“Is it true? Mr. Regald still married her? He must have a big heart.”

Every word was like a dagger, slicing straight through my chest.

I turned to look at Nick.

His gaze never once shifted from Marissa. His eyes were filled with a tenderness I had never seen—never received.

Marissa flashed a bright smile and asked sweetly, “Sister Douglas, what gift did you bring me?”

I forced myself to suppress the rising nausea and took out a delicate, translucent jeweled bracelet.

Just as I was about to hand it to her, she let out a sudden scream. The bracelet shattered as it hit the ground and she stumbled backward dramatically.

“Marissa!” Nick rushed to her side in a blur and shoved me aside.

My knees hit the marble floor with a sickening crack. Pain exploded up my legs, but no one helped me.

“Miss Douglas...” Marissa whimpered tearfully, her voice trembling. “I know you hate me for what happened back then. But... but your father really did kill so many people. I-I just couldn’t go against my conscience...”

Then, as if she had let something slip, she clamped a hand over her mouth.

“Or... are you still upset about James? But the Florr Family’s ancestral rules require marrying a pure woman… and you, Miss... you’ve already had several children…”

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

I could feel dozens of camera lenses aimed at me, flashing like judgment. But not a single hand reached out to help me up.

I looked up and saw Nick gently supporting Marissa, his gaze full of concern and tenderness that pierced straight into my heart.

This man who had destroyed my family now stood by and allowed her to humiliate me in public.

“Apologize,” Nick ordered, coldly looking down at me. “Apologize to Marissa. Now.”

Marissa tugged softly on his sleeve, her voice pleading, “Nick, don’t be like this…”

Tears streamed silently down my face.

I swallowed my pride and the pain, my voice trembling as I whispered, “I’m sorry, Miss Geyn... for ruining your mood.”

Nick frowned slightly as he stared at my pale face.

I turned to leave, my dignity in tatters, but a sudden scream behind me made me whirl around.

James was cradling Marissa in his arms, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

“Stop!” Nick shouted as he grabbed my wrist and yanked me back violently.

Among the guests were several doctors. One of them crouched to examine the shattered jewel and suddenly cried out,

“There’s poison on this bracelet!”

Nick seized me by the hair and slapped me so hard my vision went black. My ears rang from the impact.

“Why?” Marissa sobbed weakly in James’s arms. “Why did you want to poison me?”

At the hospital, a team of over fifty medical professionals scrambled to save her.

Meanwhile, I was forced to kneel on the cold floor by bodyguards. James pulled me hard in the chest and shouted,

“If anything happens to my wife, I’ll make sure you pay with your life!”

“Do whatever you want,” Nick’s voice rang out, sharp and cold as a blade.

Just then, a nurse rushed in, breathless.

“The patient is hemorrhaging and needs an immediate transfusion! RH-negative blood!”

Before I could react, Nick grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the blood collection room without a word.

The needle pierced my vein. I flinched, biting my lip to suppress the pain.

“There’s not enough blood. Keep drawing,” Nick barked, staring at the blood bag like it owed him something.

The nurse hesitated as she checked the monitor. “Mr. Regald, her blood pressure is dropping. Taking more could be dangerous…”

“I said keep going!” he roared, slamming the table. “This is the Regald Family’s hospital! Do as you’re told!”

After several more cc’s of blood were drained from me, my vision dimmed. My legs gave out and cold sweat soaked my back.

Nick finally gave the order to stop, but he didn’t spare me a single glance.

He turned and rushed to Marissa’s ward.

I leaned against the wall outside the room, weak and dizzy, watching through the glass as Nick and James stood on either side of her bed.

One gently fed her porridge, blowing on each spoonful to cool it down. The other handed her warm water, whispering softly in her ear.

Then, all of a sudden, I felt a warm, wet sensation sliding down my thigh.

I froze in place.

This wasn’t supposed to be my period.

Then it hit me—I hadn’t had my period in three months.

Ever since that incident, my body had been in terrible shape and irregular cycles had become the norm.

I looked up toward Nick, just as Marissa suddenly shrieked, “Elise! You’re bleeding down there!”

The world tilted, spinning around me.

I collapsed, hitting the ground hard.

When I regained consciousness, voices filtered through the fog of my mind. I could just make out the doctor speaking outside the door.

“Mr. Regald, the lady is pregnant. The blood loss was extreme... the fetus nearly didn’t survive.”

My hand moved instinctively to my lower abdomen.

This unexpected life—so small, so fragile—was like a ray of light piercing through the darkness.

For the first time in what felt like forever, I felt the flicker of hope.

Then his voice sliced through the haze like a knife.

“Prepare for an abortion,” Nick said coldly from outside the door.

“This child cannot be kept.”

I shut my eyes tightly. My fingers curled into fists beneath the bedsheets.

When the ward finally fell into silence, I summoned what strength I had left, threw off the covers and staggered out of bed.

The bright corridor lights stabbed my eyes.

I fell, got up and fell again—my knees scraped and bleeding, but I kept moving.

Just as I was about to reach the hospital gates, a sharp pain shot through the back of my neck.

Everything went blurry.

I could feel the chill of the metal operating table against my skin.

I tried to move, but someone gripped my arm tightly and injected something into me.

The anesthetic took hold.

When I opened my eyes again, the sharp scent of disinfectant overwhelmed me. Nick was seated beside the bed, his expression tight with hesitation.

“Elise,” he finally said, his voice hoarse, “this child… has to go.”

I stared at him, unblinking.

“Marissa’s condition,” he paused, his tone growing softer, “she may need your blood. We can have another child later…”

I turned my face away, tears stinging my eyes.

So that was it.

They never wanted this child in the first place.

“No more...” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “Never again…”

“What did you say?” He leaned in, trying to hear me.

Just then, his phone rang.

Marissa’s voice drifted through the speaker.

“Nick, James isn’t here… can you take me for a walk?”

“I’ll be right back,” he said and stood up, his coat sweeping around him as he turned and left.

I lay motionless on the bed as tears slid silently down my cheeks.

The day I was discharged, Nick told me he had a “surprise” waiting at home.

When I opened the door, upbeat music blasted through the room.

“Marissa doesn’t hold it against you for poisoning her,” Nick said gently, wrapping an arm around my waist. “She came to your place just to throw you a party.”

Marissa approached in her heels just as Nick was dragged away by a group of friends to drink.

I turned to face her.

“Marissa, I didn’t poison you,” I said calmly, locking eyes with her.

“What do you want?”

She smiled sweetly, her fingers brushing my cheek.

“Elise, do you honestly believe you’re really Mrs. Regald?”

Leaning in close to my ear, she whispered, “You don’t know, do you? The marriage certificate you have with Nick... it’s fake.”

My blood turned to ice.

I thought back to the day we got “married,” when Nick held me tightly and promised no one would ever hurt me again.

And yet—he hadn’t even given me a real marriage certificate.

“What? Still don’t understand your true place?” Marissa’s lips curled into a mocking smirk.

Suddenly, she seized my wrist and shrieked,

“Don’t push me!”

With one sudden jerk, she dragged me straight into the pool with her.

As the icy water closed in over me, I saw two men on the edge of the pool rushing toward her, completely ignoring me.

The chlorinated water filled my nose and mouth, burning my throat.

I couldn’t breathe.

I sank deeper and deeper into the cold silence.

When I woke up, I was lying alone on the damp edge of the pool.

The party was over.

Everyone had left, except for a maid who handed me my phone.

“Madam, your phone has been ringing nonstop.”

I answered it.

Nick’s icy voice poured from the receiver.

“Elise. Marissa just found out she’s pregnant. She was scared earlier. Are you happy now?”

I bit my lip hard. My fingers unconsciously brushed over my flat stomach.

Not long ago, I had carried a child too.

Then I heard Marissa’s sweet voice echo through the phone.

“Nick, I’m feeling much better now. Look at this bracelet—do you think it suits me?”

“You look good in anything,” he replied in that gentle tone of his—the same tone that once made my heart flutter.

Now, it made me feel sick.

My hand trembled as I clutched the phone, the chlorine still burning in my throat.

“Nick,” I said hoarsely, “you knew I was allergic to chlorine and yet you didn’t save me. What if I had actually drowned?”

“Elise!” His voice suddenly rose. “You should’ve thought about that before you pushed Marissa into the pool! Even if it was just an act, I had to save her first!”

I almost laughed.

An act?

When he carried Marissa out of the water, he hadn’t even looked back at me—gasping, choking, drowning.

“Go home and reflect on your actions,” he snapped. “Once Marissa’s pregnancy is stable, I’ll come back to deal with your matter.”

I returned to the bedroom in a daze and dismissed all the servants.

Then, slowly, I began lighting the fireplace.

One by one, I tossed in everything Nick had ever given me—every necklace, every ring, every gift with a false promise attached.

Last of all, I pulled the marriage certificate from the drawer.

The one I once believed would protect me for life.

And I threw it into the flames.

Just then, my phone vibrated.

A breaking news alert lit up the screen:

[Former Aristocratic Heiress’s Indecent Video Leaked]

I clicked on it—and froze.

The girl in the video, half-naked and being humiliated in a pile of trash…

It was me.

“Hahaha! Look at Miss Douglas. What a slut!”

The jeering laughter from the video pierced my soul.

The next moment, I hurled the phone at the wall.

It shattered into pieces.

But the images… they kept replaying in my mind.

I curled into a corner, trembling, as the warm June night felt suddenly ice-cold.

Nick… is this what you wanted?

To watch me lose everything, to watch me crumble?

To see me suffer a fate worse than death?

I bolted out of the villa barefoot.

The night was thick with fog—I could barely see. I ran like a madwoman, blindly, until—

A blinding pair of headlights.

A black Maybach.

Bang—

The impact sent me flying.

I hit the ground hard.

Everything went dark.