Bertha slapped Jasper's hand away and pulled me into her arms. "What's going on? Can't you talk this through properly?"

We came from similar backgrounds. After she learned that my mother had died young, she often sighed and said that seeing me was like seeing her younger self. She told me she would be my mother from then on.

The way she shielded me tightened my throat. "Mother, I…"

"Mom!" Kimberly's voice cut across mine as she hurried downstairs.

A second later, she walked straight over and slipped her arm through my mother-in-law's.

"This is all my fault," she said softly. "If I hadn't wanted to marry Jas, he wouldn't have taken it out on Roxanne."

She lowered her eyes. "I just don't want my child to be called illegitimate from birth. I never meant to hurt Roxanne…"

As she spoke, she rested her head against my mother-in-law's shoulder and acted spoiled.

I stood there, frozen, and watched Bertha's hand rise instinctively to pat her back.

"Mother?" My voice came out dry.

Only then did she turn to me. An awkward apology spread across her face.

"Roxy, Kimmy looks so much like my eldest daughter who passed away," she said carefully. "It hurts my heart. So I acknowledged her as my goddaughter."

She hesitated. "I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would overthink it."

For a moment, something close to absurd laughter rose in my chest.

"Mom, why are you explaining this to her?" Jasper cut in impatiently.

He stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Kimberly's shoulders. Accusation sharpened his tone. "Kimmy almost jumped off the balcony for me just now. The priority is getting the divorce done."

"What?!" My mother-in-law's face changed instantly. She grabbed Kimberly's arms and scanned her in panic.

After a long moment, she seemed to remember that I was still in the room.

She turned toward me slowly. Guilt flickered in her eyes, and struggle followed close behind.

"Roxy, I don't want to force you, but…"

I looked at the three of them standing together. The last thread of hesitation inside me snapped.

It was a pity that my gift did not work on her. Taking her son's fortune would be more than enough to wound her.

I met her gaze, my voice level. "Even if we go now, there are approval procedures before they issue the certificate. What difference does one day earlier or later make?"

Jasper pinched the bridge of his nose. Irritation flashed across his face. "That's not the point. It's—"

I raised my voice and cut him off. "No matter what you say, I gave three years to this family. You really have to throw me out on Christmas?"

Kimberly's composure cracked. "If you don't want a divorce, just say it. Why drag this out?"

I turned to her. My tone was almost gentle. "If you're worried, we can sign a divorce agreement first. Date it for tomorrow."

I held Jasper's gaze. "I can even start preparing your wedding in advance. You can be his wife in-name first. This is my final concession."

Silence stretched.

After a moment, Jasper spoke.

"Roxanne, considering you have been obedient these past years, this won't happen again." Condescension edged his tone.

He looked at me as if he were granting mercy. "Don't use feelings to threaten me in the future. Otherwise, don't blame me for being heartless."

The decision settled over the room.

I saw the flicker of unwillingness in Kimberly's eyes, but she swallowed it. She pulled out her phone and aimed the camera at me.

"Roxanne, you promise," she said. "You will divorce him tomorrow. Right?"

Under the lens, I curved my lips into a small, certain smile. "Of course."

I just did not know whether, by tomorrow, he would still have the strength to walk into City Hall at all.

That afternoon, Jasper and Kimberly's engagement party unfolded with extravagant fanfare.

When Jasper's parents went onstage to give their speech, I stood right beside Kimberly as her bridesmaid.

Whispers rippled through the audience.

"So Mr. Prescott's wife really is obedient. Not only did she help arrange the mistress' engagement party, but she even dressed herself up as a bridesmaid."

"Obedient my ass. I've never seen anyone this cheap. She's an embarrassment to women everywhere."

Kimberly suddenly rested a hand on her stomach and turned to me with a bright smile. "Roxanne, I actually need to thank you. Thank you for giving me a child."

I frowned. "What did you say?"

She turned fully toward me. Her voice stayed low, but the triumph in it was unmistakable. "Roxanne, do you know why you always miscarried around the first month? Because every single time, Jas personally arranged the 'accident.'"

The accident?

Images surged up without warning: every emergency, every time he rushed me to the hospital with panic on his face.

Was it all an act?

Kimberly sighed softly, as if she were the wronged party. "My ovaries are damaged. I may never have children of my own. But I wanted a baby. Jas' baby."

She grinned. "He loves me so much. Of course he found a way."

She turned her back to me and looked down as though surveying a defeated opponent. "So every time you miscarried, it was just to extract the embryo for me. You were nothing more than my surrogate container."

The blood drained from my body.

All these years, every loss, every surgery, every collapse of mind and body, had been nothing more than raw material for their love story.

I lifted my eyes and met her gleaming gaze.

"Roxanne, your husband and your children all belong to me now…"

I slapped her. The sound cracked through the hall.

For a split second, no one reacted.

"Roxanne! Have you lost your mind?!" Jasper roared.

He seized my wrist, his face dark, his fingers crushing down hard enough to grind bone.

I sucked in a breath and looked at him. "That's what I should be asking you. What right do you—"

The words never finished. The massive screen behind us lit up.

Kimberly's face had been crudely photoshopped onto a pair of mating dogs. The image was obscene, deliberate, and impossible to mistake.

The room exploded.

"I knew it. No wife volunteers to be a mistress' bridesmaid. The quiet ones bite the hardest."

"Damn. Ruining the bride during her engagement party. That's vicious."

Behind Jasper's back, Kimberly looked at me and silently mouthed the words, *So what? He will always stand with me.*

Then she collapsed into frantic sobs and threw herself into his arms. "Jas! How could Roxanne humiliate me like this? Putting my face on something like that… how am I supposed to live?"

Jasper glanced at the screen, pain flashing across his face as he pulled her close. When he looked back at me, his eyes burned.

"Not me," I said, my lips barely moving. "I never touched her photos."

He did not listen. His hand came down without warning.

The blow sent me crashing to the floor. My forehead struck the edge of the table. Pain burst behind my eyes, followed by warmth as blood spilled down my face.

The room spun. Above me, his voice rang out icily. "On your knees. Apologize to Kimmy."

I pushed myself up with shaking arms. "Jasper, I didn't do this."

He bent down and clamped his hand around the back of my neck.

"Roxanne, this is the last time I will say it. Get on your knees and apologize," he said flatly. "Otherwise, I have no problem digging up your mother's corpse and letting everyone see what kind of woman she really was."

Even after everything, disbelief still struck me.

When people once called me the daughter of a whore, he had shielded me from the rumors. Now he used my mother's grave as a weapon against me.

For her peace in death, I closed my eyes. Under the gaze of the entire hall, I knelt.

Mockery erupted at once.

"Serves her right. She framed someone and still pretends to be pitiful."

"When a rich family's dog misbehaves, the owner disciplines it. Simple."

Only then did Kimberly lift her head from Jasper's chest and look at me with false magnanimity. "Get up, Roxanne. I forgive you."

She reached out as if to help me, but her stiletto heel came down instead. It crushed the back of my hand. Pain exploded as my skin split and flesh tore.

Jasper glanced at me once, his gaze cold and empty. Then he scooped Kimberly into his arms and walked away.

The engagement party raged on until deep into the night. After the guests finally dispersed, I looked at the clock on the wall.

Midnight had passed. The witch's gift had fully activated.

"Jasper, I hope you can bear the price of betraying a witch," I muttered darkly.

-

The sound of running water stopped.

Jasper stepped out of the bathroom in a robe and walked toward Kimberly, who still wore her engagement party dress.

Her cheeks were flushed as she lay on the bed.

He leaned down, his fingers tracing her body, his voice low and intimate. "Time to unwrap my engagement gift."

His long fingers hooked the zipper.

Suddenly, violent pounding shook the bedroom door.

The housekeeper's voice followed, nearly breaking. "Mr. Prescott! Something's wrong! The company's assets have been forcibly seized. Bankruptcy has been declared."