Chapter 4

When Eloise woke up, she found herself in a hospital room.

Zander was standing beside her bed, his voice low as he reprimanded Julia, "How could you order Neil to torture her and have a doctor remove her uterus? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I didn't want her to bear your child!" Julia protested, tears welling in her eyes. "Why can't I have your child instead?"

Zander stared at her for a long moment and said, "Don't let this happen again. And don't ever say something like that again.

"Eloise… She's the one I chose. She's my wife."

Tears streamed down Julia's face. Furious and humiliated, she stormed out.

Zander sighed. When he turned around, he saw that Eloise was awake. His body tensed up. "Eloise, you heard all that?"

Eloise reached down and touched her abdomen, ignoring his question. "I can never have children again?"

Zander's expression was complicated. "Yes. But it's okay. It won't affect your status as my wife."

Eloise closed her eyes.

Her mother had died when she was young, and her father had been cruel and abusive. Growing up, she and Emma had only had each other.

She had dreamed countless times of having a child with Zander. She had always thought she would never leave her child the way her mother had left her, and she would never be cold and ruthless like her father. She would love her child with everything she had.

But now, that dream was no longer possible.

Eloise managed to get the words out. "Get out!"

Zander stood there for a long time. In the end, he couldn't find anything to say and left the room.

…

That afternoon, a nurse brought a bouquet of beautiful red roses to Eloise's room. "These are from Mr. Pierson. He said they were an apology."

The nurse sounded envious. "I never thought a man like him would actually swallow his pride and apologize to his wife. You're so lucky, Mrs. Pierson!"

Eloise gave no reaction. Her gaze fell to her arm, where red welts were already spreading across her skin.

Maybe Zander really did feel guilty. It was the first time he had given her flowers since they got married. But he had forgotten that Julia was the one who loved roses.

Eloise was allergic to rose pollen.

The nurse noticed it too, and her earlier envy quickly turned into concern. "Do you… need me to get you some medicine?"

"No. It'll clear up soon."

She would be done with Zander soon, too.

…

During the rest of her recovery, Zander came to see her often. He brought her warm soup and told her that Emma had been staying with the Piersons and was doing fine.

Eloise refused to speak to him, but he never got angry.

Things stayed peaceful for a while, until the day she was discharged.

Zander's expression was grim as he led Eloise to his mother, Ruby Lambert's, room. "Julia took Mom's favorite brooch set without asking. Mom's furious."

"So?" Eloise had already guessed what he wanted from her, and she almost laughed. "She's throwing a tantrum and deliberately causing trouble. Instead of punishing Julia under the family rules, you want me to take the blame for her?"

Zander's expression remained unchanged. "Julia is running this household. She can't afford to fall out with Mom. You're different."

"I won't do…" Zander opened a video on his phone, cutting her off mid-sentence. On the screen, Emma was surrounded by several burly men, clutching her head and screaming.

Eloise's heart clenched. "You're threatening me? She's only 18 years old. She just got into college! How could you do something so horrible?"

Zander turned off his phone. "If you take the punishment for Julia this time, Emma will be fine."

Emma was Eloise's weakness. She fought back the tears in her eyes and said nothing more. She then walked into Ruby's room alone.

Ruby's fingers stilled on her prayer beads as she looked at Eloise with disgust. "You're the one who stole my things? You were punished just a few days ago for stealing money, and now you've done it again!

"Zander is unbelievable. He refuses to divorce you no matter what. I honestly don't know what he sees in a woman like you! I'm going to teach you a lesson today!"

Eloise had heard those cruel words so many times that she was already numb to them. She lowered her head and remained silent, bitter thoughts filling her mind. Her fingers had already been crushed once, so whatever punishment Ruby had in store for her couldn't possibly be worse.

Seeing how unresponsive Eloise was, Ruby grew even angrier and gave one of the housekeepers a look.

Several burly housekeepers immediately pinned Eloise down and forced her hands out. All ten of her fingers were still twisted and misshapen from the torture, swollen and bruised with purple blotches.

A housekeeper took out a pair of metal pliers and clamped them around Eloise's fingernail.

Eloise's eyes widened. "No! You—"

The housekeeper squeezed the pliers hard, ripping her fingernails back and exposing the bloody flesh underneath.

Eloise threw her head back and let out a scream that barely sounded human.