Chapter 4

When Zachary realized that I was too shocked to even say a word, he sighed softly.

"Sammy, I know that this isn't fair to you, but you know that Vivi can't handle any emotional stress in her current condition. I don't dare to risk it either. Don't you worry, though. I won't divorce you, and even though this house is currently under Vivi's name, we can still live together in it."

The way he spoke was as though he was doing me a great favor by allowing me to stay in the house that I had bought with my own money.

Trying to ignore the dull ache in my chest, I opened my mouth to retort, only to be interrupted by his phone ringing.

I instantly knew that it was Vivian calling because he had barely answered the phone when his expression turned anxious.

He hurriedly said, "Vivi is feeling unwell."

The next second, he turned and left the house. Before stepping out the door, he didn't forget to remind me to eat a proper meal before getting some rest.

After he was gone, I had to force back the nausea and began searching the entire house. Every drawer, cabinet, and even the bedside table—I looked everywhere.

In the end, I found the house deed in Vivian's room.

The moment I checked the name of the property owner, my heart dropped to my stomach.

It was Vivian Sinclair.

However, as I set the folder back down, a receipt slipped out and fell to the floor.

It was a receipt for a whole set of gold jewelry, amounting to over seven thousand dollars, dated a year ago.

The same year that I happened to undergo breast cancer surgery—a surgery that I had to sell my own set of wedding jewelry to pay for.

Zachary had the money to spend seven thousand dollars on gold jewelry for Vivian, yet he didn't have the money to pay for my two-thousand-dollar surgery.

I hadn't yet recovered from the bone-chilling disappointment when there was a noise at the front door.

Zachary had brought Vivian back here.

The moment they saw the mess I had made after turning the house upside down during my search, their faces darkened simultaneously.

Zachary spoke up first, his tone bristling with reprimand.

"Samantha Linden, what the hell are you up to this time? Do you think it's funny to mess up the house like this?"

Vivian also dropped her usual meek act, saying, "Just take your anger out on me. There's no need to rampage through the house."

I clenched the receipt tightly, my knuckles going white from the force. Just as I was about to respond, Vivian abruptly stepped forward and reached out to snatch at whatever I was holding.

"What are you holding there? Did you dig through my stuff again?"

Annoyed at her pestering, I raised a hand to gently block her attempt.

However, this seemed to strike a nerve with her, and she immediately yanked on my arm roughly.

I stumbled slightly but managed to steady myself with some difficulty.

When Vivian saw that I hadn't fallen, she outright lunged forward, seized my arm with both hands, and began tugging madly.

"Samantha Linden, don't make me do things the hard way!"

Her rough and forceful actions had pain shooting up my arm, and I couldn't help but struggle to get free of her grip.

However, she took advantage of the momentum to shove my shoulder hard.

I was already a little weak from my pregnancy, so this sudden shove threw me off balance and sent me staggering back.

Zachary's face fell as he instinctively took a step forward, his hand reaching out for me.

"Sammy! Watch out!"

Vivian swiftly grabbed him, stopping him from getting to me.

That momentary delay was all it took for me to crash into the table behind me, my abdomen smashing into the sharp corner of the table.

Immediately, a sharp pain exploded in my abdomen.

Zachary snapped his head back around to look at me, and in the next second, he clearly saw the bright red blood that trickled out from between my legs.