Chapter 3

Sylvia didn't have time to react. As they fell down the stairs, Naomi used her as a shield.

Sylvia's back, waist, and abdomen slammed violently against the hard steps. When she finally hit the bottom, a searing pain tore through her body.

"Call an ambulance!"

Jason's strained voice echoed loudly in Sylvia's ear.

Sylvia struggled to open her eyes. She saw Jason sprinting in her direction, but she wasn't his target.

He ran right past her and rushed toward Naomi, who had suffered only a few minor scrapes. Meanwhile, Sylvia was bleeding profusely.

Jason asked Naomi if she was hurt in a trembling voice. It was as if she was the most precious thing in the world.

Sylvia closed her eyes again.

The pain throughout her body grew worse by the second, yet it was nothing compared to the suffocating agony she felt in her heart.

The paramedics arrived soon after, but Jason only called for one ambulance.

He personally carried Naomi into the ambulance. The paramedics asked if anyone else was injured. Jason replied in a cold voice. "No."

The ambulance sped away. By the time another ambulance arrived after Sylvia called for help herself, she had already lost an enormous amount of blood.

When she was wheeled into the operating room, her vital signs had already fallen below the safe threshold. Through her haze, she heard the doctors shouting, "Quick, quick! Her condition is critical. Inject the medication immediately!"

But she had lost too much blood. The doctor told Sylvia that a family member had to sign the surgical risk consent form before they could operate.

Sylvia didn't want to contact Jason, but thinking of her baby, her eyes filled with tears. She clenched her jaw and called him.

He answered quickly. Sylvia weakly told him she needed to undergo surgery.

Jason coldly cut her off. "Sylvia, apologize to Naomi right now.

"Otherwise, there's no reason for us to stay in contact."

Despair filled Sylvia's eyes.

She didn't defend herself. Instead, she let out a hoarse, sarcastic chuckle. "Dream on."

With the last bit of strength she had left, she hung up on the utterly meaningless call.

"I'm sorry, doctor." She looked away. A tear slid from the corner of her eye. "I don't have any family.

"I'll take responsibility for any outcome of the surgery myself."

That's right. She and Jason had never truly been a married couple.

From the very beginning, it had only ever been a one-sided relationship.

It was nothing more than that.

The surgery lasted four hours.

Sylvia was pulled back from the brink of death, but the doctor told her solemnly, "The baby is gone.

"You arrived too late. Otherwise, there might still have been a chance."

If Jason hadn't lied to the paramedics when the first ambulance arrived, their baby might have survived.

Once the anesthesia wore off, the first thing Sylvia did was send the divorce papers to her lawyer, Liam Cooper.

Liam told her the divorce process would take two weeks.

The second thing she did was obtain the security footage from the stairwell.

There was nothing obstructing the camera, and the footage clearly showed Naomi deliberately pulling Sylvia down the stairs with her.

Sylvia later sent the video to Jason.

A call from Jason immediately appeared on her screen.

Sylvia ignored it. She put her phone on silent and tossed it aside.

An hour later, Jason entered her ward with a dark expression.