Chapter 3

Nicholas grabbed my bandaged wrist, his eyes blazing with enough fury to tear me apart. "Stephanie, how long are you going to keep this up before you're satisfied? Our daughter is already gone. Do you want to get your sister killed too?

"Because of your recklessness, Rosie cried and threatened to jump off a building to atone for what she did to you. She's pregnant. How can you be so cold-blooded?"

He knew I feared pain more than anything. Whenever he changed my dressing, he took great care not to hurt me.

But Rosalind was the only thing on his mind now. He didn't even notice that his tight grip was pressing directly into my wound.

Pain sent a cold sweat down my back, yet I still let out a mocking laugh. "I don't have a sister. And an ungrateful wretch like her won't die that easily!"

Rosalind was the daughter of my mother's best friend. After both her parents died, my mother took her in and raised her alongside me, treating us exactly the same.

My mother's influence had led me to genuinely care for Rosalind as my own sister. I never imagined she would be the one to stab me in the back the hardest.

The raw hatred in my eyes startled Nicholas.

He froze for a moment before gripping my chin hard. "You want to lose your mind? Fine. I'll lose mine right along with you. If you won't accept Rosie's child, then have one of your own."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he bit down hard on my lip. He ignored my struggles and pinned me beneath him.

The more I resisted, the more force he used to restrain me.

Nicholas held me down, his voice thick with pain. "Stephie, if we have another child, you won't lose your mind anymore, and you won't hurt Rosie again either."

Even as he forced himself on me, Rosalind was the reason behind it.

My heart had already shattered, but now he ground the pieces into dust.

All the strength drained from my body. He took what he wanted from me as though I were nothing more than a broken doll.

Only once my entire body was covered in marks did Nicholas finally pull back, satisfied.

Before he left, he said hoarsely, "I've already taken care of everything online. Don't do anything else to upset me."

The pain in my lower abdomen left me no room to dwell on his warning. His mind was so consumed with Rosalind that he hadn't even noticed anything was wrong with me.

Fortunately, the sharp pain in my abdomen eased after a while.

I forced myself out of bed, but the moment I opened the door, I found Rosalind standing outside.

Her smile stiffened as soon as she saw the red marks on my neck. Then she let out a cold laugh. "Stephie, what you posted online got me cyberbullied. Do you know what Nicky did to fix it?"

Before she could say anything more, my phone suddenly rang.

I answered, and the frantic voice of my mother's caregiver came through. "Mrs. Halston, something's wrong. Your mother saw the news online, including your private photos. She fainted from the shock and was rushed to the emergency room. Please hurry over!"

Only then did I learn what Nicholas had done. He had personally come forward and claimed that I was mentally unstable and had used AI to fake the photos and messages because I couldn't cope with the grief of losing my daughter.

At the same time, he had released all my medical records. To prove that I really was sick, he had even used my own account to post a set of private photos.

Even with the sensitive areas blurred out, I recognized at a glance that the photos had been taken just an hour earlier.

For Rosalind's sake, there was no limit to how far he would go to hurt me.

Bitterness and hatred surged through me, but I had no patience left to deal with Rosalind.

My mother was still in the emergency room. I had already lost my daughter. I couldn't lose her too.

But just as I turned to leave, Rosalind blocked my way. "Stephie, you're not well. Nicky won't let you go out alone. Besides, even if you rushed over now, I'm afraid you wouldn't make it in time to see Mom one last time."

I stared at her faint smile, and a chill shot down my spine.