Chapter 3

Three months later, the doorbell rang like an alarm one afternoon.

Jason hurried upstairs and announced tensely, "Mr. Hurst just left for the office. The Davis couple and Ms. Kate are here."

I opened the door just a crack.

Down in the living room, the Davis couple stood like vultures surveying their territory.

Kate, with her slightly swollen belly, was directing two burly movers to carry her suitcases up the spiral staircase. She held that velvet cushion in her hand like a flag of triumph.

"Move faster!" she barked impatiently.

My adoptive parents sat nearby, their faces like stone.

Bella glanced up and sneered when she saw me. "Well, look who it is. It's the Kleimann family's adopted daughter, carrying an illegitimate child, who still has the nerve to cling to the title of Mrs. Hurst!"

Francis forced a cough and looked at me with pure disgust. "Enough. Don't pay attention to the filth. Hurry up and settle Kate in. She needs the best environment."

The movers, holding Kate's gowns and jewelry, headed straight for my room.

"See that?" Kate said, walking closer and lowering her voice. "So what if Ryan married you? So what if the child's not his? In his heart, you'll never compare to me. Never."

Her smug smile was blinding.

Then, without warning, Kate slapped herself twice, loud and clear.

Clutching her face, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Footsteps thundered up the stairs before Ryan stormed in wearing a tailored suit, having just returned from the office.

Kate lay crying on the floor, covering her face. "That crazy woman hit me!"

Francis and Bella rushed up after hearing the noise.

"Oh my goodness, Kate!" Bella shrieked as she threw herself at her daughter like a furious lioness. She turned to Ryan and shrieked, "Ryan! Throw that lunatic out right now, or I'm taking Kate home! The Davis family doesn't need this child! Let the Hurst family rot with that illegitimate child!"

All eyes turned to Ryan.

Kate, nestled in her mother's arms, expectantly looked at him through teary eyes.

"I didn't! I didn't hit her!" I pleaded with Ryan.

"I never thought you were such a madwoman," Ryan shouted at me, his voice cold and clear. "That impure blood of yours really is wild and crude!"

He was silent for a moment, his gaze sweeping over everyone. "But Helen is still my wife in name. She won't be leaving Hurst Villa."

While Kate's crying abruptly stopped, disbelief written all over her face, Francis' expression darkened.

Ryan turned to Jason. "Clean out the storage room." Then, he turned to me, avoiding my eyes while saying indifferently, "Kate needs a proper space to care for the baby. You'll stay in the storage room for now."

The storage room?

It was on the lowest level of the west wing of the estate. Damp and dark, it was filled with discarded furniture.

I let out a cold laugh but said nothing.

Ryan seemed to want to explain something. "Until you give birth, I'll make sure your life is… tolerable."

"Show me the way," I instructed Jason and turned to walk downstairs without looking back.

The windowless and small storage room was lit only by a dim wall lamp. The air was filled with mildew and dust.

Jason tossed me a thin blanket and a piece of bread that looked like it had been chewed on by rats.

"This is your dinner."

As the door slammed shut, darkness and silence closed in.

I sank to the floor beside a dust-covered oak cabinet, feeling a chill seep into my bones.

Sorrowfully touching my belly, I said in a quiet voice, "My baby, your father and everyone else don't want you in this world. I'm sorry. Baby, you wouldn't want to be born into a loveless home like this either, would you?"

The baby kicked me, as if in response.

I knew I had to abort this child. I couldn't let him be born an "illegitimate child".