Chapter 6

When I woke again, William was already standing beside my bed. His face was cold enough to freeze the room. He did not waste a word. He tossed a contract onto my blanket. "Sign it."

The papers slid across the covers.

I looked down. It was a transfer agreement for a villa in the suburbs.

"You went too far this time. Vira won't let you stay, and Summer's been badly frightened. You're moving there now."

He looked as if he had more to say, but I picked up the papers and signed my name first.

That caught him off guard. He had not expected me to agree so easily. A second later, his expression darkened again. "Stephanie, this is the last time. If you touch my children again, even I won't be able to protect you."

Then he turned and left.

I let out a mocking laugh. "My children. He said it so naturally."

At that moment, a message popped up on my phone. Brent said the helicopter was about to land on the hospital roof.

I forced myself to move and started changing clothes.

Just then, a small head peeked into the room. Summer pushed the door open shyly and pulled a bouquet from her arms. "Thank you for saving me."

My eyes stung. I was about to take it when Elvira kicked the door open. She rushed to Summer, running her hands over her arms, her voice shaking. "Are you hurt? Did she do anything to you?"

William came over as well. The look he gave me was sharp enough to cut. "I just warned you, and you couldn't even last five minutes?"

Summer flinched and nearly shrank into herself. Tears burst from her eyes.

She clutched Elvira's sleeve and stammered, trembling, "M-Mom. Mom, no… She saved me…"

The moment the words left her mouth, Elvira's expression changed. She pulled Summer into her arms at once, her voice trembling with false gentleness. "It's okay. It's okay. Mommy's here. Did she threaten you? You don't have to be scared of her. I'm here. No one can force you to lie."

Summer froze. Her face went pale. She opened her mouth, still trying to speak.

But William had already turned to me, his eyes cold. "Stephanie, you can't even swim. How could you have jumped in to save her on purpose? Besides, you've always hated Vira. You don't care about those two children either. You expect me to believe you did it out of kindness?"

Something snapped in my head. So that was it. Even with the truth in front of them, they would never believe it.

I could not hold it in any longer. I kicked over the cart beside me and shouted at him, "William, I don't have that much free time. I don't spend every day plotting how to go after your mistress or hurt your children. You keep dumping every filthy accusation on me. Why?"

"We're dumping accusations on you?" His pupils tightened. "Stephanie, did you forget that you admitted it yourself? Didn't you say you were going to repent? I think you've really lost your mind."

My chest heaved. Tears spilled down my face before I could stop them. "Lost my mind? Yes. You really did drive me insane. I almost died on those stairs. I almost died in that pool. I almost starved to death in that hospital room.

"But in the end, did any of you ask me what really happened? Did any of you believe me even once?

"Every time something goes wrong, I'm the first person you suspect. Every time she cries, you decide I must be the one at fault. You do every cruel thing you can to me, and then you tell me it's all for our future."

The moment I finished speaking, a sharp pain twisted through my chest and my vision went black.

William's face changed instantly. He lunged forward and caught me.

I collapsed into his arms. My voice came out so faint it barely existed. "William… you're pathetic…"

The doctor examined me in the room. "Miss Carter has been overstimulated emotionally. She has also been injured multiple times and caught a chill. Her body is extremely weak. If this continues, it may affect her fertility."

The moment he heard that, William jerked his head up. Even his voice shook. "What did you say? She can still get pregnant?"

The doctor frowned. "Who told you she couldn't? Miss Carter has poor uterine conditions. That does not mean she has completely lost the ability to conceive."

In that instant, William looked as if he had been pulled back from the brink. He stared at me lying half-unconscious, emotion surging in his eyes. "That's great… That's great… Stephy, if you take care of your health, if you can give birth to a child, Father will accept you again."

As he spoke, he bent down and kissed my forehead. His voice trembled with excitement he could not hide. "Don't worry. I'll have them give you the best medicine, the best supplements. As soon as your body recovers, we'll start trying for a baby."

I looked at the excitement on his face and felt nothing but exhaustion. What was left to build a child on, when every feeling between us had already been worn away?

All I could think about was the helicopter waiting on the roof and the future ahead of me. A future with no William, no Elvira, and no Jamison family.

When I said nothing, William did not get angry. He began feeding me medicine himself, blowing on each spoonful before bringing it to my lips. "Get your strength back first. I'll go to the villa to see you every three days."

But each time a nurse came in to say something had happened on Elvira's side, he still got up and left without hesitation.

That was when I understood. Even if I gave him a child, nothing would change.

I forced myself up with the last of my strength, changed clothes, and slowly made my way to the roof.

When I passed Summer's room, William sat close beside her, feeding her dinner. I gave them one flat glance, then looked away and kept walking.

Brent was already there. The helicopter blades roared through the night. He looked at me once and spoke lightly. "Go on. Go somewhere he will never find you."

I stepped onto the ladder in silence. I did not take a single thing.

Everything here was about to become the past. "William, for the rest of our lives, let us never see each other again."