Laura's fever burned for three whole days before it finally broke.

That was when Laura was allowed to leave her room.

It was also the first birthday party of Jessica's daughter.

The banquet hall was beautifully decorated and was full of guests.

John and Sophia held their granddaughter in their arms with big smiles on their faces. All kinds of luxurious gifts were piled up beside them.

"James, this is for Jessica." Sophia handed over a gift box with a smile on her face.

Inside was a beautiful diamond ring. The diamond on it seemed to be at least 10 carats. "This is what she deserves for giving us such an adorable granddaughter."

James took the ring and put it on Jessica's ring finger.

He then said gently, "Thank you."

Jessica leaned into his arms shyly. They really did look like a happy family of three.

Laura stood in the corner and watched as they took photos together. She also listened to the praises that the guests were giving them.

"The child's so adorable. She actually looks like her dad!"

"Look at those pretty eyes! She has Jessica's eyes!"

"James and Jessica really are a perfect match! Even their kid is so adorable!"

Laura's nails dug into the palm of her hands, but she didn't feel the pain at all.

"Miss Jackson!" Jessica suddenly walked towards Laura with a sweet smile on her face. "Let's take a photo together."

"No need." Laura shook her head.

"Oh, come on. Let's not spoil the mood." Jessica grabbed Laura's arm forcefully and pulled her in front of the camera. She then lowered her voice and said, "You see how well James is treating me right now? He'd keep me company every night and tell bedtime stories to my baby and watch me fall asleep..."

Laura closed her eyes. She didn't want to listen, nor did she want to retort.

Click!

As soon as the photographer pressed the shutter on the camera, the photo string wall suddenly collapsed.

"Watch out!" James rushed over and pulled Laura away.

The giant wall just missed Laura, but Jessica was buried underneath. There was also blood on the floor.

"Jessica!" James immediately let go of Laura and rushed over to Jessica like crazy.

Outside the operating room, James smoked one cigarette after another.

Laura looked at how worried he was and remembered when she had acute appendicitis. Back then, he had also stayed outside the operating room the whole night.

"Mr. Lawson, the patient is suffering from massive bleeding!" The doctor rushed out of the operating room. "We don't have enough blood reserved at the hospital. We need someone to donate blood right away!"

"Use mine." James rolled up one of his sleeves.

"We can't use your blood. You're Type AB, but the patient's Type O."

After hearing those words, James immediately turned around and looked at Laura.

She was completely stunned by his gaze.

She quickly took a step back and said in a trembling voice, "I'm not giving her any of my blood."

"Laura!" James grabbed her arm. His eyes were sharp. "Now's not the time to be sulking. She's still pregnant. We won't be able to leave if anything happens to her, do you understand?"

Laura's heart skipped a beat.

'Is he worried about not being able to leave, or is he actually worried about the child?' wondered Laura.

"What if I say no?" she asked quietly.

James's face darkened immediately. "Jessica's injured because I went to save you. Since you're the one who's benefited from my actions, what's wrong with you donating a little blood?"

He looked at Laura with eyes full of disappointment. "Why have you become so unreasonable, Laura?"

Laura's eyes turned red.

Did she change at all?

It was James who had said that she was the only person he would love.

It was he who promised that he would only marry her and no one else.

It was also he who stood in the rain and begged her to believe him.

But now, he was saying that she had become unreasonable?

"So... are you regretting the fact that you chose to save me instead of Jessica. Is that it?" Laura's voice was trembling. "So if you had another chance, you would save Jessica instead of me, right?"

James was a little taken aback. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"The patient's condition is critical!" the doctor urged. "We might not be able to save either the mother or the baby if you keep dragging this on!"

James's eyes turned cold and turned to his bodyguards. "Take her to the blood donation room!"

When Laura was pinned to the chair, she was still struggling.

But when she saw the worry in James's eyes as they were fixed in the direction of the operating room, she suddenly stopped struggling.

The pain of the needle being pushed into her veins was nowhere near the pain that she was feeling in her heart at that moment.

Blood was gradually drawn from her body, but James didn't even spare her a glance.

When the blood drawn from Laura reached 400cc, the nurse began to hesitate. "She's too weak..."

"Keep going." James didn't even turn around.

When the blood drawn from Laura reached 600cc, she felt like she was going to black out.

Just before she lost consciousness, she thought she had gone back in time to the day when she first met James.

James was standing in front of her stall and was smiling at her. "The name's James Lawson. I'll be back tomorrow."

After that, Laura lost consciousness.

When Laura woke up again, the first thing she saw was James sitting by the side of the bed.

She thought he would try to comfort her just like before to ask for her forgiveness, but when she looked at him, all she saw was the coldness in his eyes.

"Was the collapsing of the photo string wall your doing?" James said straightforwardly. His voice was colder than ever.

Laura was stunned by James's question. "What do you mean?"

"My parents looked into the matter and found out that someone had tampered with the photo string wall." James's eyes were sharper than ever. "Who else, except you, would set Jessica up like that?"

James's words sent chills down Laura's back. "I'll say this one more time. It wasn't me! Not this time, not the time before, not the time before that! Do you believe me?"

"You ask me to believe you every time, but what do you go and do?" James's eyes were colder than ever. "You've set Jessica up countless times and tried to hurt her child. How many times did I tell you? I'm only treating her well because of the children. Why did you have to keep making a scene? What good would it do us if she had a miscarriage?"

Laura's chest heaved up and down. She felt both angry and aggrieved.

She wanted to question James and wanted to retort. She also wanted to shout at the top of her voice to tell him that she never wanted to hurt anyone.

She wanted to ask James if he had forgotten that he said that he would believe no one else but her. Had he forgotten that he promised to never doubt her?

But in the end, she just looked at him wearily and said slowly in a trembling voice, "Alright, since you don't believe me, then let's break up. I'll let you be with Jessica. You can be a happy family of four!"

James was stunned. His eyes widened in shock. "What did you just say?"

"Did I not make myself clear enough?" Laura looked at James stubbornly with red eyes. "I'm making room for you and Jessica!"

Bang!

James kicked the coffee table over, and the glass shattered.

He grabbed Laura's wrist. The anger was evident in his eyes. "Laura! What nonsense are you talking about? You've always been the one that I love! And you're now telling me to be with another woman?"

Laura kept looking at James with red eyes and didn't say anything else.

The standoff lasted for quite a while.

James took a deep breath to force himself to calm down.

He pulled Laura into his arms. "I'll pretend I never heard that. Jessica has already forgiven you, so I won't hold it against you anymore."

He tightened his hold on Laura. "But remember, don't ever say things like you're going to leave me again. Everything that I'm doing right now is so that we can leave this place together."

What Laura didn't tell James was that she had already made up her mind about leaving.

"She just forgives me like that?" asked Laura. "Were there no conditions?"

James's body stiffened. He lit a cigarette and said slowly, "She... wants to hold a wedding. She said that she wants her children to know that her parents had loved each other at some point and were married."

After a short pause, he turned around to look at Laura and continued, "But the wedding's all just an act. We're only doing it for the children. Don't overthink things."

Laura trembled as they parted, but she didn't know what to say.

She felt as if an invisible hand was wrapped around her heart. Every beat caused excruciating pain.

'James Lawson, you and Jessica already have kids, and now you're going to hold a wedding with her? And you expect me to believe that everything between the two of you is fake? Who is she to you then?' Laura said inwardly.

James was still saying something, but Laura felt that his voice had become distant.

Laura watched as James kept hurting her with his words.

She didn't say another word.

James took care of Laura at the hospital for three whole days. During those three days, he did everything he could to take care of her.

He would always make sure that she took her medicine on time every day.

Whenever Laura moved the slightest during the night, he would wake up and hold her hand. He would only fall asleep again when he was sure that she was fine.

Whenever a nurse was giving Laura an injection, James would hold her in his arms and use his hand to cover her eyes. Then he would say in a gentle voice, "It's alright. It'll be over soon."

But after Laura was discharged, he went back to preparing the wedding.

To prevent her from making a scene, James even confiscated her phone and sent bodyguards to keep an eye on her 24/7.

Laura didn't resist and was just packing her luggage indifferently.

After Laura had finished packing her luggage, she began donating everything that James had ever given her over the years.

Those things never belonged to her in the first place, just like she and James were from two different worlds.

On the day of the wedding, James gave Laura her phone back. It was filled with photos that Jessica had sent.

There were photos of James wearing a suit and gently putting the wedding ring on Jessica's ring finger.

There were photos of the two of them kissing passionately in front of the crowd.

There were photos of the family of four cutting the cake happily.

Every photo made Laura's heart ache as if it were being cut into pieces.

Just when Laura was about to switch off her phone, the door to her room was pushed open.

John and Sophia were standing at the door and looking at her with cold eyes. "All the paperwork's done. You'll now head to the airport and leave on the next flight."

Sophia passed Laura a plane ticket. "You have my word that once you leave, he'll never be able to find you."

Laura took the plane ticket without saying a word, then picked up the luggage that she had already packed.

When she walked out of the villa, the sun was shining.

She didn't look back. She walked slowly towards the car parked on the side of the road.

She didn't say goodbye to James because they would never see each other again for the rest of their lives.