Chapter 5

Thunder exploded overhead.

The pain was so intense I could barely breathe.

When I tried to speak again, he clamped my jaw shut.

"What, you like biting now?"

"Chloe was right, you and Julian really were having an affair!"

Caleb's furious face swam before my eyes, completely devoid of his former tenderness.

Blood dripped from the corner of my mouth.

I felt my vision blacken.

Then I passed out.

When I opened my eyes again.

I was chained to the bed.

Chloe sat by the bedside, smiling as she held a steaming bowl of medicine.

"Caleb said you were too agitated, so he told you to drink this."

No one else was around, so she didn't bother to pretend. She grabbed my hair, forcing my head back.

I suppressed the pain, trembling as I demanded,

"I treated you well, why would you…"

Chloe pinched my chin, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"Why? Because you're stupid! You're pathetic! You practically threw yourself at me!"

"I hate rich people like you, with your high-and-mighty attitudes. And I especially hate hypocritical idiots like you! You like to give charity, don't you? Well, I'm going to make sure you're trampled into the dirt!"

At that moment.

The medicine was forced down my throat.

The bitterness, mixed with a cramping pain in my lower abdomen, made me curl up and shiver.

My nails dug into the wall, and I spoke with difficulty.

"What… did you give me?"

She maintained her sweet smile, slowly saying,

"Medicine."

"An abortifacient. In just ten minutes, your second child will also turn into a bloody mess, flowing out of you."

Her loud laughter pierced my eardrums.

I leaned back against the headboard, trembling.

My eyes, however, found the dagger on the fruit plate.

Chloe continued to gloat triumphantly.

"In five more months, my baby will be born. And your baby will be a rotting piece of flesh, a failure. You couldn't even protect your own child…"

Chloe didn't finish her last sentence.

Because I had the dagger at her throat.

My hand instinctively tightened, and blood seeped from her neck.

She shrieked in pain.

"Stop!"

Caleb, who had rushed in, his face completely grim.

It wasn't concern, but rather the anger of someone certain of a certain outcome.

"For Julian, you'd actually kill someone? Do you love him that much?"

"Caleb, she's gone mad for Julian! Save me, save the baby…"

Chloe cried and pleaded, stroking her belly.

"Don't be scared, baby. Nothing will happen to you!"

Listening to Caleb's tender, reassuring tone.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

Their baby would be fine…

What about my baby?

I instinctively looked down.

The white bedding was stained crimson.

My eyes burned with a searing ache, and the hand holding the knife began to waver.

The next second, the knife was snatched away and thrown aside.

Caleb instinctively frowned. "Audrey, where are you hurt?"

Chloe quickly answered, "It's… her period."

Caleb paused, a flicker of disappointment crossing his brows.

I just watched him, carrying the murderer of our second child onto the soft couch, pouring her water, serving her tea, tucking her in.

And beneath me, it grew colder and redder.

I stumbled to the couch, slowly reaching out my hand.

"Ah!"

Chloe shrieked!

Caleb instinctively turned with the knife.

Pain truly makes one weak.

When I was thirteen, I fell off a swing.

He ended up being my human cushion.

I was fine, but he broke three ribs.

I cried and scolded him for not dodging.

He smiled, looking both sheepish and wronged. "Silly, if I had dodged, what would have happened to you? I wouldn't want you to feel even a tiny bit of pain…"

Fifteen-year-old Caleb didn't want me to feel any pain.

Thirty-year-old Caleb, however, was cruel enough to stab me in the heart.

Puff!

The knife tip pierced through flesh.

Blood splattered before my eyes.

I watched Caleb's pupils slowly widen.

His eyes were bloodshot.

His face ashen.

My fingers trembled as I touched his utterly despairing face.

"Why did you… have those homeless men harm me?"

"Why did you kill my child… again and again?"