Chapter 2

When I woke up again, I was alone in a hospital bed. Vincent was taking care of Madison.

Jason's tone was mocking as he told me this, but my heart felt nothing. I only told him coldly to leave, then looked at the message Dad had sent.

[Are you sure you don't want the helicopter to pick you up? I can't wait to see you, sweetheart.]

He had sent many photos, most of them showing off the gifts he had prepared for our reunion. A sprawling estate stretched as far as the eye could see, with rows upon rows of bodyguards and maids.

This was the power of Valoria's largest conglomerate.

After Mom died, I found a gold ring among her belongings with Dad's name engraved on it.

She had grown tired of his wealthy family and fled with me in tow. Back then, I did not understand why she did it.

However, my marriage into high society made me understand completely. The complicated family dynamics and the temptation of power turned every emotion into a joke.

It was because of all this that Dad's other children had died one by one in the family’s power struggles. Now I was his only child, and the sole heiress to the conglomerate.

That was how he found me.

I looked at these exquisite images, my face expressionless.

Just then, Vincent pushed open the door. I instinctively closed my phone.

Vincent frowned. "What are you looking at? You’re being so secretive."

I turned my head away and ignored him. He paused, then walked to the bedside and stroked my hair.

"Be good next time, and you won't have to go through all this."

I smiled bitterly and said softly, "I understand."

There would be no next time. In two days, I would take our child and fly to another country.

I tried to use coldness to drive Vincent away, but not only did he not leave, he even sat beside me and brought a spoonful of soup to my lips.

Before it reached my mouth, the bowl crashed onto the bed. The scalding liquid instantly covered my skin with blisters.

At the doorway, Madison had collapsed to the floor. She looked at him, her whole body shaking with sobs.

Vincent immediately went to comfort her, then blocked the doctor rushing toward me.

"Check on her first!"

I watched his retreating back and thought back to our vows, those tender and beautiful words.

When we were in a car accident on vacation, he had dragged me out from beneath the wreckage despite his broken bones, risking his own life.

Then, at the rural hospital with limited medical equipment, he gave me the most advanced instruments they had.

Back then, he had said, "You're more important than my life. If you die, I won't go on without you."

I had told Mom about all these things. She had initially opposed my marrying into a wealthy family but finally relented.

However, Vincent had pushed me toward Hell again and again with his own hands. Because of this disastrous marriage, Mom died before she even turned fifty.

All of this stemmed from the one thing I could not give him during the Hartwell family power struggle: a child, a legitimate heir.

Due to his earlier promises, he had not cheated at first. He tried every method with me to conceive.

However, as his brothers' children were born one by one, Vincent gave up on me.

The first time I caught him in bed with another woman, I smashed everything breakable in that hotel room.

At first, Vincent would still try to soothe me. However, eventually, all that remained was one cold sentence.

"If you weren't useless, would I need to sleep with other women?"

He waved his hand dismissively, his tone like that of a stranger's. "Get out. Remember to close the door."

During that time, every time I looked at a pregnancy test with only one line, I would break down crying.

This marriage, once the envy of high society, was now shattered beyond recognition.

Now, I had finally conceived a child, and I had finally woken up. Between us now lay years of his coldness, his cruelty, and Mom's death.

I closed my eyes, feeling the sting of the scalding burn and the flutter of a tiny life in my belly. I fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up again, my arm was wrapped in bandages.

This time, Vincent sat beside me.