James’s pupils contracted sharply. His gaze locked on the bright red before him.

His face went pale in an instant, and he nearly fell to his knees.

“Why are you bleeding? Did you cut yourself on the glass? I-I didn’t mean to…”

His words tumbled out incoherently. His face etched with genuine panic and anguish. It was as though the man who had pinned her down moments ago was not him at all.

“I’m sorry, babe, I’m so sorry… I am a bastard, I deserve this! We’ll go to the hospital immediately. Now!”

He scooped Mia up in his arms.

Her body was cold and limp, utterly powerless, letting him do as he pleased.

James ran out of the house, pressing his lips repeatedly to her sweat-dampened forehead.

He opened the passenger door and carefully placed her inside.

As he bent over to buckle her seatbelt, a folded slip of paper slipped from Mia’s pocket, floating lightly to the floor.

“What’s this?” James instinctively bent to pick it up. The moment his fingers touched the paper, a sudden, unexplainable pang seized his heart.

Mia tried to snatch it back, but her fingers lacked any strength.

He glimpsed the hospital’s red stamp and the words [Medical Report] on it.

He frowned as he reached to unfold it.

Then his phone rang sharply. The screen flashed Zinnia’s name, instantly seizing all his attention.

He immediately answered, not even bothering to secure the paper, shoving it into his coat pocket instead.

“James…” Zinnia’s voice trembled with tears. There seemed to be a faint sound of wind behind her. “I… I twisted my ankle while walking… it hurts so much… I can’t move…”

“What?! Where are you? Don’t move, I will be right there!” James’s voice shot up, brimming with unmasked panic and urgency. He even turned instinctively as though he was about to run in the opposite direction of the car.

“No, no, James, don’t come. It’s too much trouble. I can handle it myself…”

Zinnia’s voice grew weaker and pitiful.

“What nonsense!” snapped James, leaving no room for argument. “Stand still and send me your location! If you move on your own, just wait and see how I… punish you.”

He hung up and gripped his phone. His panic over Mia’s bleeding was already replaced by concern for Zinnia.

It was not until the thick, metallic stench of blood reached him that he finally snapped back to reality, looking into the car.

Mia remained curled in the exact position he had placed her. Her face was ghostly pale, almost lifeless.

Dark-red blood had already soaked through the light fabric of her skirt, dripping onto the floor, one drop after another.

A flicker of hesitation crossed James’s face.

“Mia, Zinnia twisted her ankle. I’m her only support. I can’t ignore her.

“I’ll have Carl take you to the hospital. Just hang on a little longer.”

Hang on?

Had she not endured enough over these three years?

“And if I don’t agree?”

James did not pause in carrying her out of the car. “Don’t be stubborn.”

He placed Mia by the roadside, thoughtfully draping his suit jacket over her.

Then he sped off in the car.

The engine’s roar soon disappeared around the corner, leaving only the dead silence and the thick scent of blood.

Mia let out a low, bitter laugh. It was worse than any sob.

“James… you will burn in hell.”

She waited so long.

She waited until her consciousness faded and her entire body trembled uncontrollably.

A black sedan screeched to a stop at the roadside.

Carl slammed the door. His face showed no concern, only undisguised annoyance, and contempt.

He had long resented Mia.

The infamous woman who only brought chaos and scandal to the don and the family, now was lying there half-dead, holding everything up.

“Trouble, as always.”

Carl muttered under his breath. He grabbed Mia’s arm like she was a piece of trash and shoved her into the back seat.

The car lurched forward. Each jolt intensified her pain.

Mia curled up on the cold leather seat.

The faint scent of James lingering on his jacket wrapped around her.

It was sharp and crueler than any knife, slicing away the last shred of her miserable awareness.

‘James, I will never love you again.’

Mia lay in the hospital bed for three full days.

The doctors mentioned she had lost a lot of blood, and her uterus had suffered severe damage. They said it might be really tough for her to conceive again.

James appeared once after she woke. His eyes were shadowed with bruises. He tried to hold her hand, but she pulled away.

He stayed silent for a long while before finally speaking in a hoarse voice, “Zinnia… Her ankle was seriously injured that day. I had to take her. How are you? That day… Did you cut an artery? How did you bleed so much?”

The medical report sat on the bedside table, but he did not even glance at it.

Mia said nothing, turning her head to the side. “Get out.”

James froze for a moment. There was a hint of offense in his eyes.

After that, he did not come again.

However, the hospital bills were paid on time.

A private suite, the best medication, the most meticulous care.

This, apparently, was his version of making up to her and being kind to her.

Just then, her phone lit up. A silent notification appeared at the top of the lock screen.

It was a flight booking confirmation.

The departure would be three days later, two o’clock in the afternoon.

It was the only fragile thread of hope she could grasp.

On the day of her discharge, Mia returned home carrying the printed divorce papers.

However, she stumbled upon a scene that made her blood run cold.

On the large bed, Zinnia, clad only in a thin silk slip, was locked in a kiss with James.

The heavy, ragged sound of their breathing stabbed into her ears like needles.

Her surgical wound in the lower abdomen flared as if it had split open again. A piercing pain shot through her, sharp enough to make her dizzy.

James, hearing a stir at the door, turned around to look.

“Mia? You’ve been discharged? Why didn’t you say anything? I could have picked you up.”

His tone was casual. It was as though the utterly scandalous scene unfolding before her was completely normal.

She had just endured a hemorrhage that nearly took her life, lost her unborn child, and bore deep scars on her womb.

Yet her husband, while she hovered between life and death in the hospital, was in bed with another woman at home.

Zinnia’s eyes locked with Mia’s empty stare, and her lips lifted in the faintest of smirks.

She rose and brought a cup of hot cocoa.

“Mia, why do you look so pale? Haven’t you recovered yet?”

Mia looked up, noticing the fresh, red hickeys on Zinnia’s neck.

She didn't answer.

The next moment, the cup clattered to the floor, scalding hot cocoa spilling all over Mia’s hands.

“Ah!” Caught off guard, Mia jolted as the scalding heat seared through her. Pain spread instantly through her body.

“Mia!” James jumped up.

“The cup was too hot, I… I didn’t hold it right… James, check if Mia’s okay! It’s my fault, I’m so clumsy…”

James roughly wiped the cocoa from her face and neck.

After a few swipes, he paused for a moment, looking at her reddened face and hollow eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly reached out, gently cupping Mia’s reddened cheek in his palm and rubbing it lightly.

His voice lowered, tinged with barely noticeable guilt.

“You didn’t even try to move out of the way.”

Mia turned her head sharply, dodging his hand.

James’s palm hung frozen as his expression darkened.

At last, seemingly to shatter tension in the air, he spoke to Mia,

“Your birthday’s tomorrow. I’ll make it a big celebration. Consider it an apology, and a way to chase away bad luck.”

Mia finally lifted her eyes and glanced at the bedroom drawer.

"No need to wait for my birthday," she said with a dry and hoarse voice. "There's something you need to do right now."

James raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Mia pulled out the documents she had prepared and handed them to him.

James signed the papers without even looking at them.

“Why go through all this trouble? Jewelry? Property? Just have my assistant handle it. You’re my wife. There’s no need for this hassle.

“The birthday party goes on as planned.”

He returned the signed papers to her. His tone regained its usual controlling edge. “Let’s have a proper celebration. Whatever you want, you’ll get it that day.”

Mia took the seemingly weightless papers that carried the weight of a thousand burdens. She stared at his familiar signature. She did not look at anyone else and turned around to leave the room.

In three days, she would finally be able to leave this place for good.

On the night of the birthday party, the villa was ablaze with light.

Mia wore an expensive custom gown, like a porcelain doll without a soul, tightly held by James at her side.

He was unusually patient and gentle today. His gestures were intimate, as though they were a perfectly loving couple.

Only Mia could feel the iron grip of control in the hand resting on her waist.

“Tired?” James noticed her stiffness and leaned down, asking in a low voice, “Just a little longer. Once we cut the cake, it’ll be over. I ordered it specially for you. You’ll love it.”

Cake?

Mia had long since stopped expecting surprises from James.

This so-called birthday celebration felt more like a corporate meeting.

The enormous three-tiered cake was rolled out, extravagantly decorated with delicate sugar roses.

James grabbed her hand, guiding her over the knife as they cut the cake together.

At that moment, the guests barely forced out their congratulations to Mia.

Suddenly, a scream echoed from a corner of the hall, followed by the shrill crash of broken porcelain.

A middle-aged guest clutched his mouth. There was crimson bleeding between his fingers. He staggered backward and knocked over a champagne tower behind him.

From the other direction came more gagging sounds, and a noblewoman, whose face was ghostly pale, fell to her knees, spewing pieces of cake.

“Something’s… something’s wrong with the cake!

“It’s poisoned! Someone poisoned it!”

“Quiet! Stay calm!” James’s voice cut through the chaos. He yanked Mia behind him, eyes sharp as a hawk, scanning the room.

His face was stone. His gaze moved through the panicked crowd until it landed on Zinnia’s instantly pale face.

He remembered clearly that all the arrangements for this birthday, especially the cake, had been volunteered by Zinnia herself.

Still, only for a moment did his eyes linger.

Then, they shifted slowly to Mia.

Mia felt as though she had fallen into an ice pit.

“My apologies, everyone, for the scare.” James's calm voice was steady and commanding, carrying an authority that brooked no opposition. “Tonight’s incident will be thoroughly investigated. The Yorick family will compensate tenfold for any medical expenses and damages.

“As for this cake…” His tone turned cold.

“It was Mia’s responsibility.”

Mia felt like she was struck by lightning. She looked up at him in disbelief.

“No… it wasn’t me…” rasped Mia. Her voice was dry and hoarse.

However, no one cared for her explanation.

“So, it was her…”

“How could Don Yorick marry such a venomous woman?”

Each whisper and murmur was like a poisoned arrow striking her heart.

She looked at James.

He knew! He knew Zinnia was responsible!

Yet he chose to sacrifice her, to protect Zinnia.

“James…” Her lips trembled, forcing out words with all her strength. “It was clear…”

“Shut your mouth!” James’s voice cut through sharply. He turned to his waiting aides and said in an icy tone, “Take her to the basement holding room and let her calm down. No one lets her out without my order.”

The words basement holding room struck Mia like a thunderclap.

She had severe claustrophobia, and James knew it!

The memory of being locked and tortured in an abandoned restroom years ago had left deep psychological scars.

Yet he intended to lock her in there?!

“No! James! Don’t put me in there! I’m scared! I swear I’m not lying! There’s something in the cake! It’s Zinnia! She did this!”

Mia completely panicked. “I don’t want to go there! I’ll die! Please!”

James bent down and peeled her fingers away one by one. His gaze was ice cold, stripped of even a trace of warmth. “Babe, listen. You need to calm down.

“Take her away!”

Two black-clad aides advanced, showing no mercy as they hoisted Mia off the ground and dragged her from the hall.

James loosened his tie irritably as he watched her disappear down the corridor.

Zinnia approached. Her voice was soft, tinged with guilt. “James, it’s my fault. If it weren’t for me…”

“It’s none of your business, Zinnia.” James patted her hand. His tone softened. “She was just too reckless. Come on, let’s go calm the guests.”

He put his composed, polite smile back on and, together with Zinnia, walked toward the whispering crowd, as though the earlier incident had never happened.