4

The entire place had become chaotic. Vera didn’t waste time paying attention to Ophelia’s mocking words and rushed straight into the incubator room.

Once she noticed the undamaged incubator resting in the corner, she quietly sighed in relief.

Caius’s medicine was inside.

Only five days remained. After five more days, she could finally escape.

Vera’s emotionless response made Ophelia feel even more annoyed.

“Vera, this is just the beginning. One after another, I’ll hand you all the wonderful gifts I prepared.”

Ophelia stepped closer and seized the front of her collar.

Even then, Vera still showed no extra emotion.

If she resisted, the punishment would only become worse, so she remained quiet.

Ophelia always talked about taking revenge on her. There were only five days left now. Maybe it would happen once she was gone.

At that point, she would leave the medicine behind, leave this place, and never let anyone disturb her again.

After speaking, Ophelia glared fiercely at her before turning around and leaving.

The disorder around the room also carried the unpleasant scent left after their intimacy.

After Vera moved the incubator into a more hidden spot, she carefully cleaned the room.

She hadn’t taken the “special gift” Ophelia talked about seriously until that evening, when “Vera's nude photos” suddenly reached the trending searches.

The video from three days earlier, showing her painful struggle on the bed that night, was directly displayed on the huge screen at the national competition hall.

That clip suddenly popped out from a regular opening science video used in Ophelia’s competition entry.

And that same project had been stolen from Vera’s hands.

At the livestream venue, Caius smashed the projection screen with an ugly expression on his face.

The competition got canceled right there on the spot.

The event ended at six-thirty that evening. Exactly at seven o’clock, Caius showed up in front of her.

“You’re not going to explain?”

Explain. Those two words painfully stabbed the weakest part of her heart like knives.

“Explain what? Explain why the project I worked hard on for two months ended up being used by Ophelia in the competition?”

“Or explain why someone filmed what happened that night and intentionally played it on the giant screen?”

Vera questioned him emotionally.

“Keep pretending.”

“Continue acting!”

“Only your hands ever touched Ophelia’s project! And you’re the only person living in this house. If you weren’t the one who installed the camera and recorded the video, then who else did it?”

As Vera raised her voice, Caius also became more upset.

His big hand struck the living room table hard, making the glass cup on top fall and shatter.

That single sentence completely woke Vera up.

He still refused to trust her.

The hand that once protected her from everyone had now landed on her instead.

It truly hurt.

“Teacher, stop wasting time. You don’t trust me anyway, and I don’t want to explain anymore. So how do you plan to punish me this time?”

“Lock me up? Or leave me without food and water?”

Vera already stopped caring.

No matter how much she explained or how much proof stood in front of him, Caius still wouldn’t trust her.

Since the ending was always her being punished, it was better to just speak directly.

That word, “teacher,” seemed to light his anger.

Caius grabbed her wrist and pushed her onto the sofa.

With a ripping sound, Caius instantly tore apart her clothes.

“Vera, just because you’re my antidote, do you really think I wouldn’t dare touch you?”

5

When her clothes were ripped open, Vera finally felt real fear.

“Vera, didn’t you release that video because you wanted everyone outside to know you’re my weakness?”

“Wasn’t it because you wanted people to know I can’t stay away from you, so everyone would understand how important you are to me?!”

The more Caius spoke, the rougher his actions became.

Vera wanted to explain, but the pain was too much. Too unbearable.

So painful that she couldn’t even force out one begging word.

Only Vera understood how painfully long that night felt.

After that terrible night ended, Vera was already so tired that she nearly passed out.

This was Caius’s punishment for her. Even if touching her disgusted him so badly that he almost rubbed his own skin raw afterward, he still wanted to torture her until she couldn’t even move properly.

Vera grabbed the torn clothes and tried covering herself, but the second she stood from the sofa, her body froze.

A tiny figure was standing by the doorway, staring at her.

Tears filled the little girl’s eyes as she silently looked at her.

Then Caius walked out of the bathroom, and the little girl suddenly cried out.

“Dad, who is she? Dad, did you cheat?”

“Dad, don’t you love Mom and me anymore? Did you become a bad person?”

“Auntie, Giselle already came here obediently. Please don’t treat Dad like this again, okay? I don’t want Mom and Dad to divorce…”

After saying that, the little girl cried and ran away without looking back.

Caius quickly put his clothes on and ran after her.

Before leaving, he only said one thing. “Vera, even using a child against me, I have to admit your methods are cruel.”

That one sentence completely pushed Vera into shame.

She dropped onto the sofa and laughed bitterly. She also wanted to say those same words to Ophelia.

Ophelia, I have to admit your methods are cruel.

After that day, Caius never came back again. He didn’t lock her up or stop giving her food and water anymore.

Early the next morning, Vera forced herself up and went to the laboratory with her weak body.

During that short ten-minute walk, her personal information was exposed online.

The trending topic stayed online for a whole day and night. Nude pictures of Vera covered the laboratory windows.

Chicken blood was splashed all over outside the laboratory. The second she stepped out of the car, rotten vegetables and eggs were thrown at her from every side.

Getting hit by eggs on the head hurts badly. Vera got out of the car and quickly ran into the laboratory.

She thought everything would calm down after entering, but the moment she saw the destroyed laboratory and the torn experiment papers, she stopped cold.

The table was piled with resignation letters, and two large words were written across the blackboard: “bitch.”

All the hate crashed onto Vera. Step by step, she walked toward the incubator hidden in the corner.

Luckily, nothing happened to it. Four more days, and she would finally be free.

By then, she would leave for a place where nobody knew her, and all this humiliation would disappear.

As Vera stared at the results inside the incubator, a sudden pain stabbed her lower stomach.

Warm blood slowly flowed out. She was bleeding…

She had never felt pain like this before. Cold sweat quickly covered her back.

Vera grabbed her phone and called 911.

But she had no time left. Blood had already soaked through her pants.

Vera forced herself to bear the pain and slowly walked toward the door, but the outside of the laboratory was already crowded with people.

Every one of them came to curse her, blame her, and punish her…

Water could carry a boat, but it could also flip it over.

Only now did Vera truly understand those words.

Back when she stayed beside Caius, nobody dared lay a hand on her.

But now, everyone dared to hurt her.

Vera breathed hard and called the pinned number in her contacts.

Before the call could connect, the laboratory door opened from the outside.

The person on the other end of the call appeared in front of her.

“Caius…”

6

“Teacher… save me… my stomach hurts so much…”

Before Vera finished her words, Caius stopped her and walked right past her into the laboratory.

“I came for the files Ophelia asked for.”

He stayed only two minutes from entering to leaving. Even with blood spreading all over the laboratory floor beneath her, Caius never asked one question.

When the sound of the closing door echoed out, Vera finally collapsed onto the ground.

The pain was unbearable. Her lower stomach hurt, and her heart hurt too, so much that even breathing felt painful.

Later, the hospital ambulance arrived and carried her away.

By the time Vera woke up again, it was already the following day.

Vera pushed herself up from the hospital bed as the nurse stood beside her during rounds.

“Heavy uterine bleeding, caused by frequent sexual activity after miscarriage.”

“The uterus was kept safe. If it happens another time, even a top surgeon like Caius can’t save it.”

Those were the nurse’s original words.

Vera laughed bitterly after hearing that final sentence.

Everything she had become now was because of him.

She looked at the time on her phone. Two more days had already passed.

Only two days were left before everything ended.

The following day, Vera was discharged from the hospital. While taking care of the paperwork, she bumped into Ophelia.

Ophelia had come to arrange hospital admission.

Caius held Ophelia with one arm while holding the little girl’s hand with the other.

Before this, Vera would’ve asked Caius why he never saved her…

But after seeing their happy little family, she didn’t want to ask anymore.

She was the sinner the child talked about, someone who could never openly appear beside him.

“Sister Vera, I’m pregnant.”

Vera wanted to leave, but Ophelia’s words stopped her in her tracks.

Those words felt worse than public humiliation.

Vera stood there blankly for a moment, said nothing, then left.

After walking out of the hospital, Vera headed to the laboratory.

Until the day she left, Vera planned to stay there the whole time.

As long as she waited until tomorrow morning, the antidote would completely finish merging.

Looking at the little incubator, Vera unexpectedly felt tears sting her eyes.

She was leaving soon, but she couldn’t feel any attachment at all.

After staying there for five years, other than the ID card in her hand, she strangely had nothing she could bring away.

The laboratory stayed quiet, while the outside sky slowly became dark.

Sleep slowly covered her, and she fell asleep on the empty laboratory table.

In the dream, the people who revealed her identity tied her up.

After tying her down, they placed her above burning firewood. The heat burned badly. No matter how hard she fought, it was useless.

When pain suddenly spread across her body, Vera opened her eyes at once. The laboratory had caught fire.

The huge fire swallowed the whole laboratory. The flammable chemicals inside the cabinets had all spilled out. The flames rose as tall as two people.

Vera had no time to think. She grabbed the experiment box in her arms and ran toward the door.

The door had been open. Just as Vera was about to run outside, Ophelia shut the door from the other side.

“What are you doing, Ophelia?! Let me out!”

“I’m going to burn alive in here! Open the door!”

She screamed toward the outside, but nothing happened.

“Vera, why?! How far do you want Caius to go for you?!”

“Doesn’t he hate you? Then why does he panic so much after you faint?!”

“Why did Caius punish the people who exposed you and send every one of them to the police station?!”

“Why did Caius throw away the project he followed for five years just to save your uterus and personally do your surgery?!”

Every word Ophelia shouted carried anger and hate.

But Vera, behind the door, could barely hear anymore… She kept gasping for air, but the harder she breathed, the less air she got.

The burning doorframe suddenly collapsed and crashed onto the incubator in her arms.

As darkness slowly covered her sight, she heard glass breaking and someone calling her name.

“Vera!”

“Vera, are you in there?!”

That voice sounded so familiar. Was it Caius?