for treatment.

I sat calmly in the car, watching them drive away, when a message popped up on my phone.

[Miss Benico, are you just going to let them go?]

I replied to that message.

[How could that be? What I asked you to prepare, is it ready?]

[Yes, it’s ready.]

Reading that message, my eyes lit up with delight. 

“Jacob, enjoy the hell I'm about to unleash upon you.”

I tucked my phone away. I drove Jacob's car back home.

Jacob underwent treatment at the hospital for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, I stayed home, clearing out the unnecessary trash.

At that moment, the housekeeper held up a course, poorly made gray scarf. She asked me doubtfully, “Madam, do you still need this rag?”

The rag she was referring to was the scarf Kiara had personally knitted for Jacob. The day she gave it to him, when he returned home with a pleased smile on his lips. He carefully placed the scarf, which he was reluctant to wear, in a drawer in the study.

“Burn it.”

As I spoke, my gaze drifted back to the wedding photo in the living room. “Burn all of this together.”

She was slightly starved, with a flicker of confusion in her eyes. But she knew her place and she understood what questions to ask and what not to ask.

Nodding, she removed the wedding photo from its frame. Just then, another message pinged on my phone.

[Miss Benico, Jacob is being discharged tomorrow.]

The show was about to begin. The next day, Jacob rolled in on a wheelchair, pushed by Kiara.

“Jacob, you really can't indulge Laura anymore. If she dares to hurt you now, she'll kill you later. Keeping such a menace around keeps me awake at night, terrified she'll poison me one day.”

Jacob patted her hand gently, offering comfort. “Don't worry, okay?”

He said more gently, “Everything will be fine once we get divorced. From now on, it'll just be the two of us, living happily ever after…”

He didn't finish his sentence. Suddenly, the living room erupted with the clamor of a crowd.

“Mr. Chastan is back!”

“Mr. Chastan, please look at the child in my arms! We had his horoscope read and many say he's blessed with good fortune. Adopting him as your godson would be absolutely perfect!”

“Mr. Chastan, look at my daughter! She's so well-behaved and obedient. She is our little angel. If you take her as your goddaughter, she'll be your little angel too!”

Several elegantly dressed individuals jostled each other, pushing their children toward Jacob. Caught off guard by this sudden encirclement, Jacob and Kiara froze.

Kiara snapped out of it and shouted at the crowd in exasperation, “What? What are you all doing? When did Jacob ever say he wanted to adopt a godson or goddaughter? If he wants a child, I can give him one. When did it become your turn?”

“Really?” I descended the stairs unhurriedly, pulling out Jacob's medical report amidst their astonishment. 

“Didn't the doctor say he's infertile? How could you have him adopt someone else's child? You're pregnant with someone else's child and you're asking him to adopt it?”