CHAPTER 3: THE LINE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH

The words "you and your child" hissed through Sera’s teeth, freezing me entirely in my tracks.

As it turned out, she had no idea. Neither she nor my monstrous husband knew that the child had already been forced to death by their own hands the night before. She still thought my baby was alive, still harboring a frantic, venomous hatred for a poor soul that no longer even possessed a physical form.

That cruel reality was like a torch dropped straight into the fuel tank of my chest. I no longer felt the pain, nor did I feel the cold. Staring intently into Sera’s contorted face, a hoarse laugh broke from my throat. "Me and my child? Sera Vance, are you truly that terrified of this baby?"

My words stripped bare her cowardly fear, thoroughly driving her insane. Sera lunged violently, using every ounce of a madwoman’s strength to drag my battered body away from the elevator lobby. She slammed open the heavy emergency exit door, hauling me through the dark, cavernous stairwell, and dragged me straight up to the sixth-floor rooftop of the Grand Plaza Hotel.

My body was numb with pain. Deprived of any remaining strength to resist, I let myself be dragged into the howling, windy night above like a puppet with severed strings.

The wind on the rooftop of the Grand Plaza howled in relentless gusts, whipping fiercely against my pale face. The agonizing cramps in my lower abdomen tightened as if my uterus were being torn into a hundred pieces. A warm, terrifyingly crimson liquid began to ooze out again, soaking the fabric of my black dress and dripping onto the freezing concrete floor.

Involuntarily, I clutched my empty abdomen, a silent sob choking in my chest.

My poor child... a tiny life that hadn't even had the chance to fully form had left me forever in a ruthless pool of blood at the Hayes villa. I hadn't even had the chance to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl, to watch my child be born, or to hold them in my arms even once.

The palms of my hands were smeared with dried, freezing blood. This child had been my final shred of hope to hold onto a suffocating marriage for the past five years. Yet Dominic Hayes had crushed that hope with his own hands without a hint of remorse, and now, his mistress wanted to drive me to the very edge.

Slam!

Sera shoved me forward with brutal force. My back slammed hard against the freezing iron railing. Behind me lay the vast, plunging abyss of the city, glittering with lights.

The high-voltage rooftop lights shone directly onto the pooling blood spreading beneath my feet.

Sera looked down, her pupils instantly contracting before a sickening, sadistic smile bloomed on her lips. She pointed at the blood, erupting into a cackling laugh like a she-demon:

"Hahaha! Look at that! Evelyn, look down at your feet! Blood... it's all blood! The bastard in your belly is dead, isn't it? Justice is served! The wretched spawn of you and Dominic couldn't be saved! Now that you've lost your little amulet, what right do you have to cling to him? You're completely empty-handed, you b*tch!"

Staring at my enemy’s crazed smile, I forced my head up despite being in the throes of ultimate agony. Looking straight into her ambition-filled eyes, my hoarse voice spat out words as sharp as daggers:

"What are you laughing at? Do you think losing this child means I lose everything? Sera, you are losing far more than me! Go ahead and hold onto that man, but remember this clearly: the status you have today was stolen. Starting tomorrow, the entire world will know you as a shameless mistress who crawled into the bed of the Vance family's son-in-law to destroy her own sister's family. You and that bastard will be spat on and cursed by society until the day you die! Any child you give birth to in the future will carry the bloodline of a thief, living in the mockery and disdain of the world. Your future life... will be so dark that you'll wish for a hole just to bury your filthy face in!"

"Shut your mouth!"

Sera shrieked, her piercing voice tearing through the night. My curses were like a bucket of freezing water that instantly shattered her pride. Her unraveled hair flew wild and her dress was completely disheveled as she lunged forward like a provoked wild animal, her hands wrapping tightly around my neck to hurl her weight against me, pinning me over the iron railing.

The air was violently sucked from my lungs, and my vision began to blur from the lack of oxygen. Yet, looking at her frantic face as she desperately tried to conceal her terror, a burst of triumphant laughter escaped me—a hoarse, mocking sound that hammered straight into her eardrums. I laughed at her wretchedness, laughed because I knew I had struck her mortal vulnerability.

My laughter was the final straw. Sera lost the last shred of her sanity. Her hands squeezed tighter around my throat, using every ounce of her vicious strength to press down as she roared venomously:

"You b*tch! Take a good look at your filthy self! You’re nothing but a cheap substitute! Who gave you permission to show up here and throw dirt in my face? Why don't you just drop dead?!"

With a guttural roar, I thrust both hands forward, using all my nails to claw fiercely at Sera's face and neck.

Slash! Slash!

"Aaa! Let go!"

Sera shrieked in agony. Long streaks of blood immediately welled up red against the fair skin of her neck. The sudden pain caused her to release her grip in a panic, taking a step back as she clutched her bleeding face.

I gripped the railing tightly to keep my body from collapsing. The pungent taste of blood spilled from the corner of my lips as I coughed violently, yet a scoff still broke through the mocking roar of the wind:

"Your night of glory? The lady of the Hayes family? Sera... you've played the innocent white lotus for five years... only to end up picking up the garbage that I grew sick of and threw away?"

My chest heaved heavily, every word coming out fractured yet razor-sharp: "That cold-blooded man... I found him too filthy, so I tossed him to you! For the rest of your life... you're only fit to use the leftovers of this outcast!"

"Shut your mouth! Die!"

Losing the last vestige of her humanity, Sera lunged like a psychopath, ruthlessly delivering a vicious shove to my chest.

My center of gravity gave way. My gaunt torso fell completely backward over the protective railing of the six-story building.

The wind roared in my ears as the sensation of free-falling through mid-air hit me.

Yet, in that exact split second as my frail body was cast over the railing, the roaring fire of vengeance in my chest forced out one final surge of residual strength. I refused to die alone just to leave that traitorous man and wretched woman free to enjoy their happiness.

My eyes widened with pure malice as I glared at Sera. Reaching out with my blood-stained hand, I dug my nails firmly into her hair and the collar of her evening gown. Using the entire weight of my plunging body, I yanked down with all my might.

"Aaaah!"

Sera's blood-curdling shriek tore through the night. Dragged down by my weight, her body lost its balance and flipped over the railing. Together, our two silhouettes plummeted from the rooftop straight toward the ground.

The sheer air pressure crushed my chest to the point of suffocation, and the rushing wind blurred my vision. Yet, in the darkness, my pale, blood-flecked lips curled into a manic smile of liberation. I stared unblinkingly at the utterly panicked, terrified face of the noble young mistress falling right beside me. With Sera Vance dragging down to hell with me, my child’s soul had at least been appeased by the blood of our enemy!

Thud!

A sickening, heavy impact echoed as my body slammed violently against the cold ground in a secluded corner of the hotel. An otherworldly agony surged through me; every bone in my body felt shattered, and my vision was completely dyed a stark, vibrant red.

In that final moment on the thin line between life and death, through the dimming shadows of my fading consciousness, I vaguely heard a car door fly open with a clang. A tall silhouette ran frantically, desperately toward me. The man's roars were choked and heartbreakingly laced with agony.

A familiar, cool scent of agarwood enveloped me as he swept my battered body up into his arms. The icy touch of a sapphire cufflink on his wrist brushed against my blood-soaked skin, jolting my fleeting consciousness one last time.

This scent... this cufflink...

It wasn't Dominic. Who was it?

But I no longer had the strength to open my eyes and see his face. Everything went completely black.