Just because I refused to let my husband, Timothy Blackwood, bring his late friend's widow, Gracie Morgan, home to live with us, he started spreading vicious rumors about me everywhere.

Overnight, my reputation was completely ruined, and scandalous photos of me barely dressed spread all over town.

Customers stormed into my restaurant and dumped food on me in disgust.

"You're disgusting! Who would dare eat here now? Who knows where your filthy hands have been?!"

One shouted, "Restaurant owner during the day, sleeping around in God knows whose bed by night!"

...

Timothy had hired all of these people just to make the rumors seem real.

Crying, I finally agreed to let Gracie move into our home.

I begged Timothy to clear my name, but Timothy kicked me hard in disgust and hissed coldly, "You made Gracie cry for three straight days. Her eyes are swollen from it, so how am I supposed to face my dead friend? This time, you need to learn your lesson."

Later, I became exactly what he wanted, broken down into a harmless nothing who could never threaten Gracie again.

Just when he was about to let up, he got a panicked call from his friend. "Alyssa Winter jumped off a building!"

A burly woman slapped me so hard that I collapsed onto the floor. Her face twisted with rage, and her voice sounded like she wanted to tear me to pieces.

"You little homewrecker! How dare you seduce my husband? Do you have any morals? He barely makes any money, yet he spends every last dollar on a tramp like you!"

My burned hand covered my stinging cheek, and I stared at her in confusion. "I've never seduced your husband, and I don't even know him. Those are all just rumors."

The woman did not believe me, so she crouched and grabbed my chin viciously. Then, she spat right in my face as she sneered.

I kept staring toward the street outside.

Timothy Blackwood passed by the restaurant every evening after work, and it was about the time he usually got off.

Just when I felt like I could not hold on anymore, Timothy finally walked past the door. I staggered to my feet, pushed the door open, and grabbed his arm.

"Timothy, as long as you're willing to clear my name, I'll disappear from you and Gracie Morgan's lives immediately, okay?"

I still held on to hope, refusing to believe that after 10 years of marriage, he could be this heartless toward me.

Timothy frowned, yet there was not a hint of softness in his eyes. "I never wanted you to leave me. I just wanted you to learn your lesson."

He added, "Alyssa Winter, you were cruel enough to refuse to let Gracie move into our home, forcing a pregnant woman to live all alone. So, I'm going to make you experience how hard life is for women."

At that moment, the restaurant customers followed the burly woman outside.

Timothy shoved me back into the pit without a second thought.

The woman threw a stack of photos at me, hitting my body hard.

She yelled, "Still trying to deny it? This is all the evidence. You're disgusting! You're married, yet you're still playing mistress to my husband."

One photo stuck to the food that stained my clothes. When I picked it up and looked at it, I felt like I had been struck by lightning.

This photo was from college, taken maliciously when someone drugged me at a bar while I was trying to secure Timothy's spot in a study abroad program.

Timothy had nearly risked his life fighting those people just to get the photo back so it would not be spread around. But now, Timothy had printed tens of thousands of copies just to help Gracie vent her anger.

My hands trembled so badly I could barely hold the photo.

I turned to look at Timothy with bloodshot eyes. "You... spread this photo?"

Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.

All the other photos were AI-generated, so I thought there was still room to fix this. However, this photo was my deepest shame. For a long time after that incident, I lived in darkness and could not even lift my head. It was a ghost that refused to pass in peace.

"Say something!" I sobbed and screamed.

My pitiful state seemed to move him slightly as his expression softened. Before he could say anything, a phone call interrupted him.

"Timothy, I really don't know how to thank you for giving the baby and me five beachside villas. Alyssa won't get upset with you when she finds out, will she? If so, you should take them back. I don't want to affect your relationship."

Timothy's expression hardened again. After comforting Gracie and hanging up, he said coldly, "Without some real consequences, you'll never learn your lesson!"

With that, he turned and walked away.

I stood there, frozen in place, stunned that Timothy had actually given Gracie five beachside villas.

He had always been afraid I was a materialistic woman, so during all our years of marriage, he had given me less than 1000 dollars in total. All my expenses depended on this little restaurant. From working so hard to make a living, my health had long since deteriorated.

All that, and Timothy easily handed Gracie five beachside villas.

My ears rang, automatically blocking out the people's vicious insults. When they got worked up enough, they started attacking me physically.

I curled up on the ground, letting them do as they pleased, tears streaming down my face in despair. Suddenly, a piercing pain shot through my lower abdomen, and blood pooled beneath me.

Only then did I realize I was pregnant.

When they saw the blood, they panicked and feared I might actually die. They cursed at me as they fled.

Unable to bear the physical pain and mental torment, I passed out.

When I woke up, a scruffy homeless man was on top of me, his grimy hands sliding all over my body. For a moment, I forgot the pain in my body and screamed, desperately shoving him off.

A crowd had already gathered on the street.

The ground was stained red with blood flowing from my abdomen, but they thought the old beggar had caused it, so they took photos while cursing at me.

The man's excitement only grew stronger.

"You little tramp, lying on the ground like–basically inviting me. You've slept with so many men already, so one more will not make any difference."

The homeless man had gone without a woman for a long time, and his mind was clearly unstable. Right there in the middle of the street, in front of everyone, he shamelessly hurled obscene words at me.

He excitedly grabbed one of my legs and said, "From now on, you're my wife. Let's go home and get in bed."

After bleeding all night, I was too weak to struggle. I was so desperate that I wanted to die.

The next moment, I spotted a familiar face in the crowd.

It was Timothy!

I knew that right now, only he could save me. So without thinking, I used every ounce of strength I had to fight back and crawl to his side.

I gritted my teeth and hissed, "Timothy, are you really this heartless that you will just watch me die without helping me?"

Timothy's expression remained cold. "Gracie cried for three days and nights, so you should suffer for three days and nights too. After three days, I'll put an end to all this."

For Gracie's sake, he willingly put me through inhuman torture.

For a moment, I could not tell whose husband he actually was. Despite that, I swallowed my anger and tried to stay calm.

I said, "I'm pregnant, and I'm losing too much blood. I don't know if the baby can even be saved. Take me to the hospital now."

After hearing this, Timothy frowned and snapped, "Alyssa, how can you make up lies so easily? Just because you want to compete with Gracie, you are even making up a story about being pregnant? I know your body better than anyone. After all these years of IVF treatments without success, there's no way you could suddenly be pregnant now."

Indeed. Timothy and I had always dreamed of having a child.

For three years, we kept trying IVF. Every year, he even made several tiny baby clothes, ready to welcome the child whenever it finally arrived.

Alas, the child never came.

I had never expected to become pregnant this time. Unfortunately, before it could even see the world, it had already been tortured to death.

The old beggar grew angry at my resistance. He slapped me hard across the face and dragged me away again.

My heart sank once more. Just as I was preparing myself for death, Timothy's friend suddenly rushed forward and pulled me away from the beggar.

"Alyssa, honestly, you're really something. You even dare to do that kind of thing in the middle of the street. You may have no shame, but Timothy still has his reputation to protect. If he had not asked me to come over, would you really have gone off to be that beggar's wife?"

He clearly knew the truth, yet he asked anyway, his eyes full of mockery.

I had no strength left to argue with him. I only begged him to take me to the hospital.

He refused again and again.

In the end, I threatened him with my life. I told him that if I died because of him, Timothy would tear him apart–piece by piece.

Only then did he reluctantly take me to the hospital.

After arriving at the hospital, the smell of food on my body and the dried blood below drew disgusted stares and pointing fingers from everyone.

One mocked, "That's the shameless woman who went viral. She's into some twisted stuff, getting herself all bloody like that. If I got exposed like that, I'd have killed myself already, but she still has the nerve to show her face in public."

Someone else wrinkled their nose and said, "You could smell that nasty scent on her from far away. Why is someone like that still alive? She should just hurry up and die."

It felt like I had been stripped naked and exposed to the entire world.

I hung my head low as wave after wave of humiliation tore my heart open. Biting my lip hard, I clutched my abdomen and struggled forward with difficulty.

Finally reaching the OB-GYN department, I waited in line outside for my number. Everyone around me could not get far enough away from me.

When it was my turn, a patient from outside barged in and yanked me up from the chair.

She shouted, "Doctor, you can't treat her. We won't allow it! She's filthy, and we refuse to share the same doctor with someone like her."

Another person immediately echoed, "Exactly. She didn't care about her own body, so if she gets sick and dies, she deserves it. Don't treat her, or we'll all report you."

The doctor had no choice but to shake his head and tell me to leave.

I was driven out by the mob, and they kicked and punched me like I was a punching bag.

Eventually, the crowd gradually dispersed. I lay helplessly on the ground, watching their mouths open and close, nearly driving me insane.

In my heart, I screamed silently, begging someone to save me. I truly could not hold on anymore.

Just then, Timothy suddenly appeared at the OB-GYN entrance with Gracie in his arms. The moment he looked at me, there was a hint of sympathy in his eyes.

He was about to reach out to help me up, but Gracie started crying in fear, pretending to cower behind Timothy.

"Alyssa, don't get the wrong idea. Timothy is only here because he's worried about me and came with me for my prenatal checkup. Our relationship is completely innocent."

I remained expressionless, already numb. I just nodded slightly without saying anything more.

However, Timothy could not stand my attitude and crouched down, grabbing my hand fiercely,

He scolded, "What's that supposed to mean? Didn't I tell you not to make Gracie cry? She's sensitive, so speak to her gently. Get up and apologize to Gracie!"

Did he really expect to control every word I said now? How ridiculous.

I turned my head away, refusing to speak, tears of grievance welling up in my eyes.

Timothy stared at me intently, the fierceness in his eyes gradually fading. Finally, he sighed helplessly. "As long as you apologize, I'll clear up the rumors right now."

What good would clearing them up now do?

I had already been humiliated in public, and my photos had long since been spread everywhere. Still, I knew that if I apologized, Timothy would do even worse things to me just to teach me a lesson, making my life a living hell.

I slowly got up, but cramping in my abdomen made it impossible to stand straight.

I bent over and said through gritted teeth, "I'm sorry..."

I did not owe Gracie anything, much less Timothy. This apology was just to save my own life. Just as I was about to lift my head, everything suddenly went black, and I collapsed.

When I woke up again, I was lying in Timothy's villa.

Standing beside me was Timothy's private doctor, Connor Garcia.

Connor's expression was difficult to decipher as he said, "There's no way you can keep the baby in your condition. You'll be lucky if you can even save your own life. From now on, you… should take better care of your body."

He clearly believed I was that kind of woman, too. This impression was already rooted in their minds; explanation was futile.

Timothy suddenly entered the room, and Connor gave him a slight nod before speaking.

"Mrs. Blackwood had a miscar–"

Before he could finish, Timothy cut him off. "Alyssa, you've rested long enough. You should have recovered your strength by now, right? Gracie is moving in, and tonight, we're throwing her a welcome party. As the lady of the house, you need to be there to welcome her."