After a fire broke out at the company, I shoved the only rescue rope into the hands of my husband, Peyton Shepherd. However, he yanked the smoke mask off my face and turned to secure it on his secretary, Hannah Russell, instead.

Peyton escaped using the rescue rope, and Hannah remained unharmed thanks to the mask.

I collapsed from inhaling toxic smoke, and then a falling pillar crashed into my stomach. Blood pooled beneath me.

Just as the firefighters lifted me onto a stretcher, Peyton grabbed me and pulled me back down.

"Serena, it's just a minor injury. Why are you lying on the stretcher? Let Hannah go to the hospital first. Her condition is serious, and she needs a comprehensive medical exam!"

The firefighters and paramedics stared in shock. They looked at my blood-soaked dress, then Hannah crying pitifully over her blistered hand.

My colleagues tried to intervene. "But Mr. Shepherd, Serena's injuries are clearly more severe!"

Peyton snarled through gritted teeth. "Enough! I'm Serena's husband. Don't you think I know her condition? If Hannah's treatment gets delayed because of this, none of you will escape the consequences!"

I pressed my hand against my slightly swollen lower abdomen and nodded, agreeing to let Hannah take the ambulance first.

I decided that from this moment forward, neither I nor my unborn child owed Peyton anything.

After I gave in, Peyton Shepherd let out a knowing, cold snort.

"Serena, I knew you were just playing the victim! Same old tricks to get my attention. It's disgusting!"

He lifted his foot and kicked me hard in the stomach, trying to shove me away from the stretcher so that his secretary, Hannah Russell, could lie down on it.

I had just been crushed by a falling pillar, and now, I was experiencing that crushing pain all over again. The agony left me speechless. My body spasmed reflexively, and I curled into a trembling ball.

When no scream came from me, Peyton turned his back and sneered, "One kick was enough to make you shut up? You're truly pathetic!"

I felt blood flowing continuously from inside my body. Despair tearing at my heart.

My unborn child had already become nothing more than a stain beneath me. Meanwhile, the child's father was carefully and tenderly helping his secretary onto the stretcher.

"Hannah, be careful. Don't hurt yourself again."

Hannah sobbed uncontrollably, holding up her burned index finger like a wounded animal.

"Mr. Shepherd, I think my finger is going to fall off. I'm so scared! If I lose my finger and become disabled, will you stop caring about me?"

Peyton looked at her with heartache in his eyes, pursing his lips as he kept blowing air on her blistered finger. "I'll blow on it for you. There, it won't hurt now. Silly girl, how could I ever stop caring about you? Don't worry, I'll get the best burn specialist in the country to examine you right away. I won't let a single scar touch those beautiful fingers."

The firefighters stared in disbelief. One of them pointed at my bloodless face and reminded Peyton, saying, "Sir, this woman was in the fire the longest. She's the most severely injured!"

Only then did Peyton throw me an indifferent glance. He said to the firefighter with absolute certainty, "Mister, don't let this drama queen fool you! Serena is my wife. I know her better than anyone. Don't be fooled by how pitiful she looks right now. She's just acting! She's jealous and deliberately playing the victim to make me pay attention to her."

The firefighter's jaw nearly dropped. He could hardly believe that we were married. After all, how could my husband pull me off the stretcher to help another woman onto it?

After speaking, Peyton grabbed me from the ground and forced me to spin around for everyone to see. "Look, she's perfectly fine!"

My whole body ached to the point of numbness. Cold sweat covered my face and neck as he jostled me like a puppet on strings.

The nearby nurse stared in shock, stammering as she pointed at my blood-stained dress. "Don't you see? Your wife's dress is covered in blood!"

Peyton suddenly laughed. "Nurse, I can tell you're inexperienced. This is all fake blood that Serena smeared on herself for her little performance!"

He let go of me. Already exhausted, I fell straight to the ground. I cried out in pain, but it stirred nothing in Peyton.

He wiped his hand on my dress. The sticky blood covered his fingertips, yet Peyton just laughed. "Serena, tell us where you bought this fake blood. It looks pretty realistic."

Since Peyton had taken my protective mask and given it to Hannah earlier, the toxic smoke had damaged my voice.

Facing Peyton's humiliation, I could only shake my head, unable to say a single word. I struggled to crawl away from Hannah's stretcher.

If Hannah wanted to go, then I would let her. I needed to get as far away from these two people as possible.

I crawled on all fours toward another ambulance. The stones on the ground cut my hands and feet, leaving trails of blood on the black pavement.

Behind me, Peyton shouted, "Serena Snow, don't think putting on this big act will let you escape punishment! You have to apologize to Hannah today. Her hand got burned because of you!"

If I had heard those words before, my heart would have been pierced with pain. I would have cried and tried to explain, begging him to believe me. Yet now, I did not want to do that anymore.

I touched my increasingly flat abdomen and shook my head through my tears. This time, neither the child nor I owed Peyton anything.

A doctor from the next ambulance jumped down and saw me covered in blood, still crawling on the ground. Her voice cracked in alarm. "Are you all insane? There's a severely injured person right here. Why isn't anyone helping her?"

My whole body went limp. My limbs gave out, and I collapsed heavily on the ground.

Due to excessive blood loss, I could barely hear the sounds around me. My eyes were nearly closing.

Peyton strode over with complete confidence and told the female doctor, "Doctor, don't bother with her. She's perfectly fine. This is just another one of her little tricks to get my attention."

The doctor's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. She shrieked, "She's dying, and you're telling me not to bother? I'm a doctor. Don't you think I can't tell if someone's faking?"

Her outburst drew others closer. Everyone at the company knew I was Peyton's wife.

Peyton, the company's CEO, looked uncomfortable being watched like this. He landed a kick on me while I was still collapsed on the ground.

"Serena, enough already. You're overdoing it. Don't push your luck. Don't think being my wife means you can slander me in front of my company like this. Keep this act up and I'll have my lawyer sue you."

When I gave no response, Peyton crouched down, grabbed my face, and forced me to look up. He ordered, "Serena, speak. Tell them the truth. Or they'll think I'm bullying you."

Seeing that my eyes were half-closed and I still looked half-dead, Peyton lost his patience and slapped me across the face.

The slap yanked me back from the edge of unconsciousness. Through the burning pain, the first words I heard were, "Speak, Serena! Say you're faking it. Say you're just playing the victim like always."

I shook my head, unable to speak. My hand unconsciously moved to my stomach.

A mother's instinct made me want to protect my child first, even in danger.

Peyton followed my hand and saw me still touching my stomach. He let out a cold snort. "You're really committed to this act, aren't you? What, are you going to tell me you're pregnant?"

At those words, my tears finally broke free, rolling down from my bloodshot eyes.

Yes, we did have a child together, but the child had just left me.

Seeing me cry, Peyton rolled his eyes in contempt. "You can cry on command, huh? With acting skills like that, it's a waste you didn't pursue acting."

He looked up at the female doctor and the crowd. "See? I told you she's acting. She's so guilty now that she can't even speak. Alright, everyone. Nothing to see here."

The female doctor panicked and pushed Peyton aside. "You're insane! Can't you see she's hemorrhaging from a miscarriage? If she doesn't get to a hospital, she'll die."

Peyton stumbled backward and landed on his rear. His first reaction was not to look at me but to demand harshly, "Did Serena pay you to say that?"

This time, even my colleagues who were watching from the sidelines could not stand it anymore.

They shouted, "Mr. Shepherd, Serena is your wife! You've been married for ten years. How can you not believe her?"

Peyton scoffed. "If Serena's really pregnant, then good riddance to the baby."

His eyes darkened. "I haven't touched her in years. A woman carrying some bastard child has no right to be my wife."

Hearing this, I closed my eyes in despair.

That was true. Ever since Hannah appeared, forget sharing a bed, Peyton barely came home anymore. However, that night when he got drunk, he mistook me for Hannah and forced himself on me.

If Peyton knew the child I just lost was his, would he feel even a shred of regret?

At the same time, I made a silent vow. If I survived this, I would sever all ties with Peyton.

The kindhearted female doctor dragged me over and called the nearby nurse to help lift me onto a stretcher. I went into the ambulance for emergency treatment.

Just as I thought I had a chance at survival, Hannah ran over.

She pointed at me and shouted, "Doctor, don't save her. She deserves to die! She's the one who started the fire!"

Hannah held up her phone to show everyone the video.

The footage showed me carrying a cardboard box into the storage room. Not long after, a fire broke out in the storage room. Soon, the flames spread, and everyone in the company was trapped.

Hannah pointed at me and accused loudly, "It was her! She secretly started the fire in the storage room. She caused the company massive losses and got all of us caught up in this."

After hearing that, Peyton shoved aside the doctor and nurses trying to save me.

He grabbed my collar viciously. "Serena, I gave you a job out of kindness. Is this how you repay me? You know this company is my life's work, yet you set fire to it! What gives you the right to hop on an ambulance? You should go straight to prison!"

As he spoke, he dragged me by the collar, pulling me away.

While dragging me, he shouted, "Officer, I've found the arsonist! Arrest her and take her to jail! Legal team! Where's the company's legal team? Start drafting documents to sue her in court. I'm going to make this stupid woman pay for what she's done!"

Under Peyton's violent dragging, my collar tightened around my neck until I could barely breathe.

My subordinate, Sophia Carter, finally could not stand it anymore. She rushed over and pried Peyton's hands open, allowing me to catch my breath.

My face had turned purple from the suffocation. I coughed violently.

Sophia held me protectively, tears streaming down her face in distress. "Serena, why do you have to go through this..."

Peyton's expression darkened. "Sophia, you're my employee. Are you taking Serena's side now? If you dare say one word in her defense today, don't bother coming to work tomorrow."

Everyone fell silent at his words. Who would dare interfere in the CEO's family affairs and voluntarily lose their job?

I pushed Sophia, telling her to leave quickly. However, Sophia refused.

She turned to Peyton and shouted, "Mr. Shepherd, Hannah's video doesn't prove anything. You're the company's CEO. Can't you make a fair judgment?"

Peyton snorted dismissively. "Serena carried a cardboard box into the storage room for no reason. Isn't that suspicious? And after the fire started, she had a rescue rope and a protective mask. If she wasn't the arsonist, why would she have those things?"

Sophia felt indignant on my behalf. Her voice nearly broke as she said, "Serena is the administrative director. Normally, she wouldn't need to move things into the storage room herself.

"But with the company's declining performance these past two years, she's been moving inventory herself to save on labor costs.

"As for the fire safety equipment you mentioned, she prepared it long ago. Serena discovered fire hazards in the company ages ago and gave every single one of us an escape kit."

Peyton's expression changed. He said sharply, "You're lying! If everyone had one, why didn't Hannah and I get them?"

Sophia's eyes turned red as she pointed at Hannah. "Then you should ask her! Where did she put the things Serena distributed?"

Hannah's whole body trembled, and she waved her hands defensively. "Mr. Shepherd, I didn't. I didn't pocket them."

Hannah's inadvertent confession made Peyton's expression darken. Sophia looked at my stomach as tears poured down her face. She sobbed as she spoke to me. "Serena, the baby... Is the baby gone?"

Peyton flinched and demanded, "Baby? What baby?"

I shook my head, signaling Sophia to stop talking.

Peyton realized something. He moved toward me, desperate for answers, but just then, the police arrived.

"We heard you caught the arsonist. Who is it?"