Chapter 4

I looked up in confusion, only to meet Dustin's guilty, evasive gaze.

Ophelia stepped in front of Hattie, glaring at me. "Lily, get real! You're the mistress trying to ruin their family!"

Dorothy pulled out a psychiatric evaluation report and turned to address the reporters, putting on an apologetic face. "I am so sorry, everyone. My daughter suffers from a severe mental illness.

"She's been obsessively harassing Dustin, even drugging him to force herself onto him, and she's caused so much distress for Hattie. I apologize on her behalf."

I looked at my mother in disbelief. "Mom? Are you insane? She's the one who..."

Before I could finish, Dustin approached with a team of hospital orderlies in white coats. Taking the evaluation report from Dorothy, they injected a heavy sedative straight into my neck before I could utter a word of defense.

As my vision faded into blackness, the last thing I saw was Dustin and Hattie with their fingers intertwined, leaning into each other.

Neither of them spared me a single glance.

The orderlies confiscated my phone, locked me in a tiny room, and kept me there for an entire month. I fought, struggled, and even nearly broke my leg trying to force my way out, but I couldn't escape.

It wasn't until I was eight months pregnant that Dustin finally showed up. He brought my favorite pastries from the local bakery and gently brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"I know it's been hard on you, but we were just afraid you'd run out and hurt Hattie," he said smoothly. "That marriage certificate was just so we could get the baby registered.

"Once you give birth, I'll divorce her. As long as you publicly admit that you were the mistress and apologize to Hattie, we'll let you out."

Clumsily balancing my heavy belly, I bowed to him. "I'm sorry. I'm the mistress, and I'll never bother you two again. Is that enough?"

Dustin's expression turned uncomfortably tense. His mouth twitched as he clenched his fists, but ultimately, he just let out a heavy sigh and brought me home.

As fast as I could, I packed my bags, ready to leave. But the moment I stepped out of the bedroom, the whole group barged in once again.

Hattie cried bitterly, throwing herself to my feet.

"Please, Lily! Give me back my baby! I was just preparing for Rosalie's one-month party, and the second you walked in, she went missing. If you're angry with me, take it out on me. Don't hurt my daughter."

Dustin slammed into the room right behind her and grabbed my throat in a vice grip. "Rosalie is only a month old! Have you lost your damn mind, targeting a newborn?"

"I didn't," I gasped desperately. "I'm a mother too. How could I ever hurt a child..."

"If anything happens to Rosalie, I don't want to live anymore!" Hattie shrieked, making a move to hurl herself against the wall, but my parents quickly lunged forward to hold her back.

"Why are we even wasting our breath talking to her? Force it out of her!" Ophelia stormed in, yanked open the nightstand drawer, pulled out a sewing kit, and aimed a long steel needle right at the quick of my fingernail.

"I swear, I didn't do it!" I shook my head in terror, looking up at Dustin for help.

He simply turned his head away, giving Ophelia the silent nod to proceed. Everyone knew how deeply I treasured my hands. They were built for performing surgeries. And everyone also knew exactly how to torture me into compromising.

But how could I confess to something I had never done?

"Lily, you brought this on yourself!" Ophelia drove the steel needle deep under my nail, nearly tearing the nail bed open.

Agonizing pain surged through my body, contorting my face as my voice gave out entirely, tears streaming uncontrollably down my cheeks.

Just as she was about to shove a second needle into another finger, Dustin's phone rang with a call from the police department.

"Hello? We have located the child. Please come down to the station right away."

A flash of pure ecstasy swept across Dustin's face. He shoved me aside, and the whole group rushed out the door, pushing past one another.

I slammed hard onto the floor, and a pool of vivid crimson quickly bled out from beneath me.

"My baby..."

I dragged my battered body toward the bedroom door, only to find it locked from the outside. Violent, agonizing cramps seized my lower abdomen.

I stared blankly as the red stain expanded across the floor, my tears dropping into the blood. Desperate and hopeless, I reached for a paring knife on the nightstand and pressed the sharp blade against my wrist.

Just then, the door was slammed open with a deafening crash. A tall figure burst through the doorway against the light, frantically pulling me into his arms.

"I'm so sorry, I came too late..." he said with a trembling voice.