Solana wanted nothing more than to leave, but she didn't want to argue with him. So, she quietly followed his order and lay back down. She quietly thanked him, "Thank you, Uncle Isaiah."

Isaiah's cold gaze fell on her face, feeling like she was somehow different from before. In the past, she loved clinging to him most, chattering nonstop whenever she saw him. If something like this had happened, she would have already been crying and complaining to him.

Moreover, she hadn't called him "Uncle Isaiah" in a long time. At some point, she had started calling him by his name.

Thunder rumbled outside as the heavy rain continued falling. She obediently finished the IV drip under Isaiah's supervision.

"Solana—"

Isaiah was about to ask what was wrong with her lately and why she had become so well-behaved when a scream came from the next room. His expression grew serious, and he instinctively rushed out.

"Ally must have been startled awake by the thunder, and her depression is acting up again. I have to go comfort her."

Solana nodded silently, tears streaming down her cheeks. Although she knew he didn't have feelings for her, she couldn't help feeling heartbroken when he abandoned her.

Suddenly, a large hand landed on top of her head. "Be good. I'll be right back. Sleep for now, and I'll take you home later."

Isaiah didn't know why he returned after just stepping out of the bedroom. He felt uneasy, as if Solana might disappear at any moment. He rushed to the adjacent room again, picked up the screaming and frantic Alyssa, and took her to the safe room in the basement.

In her past life, Alyssa's episodes would strike suddenly, and Isaiah would shut himself in the so-called safe room with her. He would ignore the world for days until she calmed down.

Solana remembered one night when Harper was just six months old. Her temperature spiked, and she started convulsing from a seizure.

Solana was so scared she called Isaiah in tears, begging him to take Harper to the hospital. However, he scolded her for being inconsiderate, saying Alyssa couldn't be left alone during her episodes and told her to figure it out herself.

At that time, Solana had just given birth a while ago. What could she possibly do? So, she braved the freezing snow with Harper in her arms.

She didn't even have time to change; she just went out in her pajamas and slippers to flag down a ride. She didn't know how many times she knelt in the snow before a car finally took them to the hospital.

At the hospital, Harper was administered emergency care. Solana was only 19 at the time, and she had never experienced such an emergency. She was shaking so severely that she could barely sign the forms.

She knelt outside the ICU and called Isaiah countless times, but he never answered once. Afterward, he even blamed her, telling her not to disturb them with such trivial matters when Alyssa was having depression episodes.

A knock at the door brought Solana back from her thoughts. "Ally wants seafood bisque from The Palate. I'm going out to buy it for her. Can you watch her for a bit?"

She was stunned. Although she had initially planned to text Isaiah and leave, given the current situation, she had to agree.

Just minutes after he left, Alyssa emerged from the safe room. She looked at Solana with disdain, her lips curling in mockery. She looked nothing like a depressed patient who needed constant companionship.

Solana could immediately tell that Alyssa was faking it. After all, she had suffered from severe depression in her past life, and she knew what real depression patients were like.

Alyssa said, "You think using the baby to force him into marrying you makes you special? He loves me. He will always love me. You'll never compare to that."

Seeing that she hadn't provoked Solana's anger like usual, Alyssa felt the frustration building. Then, she suddenly smiled and added, "Solana, however much he used to love you, that's how much he'll hate you now!"

Solana looked at her in confusion, not understanding. However, Alyssa only laughed louder and returned to the safe room. Moments later, terrible screams could be heard from inside.

Solana's heart clenched. Without thinking, she sprinted toward the basement.

Solana silently prayed that nothing would happen. After all, she had just promised Isaiah she would help watch Alyssa. Moreover, she was leaving soon and didn't want to create any unnecessary conflicts.

If something happened to Alyssa, Isaiah would punish her again by locking her in the dark room at the mountain villa.

Just thinking about that dark room made her whole body tremble. The day her parents died in the accident, she stayed home alone for one night before Isaiah came to get her the next day. No one ever knew how she managed to get through that night.

She had hidden inside a pitch-black closet, too scared to fall asleep. From then on, she developed severe claustrophobia.

Isaiah knew about it. That was why he'd always made sure not to leave her home alone. However, in her past life, Alyssa frequently provoked her after their engagement, and he locked her up several times to vent his anger on Alyssa's behalf.

Even though Alyssa was always the one who started the trouble, Isaiah only believed what Alyssa told him.

Moreover, Solana still had many things to do before going abroad for her studies. So, the last thing she wanted was to be locked up.

As soon as Solana rushed to the basement door, her heart went cold. Alyssa was facing away from her, and there was a large pool of blood on the floor.

"Alyssa! Don't do anything stupid!" Solana shouted as she sprinted toward her in panic. However, she froze the moment she saw what Alyssa was holding.

Alyssa was cradling a bloody, limp bundle in her arms. Then, she turned to look at Solana with a sinister smile.

Suddenly, she shoved the bloody bundle into Solana's hands and screamed, "Solana, why did you kill Poppy? That was my therapy dog that kept me company for seven years.

"How could you be so cruel? Aren't you afraid your baby will pay the price for what you've done?"

It was only then that Solana realized she was holding Alyssa's therapy dog, Poppy. So, the cries she'd heard earlier had been Poppy's.

Alyssa had just brutally killed it herself.

She instantly understood what was happening, but it was too late. Before she could throw away the dead dog, both her hands were held tightly by Alyssa. "Give me back my Poppy! Give me back!"

Alyssa's grip was frighteningly firm, and Solana couldn't break free. Just then, Isaiah appeared behind her.

"Solana Summers, what are you doing?" He was furious, grinding his teeth as he roared word by word.

Isaiah felt his blood had run cold. The seafood bisque slipped from his hand and crashed to the floor, splattering everywhere. He had only been gone for such a short time, and this had happened.

Alyssa was now crying herself hoarse, collapsing into Isaiah's arms. "Isaiah, Poppy was with me for seven whole years. Every night, it slept beside me. Without Poppy, how can I go on living? I might as well die!"

He immediately held her tightly. "Ally, don't talk nonsense. Seeing you like this breaks my heart! You still have me. From now on, I'll sleep with you every night, okay?"

After saying this, he immediately turned to meet Solana's gaze. Before she could explain, he scolded, "Solana, I asked you to help watch Ally, but you killed her therapy dog?

"Wasn't she traumatized enough already? Are you trying to drive her to suicide before you're satisfied?"

He growled, "You're young, but you're so evil. I must've spoiled you rotten! Apologize to Ally right now, and keep apologizing until she forgives you!"

Solana was on the verge of tears. Then, she caught Alyssa smiling smugly at her, silently mouthing the words, "I won."

However, Solana didn't care about that. All she wanted now was to calm Isaiah down. She tried to explain, "Isaiah, it wasn't me. She—"

Before she could finish, she received a hard slap across the face. Her ears rang instantly, her mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood.

"You're still lying? What? Are you trying to say Alyssa killed her therapy dog and pinned it on you? You've lied about her so many times before.

"I thought you'd changed after you got pregnant, but I was wrong. You're still the same—rotten to the core. Go back to the Jeffries residence and lock yourself in the room! You're grounded!"

Solana's blood ran cold. He was really sending her back to that dark room she feared most.

Solana had no idea how she made it through the night. It felt like she had been transported back to the night her parents died. It was only when the first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the window that she felt a spark of life return to her body.

That was when Solana noticed the bedsheets beneath her were torn because she had been gripping them too hard. Not only that, but her arms and palms were also covered in bloody marks from her nails digging in.

Isaiah had people watching her around the clock. Everything in her routine was tailored to pregnancy care, with three nutritious meals delivered to her room at scheduled times.

They had even confiscated her phone. The staff who brought her meals would drop off the food and leave immediately, never speaking a word to her.

Solana was frantic with worry. She could not contact Sarah, and her phone and essential documents remained locked away in her confiscated bag.

A week before the wedding, Isaiah had a staff member, Harvey Clarke, deliver a wedding dress to Solana to try on. Yet, he still refused to let her leave the room. She knew this might be her only chance, so she tried speaking to Harvey.

"Ms. Summers, Mr. Jeffries is currently out of the country. Everything's being handled by Mr. Slater. I'm sorry, but I can't pass along any messages."

Solana was surprised to hear that Isaiah was out of the country. Their wedding was in just a few days, and there was no way Cedric would let him leave now. Besides, it had already been three days since she'd last returned to Jeffries Manor.

Why hadn't Cedric checked in on her?

After answering her question, Harvey stepped aside to make a phone call, briefly reporting the situation. Once he was done, he handed the phone to Solana, gesturing for her to take the call.

Assuming it was Isaiah, Solana immediately began apologizing for her mistakes. She was running out of time. In just seven days, she needed to catch her flight overseas and escape this place before then.

However, the voice on the other end wasn't Isaiah's; it was his assistant, Jacob Slater.

He said, "Ms. Summers, before Mr. Jeffries left, he instructed me that if you acknowledged your mistakes, I should inform you that he'll return to the Jeffries Manor early on the wedding day to pick you up and fulfill his promise to marry you."

Solana couldn't care less about the wedding. She just wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. She pressed further, "Where is he? Can I speak with him on the phone just once?"

There was a pause on the other end before he replied apologetically, "Mr. Jeffries said that if you asked, I should tell you honestly that Ms. Hill's depression has worsened due to the stress you caused, so Mr. Jeffries took Ms. Hill overseas for a change of scenery."

He continued, "Mr. Jeffries also instructed me to tell you that he informed those at Jeffries Manor that he's taking you on an early honeymoon abroad because your pregnancy is making it increasingly difficult for you to get around.

"Mr. Jeffries emphasized repeatedly that when you return to Jeffries Manor that day, you'd better stick to that version of the story, or he wouldn't mind confining you again and keeping you in the mansion until you give birth."

A sharp pain shot through Solana's chest. It was as if a blade had pierced straight through her heart. However, she quickly shoved aside that crushing feeling she once knew so well.

She had to think of a way out.

Solana had considered faking stomach pain. Since she was supposedly pregnant, the people guarding her wouldn't want to risk anything happening to her. However, if she did that and a doctor examined her, they would discover that she had already miscarried.

If Isaiah found out, he might lock her up for even longer in his rage. She couldn't take that risk, so she could only continue waiting.

Over the past few days, she had been very compliant. Eventually, the people watching her started to let their guard down. With Isaiah's approval, she was allowed to walk freely within the mansion.

The day before the wedding, a large team of staff arrived to prepare for the ceremony. Solana played along and then told Jacob she wanted her backpack returned so she could use her phone to invite Sarah to the wedding.

Jacob returned her bag and personally watched her dial Sarah's number before stepping outside. She seized the opportunity to hide her essential documents under the layers of her wedding dress.

Learning that Sarah had already handled the relevant procedures for her after she had been unable to reach her, Solana felt relieved. She then asked Sarah to help her contact a lawyer to transfer the multimillion-dollar luxury home that Isaiah had given her as a wedding gift into Alyssa's name.

After hanging up, Solana glanced toward the doorway. Jacob had given her some privacy and hadn't immediately confiscated her phone again.

Then, she opened her WhatsApp, skimming through the unread messages, but she didn't bother replying to any of them. After that, she checked her Facebook and went straight to Alyssa's profile.

Alyssa had just uploaded many photos, all of which were intimate vacation shots of her and Isaiah abroad, accompanied by extremely suggestive captions.

Solana knew these photos were set to be visible only to her, specifically designed to provoke her. She looked down and smiled softly, taking screenshots of each one.

Then, she bundled them together with previously saved images and the photo of her abortion procedure slip, scheduling them all to be sent to Isaiah's email. The send time was set for when her flight was scheduled to take off.

Solana looked up toward the window. After a full day of dress fittings and rehearsing various wedding ceremony procedures, it was now completely dark outside. Once everything was settled, she handed her phone to Jacob without being asked.

Just then, the phone rang. Solana nervously glanced at the screen, her heart pounding hard. She had just discussed with Sarah that she would be picked up and brought back to Jeffries Manor early the next morning, and that would be her best chance to escape.

When she saw Isaiah's name on the screen, her panicked heart finally settled.

Isaiah's voice came through, sounding much gentler than usual. "Sol, be good and wait for me to pick you up tomorrow morning."

"Okay."

After hanging up, Solana followed Jacob back to Jeffries Manor, waiting for Isaiah to get her early the next morning.

Dawn was just breaking when the people at Jeffries Manor began bustling about. Taking advantage of the dim light, Solana quietly changed into a servant's uniform and slipped out through the back door. Sarah was already waiting in the car at the end of the street.

Solana hurried toward the corner. Before getting in the car, she turned back for one last look at the mansion. From this moment on, she would be free.

In this life, Isaiah would be erased from her world. So, she bade goodbye to everything here. And goodbye, Isaiah.