Chapter 4

I dragged my injured body to a pay phone booth.

I dialed Mr. Harrison's number.

Mr. Harrison was my father's former business partner.

The startup capital for Damian years ago was pooled together by Mr. Harrison and my father.

The phone connected, and I cried out.

"Mr. Harrison, it's Claire."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.

"Claire, what do you need from me?"

I told him everything about Damian's affair and transferring assets.

"Mr. Harrison, can you help me?"

Mr. Harrison let out a long sigh.

"Claire, it's not that I won't help you."

"Damian is now the chairman of Reed Corporation."

"My company depends on him for orders."

"Your marital affairs—I'm an outsider, it's not appropriate for me to interfere."

My heart sank to the bottom.

"Mr. Harrison, if it weren't for my father back then, he wouldn't be where he is today."

"You can't just watch me die."

A shrill female voice came from the other end.

"Harrison, don't meddle in other people's business. Be careful or Mr. Reed will cut off our supply."

Mr. Harrison immediately said, "Claire, I have a meeting. I've got to go."

The phone was hastily hung up.

I leaned against the cold glass of the phone booth in despair.

Damian now had absolute power.

Everyone chose to stand on his side.

What could I do?

Just then, several thugs with bleached hair surrounded me.

The lead thug had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, reeking of cheap tobacco. He looked me up and down.

"You're Claire?"

I backed away warily.

"What do you want?"

The thug sneered coldly and spat out his cigarette.

"Someone paid for one of your legs."

"Do it."

Several thugs rushed at me.

They pinned me to the ground, fists and feet raining down on me like hail.

I protected my head and screamed for help.

"Help! They're attacking me!"

Passersby all avoided the scene. No one dared come forward.

A thug pulled out a gleaming steel pipe and aimed it at my right leg.

"Bitch, you should've watched yourself."

I closed my eyes, waiting in despair for the excruciating pain to come.

Suddenly, the piercing wail of a police siren grew from distant to near.

A patrol car stopped at the roadside.

The thugs saw this, cursed, dropped the pipe, and ran.

The police came over and helped me up.

"Ma'am, are you alright?"

I was covered in blood and shook my head weakly.

"I need to report a crime. Someone hired people to hurt me."

The police took me back to the station.

I gave my statement, identifying Damian and Jessica as the instigators.

The police checked the surveillance footage and quickly caught the lead thug.

But in the interrogation room, the thug insisted stubbornly.

"I don't know any Damian."

"This woman owes us loan shark money."

"We were just collecting the debt."

The police told me, "Ms. Williams, there's no evidence proving Damian was behind this."

"He's just a debt collector. We can only detain him for a few days."

I sat in the chair in despair.

Damian had covered his tracks completely.

He'd already arranged a scapegoat.

I left the police station covered in injuries.

My stomach suddenly cramped sharply.

The dull pain from my breast cancer also began to flare up. I had to go to the hospital to get medication.

I took a cab to City Central Hospital.

Just as I reached the obstetrics department entrance, I heard a commotion.

Damian was carefully supporting Jessica as she came out of the examination room.

Jessica held an ultrasound report in her hand, her face full of coy shyness.

"Damian, the doctor said it's a boy."