Chapter 6

Chapter Ninety-Eight

Max stood outside the door as if standing in a furnace; he wanted to rush in, but Pearl had locked it from the inside, leaving him with no choice but to wait outside.

"...DIE!..."

Max immediately recognized Pearl's scream. Horrified, he could no longer calmly wait and kicked the door forcefully. With the strength of a grown man, it only took three kicks to break down the locked door.

"Bella! Bella! Where are you?" Max frantically ran inside. He heard noises from the living room and rushed in.

Before him was a horrifying and disgusting scene. Max quickly scanned the room and found Bella curled up on the floor, clutching her stomach and trembling uncontrollably. Pearl was holding a large shard of glass, which was smeared with some red liquid.

Just by looking, Max knew what was happening. He staggered over to Bella.

"Bella? Bella? What's wrong? Bella, wake up. Blood?" Max held Bella in his arms, and when he touched her stomach, he felt a liquid flowing out. As soon as he looked at his hand, the smell of blood made his face turn pale.

"Bella, hang in there. I'll call an ambulance. You can't leave me, Bella. I'll take you to the hospital right now!" Max, trembling, took out his phone to call for an ambulance, his entire body cold, and his face as white as a sheet.

Max had never experienced anything so terrifying. In his fear and panic, he didn't even think to stop Bella's bleeding; all he could do was utter meaningless words of comfort. The fear was spreading rapidly through every cell in his body.

Seeing Max's concern and fear for Bella's life, Pearl felt satisfied and triumphant. As long as Bella no longer existed, Max would return to her. There could only be one person left behind, and Pearl was certain it wouldn't be that person!

"Max, let her go. If she loses enough blood, she'll die soon anyway. As long as she can't have a child, as long as she dies, we can be together. Why are you still holding her? Let her go!" Pearl tried to pull Max away from Bella, screaming like a madwoman.

Pearl's mind was no longer clear. She felt no fear for the horrific act she had committed; she didn't even consider the consequences she would face.

Max realized Pearl had gone insane, a crazy, deranged woman.

"You're insane! Are you out of your mind? Do you know what you're doing? This is murder! Do you understand? You'll go to prison! You lunatic!"

Max forcefully shoved Pearl away; he had to get Bella out of there. The ambulance would arrive soon. But just as he lifted Bella, Pearl grabbed him from behind, not letting him leave.

Her eyes turned wild as she glared at Max. "What are you saying? She has to die! If she doesn't, we can't be together. Why do you care about her?... That's right before anyone finds out... let's run away... run away from here. Do you think I'll be the only one caught after this, Max? We have no way out. Both of us will definitely be caught. Bella, she knows everything. She knows about us and our plan. Do you think if you take her to the hospital now, she'll forgive you for what you've done to her?"

Clearly, Max should have carried Bella out of that house, away from this madwoman, but after hearing Pearl's words, his face turned pale, and he hesitated. Max doubted Pearl's words, unsure if Bella knew everything, but he had long suspected Bella's unusual behavior.

Bella was barely conscious, unable to hear what the two of them were saying. The wound made her body cold and filled her with excruciating pain.

"She knows it all?" Max muttered softly.

"Yes! Did you think she just came to visit me? She knows everything about us, even our plan to take over the company. She knows it all. Do you still want to save her?" Pearl thought Max had finally come to his senses and listened to her because, from start to finish, she was the only one who had been in the same boat with him.

If she died, he wouldn't be able to live either; that was certain. But if he dared to abandon her when she was in hell, she would surely drag Max down with her.

Hearing Pearl's words, Max was confused. Just moments ago, he had haste wanted to take Bella to the hospital, but now he was terrified that if Bella survived, she would expose him. He didn't want that, but he was also afraid that if he didn't take Bella to the hospital now, he would become an accomplice to Pearl.

"No… Bella loves me very much, she will forgive me… she will forgive me… as long as I apologize…" Max was certain that his wife loved him deeply, and that all it would take was for him to bow his head and apologize. Bella was a forgiving person, and she would forgive him.

All he needed to do was sever all ties with Pearl. He didn’t want to be involved with Pearl any longer. But time to save a life was limited, and Max’s hesitation meant that Bella could not wait much longer.

Without stopping the bleeding, the blood from the stab wound continued to flow onto the cold floor, forming a small puddle at Max’s feet.

But Bella no longer had the strength to urge him to hurry, even breathing was a struggle. At this point, Bella was nearing her limit. She didn’t want to die yet—she still had to end this, and there were so many plans left to fulfill…

But just before completely losing consciousness, she heard a loud noise from outside, then felt as if someone was taking her away from Max, the warmth of a new embrace making her feel slightly safer.

Then there was chaos and confusion…

…

When Bella regained consciousness, she frowned and looked up, seeing only white, making her think she might already be dead. But the sound of machines and the smell of antiseptic in the room brought her back to reality. She wasn’t dead; she had been saved and was now recuperating in a fully equipped hospital room.

“Haha… I’m not dead… Could this be considered a stroke of luck?” Bella murmured, her throat burning and dry, making it difficult to speak normally.

“It could be.” A low, cold voice sounded right beside her bed, startling Bella, who had thought she was alone in the room.

Levi sat upright next to her bed, looking stern and cold. His sharp, dark eyes stared intently at Bella, making her feel a chill throughout her body, not daring to meet his gaze.

“Wh-Why are you here?” Bella asked softly.

“Do you know why you’re here?” Levi didn’t answer but asked in return, struggling to contain his anger. Otherwise, he might have devoured Bella alive right now for her foolishness.

Bella thought for a moment and then said, “Max bring me to the hospital? Where is he?” That was what she could remember, as Max was the one holding her before she lost consciousness.

But as Bella thought more about it, if Max had brought her to the hospital, why wasn’t he here now?

Levi smirked, “You really think highly of your husband. That guy has probably already run off with his little lover by now.”

It took Bella a few seconds to grasp the meaning of Levi’s words under his cold gaze. She sighed and chuckled softly, “So that’s it. I thought what I heard then was just an illusion. I didn’t expect it to be true.”

Bella sneaked a glance at Levi, but seeing no expression on his face, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. She had a vague understanding of why Levi was so angry. What she did last night was indeed too dangerous. Bella knew well that going to Pearl’s house would likely lead to something bad, but she never thought Pearl would actually harbor murderous intent towards her.

The entire room fell into a silence that made her too uneasy to look Levi in the eye anymore.

A knock on the door broke the silence in the room. As soon as Levi said, “Come in,” two doctors and four nurses entered together, looking at Bella with such concern that it seemed they were her family members rather than medical staff.

“Ms. Bella, you’re finally awake. How are you feeling? Does the wound still hurt? Do you remember what happened before you lost consciousness?” One doctor asked. Although his words were gentle and full of concern for Bella, his face was pale as if he were worried about something.

Bella gently waved her hand, though the wound still throbbed, it wasn’t as bad as before. Aside from that, there were no serious issues.

“Thank you. If it weren’t for you, I might have—”

“Please don’t say that. It’s our duty. Being able to treat and care for you is our honor,” another doctor interjected, and the nurses echoed him, all trying to flatter Bella.

Seeing their unusual reactions, Bella glanced at Levi, who stood coldly watching her. After the doctors and nurses checked her condition and left, Bella awkwardly said, “Thank you. I don’t know… But… Was it you who brought me to the hospital?”

Bella didn’t know who had brought her to the hospital. If it was Levi, she couldn’t understand why he was at Pearl’s house in time to bring her to the hospital. Going to Pearl’s house was Bella’s own idea, and she hadn’t told Levi about it.

Hearing her thanks, Levi’s expression softened a bit, but he didn’t answer her question. Instead, he asked, “You seemed to have predicted what would happen, so you decided to go to her house, didn’t you?”

As soon as Levi finished speaking, Bella’s confused expression disappeared, and she smiled mysteriously.

“You know what? I’m a pretty good chess player too.”