Chapter 3

Willow's POV

"What are you doing?" Adrian snapped.

"Adrian Quinton, don't go too far! I'm your wife!"

Adrian stood up, his clothes disheveled and a lingering flush still coloring his face.

"What are you yelling for? You're already old. Am I not allowed to enjoy myself a little? Don't you want money? Are you giving up on Matthew's treatment?"

Ella stood behind him, wrapped in nothing but a bath towel. She looked at me with undisguised provocation.

"Willow, I'm just fulfilling your duties as his wife for you. Don't worry, I won't try to steal your place."

She walked over and leaned close, whispering, "You're a useless old hag who can't even satisfy a man. You deserve to lose your father!"

I could still tolerate some things, but that completely crossed the line.

I raised my hand and slapped her across the face as hard as I could.

I hadn't had anything to eat or drink for two whole days. Sheer anger was the only thing keeping me standing, and that single blow nearly drained what little strength I had left.

Ella clearly hadn't expected me to lash out all of a sudden. She was caught completely off guard and stumbled several steps back.

However, she was young and energetic. She quickly recovered and started retaliating.

I managed to dodge a few of her punches, but one landed squarely in my abdomen. A wave of pain crashed through me.

It felt like my insides were being torn apart. The taste of blood rose in the back of my throat.

She didn't give me a chance to catch my breath. Charging forward, she raised her foot and kicked me hard in the lower abdomen—once, then again.

A mouthful of blood spurted from my lips, splattering across the floor.

"That's enough! Stop!"

Adrian finally rushed over and held Ella back from continuing to attack me.

His gaze fell on the pool of blood in front of him. His pupils trembled, and a fleeting look of panic crossed his face.

Instinctively, he took a step forward as if to check on my injuries, but Ella's expression suddenly shifted, and she let out a pitiful whimper.

"Adrian, my hand hurts so much. Why did Willow slap me? She even tried to hit my stomach just now. Does she not want me to have this baby?"

Adrian stopped dead in his tracks.

All his attention immediately shifted to Ella's hand, which was just slightly redder than usual.

"How could you be so careless? Look how red it's gotten. Does it hurt?"

He even lowered his head to blow gently on the reddened spot.

Meanwhile, his wife lay at his feet, coughing up blood. Yet, it seemed as if I was nothing more than an inconvenient piece of trash.

When he finally turned to me, his expression was cold, impatient, and utterly indifferent.

"You shouldn't have slapped Ella. That's enough. Pick yourself up. I'm going to get Ella's hand checked out."

With that, he helped Ella out of the room without sparing me another glance.

I coughed out another mouthful of blood, yet I only found the whole thing utterly ridiculous.

I asked myself, "Willow Jones, what exactly were you hoping for?"

He truly didn't care about me anymore. I meant even less to him than a little redness on her hand.

…

I had no idea how long I lay there on the cold floor.

The agony in my abdomen and the crushing pressure in my chest were so unbearable that I thought I might actually die right there.

I struggled onto my elbows and managed to drag myself out of the room.

The dining room was brightly lit. Adrian sat at the table, his head bowed as he carefully peeled shrimp for Ella.

Ella opened her mouth and smugly accepted each bite he fed her, basking in the special treatment.

When her eyes swept over me, they were filled with blatant triumph and contempt.

I remembered how Adrian once declared with disgust that he'd never peel shrimp for anyone in his entire life.

As it turned out, it wasn't that he wouldn't. I just wasn't the person he'd do it for.

When he saw me stagger toward them, he merely glanced up coldly.

"You're here? Then sit down and eat. Ella is our guest, so you'd better treat her with some respect. If you can't even manage that, then get out of this house."

Ella chewed her shrimp and suddenly wrinkled her nose.