Chapter 7

Chloe's POV

Lifting the hem of her gown, Wendy strode through the crowd with her head held high and came to a stop in front of me.

"You see this? There's no place for you in the Hayes family."

I looked up at her, my expression calm and indifferent.

"So what? No matter how much you despise me, you can only ever be Ryan's sister. You'll never be able to marry him."

That hit Wendy right where it hurt.

Her expression twisted, and she hissed in a low, furious growl, "What are you so smug about?! So what if you married him? Whether you get to have a child or not is entirely up to me!"

A sinister malice crept onto her face.

"Go die!"

Before the words had even settled, her hand secretly caught the edge of the nearby tablecloth and yanked hard.

The multi-tiered champagne tower standing several heads tall collapsed with a deafening crash, glasses shattering in an avalanche.

Standing right beside the tower, Wendy didn't even try to dodge, taking the full brunt of the impact as she crashed hard onto the floor.

Shattered glass and champagne covered the floor. Countless cuts had opened across her skin, quickly seeping with blood.

"Wendy!!!"

Ryan rushed over from across the crowd, with Sheldon Hayes and Audrey Sim right behind him.

Dropping to his knees on the shards of glass, Ryan scooped Wendy Hayes into his arms. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hands shook violently.

"Don't be afraid! Don't be scared, I'm here. I'm taking you to the hospital!"

Wendy went limp in his embrace.

"Chloe... Chloe did it on purpose..."

Ryan snapped his head up, his gaze pinning me with murderous rage.

Without asking me a single question, he carried Wendy and strode out of the hall.

Audrey leaned against Sheldon's shoulder, weeping so hard she could barely stand.

All around us, the guests watched the Hayes family make fools of themselves—and watched me just the same.

"The Hayes family looks so glamorous on the outside, who knew things were this lively behind closed doors."

"This Mrs. Hayes is truly vicious, though her methods were a bit stupid. Doing something like this right in front of everyone."

While holding Audrey to comfort her, Sheldon pointed at me, his shoulders trembling with fury.

"You have some nerve! How dare you harm Wendy in front of everyone!"

"What kind of lowly trash thinks she has the right to cause chaos in my Hayes family!"

"Men! Guards!"

Before I could even speak, several bodyguards swarmed forward and pinned me to the floor.

My knees were shoved into the broken glass. The searing pain turned my vision white.

Murmurs rippled through the guests.

"What are they going to do?"

"I heard Mrs. Hayes is pregnant. Is the Hayes family really going to lay hands on her?"

"Yeah, word on the street is that Ryan Hayes is head over heels for her. If the Hayes family treats her like this, won't Ryan lose his mind when he finds out?"

"Didn't you see Ryan's eyes just now? He looked like he wanted to kill her on the spot."

Wiping her tears, Audrey tugged at Sheldon's sleeve.

"Sheldon, maybe just let it go. She's carrying a Hayes child, after all. For the baby's sake, it's only right Wendy suffers a little grievance."

Sheldon roared back.

"A woman this malicious—what good could ever come out of her womb! Beat her!"

Pinned down and unable to move, I still stared straight into Sheldon's eyes, speaking word by word.

"I didn't do it. If you lay a hand on me today, I will not let this go."

Sheldon's face turned livid.

"Even Ryan doesn't care about you anymore, and you still dare to run your mouth here? What are you waiting for? Beat her!"

The wooden rod came down, striking hard across my back.

I glared at them, my eyes brimming with pure hatred.

My back flared with a burning agony before turning completely numb.

My dress was soon drenched in blood.

The chatter around us only grew louder.

"Still acting so arrogant in front of Sheldon Hayes. She had it coming!"

"Who told her to harm Wendy in public? Everyone knows Wendy is the most pampered one in the Hayes family."

"Yeah, just a poor woman. If she hadn't climbed her way up through Ryan, how could she ever have squeezed into high society?"

"Isn't she pregnant? Beating her like this, can the baby even survive? The Hayes family is being too ruthless, isn't it?"

"The rumors say Ryan loves her so much, but it doesn't look like much to me. If she's out of favor herself, the Hayes family naturally won't care about the child in her belly."

The pain made it hard to breathe. I tried to struggle, but my shoulders were pinned down so tightly I couldn't move an inch.

I lost track of how many blows landed. It felt as if my spine was snapping in two.

Inside, I told myself, *Chloe, this is the price you pay for being blind and letting love cloud your mind.*

*Remember this beating today. Burn it into your memory.*

Finally, darkness swallowed my vision, and I passed out.