Damien grabbed Brigitta by the injured arm and dragged her toward the door.

The anesthetic had already worn off by then and the pain was searing. Brigitta struggled to break free from him. “Damien, let me go! I don’t even understand what you’re saying!”

His grip only tightened. “Still pretending, are you?”

She couldn’t break free and was half dragged towards Irene’s hospital bed. She tried to get up, but Damien soon held her down forcefully!

Irene sobbed on the bed. “Ms. Holmund, I’ve done everything I could to stay out of your way. Why would you still want to hurt me? Who else would send me seafood porridge when I’m allergic to it?”

Brigitta’s head snapped up, eyes locking onto the half-finished, still-steaming porridge beside Irene’s bed. “That wasn’t me! Why on earth would I send you food?”

Irene pointed at her. “The order slip had your name on it!”

Damien shouted, “Apologize to Irene!”

Brigitta shook her head fiercely. “Why should I? I didn’t do it. I won’t apologize for something I didn’t do. Since when have I ever been so generous as to bring your little kept woman porridge?”

At that, Damien’s hand slipped from her back, momentarily startled by her defiance.

Irene wept harder. “The proof is right there on the receipt! Are you saying I made it up?”

Damien frowned. “Irene would never lie. You've harassed her more than once! I’ve let it go, but now you’ve gone too far. Apologize to her!”

Brigitta forced herself upright, trembling with rage. “Even if it were me—wasn’t she the one eating it? Are you saying she couldn't tell there was seafood in that bowl? I thought she knew about her own allergies!”

Damien’s eyes narrowed. “Irene is too trusting to suspect anyone. And with the Holmund Family’s influence, you could've put this stunt easily even when this is a big hospital!”

Her voice cut like ice. “I have no interest in investigating what your woman eats—or what else she’s allergic to!”

Damien gave a cold laugh. He snatched up the steaming bowl and poured it directly over Brigitta's head.

“You still refused to apologize right? Then you should learn your lesson another way.”

The scalding heat seared her scalp. Brigitta gasped, as the sticky broth sliding down her skin. Worse, the wound on her forehead flared with fresh pain and torn up the wound open again.

The once-proud woman, always so composed, now stood humiliated before Damien and Irene.

Irene stopped crying and watched the scene with a smug expression.

Brigitta couldn't take it anymore and raised her hand, slapping Damien hard!

Slap!

Her eyes blazed. “I warned you. And yet again, you raised your hand against me—on nothing but baseless accusations! Damien, I owe you nothing. Not even bowing to your mistress. Never!”

Damien stood frozen, clearly unprepared for her retaliation. When Brigitta swung for another slap, he caught her wrist, crushing it in his grip.

“Feel better now? Brigitta, you've got the guts to stir up problem here. I won’t let you hurt my woman and walk away without consequence. If you don’t apologize right now, I’ll end our engagement this instant.”

Brigitta couldn't even care about her current pain. Caught up in anger, she looked at him with bloodshot eyes. “Let go of me!”

Thi time, Damien immediately released her, but the force was so great that he threw her to the ground.

Humiliated, nails digging into her palms, Brigitta thought bitterly of how she should have accepted Kaspian’s offer to leave bodyguards with her.

Wiping her face—uncertain whether it was tears or porridge—she forced herself to maintain her composure.

“You don’t need to threaten me with breaking the engagement. I’ll save you the trouble. I’m done with you, Damien. I want this engagement end.”

The man frowned in response. “Don’t play this stupid push and pull game with me. It only makes me despise you more.”

He then pointed to the door, towering over her. “Get out. Don’t disturb Irene’s rest.”

Brigitta’s mouth tasted of bitterness, her heart of hate.

She straightened her spine and stared at them both down.

“Listen carefully. I will never marry you, Damien. Whatever the two of you do from now on—none of it has anything to do with me.”

Brigitta had no idea how she managed to walk out of the hospital. Despite the doctor’s repeated warnings, she insisted on signing her own discharge papers.

She sent Kaspian a message, telling him she had matters to settle first and that they could meet up afterward. The last thing she wanted was for anyone she knew to see her in such a messy state.

So, she hailed a cab and went straight home.

Standing under the showerhead, letting the water pour down her body, Brigitta replayed what had just happened. She still couldn’t believe it—was Damien really unable to see through Irene’s cheap lies?

No. He simply didn’t want Irene to feel guilty.

Brigitta looked at her bandaged hand and forehead. Just like in her past lives, whenever Damien and Irene were involved, she ended up covered in injuries. This time, she decided to leave first thing in the morning and rejoin her expedition team earlier than planned.

The next morning, Brigitta carefully cleaned her wounds and dressed herself properly.

Before leaving, she planned to visit the Arkwright mansion. She intended to return the family’s heirloom—the emerald bracelet Lena had personally entrusted to her—and to formally announce that their wedding was off.

The bracelet had been passed down for generations; only the Arkwrights’ daughter-in-law was allowed to wear it. According to the press, it was worth billions.

But before Brigitta even opened the door, movers were already hauling in crates of supplements, health tonics and specialty foods.

She froze in confusion, just as Damien walked in arm-in-arm with Irene. They eventually stopped and got face to face with Brigitta at the entrance.

“So much for saying you wouldn’t marry me. Why are you still here? You're just putting on a show.”

Brigitta sighed. “Damien, this place was bought by both our families. It’s not just yours. I’m not squatting in your home—this is my home, too.”

Her eyes caught on his hand resting gently on Irene’s stomach. The sight made her pause.

Then Damien’s gaze shifted to the bag slung over her shoulder. “Where are you going with that?”

“None of your business,” Brigitta said flatly.

The man ignored her tone and went on casually, “Irene’s pregnant. She can’t stay elsewhere anymore—she needs to be here to rest. You can pack your things and move into the guest room.”

Irene placed her hand over his. “Ms. Holmund, I should really thank you. If you hadn’t frightened me into fainting and ending up in the hospital, I wouldn’t have found out I was carrying Damien’s child.”

She buried her face against his chest, their intimacy felt sickeningly sweet.

Brigitta had anticipated the news from their gestures, but hearing it confirmed still struck her.

Irene actually got pregnant. In all her past lives, this had never happened. Still, none of it mattered anymore.

Brigitta turned to leave. “Do whatever you want. I’m already moving out.”

Damien grabbed her arm and frowned. “Moving out? No one asked you to leave. I just said to clear out your things for Irene’s sake. She’s frail, she needs someone to look after her. You’ll take care of her during the pregnancy.”

Brigitta gave a bitter laugh. “Me? Take care of your mistress? Why on earth would I do that?”

“I won't give her a title,” Damien said, “but the child will have one. My heir, an Arkwright. And if it bothers you, I’ll give you a child too—but we’ll claim it’s illegitimate. I won’t let Irene’s child have to share its inheritance.”

Tears welled in Irene’s eyes as she clung to him.

“Damien… you’re so good to me. I’ll give you as many children as you want.”

Brigitta sneered. “Then go ahead and keep having them. But not with me. We’ll never have children together. And I’m certainly not going to nurse her through a pregnancy. I’m leaving.”

As she reached for the door handle, Irene noticed the heirloom emerald bracelet on Brigitta's wrist.

“Damien! Look at her bracelet—I want it! It’s beautiful,” Irene turned to Damien.

Without hesitation, Damien pulled out his phone, activating the mansion's remote locks. “Irene likes it. Take it off. Consider it a gift to the child.”

Brigitta stared at him in disbelief. “Damien, that bracelet is your family’s heirloom! It’s not something you just hand over!”

He dismissed her. “It’s just an object. My mother gave it to you, why shouldn’t Irene have it? Don’t pretend this isn’t about the title it represents. Take it off yourself, or I’ll do it for you.”

Brigitta didn’t want him touching her. Without another word, she slid the bracelet from her wrist and handed it to Irene.

Irene’s face lit up, but the next it got twisted with malice. She intentionally loosened her grip. As a result, the emerald bracelet shattered against the floor.

Irene ducked behind Damien, tears brimming again. “Ms. Holmund, if you didn’t want to give it to me, you don't have to smash it out of spite!”

Brigitta stared at the fragments on the ground—the very last tie she had to Damien.

Slap!

Damien’s palm struck her face.

“So petty. You’d rather destroy it than give it to her? You’ll pay for this. I'll sue the Holmunds!”

Brigitta’s face burned with pain. She covered her cheek with her injured hand, but Damien grabbed it all of the sudden. Then, another agonizing pain ripped through her already torn wound.

“Irene said that you just scraped your fingers, stop acting, Brigitta! Stay here and serve Irene. You're not allowed to go anywhere else!”

A bitter laugh rose in Brigitta’s chest. She rushed into the living room, grabbed a fruit knife and aimed it at both of them. “Damien, let me out, or else… I’ll go down with you both.”

Her sudden defiance stunned him. Damien hesitated before pulling out his phone and unlocked the door.

Brigitta left and went straight to the Arkwright mansion, to meet Lucien and Lena—Damien's parents. She returned the agreements she had once signed—in which she was granted the shares in Arkwright Corp. and to terminate all financial ties with the Arkwrights.

Both Lucien and Lena were stunned by that. They immediately ordered their butler to investigate the matter thoroughly. Half an hour later, the butler returned and recounted everything he had heard from Damien’s bodyguard.

Lucien slammed the table so hard it shook. “That ungrateful son! He's so obsessed with that woman he's lost his mind—even treating marriage like a joke!”

Lena gently stroked Brigitta's head, looking at the bruises on her forehead and palms with heartbreak. She wiped away her tears. “Gitta, my poor child... Look at you—is your arm alright?”

Brigitta's nose grew a bit stuffy. Lucien and Lena had watched her grow up and the two of them had taken such good care of her, even more so than her own father. In her past lives, even after marrying Damien, they had never let her suffer. They had always protected her.

Lucien picked up his phone and dialed Damien’s number.

“I’ll drag that boy here myself and make him apologize! And he’ll take that woman to terminate the pregnancy. A child born of seduction and betrayal will never be recognized by the Arkwrights!” he said angrily.

But after several attempts, no one answered. Just then, Brigitta's phone rang—it was Damien calling. She accidentally pressed the speakerphone button when answering it.

On the other end, Damien sounded furious. “Brigitta, do you have no shame? You walk out on me one second and the next you’re running to my parents to tattle?"

"Irene’s pregnant—I’m already overwhelmed and instead of helping, you stir up trouble. Since your little push-and-pull games failed, now you’re hiding behind my parents? Pathetic!”

Lucien snatched the phone, roaring into it. “You ungrateful wretch! Try speaking to Gitta like that again! What’s this about the wedding being canceled? What's the deal with 'this' pregnancy? Get here now and explain yourself, or you’re no son of mine! I’ll name another heir!”

Brigitta didn’t want to stay there any longer. She thanked Lucien and Lena and said she didn’t need or accept Damien’s apology. Still, they insisted she stay.

Soon Damien arrived, clearly irritated. “Father, Mother, what is this about? I'm really busy right now.”

Lucien slammed the table again, pointing at him with disappointment. “Apologize to Gitta!”

Damien glanced at Brigitta. “She’s the one who keeps targeting my woman. Why should I apologize?”

Brigitta sighed. She no longer wanted to say anything to Damien.

Lucien’s rage boiled over. “Why? Because she is the only woman this family will ever recognize as an Arkwright. She is your wife. And this is how you treat her?"

"End your affair, take that woman for an abortion. We will never acknowledge her bastard. Don’t force me to deal with it myself!”

Damien’s brows knitted tight. “Father, that’s your grandchild. I’ll make sure Irene’s baby is born safely.”

His eyes went glacial as he looked at Brigitta. “If you try to harm her, I’ll make sure your so-called ‘perfect daughter-in-law’ suffers a fate worse than death.”

Just then, his phone rang. He answered, went in panic and spun toward the door.

Lucien barked, “Don’t you dare walk away from me!”

Damien’s eyes were bloodshot. He didn’t look at his father but glared squarely on Brigitta instead. “Irene tried to kill herself!”

Brigitta’s mind went blank.

So it had come early this time. In her past lives, Irene’s suicide had always come later—after the wedding.

Could it be that she doomed to repeat this cycle no matter what she did?

After Damien stormed out, Brigitta too left the Arkwright mansion.

She had made an appointment with Kaspian at the airport. Although still early, unease gnawed at her, so she hailed a taxi and went ahead to wait.

Everything in this lifetime had unfolded so suddenly. Still, at least Irene’s attempt came before the wedding. This time, no one could pin it on her.

Exhausted, Brigitta leaned against the taxi's window and closed her eyes to rest.

Suddenly the driver jerked the wheel. Brigitta was thrown hard against the front seat.

“Bang!”

Another car slammed into them. The taxi spun, flipped several times and crashed onto the asphalt with a deafening thud.

Pain exploded through her chest and stomach. Dizziness engulfed her and blurred her vision blurred.

It hurt... God, it hurt so much.

But she couldn’t let herself die here.

With everything she had, she forced her eyes open, smashed her fist against the shattered glass and dragged her injured body out of the car.

And then she saw someone walking toward her.

It was Damien.