My stepdaughter, Alana Greenwood, brought me some abortion medicine on her Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
Everyone around knew of her little "prank", but none came to stop her. Even my husband just stood and watched.
I smiled bitterly as I took the medicine and drank it in one go.
I immediately felt the pain in my lower abdomen.
My head began to spin, but I could still hear the harsh tone in Alana’s voice.
"Well, did you think you could replace my mother after giving birth to your child? Let me tell you this, Dad agreed to marry you back then because I was young and was in need of a free nanny! If you dare think about replacing my mother, you will be kicked out of the Greenwood family!"
I covered my stomach and took a deep breath.
"There's no need for the trouble. You're an adult now and I've completed my task. I'll leave... tomorrow."
My stepdaughter, Alana Greenwood, brought me some abortion medicine on her Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
Everyone around knew of her little "prank", but none came to stop her. Even my husband just stood and watched.
I smiled bitterly as I took the medicine and drank it in one go.
I immediately felt the pain in my lower abdomen.
My head began to spin, but I could still hear the harsh tone in Alana's voice.
"Well, did you think you could replace my mother after giving birth to your child? Let me tell you this, Dad agreed to marry you back then because I was young and was in need of a free nanny! If you dare think about replacing my mother, you will be kicked out of the Greenwood family!"
I covered my stomach and took a deep breath.
"There's no need for the trouble. You're an adult now and I've completed my task. I'll leave... tomorrow."
Alana was a little taken aback by my words, but soon snorted. "Why are you being so pretentious? You did everything you could back then to marry my dad. I doubt that you would leave! You used that face of yours which looked like my mother to seduce my dad and marry him soon after my mother died. You're just a shameless woman!"
Her words caused my heart to ache and her eyes were full of disdain and viciousness.
I didn't want to continue the conversation with her. My face was pale as I turned to leave.
The abortion medicine slid down my throat and into my stomach. The pain in my abdomen was excruciating.
I could clearly feel the warm blood streaming down my legs.
I took out my phone with trembling hands. Just as I was about to call an ambulance, Alana suddenly appeared and slapped the phone to the ground.
"You want to go to the hospital? In your dreams! I won't allow a wretch like you to ruin the Greenwood family's bloodline! You can forget about ever giving birth to a child!"
I was covered in sweat due to the pain.
The servant who had quite a good relationship with me, Linda, couldn't help but say, "Miss Greenwood, Mrs. Greenwood is bleeding. If she doesn't go to the hospital, she might die."
"Shut your mouth!" Alana slapped her.
"Who said you could call her Mrs. Greenwood? There's only one Mrs. Greenwood and that's my mother!"
Alana was the only child of the Greenwood family and was doted on.
As time passed, she gradually became spoiled and arrogant.
I looked at the child that I had raised and my heart ached.
She saw the look in my eyes and suddenly raised her voice. "Don't look at me with that disgusting gaze of yours! If you do that again, I'll dig your eyes out!"
Her face was filled with disgust as she said those words and she looked like a little beast who wanted to pounce at me and rip me to pieces.
I lowered my head. My eyes were filled with tears and disappointment. I turned around without saying a word.
Blood was still oozing out. The most important thing at the moment was to go to the hospital and stop the bleeding.
However, due to the huge loss of blood, I was very weak. After only walking a couple of steps, I fell to the ground.
Alana looked at my helpless state and her lips curved into a satisfying smile.
She laughed, then turned around and went upstairs, feeling satisfied.
I looked at her heartless receding figure and suddenly thought of how I held her over 10 years ago.
Back then, she was just a little baby.
Her mother died of hard labor and she curled herself up in the incubator. Even her crying could hardly be heard.
As soon as I saw her, my heart ached somehow.
Coincidentally, Alex Greenwood's mother, Jane, saw my resemblance to Alana's mother, so she offered me a lot of money to convince me to marry Alex.
I agreed and saw the poor little girl as my own.
What I didn't expect was that my hard work and love over the years didn't seem to allow her to develop any feelings for me. What I did even added to the hostility she had towards me.
I laughed at myself and slowly stood up with the help of the servants and went to the hospital.
The smell of disinfectant overwhelmed me. I was told the news that I lost my child and I wouldn't be able to bear children in the future because of this.
The tears came first but soon followed by a sense of relief.
It was a good thing that no one else would suffer.
I took a taxi home from the hospital and just happened to bump into Alex.
Seeing him, I suddenly thought of the coldness in his eyes during the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
He saw how Alana was making things difficult for me, but he didn't say a word.
He even turned and went into his study after seeing me fall.
At that moment, he was casually reading the newspaper. He didn't even raise his head to look at me when he noticed my return.
"Don't blame Alana for what happened today. Back then, you promised my mother to look after Alana for money. Her arrogance and bad temper are your doing."
His voice was indifferent as if the matter of Alana almost killing me was nothing important.
He even pinned the blame on me.
I lowered my head to cover the emotions in my eyes, not saying a word.
After not getting a response for a while, he actually raised his head to look at me.
"Are you feeling any better?"
"My child is gone."
Alex looked at me, then suddenly loosened his tie and walked towards me. "It's good that the child is gone. It'll be more convenient for us."
I understood what he meant and raised my head to look at him in shock.
Back then, although it was his mother who suggested I marry him, he was still the person who had the final say in things.
All of this happened because I looked almost the same as Alana's biological mother, Helen Jones.
I knew he loved this face more than anything else.
He loved this face so much that he was willing to keep me around and sleep with me even though he had no feelings for me at all.
He wasn't even willing to use protection.
With that, I became pregnant with his child.
As an orphan, I was unwilling to have an abortion, so I kept the child until today.
However, I didn't expect that after just having a miscarriage, Alex still wanted to do it with me!
It seemed that the reason why Alana was so heartless was because his father was the same.
I furrowed my brows and forced myself not to throw up. Then I pushed him away.
Under his shocked and angry gaze, I said indifferently, "I've already done what your mother asked of me and that is to take care of Alana until she comes of age. I'll be leaving tomorrow."
I had been with them for over 10 years, but Alex had never talked about getting married.
I felt that I was just a nanny that they could abandon at any moment.
It was a good thing though. At least there wouldn't be anything holding me back when I decided to leave.
Alex's face darkened immediately.
"Are you still mad at Alana, Irene?"
I lowered my head and didn't say a word. He thought he had guessed right and snorted. "Since when have you become so narrow-minded? Besides, you're an orphan. Where would you go after leaving the Greenwood family?"
He thought he had me, so his voice was full of disdain.
I removed the necklace from my neck and placed it on the table.
"I'll go back to the orphanage after leaving the Greenwood family."
I knew Alex had no feelings for me from the day I decided to be with him.
He and Helen were childhood sweethearts both from affluent families. They were a perfect match in terms of status and looks. They also deeply loved each other.
At the time, the only reason they were willing to let me into the family was because I had the same face as her, and I could take care of Alana.
So, I had always made sure to leave myself a way out.
As long as I received the agreed-upon money, I would leave the Greenwood family and return to the orphanage.
That place was my real home.
But I didn’t understand—clearly I had fulfilled my duty and honored our agreement, yet Alex was unwilling to let me go.
"Mr. Greenwood, I have already done everything I promised your mother. Alana... has also grown up. I’ve stayed in the Greenwood family's residence long enough. Rumors are all over the place. If I continue to stay here without any name or status, it would be a disrespect to your late wife."
The man stared at me for a moment, and suddenly a smile spread across his face.
"So that’s what you’re worried about. Then don’t be. Helen had always been broad-minded and wouldn’t care about things like that. You just want to marry me and that won’t be a problem. As long as you stay obedient and treat Alana well, I wouldn’t mind marrying—"
"No." I shook my head. "You misunderstood. I don’t want to marry you, and I definitely don’t want to register our marriage."
The moment those words fell, a dark, stormy look surged in his eyes.
If it had been in the past, I would’ve already been trembling, apologizing, and trying every way possible to calm his anger.
But I had grown tired of living so humbly.
"I don’t want to stay in the Greenwood family anymore. I want to go back to the orphanage, to be with the dean, and take care of the children. Alana has already grown up and is extremely annoyed by me. She doesn’t need me by her side anymore. As long as Mr. Greenwood gives me the promised payment, I will leave right away—"
With a loud crash, Alex swept everything off the table.
"Shut up! Seems we’ve treated you too well, to the point where you think you can come and go as you please! I’m telling you, without my permission, you can forget about leaving the Greenwood family!"
Then, he turned and left, ordering several servants to lock me in the room.
The heavy door was shut tight, and that night, only water was brought in.
The servant who detained me looked apologetic and said that Alex had ordered to starve me for a few days as a lesson.
I was shocked by his shamelessness. I never thought this man would not only break his promise but also use such disgusting methods to torture me.
My body was already weak from a recent miscarriage, so I had no choice but to lie on the bed and think of ways to escape.
The next morning, just as sunlight streamed into the room, I heard a commotion outside the door.
"What? That woman really tried to leave? And Dad locked her up?"
Alana’s piercing voice rang out from outside. After a few futile pleas from the servants, she kicked the door open.
She strode into the room and saw me lying weakly on the bed.
A wicked smile curled at her lips as she grabbed my hair and yanked me up.
"I heard you argued with Dad yesterday. You’re such a pathetic loser—after staying in the Greenwood family for over a decade, and still no one likes you."
The sharp pain on my scalp made me frown deeply.
"Alana, let go of me!"
"Oh? You dare yell at me now? What, you really think you’re my mom?"
She pulled even harder, then flung me back onto the bed.
My nose hit the mattress and a sour sting spread through it, my eyes filling with tears before I could stop them.
Alana laughed even louder. "I heard you didn’t eat last night, so I kindly brought you a meal."
