“Weren’t you the chatterbox, the one who clung to me every day? Now what are you pretending to be—some pure, untouchable woman?”

“For that little incident last time, how long are you going to keep sulking?”

“Sophie, why can’t you learn your lesson…”

That night, something seemed to set him off. He insisted on being with me.

He tore open my clothes roughly.

He grabbed my neck and kissed his way downward.

And in that moment, the fear I had worked so hard to forget surged back.

The mattress beneath me felt like an iron cage.

The man before me felt like a kidnapper.

The wounds on my skin seemed to tear open inch by inch, dragging me back to that endless hell.

I lost all reason, holding on only to the instinct to survive.

In a panic, I grabbed a vase from the corner and smashed it.

Sophia rushed over at the noise and saw Lucas covered in blood.

She frantically called the police and an ambulance.

As she cried while moving, “Help! Someone help me! Wendy has gone mad, she’s trying to kill someone!”

And just like that, the police took me away.

Sophia produced the photo of me walking naked into the charity event.

She claimed I had long-standing mental issues and sent me to a mental hospital.

While the admission was processed, Lucas handled everything for me.

From cash and bank accounts to meals and daily needs.

Everything was arranged perfectly.

As he left, he glanced at me and said, “Sophie, remember to be a good girl here.”

“I’ll come pick you up when you’re better.”

But everyone knew I wouldn’t be there.

By then, Lucas and Sophia’s affair had already become public gossip.

He needed an excuse to discard me, an unnecessary burden.

So I could only be labeled a madwoman.

… Fallen leaves drifted down.

The school bell rang, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I looked up and saw a familiar figure.

Turning, I saw Lucas.

He seemed surprised, but also pleased.

He hurried through the crowd toward me.

“Sophie, what are you doing here?”

“Why didn’t you contact me after you were discharged? Do you know—” Before I could finish, a tiny, adorable little girl clung to my leg.

“Mommy, why are you so late!”

“The kids at kindergarten had a bet today about whose mom would come first, and I lost again!”

I pinched my daughter’s cheek, trying to think of how to comfort her.

But Lucas’s eyes reddened first.

He crouched down, staring at Ethan with disbelief.

“This is your child?”