"Chris, what are you trying to do? That's our baby!"

My cry did not awaken even a shred of conscience in him. He suddenly clenched his fist and slammed it into my abdomen.

I screamed as a violent spasm seized my belly, a piercing pain tearing through me.

Yet, more than the pain, it was fear that overwhelmed me. That was his flesh and blood—how could he be so cruel?

As that memory resurfaced, it felt as if I were lying on that iron bed once again. The despair came rushing back, so vivid that I suddenly retched uncontrollably.

The vicious curses rang in my ears. Beside me, Chris watched with a cold, mocking smile. In that instant, a single thought took hold of me.

I wanted to die.

When blood spilled from the corner of my mouth, the technicians panicked.

"She bit her tongue—stop her, now!"

At once, Chris tore the helmet off my head and clamped my jaw in his grip, fury blazing in his eyes.

"Bitch! Without my permission, you don't get to die!"

Medical staff rushed to treat my wound and stuffed cotton into my mouth to prevent me from killing myself.

Once even death was denied to me, I simply gave up.

The sudden incident earned no pity from the crowd. If anything, their shouts grew more frenzied.

"She's trying to kill herself to escape punishment! I bet the real killer is her lover!"

"Trash like her deserves to be cut into a thousand pieces!"

The machine was connected again, and new images surfaced in my memory.

It was a spring outing—the three of us together.

Lisa suddenly shoved me into Chris's arms, laughing as she teased, "I accept you as my sister-in-law. Take this chance to get closer to Chris!"

Blushing furiously, I pulled away from his embrace and chased after Lisa in embarrassment.

The lawn was filled with our laughter.

When Lisa appeared on the screen again, my mother-in-law shot to her feet, trembling all over.

"Lisa, my daughter! You died so miserably! I never should've listened to you and let this ungrateful wretch live in our home! Why wasn't it this bitch who died instead…?"

Her grief struck the crowd deeply. Many eyes reddened, and some extremists even climbed onto the glass chamber, trying to drag me out for judgment.

The scene shifted. I stood before an apartment building.

Someone quickly recognized it—it was the place where Lisa had jumped.

After her death, most residents had moved away. Only a handful remained.

Why Lisa had chosen this place was still a mystery.

Seeing it again seemed to pull Chris back into that bleak day. His hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Lisa… I was careless. I didn't even realize you were pregnant. If only I'd spent more time with you…"

Suppressing the sob in his throat, he gripped my shoulders tightly, pouring all his resentment onto me.

"Speak! Are you mute? My sister treated you so well—do you have any conscience at all?"

I shook my head in despair. The pain wracking my body was nothing compared to the agony crushing my heart.

"Chris… let this go…"

"Let it go?" he exploded. "She was a living, breathing person! And you want me to forget? How the hell can you even say that? I want to kill you!"

In an instant, Chris snapped. His grip tightened violently, and I could faintly hear the sound of bones cracking.

As pain spread through my limbs, the gentle, tender face I knew so well surfaced in my mind. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks.

Suddenly, the projected memories began to shake violently.

Alarmed, a technician shouted, "Sir, there's a memory buried in the deepest layer of her brain. If we force it out, she may become a vegetable!"

Chris's pupils quivered.

"You're still resisting?" he demanded coldly. "Is that person really worth it?"

When I remained silent, his fury erupted.

"Push the device deeper! I want to see how long she can keep hiding the truth!"

The technicians dared not defy him. They advanced the instrument.

I felt the needle pierce into my brainstem. Pain exploded like a tidal wave, and darkness crept into my vision.

"Her vital signs are dropping rapidly—"

Before the doctor could finish, Chris grabbed two syringes of adrenaline and injected them into me without hesitation.

The next second, I gasped like a drowning person, my body jerking violently as my heart rate slowly climbed back up.

Watching this, Chris let out a savage laugh.

"Jenny, this is what you deserve. Once I know the truth, I'll give you a clean end."

I had no strength left to answer him. Chaotic memories crashed wildly through my mind.

In a dimly lit room, Chris tore my nightgown apart, exposing my naked body.

He clapped his hands.

From the darkness emerged several unkempt men, their eyes gleaming as they ogled me eagerly.

"Chris, what are you trying to do?"

"What am I trying to do? Isn't it obvious? I want the truth. If you won't talk, then I'll let these vagrants take good care of you…"

Chris gently stroked my cheek, yet his touch sent a chill through my entire body.

"Chris, I'm hiding the truth for your sake. Please believe me!"

"For my sake?" Chris let out a mocking laugh. "Jenny, have you no shame? Even now, you refuse to repent. You're rotten to the bone! I'll pry that mouth of yours open!"

With a casual wave of his hand, several vagrants surged forward, their leering gazes so ravenous it was as if they wanted to devour me alive.

"Chris, don't… I'm carrying our child…"

I cried out, my voice breaking.

Chris glanced at my slightly swollen belly, disgust written plainly on his face.

"You think you deserve to carry my child? Then you can experience the pain of losing one too!"

Laughter spilled from his lips.

The vagrants could no longer restrain their lust. They piled onto me all at once.

Like beasts, they tore at me, biting and pawing at my body with savage hunger.

I screamed and begged, pleading with them to spare me—spare the child in my womb.

But my suffering only excited them further. They violated me in increasingly twisted ways.

I watched helplessly as the iron bed was stained red with blood, crying out to Chris through unbearable agony.

Yet, he remained utterly unmoved.

In that moment, I finally understood.

Chris's patience—his restraint—had all been for this revenge.

For revenge, he was willing to use even his own child as a bargaining chip.

I was consumed by despair and completely gave up resisting.

Hours passed. I lay there like a piece of rotting flesh, yet Chris still did not let me go. What awaited me was endless torment, with no light in sight.

As the shocking images played out, the plaza fell into a brief silence.

Some women condemned Chris, accusing him of humiliating women and crossing a moral line.

But far more people watched with malicious delight.

"Chris really treats us like insiders! I wonder if he'd let us join in next time?"

"A life for a life—what Chris did is perfectly justified!"

At the bedside, Chris looked at me with a mocking smile.

"What? Starting to reminisce about those days again?

"You didn't really think I'd have a child with you, did you? A vicious woman like you—worthy of carrying my bloodline? Dream on!

"I just want you to experience the despair my sister felt back then. This is the price you pay for hiding the truth!"

His words were like a demon's whisper, carving a deeper wound into my already shattered body.

Pain, hatred, and profound helplessness swirled in my eyes.

"I didn't say anything—for your sake!"

"Stubborn to the end!" Chris shouted furiously. "This is no longer up to you!"

The device continued to burrow deeper and deeper. I had completely lost control of my body. Involuntary reactions wracked me, blood spilling continuously from my mouth.

Lisa's image began flickering across the projection.

Overcome with excitement, Chris urged impatiently, "Deeper! Keep going—don't stop!"

The technicians hesitated.

"Sir, the device has never gone this deep into a human body. This could kill her!"

"What are you afraid of?" Chris snarled. "If someone dies, I'll take responsibility. If you don't want the job, get out—now!"

By this point, Chris had completely lost his sanity. He shoved the technician toward the controls, forcing him to continue.

As the button was pressed, the images dissolved into chaos… then suddenly froze on a single moment.

It was the instant I pushed open the door to the apartment balcony.

"No—!"

Lisa plunged from the rooftop. At the edge of the building, a man was kneeling with his back turned.

"The killer! The killer's appeared! She was actually at the scene!"

"She must know the killer—maybe they were working together!"

"Lower than beasts! Chris's family supported her for years, and this is how she repaid them…"

Voices erupted all at once, accusations flying in every direction.

In the audience, my mother-in-law saw the killer with her own eyes. Overwhelmed, she nearly fainted.

"You saw it clearly… why didn't you say anything?"

Down below the apartment building, a mangled body lay sprawled in the middle of the road. Beneath the shattered abdomen, the faint outline of a child was still visible.

Outside the police cordon, Chris stared blankly at the scene, his eyes slowly turning red.

I collapsed at his feet, crying and retching at the same time.

My mother-in-law rushed over after hearing the news, screaming as she tried to break through the police line. When officers stopped her, she collapsed unconscious on the spot.

After forensic examination, the conclusion was that Lisa had died by suicide, but there were clear signs of tearing injuries on her body.

In other words, she had been violated before her death.

But who could be so utterly depraved as to assault a pregnant woman?

As the one who had called the police immediately, I naturally became everyone's last hope.

My mother-in-law grabbed my arm with a death grip, squeezing until it hurt.

"Jenny, what did you see when you got there? Was someone responsible for Lisa's death? Say something!"

Seeing the woman who had always cared so much about appearances now completely unhinged, the words rose to my lips—only to die in my throat. I closed my eyes, unable to look at her.

"Mom… I don't know."

In an instant, all the strength drained from her body. She collapsed stiffly to the ground.

I rushed forward to help her up, but Chris shoved me aside. The look in his eyes held unease, anger, and desperate pleading all at once.

I knew he wanted an answer.

But I didn't dare say it. I couldn't say it.

"Chris… I'm sorry…"

"Can 'sorry' bring back two lives?"

"Keep watching," someone shouted. "Let's see who the murderer she's protecting really is—and send that adulterous pair to their graves together!"

Amid the furious denunciations of the crowd in the plaza, the figure kneeling on the rooftop finally turned around.