Chapter 4

The doctor glanced at him in confusion, his tone sharp with reproach.

"You, as a husband, are truly negligent. You don’t care at all about your wife’s condition! Miss Silva’s uterus had pathological changes. Any further delay would’ve cost her life! We called you at 1 p.m., but you didn’t answer. Miss Silva had no choice but to sign the surgery consent form herself!"

Soren staggered back two steps, only to be steadied by a soft, delicate hand at his waist.

Then, a gentle voice followed.

“Soren, are you alright?”

Looking down, Soren saw Hannah gazing at him with worry, her whole figure dainty and fragile as she leaned against his chest.

He was tall and handsome; she was gentle and petite. From where I sat, they looked like a perfect match, truly well-suited.

Interrupted by Hannah, the regret and guilt that had just filled Soren’s face quickly disappeared.

All his attention shifted to her.

“Miss Silva just had surgery. Step outside. I’ll explain some post-op precautions.”

The doctor turned and left the room.

Soren glanced at me hesitantly, as if unsure.

Hannah spoke softly, “Go ahead, Soren. I’ll take care of Miss Silva.”

Right in front of me, Soren gently slipped the bracelet he’d just taken from me onto Hannah’s wrist.

He gently touched her face, his tone full of affection.

“Thank goodness you’re here. Sorry to trouble you, even though you’re not feeling well yourself, to keep Diana company for a bit.”

Watching the two of them so close, one of them still my husband, I felt a wave of nausea rise in my chest.

As soon as Soren left and the door shut behind him, Hannah’s soft, timid expression disappeared.

In its place was a cold, mocking smirk.

She walked toward me in her heels, one step at a time.

“My dear Miss Silva, I heard you signed off on two surgeries for yourself in just one week?”

She chuckled softly as if remembering something funny.

“Do you know? While you were lying on that operating table, taking a walk through abyss, Soren was holding me, whispering that I’m his one and only sweetheart.”

I trembled all over.

Curled up in the hospital bed, fresh blood slowly soaked the gauze on my abdomen.

Now that the anesthesia had worn off, the pain stabbed through me like a thousand steel needles twisting deep inside.

Hannah’s mocking stare and light tone felt like another round of torture.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?”

She lazily untied the ribbon on her top, revealing a trail of reddish-purple marks below her collarbone.

“When Soren got rough with me the other night, I hurt like hell too.”

The diamond bracelet on her wrist clinked against the headboard with a sharp, cold sound.

That bracelet, which had sat on my wrist for nine full years, was now on hers, taken back by Soren himself.

The broken sparkles from the diamonds under the white fluorescent light stung my eyes.

But it still wasn’t enough for her.

With her long, manicured nails, she poked at my lower abdomen and smiled brightly.

“You’ll never be able to have children again and the truth is, Soren won’t be sad about that at all.”

“When he was drunk once, he told me the truth. He said you, a fatherless and motherless orphan, have no right to give birth to the heir of the prestigious Whitaker Family of Arlington. Only I, only someone of equal status, someone truly in love with him, am worthy of bearing his children!”

“Even if your child had made it into this world, his fate would’ve been pathetic. Better off dead from the start!”

My nails dug deep into my palms.

“You’re lying. Let Soren in, I want to hear him say it to my face!”

I tried to press the call button, but Hannah grabbed my wrist and slammed it hard against the wall.

The moment the IV needle ripped out, Hannah covered my mouth and whispered in my ear.

“That day when you fell at home, it wasn’t an accident. Soren did it on purpose.”

Amid the deafening ringing in my ears, I seemed to see again the cold gleam of the scalpel cutting open my abdomen.

So, I didn’t just lose the child. The man I had loved so deeply was the one who caused it all!

Scalding tears soaked my hospital gown as Hannah casually unlocked her phone.

“Don’t believe me? Or just can’t take it anymore?”

She waved the phone in front of my eyes. A surveillance video.

Scattered across the hotel suite carpet were a white dress shirt and lace lingerie.

Hannah sneered and tapped play.

“Then come, listen to Soren say it with his own mouth.”

Entangled bodies, flushed skin, gasps and gasps filled with heat.

Then came the familiar voice, every word filled with cruel, cold, heartless contempt.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I grabbed the IV stand’s glass bottle and hurled it at Hannah.

But she caught my wrist and leaned back.

Just then, the hospital room door burst open and Hannah let out a piercing cry.

“Miss Silva, please don’t! I swear I’ll stay far away from Soren, I won’t interfere in your relationship ever again!”

“Diana, are you insane?!”

Soren rushed in, shielding Hannah in his arms. Without a word, he raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face.

My cheek swelled instantly, a searing pain spreading across my skin.

I opened my mouth to explain, but a sudden warmth gushed from my abdomen, soaking the sheets.

“Soren, I… it hurts, it hurts so much…”

He glanced at me, then turned away and carried Hannah in his arms, striding out without a word.

I stared at their retreating backs. The look Soren gave me before leaving burned into my mind: indifferent, cold.

As if the woman bleeding out on the hospital bed was nothing more than a stranger.

The ninety-ninth time was over, Soren.