When James rushed out of the villa with Jessica in his arms, Laura was still sitting weakly on the ground with blooding pouring out the the back of her head and trickling down her neck.

She looked at his receding figure. James seemed so desperate and in a panic. Not once did he turn around and look at her.

The pain Laura was experiencing was excruciating. That was when she suddenly remembered that James once cared just as much about her as well.

Back then, she was still a fish seller in the open market. Her hair was simply tied into a ponytail. She looked young and innocent. The other stall owners at the open market called her an angel.

When James first saw her, he stood by Laura's stall for a full two hours. After that, he took out a premium bank card and said, "Be my girlfriend, and you won't have to work for the rest of your life."

Laura might be poor, but she was proud. She was a little taken aback by James's words, but still gave the card back to him. "That won't be necessary, sir. I earn money through my own hard work, and I'm proud of that."

James stared at her for a while before handing her a business card. "The name's James Lawson. I'll be back tomorrow."

Laura didn't take his words seriously, but James did come back as promised the next day.

He arrived in a black Maybach and was wearing a clean suit. He really stood out in the open market.

He pursued her for three whole months, and during that time, he did things that he wouldn't normally do.

Laura refused all his roses, so he arranged for his men to import a lot of expensive seafood from overseas.

She avoided his luxury cars, so he would walk through the entire open market on foot.

When Laura said they were from different worlds, he would squat down next to her and help her work on the fish.

She stood at her stall for a whole three months. He refused to give up, no matter how many times Laura turned him down.

It wasn't that Laura wasn't moved; she just clearly knew how far apart they were in terms of background, so she didn't dare allow herself to develop any feelings for him.

That was until he shielded her from a competitor who tried to pour sulphuric acid on her, and it caused a massive burn on his back. Only then did she agree to date him.

Back then, the pain caused him to be soaked in cold sweat, but he was still smiling as he said to her, "Remember, Laura, you owe me your life. You'll have to repay this favor with the rest of your life."

Tears trickled down her cheeks and fell onto the palm of his hand.

After they started dating, James doted on her and spoiled her.

He would summon his private doctor in the middle of the night just because she accidentally cut her finger.

When she said she liked a certain brand of cake, he would just buy the entire store.

When her stomach ached during her period, he would stay up all night to rub her aching belly.

There was once when Laura accidentally fell over and scraped her knee, and he was so upset that his eyes turned red. His hands were trembling while he carried her to the hospital.

The doctor didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he told James that it was just a scratch and nothing serious, but James insisted on giving Laura a CT scan just in case she had a bone fracture.

But now...

Laura lowered her head and looked at the pool of blood on the floor. She suddenly laughed.

But as she laughed, tears began trickling down her cheeks.

She went to the hospital alone.

After the wound was treated, she still felt dizzy and could barely stand. As soon as she walked out of the consultation room, someone grabbed her wrist forcefully.

"Laura!" The anger was evident in James's voice. "Jessica nearly had a miscarriage, and you still won't give up? Are you planning on making a scene at the hospital?"

Laura turned around and saw James's furrowed brows and his cold eyes.

He was dressed in a suit and tie, as aloof and aristocratic as ever. The only difference was that there was a scent of Jessica's perfume on him.

Laura's voice was so quiet that one could hardly hear her. "I didn't come to the hospital... because of her..."

She slowly raised her hand and pointed at her bandaged head. "I'm hurt as well."

James was taken aback. Only then did he see Laura's pale face and the bandage on her head.

"You said we'd leave this place together after she gives birth to the child, but do you even still care about me now?" Laura looked at James with red eyes.

James furrowed his brows even more. He reached out to touch her wound. "What happened?"

"You did this," Laura said calmly. "I bumped into a corner of the coffee table."

James's eyes widened. Only then did he remember what happened.

His anger dissipated almost instantly.

He then pulled Laura into his arms. "I'm sorry, Laura. I didn't mean it. I was just worried about the child that Jessica was carrying. If anything happens to her, then it would cause more delays to our plan..."

Laura didn't respond. She just allowed James to hug her. Her eyes were empty.

James had said those words way too many times.

"I know." Laura pushed James away. "You should go take care of her."

She turned on her heels and was about to leave, but James grabbed her wrist.

"You've got to believe me, Laura. You're the only one I love, no matter what. Everything I'm doing right now is for us to leave this place as soon as possible."

He touched her bandage gently. "I'll tell the servants to take care of you. Your wound should be kept dry."

With that said, he released Laura and turned to walk into Jessica's ward.

Laura stood where she was as she looked at James's receding figure.

She suddenly laughed, and tears trickled down her cheeks.

"I don't believe you anymore, James. Your words mean nothing to me now," she said gently.

For the next couple of days, Laura would receive provocative photos from Jessica almost every day.

In the photos, James was playing with his daughter, and he had a gentle look in his eyes. As for Jessica, she would lean against his shoulder with a sweet smile on her face.

Laura flicked through the photos with trembling fingers.

There were photos of James sitting by Jessica's bed in the middle of the night, of James feeding her, and of James carrying their child with the gentlest look ever in his eyes.

Every single photo made Laura's heart ache.

But as time progressed, Laura suddenly realized that her heart didn't ache anymore.

Perhaps, she was completely disappointed with James the moment she was locked in that cold storage.

Just when she was about to blacklist Jessica, her phone vibrated again.

It was another photo.

Jessica was playing with the bracelet that Laura's mother had left her.

"Do you want the bracelet that your mom left you? Come alone if you want it back."

Laura immediately stood up. The sudden movement caused her to almost black out, but she didn't really care. She grabbed her coat and rushed out of the room.

Inside the VIP ward, Jessica was carrying the baby in her hands and was humming a song. "Who's Daddy's most beloved baby? Daddy's going to come see us every day..."

When she raised her head and saw Laura, the smile on her face became wider. "Laura, you're here. There's something I want to tell you. During the days that I've been hospitalized, James didn't even go to work. He just stayed here with my daughter and me."

Laura clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into the palms of her hands. She didn't want to hear anything that Jessica was saying. "Where's my bracelet?"

Jessica slowly picked the bracelet up from the side of her pillow and waved it gently. "You mean this bracelet?"

She curved her lips into a cruel smile. "How about this? I'll give you this bracelet back if you get on your knees and beg me."

Laura trembled in anger. "Don't go too far."

"So what if I did?" Jessica's eyes were full of disdain. "You're just a fish seller, Laura, and I am the heiress of the Rane Group and the future daughter-in-law of the Lawson family! Do you think you're worthy to be my equal? Get on your knees and beg me to give you this bracelet back! It's the least you can do!"

She pretended to throw the bracelet away. "I'm going to count to three. If you don't get on your knees, then I'll throw this out the window! One... Two..."

Laura bit her lip, her eyes turned red as she went to her knees.

She begged Jessica to give her the bracelet back.

Jessica laughed. "The way you look right now is so pitiful."

She stood up and looked down at Laura. "However, there's no way that I'll give you this bracelet back."

With that said, she raised her hand and threw the bracelet out the window.

Laura's whole body was trembling. She was just about to go after the bracelet when the ward door was suddenly pushed open.

James and his parents were standing at the door, all with dark looks on their faces.

"What are you doing?" John asked in a sharp voice.

Jessica's face changed instantly as she cried in James's arms, "James! I don't know what's got into her. She suddenly barged into the ward and started beating and strangling the baby..."

She unbuttoned the baby's clothes and a couple of bruises could be clearly seen.

Laura couldn't believe what she was seeing. "It wasn't me!"

She shook her head in horror as John walked towards her angrily.

Slap!

John had slapped her and it made her feel like the whole world was spinning. Her head was ringing and there was blood at the corner of her mouth.

"How can you be so ruthless as to hurt a baby?" John's voice sounded like it was from a distance.

Sophia said coldly, "Looks like you haven't learnt your lesson the last time. Someone, get this bitch out of here and whip her 20 times!"

James clenched his fists and took a step forward. "Mom..."

"Are you still going to protect her?" Sophia interrupted. "Who she hurt was your own daughter! Even if you're going to abandon her at the old residence and leave with Laura, she's still your own flesh and blood!"

Laura was trembling all over. She instinctively looked at James.

He was still standing there. He was clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

He looked at her and there was an obvious struggle in his eyes. He looked as if he was in pain at first, but then he gradually calmed down.

He slowly turned his head away.

Laura looked at James in a daze. She felt as if someone had ripped her heart in pieces.

But the next second, her lips slowly curved into a smile and she laughed.

She was laughing at herself for being such a fool and actually believed that James was going to take her away.

She was also laughing at herself for actually believing that James would put his promises to her before his own flesh and blood, and hoping that he was still choosing her at such a critical moment.

Laura was dragged to the open corridor of the hospital. The bodyguards pinned her down on her knees.

When the first whip landed on her, the pain caused her to almost black out. She remembered when the Lawson family did all they could to separate her and James.

She broke up with James with red eyes. It was raining heavily that night, but James stood outside her house for an entire night. The next day, he started burning up with a fever and nearly had pneumonia.

When she went to check on him, he was in a daze, but he still grabbed her hand and said, "Keep this in mind, Laura. You're the only person I love, even if the whole world is against us."

When the second whip landed on Laura, she bit her lip. She could taste the metallic taste of blood in her mouth.

She remembered the day when James went on the next flight home just because she sent him a message saying she missed him.

Laura was whipped time after time. Every whip made her heart ache way more than the actual pain on her back.

When the 15th whip landed, she seemed to have heard James asking her what happened and wanted to check on her.

By the 19th whip, the pain caused Laura to almost lose consciousness.

She felt as if someone was calling her name, but she couldn't tell if she was hearing things or if someone was actually calling her name.

By the 20th whip, Laura blacked out and lost consciousness.

When Laura woke up again, she was lying on a hospital bed. Her back was burning.

"Laura!" James immediately came to the side of the bed. His eyes were bloodshot. "You're awake! Does it still hurt?"

Seeing how worried James was, Laura was a little dazed.

In the past, whenever she had a fever, he stayed beside her just like now.

But now, she didn't have a fever, but was ordered to be whipped by James's parents, and as for James, he just stood and watched.

She pulled her hand back and wasn't willing to look at James again.

James was stunned by Laura's actions.

He explained, "Laura, it's not that I don't want to speak up for you. It's just that if I spoke up back then, they would only give you a harsher punishment..."

"So you think it was me who hurt that baby as well?" Laura's voice was hoarse.

James swallowed. In the end, he chose to remain silent.

Such a reaction caused Laura's heart to ache even more. It was as if someone was driving a blunt knife into her heart.

She looked at him with red, teary eyes. "I've only got one question for you. Do you believe me or not?"

James furrowed his brows. There was a trace of anger in his voice that he himself didn't even notice. "Laura, the evidence was right there in front of me. How do you expect me to believe you? Didn't I tell you to give me a little more time? Why did you have to make a scene?"

Tears suddenly started trickling down Laura's face.

She thought the pain couldn't get any worse, but she was wrong.

She quickly turned around to prevent James from seeing the state she was in.

"You'd better leave." Laura's voice was so quiet that James could hardly hear her.

"Please just give me a little more time, alright?" James's voice softened. "Things will soon go back to the way they used to be."

'The way they used to be?' Laura closed her eyes. 'Do you really think that's possible?'

James now had Jessica and two children.

He had chosen to hurt Laura time after time for them.

Laura turned around slowly so that she had her back to James. She didn't want to say a single word to him.

James gently caressed her hair. "Get some rest. I'll be right here by your side."

Before James could say anything else, a nurse rushed into the ward in a panic. "Mr. Lawson! Miss Rane is crying and saying that she wants to see you..."

James furrowed his brows and hesitated for a while before finally standing up. "I'll be right back, Laura."

But he never came back to the ward after he had left.

The day that Laura was discharged from the hospital, it was raining heavily. Laura stood at the hospital entrance and looked at James driving slowly towards her.

As soon as she opened the passenger seat door, she saw Jessica sitting there with the baby in her arms.

"James..." Jessica looked at her and immediately nudged towards James. "I... I'm still scared of her from what happened last time..."

Her eyes were red, and her voice was trembling. "She can hurt me, but not the child. Can you... give me a little more time? I don't want to be in the same car as her."

Laura stood in the rain, trembling.

James remained silent for a while. Then, he passed Laura an umbrella. "Wait here for me, Laura. I'll be back to pick you up soon."

With that said, he closed the window, and the car drove into the distance.

Laura stood where she was and watched as the car disappeared into the distance.

She closed her eyes. Deep down, she felt an emptiness that she had never felt before.

She waited outside the hospital for an entire day, but the car that had promised to return to pick her up never returned.

Laura called James time after time, but he never answered.

As the sky became darker, the rain also became heavier.

She had no choice but to walk home using the umbrella to shield her from the heavy rain.

The strong wind almost broke the umbrella, causing Laura to stumble. She then suddenly slipped and fell into a puddle.

The umbrella landed on the ground with a loud crack and broke. The rain immediately soaked Laura.

When she finally arrived home, it was already the middle of the night.

She stood soaked in the foyer, but heard Jessica's cries coming from the living room. "James, I know you like Laura, but these are special circumstances right now..."

Her voice was soft and trembling. "I have a plugged duct, and it really hurts. The baby needs milk..."

She sobbed. "Please, do it for the baby. Help me... Don't worry. Laura will never know..."

Laura froze when she heard those words. The blood seemed to have stopped flowing through her veins.

James had his back to the door, so Laura couldn't see the look on his face. All she could see was his tense figure.

After a long silence, Laura saw James slowly raise his left hand and unbutton Jessica's clothes. He raised his hand to touch her soft skin and then began lowering his head.