I was five months pregnant when my own best friend pushed me down the stairs… and I lost my baby.
My younger brother tried to sue her, but the people backing her framed him for assaulting a client. In the end, his law license was revoked.
I begged my husband to help us. He promised me that he would.
But the very next day, my brother was taken away; he was arrested on false charges of rape brought up by her lawyer.
That night, I went to my husband’s study, desperate for answers. What I heard instead was his conversation with the lawyer.
“Mr. Breitbart, the connections on that side are already settled. Your wife’s brother won’t be getting out anytime soon. But if she ever learns that you’re the one who had her brother framed and thrown in prison, I’m afraid she won’t be able to accept it.”
Stellan’s gaze was heavy, and his voice—once the very sound of safety to me—was cold as ice.
“Only by sending him to prison can I force Ayana to release a clarification video. Zella didn’t mean it. She pushed Ayana because she was terrified I would abandon her for my wife. I will never let Zella go to jail.
“As for Ayana… I’ll make it up to her. She’ll never know the truth, not in this lifetime.”
My body trembled as the words sank in. I staggered back, unable to stop the tears streaming down my face.
The man I once saw as my salvation—the one I entrusted with my heart—was the very devil who had sent my family to hell!
He sent my brother to prison for the sake of my so-called best friend without even caring that she was the one who killed our baby!
I could no longer hold it in. With shaking hands, I pulled out my phone and sent my father a message.
[Dad, I agree now with what you once asked of me. I can take Mom and Jayven with me to you. But I have one condition. I want you to destroy the Breitbarts.]
Stellan Breitbart and Zella Bucknill… I would drag them both down to hell with me!
1
Ayana’s POV
Inside the study, Stellan was still speaking with Atty. Branigan.
I switched my phone to silent mode, waiting for my father’s reply.
“But wouldn’t this be too cruel to Ma’am Ayana?” The lawyer’s tone carried a trace of pity for me. “Zella is her closest friend, yet you sacrificed your child with your wife for Ms. Bucknill and even had her younger brother thrown into prison. If your wife ever learns the truth, I don’t believe she will simply withdraw the lawsuit.”
Stellan’s expression remained calm, but his words cut like a blade.
“I won’t give her that chance again. If Ayana refuses to withdraw the lawsuit and record a clarification video, then perhaps her mother will have no choice but to voice… certain objections.”
My heart clenched at once.
My mother had been in a car accident on the very day Stellan and I married. Even now, she still lay unconscious in the hospital. She couldn’t possibly rise from her bed to speak on my behalf.
What exactly did Stellan mean by those words?
A chill spread through me, as if I had fallen into an ice cellar.
Just then, my father called.
I glanced one last time at Stellan and Atty. Branigan inside the study before turning away to answer.
On the line, Dad stayed silent for a long while. His silence unsettled me until my chest grew tight.
Finally, he said, “Ayana, I’m relieved you’ve finally made this choice. Ever since your mother left me all those years ago, I’ve never stopped searching for the three of you. But at that time, my family faced a crisis. By the time I came to my senses, your mother had already disappeared with you and your brother.”
Regret colored his voice.
I, too, thought back to that time.
I was six years old when we left with Mom. I still remembered pieces of it. She had left because Dad had wronged her.
Before meeting Stellan Breitbart, I never trusted any man besides my younger brother.
It wasn’t until Stellan appeared—until I became close friends with Zella Bucknill, his childhood sweetheart—that he began pursuing me.
He courted me with unwavering persistence for three whole years.
In the end, I let myself be moved and chose him.
I never imagined the man I had chosen so carefully would one day betray me just the same…
The thought made me tremble uncontrollably.
Forcing myself to stay calm, I replied firmly, “Dad, about that, I have no right to forgive you on Mom’s behalf. You know very well about her current condition. I need your help. In return, I’ll agree to the marriage alliance you proposed—so long as you help me destroy the Breitbarts and save my brother.”
Only then did he seem to understand what had happened. His voice hardened with anger.
“The only reason I sought out a marriage alliance for you was because I believed Stellan was unworthy of your trust. It wasn’t meant to force you into it, Ayana. That was my mistake. I never expected Stellan would stoop to something so vile.
“I’ll come to get you as soon as possible. But your marriage with Stellan—how do you plan to deal with it?”
He agreed at once to help.
My gaze drifted back toward the study, Stellan’s cold words still echoing in my mind.
After a long pause, I heard my own voice ring out, cold and resolute.
“Give me seven days. I’ll divorce Stellan… and I’ll make sure he remembers it for the rest of his life.”
The moment I finished speaking, a sound came from the study.
Before I could react, Stellan caught me standing there.
His eyes softened as they landed on me, but in their depths flickered a trace of suspicion.
“Ayana? What are you doing here?”
2
Ayana’s POV
Stellan stepped forward and helped me up, his eyes brimming with concern. Yet, beneath that tenderness, I caught the flicker of suspicion in his gaze.
“I just came downstairs,” I said softly, steadying my voice. “I wanted to talk to you about my brother.”
Swallowing down all the anger boiling inside me, I forced myself to appear as though I had heard nothing.
The lawyer, seizing the moment, quickly slipped out of the villa.
Stellan watched him leave, and then he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Darling,” he said gently, “I asked the lawyer about Jayven’s situation too, but…” His voice trailed off, and hesitation clouded his expression.
I looked at him without betraying my emotions, though sorrow welled in my chest. My voice rasped as I asked, “What is it? Is it that difficult?”
Stellan frowned deeply, and then he forced a smile.
“The evidence the other party presented is simply overwhelming. Even after consulting several lawyers, there’s no way to turn things around. And besides…” His eyes darkened. “Zella sent people to warn us. She said if you insist on suing, she’ll cut off your mother’s medication… and even have her thrown out of the hospital.”
As he spoke, he quickly reached out to steady me, as if afraid I would collapse from the weight of his words.
A sharp ache stabbed at my heart. I couldn’t stop myself from retorting, my voice biting, “Is Zella’s influence really so powerful? Stronger than you, the head of one of Alabama’s top financial groups?”
His expression stiffened. A bitter smile curved his lips.
“Darling, the company hasn’t been doing well lately. I truly can’t help it. It’s my fault. But if you push forward with the lawsuit, both your brother and your mother will suffer endlessly. I grieve for the child we lost, too… but please, just withdraw the case. Record a clarification video. Otherwise, I honestly don’t know what else I can do.”
Stellan had never shown weakness before me.
No matter what he faced in the past, he always carried the burden alone. He never once revealed such a vulnerable side.
But I knew the truth—Breitbart Corporation wasn’t in trouble at all.
All of this—his helplessness, his plea—was nothing but an act to make me withdraw the lawsuit. He was doing it all for the sake of protecting his precious first love.
How could he be so cruel?
I fixed my gaze on his eyes, unflinching.
His performance was flawless, even covering his face with his hand as though weighed down by grief.
If I hadn’t overheard the truth earlier, I might have been deceived. I might have been moved enough to give in and agree to withdraw the lawsuit.
But now…
I forced the words out from the tightness in my throat.
“Has it really come to this, Stellan? Zella killed our child. And you truly want me to withdraw the lawsuit?”
My voice trembled slightly.
A flicker of guilt flashed across his eyes, but in the next instant, he spoke without hesitation.
“Darling, I want revenge for our child, too. But right now, your brother and your mother matter more. I swear—when the time is right, I’ll make her pay for killing our baby. Darling, please… listen to me, alright?”
He coaxed me gently, pressing a phone into my hand.
“When you record the video, just say you fell by accident—that Zella only reached out to catch you.”
Eagerness glimmered in his eyes.
And at that moment, I finally understood. In Stellan’s heart, whether it was my brother, my mother, myself, or even the child we lost—none of us would ever compare to Zella.
I shut my eyes, despair washing over me. My voice came out hoarse.
“Fine. I’ll withdraw the lawsuit. I’ll record the clarification video. But it has to be seven days from now.”
His pleased expression froze instantly.
“Why seven days later?”
My hand drifted to my belly, a bitter smile tugging at my lips.
“Because I want… to at least mourn our baby for seven days.”
He probably saw the look on my face because guilt flickered again in his eyes.
“Alright. Seven days, then.”
With that settled, he drew me into his arms.
His embrace was still as warm as ever… yet I could no longer feel any sense of safety within it.
3
Ayana’s POV
The next morning, I had barely woken up when Stellan pulled me along to the prison.
My younger brother was being held there, awaiting an uncertain fate.
Stellan gently stroked my hair, his eyes filled with endless tenderness.
“Ayana, promise me,” he coaxed softly, “when you see your brother later, don’t get too emotional, alright? I just want you to understand what he’s been going through these past few days.”
A chill of foreboding rippled through me at his words.
Before I could ask what he meant, Jayven limped into view.
I had never seen him in such… a miserable state.
His clothes were so filthy that their original color was unrecognizable. His arms, knees—any part of him I could see—were covered with bruises and wounds. Even his once-handsome face was swollen and bloodied, his lips split with dried crimson at the corner.
My chest clenched in unbearable pain. My knees gave out, and I collapsed against the glass partition, the wound on my body throbbing dully.
“Who did this? Who hurt you?”
Fury blazed in my eyes.
Jayven’s gaze flickered with pain. He glanced toward Stellan before forcing out hoarsely, “No one… I accidentally fell.”
Rage boiled over, clouding my mind. I wanted to tear every person in this place apart!
Those injuries—there was no way he had done that to himself.
I was about to demand answers from the guard beside him when Stellan pulled me back firmly.
“Darling,” he murmured, his voice full of false coaxing, “you promised me you wouldn’t lose your temper. You know who’s really behind your brother’s injuries. It’s my failure. I couldn’t protect him. If you don’t want him to suffer like this any longer, then let’s withdraw the lawsuit. Record a clarification video, alright?”
His hand closed over mine, pressing it against his chest.
“Seeing you in such pain feels like knives cutting into me, too.”
On the other side of the glass, my brother struggled to press closer, desperation etched on his battered face.
Tears blurred my vision. Then I heard the guard sneer, “You think you’re still the great lawyer you once were? If you don’t want another leg broken, you’d better think carefully about what to do.”
Something inside me snapped. I slammed against the glass, my voice raw with anguish.
“He’s innocent! It’s you people who hurt him! I swear, I will not let you get away with what you did to my brother!”
Before I could finish, Stellan clamped his hand tightly over my mouth.
“Ayana,” Jayven rasped, bracing his palms against the glass as if trying to touch me, “don’t worry about me. Do what you think is right. I can endure it.”
The next moment, the guards dragged him away without mercy.
I thrashed against Stellan’s hold, but I couldn’t break free. Only a broken, helpless cry tore from my throat as I watched my brother vanish from sight.
When had he ever been reduced to such humiliation?
He had always been the model student, later a respected lawyer. If not for me, he would never have been dragged into this nightmare!
My tears fell uncontrollably.
As if scalded, Stellan abruptly released me. His eyes filled with contrived sorrow.
“Darling, I know how much you’re hurting. I’m hurting, too. But your brother’s situation—it’s beyond my control. Please, just withdraw the lawsuit.”
At last, hatred sharpened my gaze as it fell on him.
For Zella, he had caused the death of our baby, smeared my brother’s name, and now even had him beaten within an inch of his life—just to force me to withdraw the lawsuit as soon as possible.
He was doing all of this only so Zella wouldn’t go to prison.
But years ago, when Stellan was down and desperate, it was Jayven and me who saved his life!
The thought filled me with bitter regret. If only I could go back, I would have left this monster to die!
Clenching my teeth, I spat out, “Stellan. If I refuse to withdraw, will you really stand by and watch my brother die in there?”
My voice was hoarse, like words scraped raw against sandpaper.
His eyes darted away, evasive.
“Ayana, this isn’t up to me.”
“Liar! This is all you—”
Before I could finish accusing him, his phone rang.
He seized the chance to escape, answering quickly. “Darling,” he said hastily after a pause, “I’ll try to see if I can smooth things over. Take care of yourself.”
With that, he left me standing there, abandoning me without glancing back.
Tears poured down my face like rain.
But I saw it—the name flashing on his screen.
The call was from Zella.
Stellan was fucking lying to me again!
4
Ayana’s POV
By the time night fell, I staggered back home.
Stellan’s cruelty had already sealed my resolve. I would have my revenge.
Over the years, I had built some connections within the Breitbart Corporation. They might not look like much on the surface, but sometimes, the information they gathered could be fatal.
With that thought in mind, I began laying out a plan for revenge to be carried out six days later.
One by one, messages were sent out.
Then, unexpectedly, a girl on the inside hesitated before sending me something.
[Mrs. Breitbart, I don’t know if this news is true or not, but I think you should take a look.]
The next second, a file came through—an auction listing.
And among the items for sale… were private photos of me!
My hand clenched around my phone. My eyes widened in disbelief as I stared at the screen.
Another notification popped up. This time, it was from Zella.
Her tone was still as playful as ever, but her words cut like poison.
[Bestie, for the sake of old times, I’ll give you a little reminder. Your private photos are now being openly auctioned across several houses. If you want to buy them back, you’d better withdraw the lawsuit. Honestly, though, I think it might already be too late.]
At the end of her message was a cheeky, tongue-out emoji.
My blood ran cold. I nearly blacked out on the spot.
I quickly dispatched people to different auction houses while I myself rushed straight to the largest one.
By the time I arrived, they were already auctioning off my photos.
To prove authenticity, a massive screen displayed one of me in a swimsuit—my neck still marked all over with the bruises Stellan had left behind.
That photo… had been taken by Stellan himself!
My entire body trembled with rage. I tried to rush forward, but security blocked my path.
From the audience, a man smirked at me, his voice laced with mockery.
“Who would’ve thought Stellan’s wife had such a figure? To be so bold, putting her private photos up for sale—oh, this is going to be interesting.”
Another laughed loudly.
“I just wonder if, after tonight, she will go home to Stellan, breaking her legs or kicking her out. If that happens, I wouldn’t mind taking her off his hands for a little fun.”
Their words, their stares… They were sharp as arrows, piercing straight through my chest.
And at that moment, I understood. All these photos… had been given out by Stellan.
With trembling hands, I raised my bidding paddle again and again, desperate to reclaim even a shred of my dignity.
At last, after pushing the price higher and higher without care, I managed to win them back.
But just as I prepared to leave, staff members blocked my way. Polite smiles thinly veiled their disdain.
“Ma’am, this card has an empty balance.”
My heart thundered painfully in my chest.
So this was how far Stellan was willing to go. Was he truly determined to destroy me?
Hands shaking, I pulled out another card. These were all accounts he had given me after our marriage. I rarely touched them—since I had my own income—but I knew they should contain money.
The card reader beeped twice. The staff’s eyes grew even more disdainful as they handed it back.
I couldn’t hold back anymore. I dialed Stellan.
“Stellan, did you take all the money out of my cards?”
On the other end came the sound of heavy breathing. Behind him, faint and clear, was Zella’s coquettish laughter.
I didn’t need anyone to explain what they were doing.
Fury blazed through me, hot enough to burn them both to ash.
Stellan’s voice came, smooth yet impatient.
“Darling, I told you—the company’s in trouble. I figured you didn’t need the money, so I withdrew it. I had no idea Zella would put your photos out there. Don’t worry—as long as you agree to withdraw the lawsuit, even if the company collapses, I’ll still buy those pictures back for you.”
I was about to speak, but suddenly his breathing grew sharper, quicker, rushed.
“Ayana, I’m still working hard for your brother’s case here. Think it over, or borrow money from someone if you must. I’ll hang up now.”
He ended the call in haste, eager to lose himself again in Zella’s embrace.
Moments later, Zella sent me dozens of photos of her and Stellan together, accompanied by all the taunts she had thrown at me before.
I saved them—every single one.
The man I was staring at… was no longer the Stellan I once knew.
Or perhaps, I had never truly seen him for who he was.
My nails dug into my palms until blood seeped out, my gaze fixed on the photos being returned to the auction platform.
Below, the men jeered at me before resuming their bids as if nothing had happened.
My contacts who had gone to other auction houses also called, their voices heavy with guilt.
Because Stellan had frozen my accounts, they hadn’t managed to buy a single photo.
I stood frozen in place, watching as the images were purchased by a mysterious buyer.
And in that moment, I felt a strange relief.
As long as those photos didn’t end up in the hands of those filthy men, I could finally breathe again.
As for everything else… I no longer cared.
5
Ayana’s POV
When I returned to the villa, the weight of everything that had happened in the past few days crashed down on me.
I buried myself under the blankets and cried until my chest ached.
Only when the storm of tears finally subsided did I drag myself upright.
Now was not the time to wallow in grief. My younger brother and my mother were still waiting for me.
I would never let Stellan and Zella get away with what they had done. I would make them pay, no matter what!
I gathered my documents, stuffed two changes of clothes into a bag, and then picked up a hammer as I made my way to the living room.
The next moment, the hammer came crashing down on the wedding portrait hanging on the wall.
One by one, I destroyed everything completely: the handmade crafts Stellan and I had once put together, the porcelain figurines he had given me as symbols of our love, the jewelry and gifts from each anniversary, even the countless paper cranes he had folded for me.
I reduced every last token of our so-called love to dust and shards.
By the time I finally stopped, the villa was nothing more than a wreck.
That was when Stellan came home.
He froze in the doorway, his brows knitting together at the sight of the chaos. And then, when his eyes landed on me standing in the middle of the ruin, his expression softened with what looked like heartache.
He stepped forward without hesitation and pulled me into his arms.
“Ayana,” he murmured, “I know you’re hurting. Cry in my arms if you must. It’s my fault. I don’t even know when those photos were leaked, but if you refuse to withdraw the lawsuit, Zella might use even harsher methods. I’m so sorry.”
The scent that clung to him made bile rise in my throat.
That faint perfume wasn’t mine. It was Zella’s! Worse—it was the limited-edition fragrance I had given her as a birthday gift!
And on the back of his neck, I could see it clearly: the fresh, unmistakable marks of another woman’s kisses.
They thought I was a fool. They had been playing me for a very long time.
Disgust boiled up inside me, and I shoved him away with all my strength.
My voice dripped with scorn as I said, “So there’s actually someone in Alabama with more power than you? If I’d known you were this useless, I would never have married you in the first place! At least then I wouldn’t have ended up like this. You’re pathetic, Stellan!”
I spat out each word slowly and deliberately.
His face darkened at once, his features twisting in shame and anger.
Seeing him squirm in pain brought me a bitter thrill. After all, every cruel thing that had happened was orchestrated by him and Zella together.
And yet he still dared to put on an act in front of me, pretending to be innocent!
To say he was disgusting was even an understatement.
I opened my mouth to say more, but his phone rang. The moment he saw the caller ID, his eyes lit up, and without a second thought, he answered.
It was Zella.
He didn’t even bother to lower his voice as he spoke with her. Then, without sparing me another glance, he turned toward the door.
“Ayana,” he said coldly, “calm down. Contact me again when you’re ready to withdraw the lawsuit. Otherwise, who knows what might happen in four days? You don’t want more private photos being leaked, do you?”
His words were laced with threat. And with that, he walked away straight back to Zella.
Before he reached the front door, my voice broke into a scream.
“Stellan! If you leave now, I’ll never forgive you! I’ll hate you for the rest of my life!”
His body stiffened for a moment at the doorway. But still, he left without hesitation.
I couldn’t help but chase after him.
But just as I stepped outside, a masked figure rushed at me.
“Stellan!” I cried, calling his name in desperation.
But he left without looking back.
The last thing I saw before the world went dark was his retreating, cold and unfeeling.
6
Ayana’s POV
When I opened my eyes again, I was already tied up inside an abandoned factory.
The masked man from earlier stood with his back to me, speaking into his phone.
From the other end came a voice I knew all too well—Stellan’s.
“President Breitbart, we’ve done exactly as you asked. The woman’s here. Don’t forget to transfer the five million to our account.”
Stellan’s reply was cold and cutting.
“I already wired you the money. Remember this—if she refuses to withdraw the lawsuit or record a clarification video in advance, keep her there for three days. I’m taking Zella on a trip. During that time, you can do whatever you want with Ayana.”
Without hesitation, he hung up after saying that.
In an instant, my vision blurred red with rage.
All for Zella… Stellan was willing to drive me into a corner without mercy, as if determined to destroy me.
I began to struggle, twisting against the ropes, desperate to free my bound hands.
Just then, footsteps sounded at the door.
The next second, Zella herself strolled in—brazen and unhurried.
She glanced at my pitiful state, and then she smiled in delight.
With mock pity, she reached out and brushed my cheek.
“Ayana, my dear best friend, how did you let yourself become such a mess? You must have heard everything just now, haven’t you? The one who ordered your kidnapping… was your husband. Or rather, the man who’s been covering me up all along has always been Stellan.”
She leaned closer, her voice dripping with cruelty. “He’s the one who gave me the power, the confidence to torment you without restraint. If you still refuse to withdraw the lawsuit, I can’t guarantee what will happen to you, your brother… or that comatose mother of yours.”
Her laughter was sharp and unhinged.
“Why are you doing this?” I glared at her, hatred searing through me.
I had truly believed once that she and I were close, that we had shared something real.
At my words, her expression twisted hideously. Suddenly, she struck me hard across the face.
“At the start, I only wanted Stellan to toy with you a little. I never meant for him to take you seriously! But he fell for you! And you—how dare you two get married? How dare you carry his child? Stellan is mine. Mine! Don’t you understand?”
Her eyes burned with poisonous jealousy, as if every fault in her life belonged to me.
She stared at my pained reaction, and suddenly, she burst into another cruel laugh.
“Oh, that’s right. There’s something you still don’t know, isn’t there?”
“Do you know why Stellan married you back then?” She bent down, her lips brushing close to my ear. “Because I casually told him not to pester me anymore. And the reason he stayed with you afterwards? Because that wretched mother of yours overheard our conversation.”
She sneered, her tone gleeful and mocking. “She was about to run off and tell you everything, so I slammed down the accelerator and sent her flying! I didn’t expect her to survive, though. Tough woman, your mother.”
I froze, eyes wide, unable to breathe. The truth I had never known… finally revealed.
Zella’s gaze glittered with wicked delight.
“After I hit your mother, Stellan handled all the cleanup. Everything he’s done for you since? It wasn’t for you at all. It was for me. Ayana, look at yourself. Know your place. Withdraw the lawsuit. Record the clarification video. Then leave Stellan. That’s the only chance you’ll ever have to walk away alive.”
She tapped my cheek again and again, as though I were nothing but a toy in her hands.
My eyes burned.
So that was it. From the very beginning, I had been nothing but Zella’s chosen plaything!
My love, my marriage—everything I thought precious—was nothing more than mud under their feet, something to be trampled and defiled!
The fury in me boiled over. With a sudden snarl, I lunged forward and sank my teeth into her finger.
My gaze locked onto hers, feral, my growl echoing like that of a cornered wolf.
Zella shrieked in shock, thrashing as pain coursed through her hand.
“Damn you, Ayana! You filthy animal!”
The next instant, she kicked me away with all her strength.
7
Ayana’s POV
The kidnapper shoved me hard to the floor. The coarse floorboards scraped across my cheek, splitting the skin open in an instant.
Zella glared down at me with hatred burning in her eyes. Her finger—barely clinging on by a thin layer of flesh—was mangled from my bite.
If I’d just sunk my teeth a little deeper, I could have bitten it clean off.
I kept staring at her, my gaze sharp and unyielding.
That look drove her into a frenzy.
Blinded by rage, she lunged at me. Her legs kicked at me again and again, each blow filled with manic fury.
“Die! Die! How dare you bite me?! Go to hell!” she shrieked.
By the time she finally stopped, panting heavily, my body was already battered, and my breath faint.
She let out a cold, triumphant laugh.
“Break one of her legs!” she ordered casually. “I want to see how long you can keep up that tough act, Ayana.”
The kidnappers obeyed without hesitation.
A moment later, white-hot pain shot up my leg as the sound of bone cracking filled the air.
A scream tore itself from my throat.
The agony was unbearable. Darkness swallowed me whole, and before I slipped under, the last thing I saw was Zella’s savage, gleeful smile.
I was imprisoned in that abandoned factory for three whole days.
It wasn’t until the sixth day that they finally released me.
I knew why—tomorrow was the deadline. I had promised Stellan to withdraw the lawsuit and record a video clarifying the truth.
Zella was about to graduate with her master’s degree. If she were caught and thrown in prison at such a critical time, her reputation would be ruined, no matter if she was released later.
During those days, I thought about everything.
My mother. My younger brother. Both had suffered because of me.
And my child…
Just then, my phone rang.
It was the hospital calling to remind me about the medical fees.
Instinctively, I recited my card number. But in the next second, I froze; Stellan had already emptied that account.
My wounds burned so badly I could barely stand.
But the thought of Mom, still unconscious in the hospital, filled me with dread. If Zella targeted her again, my mother had no way to defend herself.
I immediately called my father.
After I explained everything, he agreed to transfer my mother somewhere safer at once.
Only then did I breathe a little easier. Summoning what little strength I had left, I dragged myself to the hospital.
When I arrived, I was stunned—Mom had already been moved to a general ward. She was lying there with no one by her side!
As I handled the discharge papers, I couldn’t hold back anymore. My voice cracked as I asked the doctor what had happened.
The doctor gave me a pitying look.
“Your mother was transferred to the general ward seven days ago. It was your husband who signed the papers. I warned him that her condition was too fragile, that moving her so suddenly could be dangerous. But he still insisted and even had her medication stopped.
“Seven days… Honestly, it’s a miracle she survived this long.”
His words tore at my chest. My vision blurred with hot tears.
So it was never about the lawsuit.
No matter what I did, Stellan would never spare my mother!
At that moment, hatred consumed me. I wanted nothing more than to drag Stellan and Zella to hell with me.
But I couldn’t. My brother was still waiting for me to save him.
Biting back my despair, I bandaged my wounds as best I could, and then, I returned to the villa.
I gathered all of my documents and sat down to print a divorce agreement.
Just as I held the papers in my hand, Stellan’s voice rang out behind me.
“Ayana? What are you holding?”
8
Ayana’s POV
Stellan looked at me with the same gentle eyes as before.
When he noticed the wounds all over my body, his heartache was written all over his face.
“Why do you have so many injuries? What happened to you?”
Even now, he continued to put on his act in front of me.
Disgust churned in my stomach, and I nearly gagged. I quickly avoided his outstretched hand.
His gaze darkened, and a crease formed between his brows.
“Ayana, it’s my fault. I failed to stop them from hurting you. For the sake of you, your younger brother, and your mother, you must withdraw the lawsuit tomorrow. You must also record a clarification video. Otherwise, I really don’t know what else they might do to you.”
He lowered his voice, his eyes turning red. “If… If something ever happened to you, I wouldn’t want to live either.”
Watching his performance, I gave a cold and expressionless sneer before taking out the divorce agreement and handing it to him.
“Sign this, and I’ll withdraw the lawsuit and record the video tomorrow.”
He leaned forward, trying to see what it was. But I pressed my hand down on the agreement.
“You just need to sign it.”
He studied me for a moment. Then, convinced that I wouldn’t harm him, he curved his lips into a faint smile and signed his name.
“I believe you would never hurt me, darling. As long as you’re safe, I’ll do anything you ask.”
“Is that so?” I sneered. “Then, as thanks, tomorrow I’ll make sure to give you a very special gift.”
My cold laughter cut through the air.
He frowned slightly, his gaze brushing over the wounds on my body as if they had burned him. He seemed to believe that my strange behavior was simply the result of everything I had suffered recently.
With a sigh, he stepped forward, wanting to pull me into his arms.
Before I could dodge, his phone rang again.
One glance at the screen, and he said, “Darling, I need to go prepare for tomorrow. Get some rest.”
Just like that, without waiting for my reply, he hurried away.
As his figure disappeared through the door, I gathered all of my identification documents.
In his study, I left a photocopy of the divorce agreement.
At the entrance of the villa, the bodyguards moved to stop me.
But it was already too late; my father’s car had arrived to pick me up.
Without hesitation, I climbed in and tossed my SIM card out the window.
Tomorrow, Stellan and Zella would receive the very first big “gift” I had prepared for them!
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