Chapter 3

"Victoria, how could you hurt the baby?!"

The child let out a piercing, heartbreaking cry.

Everything happened so fast that no one had time to react.

Without even asking what happened, Ryan spun around and shoved me hard to the ground.

He hissed, "Victoria! You vicious woman!"

My lower back slammed into the edge of the table, and the pain exploded so violently that my vision went black. The way he looked at me was like he was staring at a sworn enemy.

"We're divorcing right now! I must have been blind to marry you! I'd like to see who'd want a barren piece of damaged goods like you once Timothy stops protecting you!"

I was in too much pain to speak, my head buzzing. However, when I heard his last sentence, I froze.

What did he mean by "once Timothy stops protecting me"?

"Ryan, what did you just say? What do you mean by once Timothy stops protecting me?"

A flash of panic crossed his face, but it was quickly replaced by venom. Just then, the doors burst open again.

Timothy's executive assistant, Isaac Holden, came stumbling in, his face deathly pale. He stammered, "M-Ms. Sullivan! Something terrible happened! Mr. Sullivan's plane crashed! Emergency rescue is underway, but we haven't- haven't received any news yet."

My mind went completely blank.

It was not until Mom collapsed beside me that I snapped back to reality. "Mom!"

Mom's face was terrifyingly pale, her body rigid. I panicked as she had a severe heart condition.

"Ambulance! Call an ambulance quickly!" I screamed frantically, my body shaking uncontrollably.

I remembered Timothy once gave me an encrypted satellite phone number. He said that no matter what happened, as long as I dialed that number, his people could find him. Yet when I called, there was only a cold, busy signal.

I called three times, and each "beep" felt like a sledgehammer pounding on my heart.

'Timothy, please be okay!' I silently prayed.

Soon, the wail of an ambulance siren grew from distant to near. The paramedics rushed in, pushing a stretcher.

"Doctor! Please save my mom!" I cried out as I rushed toward them.

However, a hand shoved me hard out of the way.

Ryan, holding the scalded baby, blocked the paramedics' path. He insisted, "Treat my child first! My child was burned by boiling water!"

He forcibly placed the still-crying baby onto the stretcher. But upon closer inspection, the child only had a red patch on its arm.

Before the ambulance arrived, the patient was treated with cold water. Even the doctor could see Mom's condition was more serious and wanted to give her emergency treatment first.

However, Ryan grabbed him and spoke harshly. "Can't you see my child is burned? Where are you running off to? Get in the ambulance now! If my child is scarred because of your delay, I'll file a complaint against you!"

The doctor was forcibly dragged onto the vehicle, and I panicked.

I rushed forward and blocked the closing door, shouting urgently, "No! My mom has heart disease! She's dying!"

Ryan turned back, his eyes full of mockery and disdain. "Heart disease? Victoria, stop acting! She faked her heart condition. She pulls it out for sympathy every time something happens! She looks perfectly fine to me! If anything happens to my son, I'll make your whole family pay!"

Seeing the contempt in his eyes, I broke down again. In his eyes, Mom's life or death was nothing but a performance.

I wanted to say more, but Margaret already rushed to my side, clawing and hitting me.

"Get out of the way! You jinx! You killed your own child, you killed Timothy, and now you want to curse my grandson, too. Why don't you just die!"

Her fingernails left several bloody scratches on my face, burning with pain.

Zelda also took advantage of the chaos to rush over and kick me hard in the abdomen with her stiletto heel.

She bent down and whispered viciously in my ear. "Victoria, you deserve to lose everything! From now on, just keep watch over Mrs. Sullivan's and Timothy's graveyards, living like an unloved stray for the rest of your life!"