Chapter 4

Serena was so shaken by the discovery that even breathing felt painful.

She clutched her chest, gasping for air as a metallic taste rose in her throat.

Just then, Marvin and Grace returned.

Serena quickly shoved the safe back into the closet and began tidying up the mess she'd made.

She'd already taken the framed photograph of herself and Marvin off the nightstand and set it beside the bed.

Marvin pushed open the bedroom door. Seeing the mess, he frowned.

“Where's the dinner I told you to make?

“Grace spent more than ten hours on a plane, and the moment she landed, she was worried sick about your kidnapping. She barely even had time to drink a glass of water. Is this how you treat her?”

Without looking back, Serena replied, “I didn't have time.”

“You had time to pull all this stuff out, but not to make dinner?” Marvin demanded. “Why are you going through everything anyway? Are you going on a business trip?”

Serena let out a bitter laugh.

“Marvin, I distinctly remember telling you earlier today that we were breaking...”

Before she could finish, Grace's piercing scream shattered the silence.

Marvin immediately rushed out.

Downstairs, the nursery door stood wide open.

Grace was sitting on the floor, trembling uncontrollably.

“Marvin, you and Serena already have a child?”

“No! We don't! We don't have a child!”

Marvin hurriedly gathered Grace into his arms and slammed the door shut.

“It's okay. Don't be scared. We don't have any children.”

Grace shook violently, screaming as though she'd lost her mind.

“Marvin, I don't like children! I really don't! You know what happened to me back then. You know someone...”

Her voice turned hoarse.

“I don't want to stay downstairs. Can I stay on the second floor instead?”

There was only one bedroom upstairs.

The master bedroom Serena shared with Marvin.

What Grace wanted was obvious.

Marvin immediately looked up.

“Serena...”

“Let her have it,” Serena said flatly. “I'll stay in the nursery.”

When Serena and Marvin had first renovated the house, they hadn't planned on having a nursery.

But then Serena had unexpectedly discovered she was pregnant, and they'd converted the room.

Back then, they'd been filled with hope for the future, believing that before long, they'd become a happy family of three.

But the pregnancy had ended in an early miscarriage.

Ever since then, the nursery had become a painful reminder of everything Serena had lost.

She hadn't set foot inside it in a long time.

But none of that mattered anymore.

She was leaving soon anyway.

Serena reached out and pushed the door open.

“No! Don't!”

Grace screamed again, becoming increasingly hysterical.

“No, Marvin! The baby! I can see him standing right there! He's standing there, looking at me!

“Is he blaming me? Is he angry because I aborted him? Because I killed him?”

She shook her head frantically, staring in terror through the narrow opening.

“But I didn't want to give birth to my rapist's baby! I couldn't!”

Bang!

Marvin abruptly stood up and slammed the nursery door shut again.

He didn't even notice that Serena's hand was still resting against the doorframe.

A sharp pain shot through her hand.

Serena gasped, her entire body trembling from the pain.

But Marvin didn't seem to notice.

“Serena, call someone and have this nursery torn out immediately.

“I don't want a single baby-related item left in this house.

“As for you...”

He paused, not even bothering to look at her.

“You can sleep in the maid's room tonight.”