Chapter 3

It was already dark when Kaiser Freeman found Samara. Relief washed over him as he saw her, but his expression quickly turned to concern when he noticed how pale she looked. He moved swiftly to her side and wrapped her in his arms.

"Samara, why did you come home all by yourself? You scared me half to death! You just had surgery; why didn't you stay at the hospital?"

"You have no idea how worried I was!"

Samara replied nonchalantly, "I didn't want to be alone in the hospital."

Kaiser looked guilty. "I'm sorry, I was held up at work today, which is why I came so late. You need to come back to the hospital with me right now. Your injury isn't healed yet, and it's not safe to mess around with your health."

"We have to make sure you're healthy enough to have children."

Samara turned her head and looked at his gentle smile, but her heart felt as if it was being torn apart. He knew perfectly well that she could no longer have children. She wished she could open him up and examine the heart capable of such cruelty.

Thinking of the child that would never be born, tears fell down her face, and she regarded Kaiser with a touch of resentment.

Kaiser kissed her forehead tenderly. "I know it was wrong to leave you at the hospital. I promise I’ll stay with you until you're discharged, okay?"

Samara was taken from their home by Kaiser, who insisted on returning her to the hospital, citing her unhealed injuries. On the way, Kaiser suddenly became distracted and failed to notice the road, crashing the car into a roadside tree.

Samara's body lurched forward, and she felt dizzy from the impact. Her waist throbbed with pain, and when she reached down, her hand was covered in blood.

Kaiser, still in the driver's seat, hurriedly opened the car door and ran toward Paloma Gray, who stood panicking not far away.

Upon seeing Kaiser, Paloma burst into tears. "Kaiser, Charlie is missing! He's injured—what if something terrible happens?"

In the night, illuminated by the car's headlights, Samara could clearly see the agony on Kaiser's face. He held Paloma tightly, comforting her with a soft voice, "Don't worry. I'll help you find Charlie. He's such a good dog; he won't have gone far."

Paloma grabbed Kaiser’s shirt, "Kaiser, you’re Charlie’s dad. You have to help me find him. He’s our child!"

Samara could hardly bear to watch the deep affection between them, but her own injury hurt too much to ignore. She opened the car door and approached Kaiser, intending to tell him about her reopened wound.

Before she could speak, Kaiser interrupted, "Samara, take a taxi to the hospital. I've seen Charlie—I need to help Paloma look for him."

"But…"

Before she finished, Kaiser and Paloma ran off, calling Charlie’s name as they went.

Samara glanced at the blood on her hand, feeling a sharp pang in her heart.

After she managed her wound, Kaiser finally returned, only he was accompanied by Paloma, who held Charlie in her arms.

Paloma apologized sincerely, "Samara, I'm sorry. I was just so afraid something happened to Charlie. I didn't mean to leave you alone."

Samara looked at the dog, which was being carefully held, and a sense of desolation filled her heart. A dog at least had someone who cared about it, while her husband of five years had left her to search for Paloma’s missing pet.

She didn’t want to pretend she was fine or didn't care.

Kaiser, however, put an arm around her and spoke on her behalf, "Paloma, don't feel bad about this. Samara is understanding, she wouldn't get jealous over a dog."

As soon as he finished speaking, Charlie jumped out of Paloma’s arms and ran straight to Samara.

Before she could react, her leg was viciously bitten, and the searing pain distorted her face.

Paloma shouted in surprise, "Charlie, what's wrong? Don't scare Mommy!"

She cried and called out without any attempt to remove the dog.

Kaiser wanted to help Samara, but seeing Paloma’s tears, he quickly went to her side to comfort her, "Paloma, calm down. Charlie must be frightened from being outside. He'll be okay soon."

Overwhelmed by the pain, Samara could only kick the dog away forcefully.

The dog whimpered, and Paloma immediately picked him up, glaring at Samara in anger, "Samara Freeman, you've gone too far! I just asked Kaiser to help me find Charlie, and you treat him like this?"

"To you, he might be just an animal, but to me, he’s family, he's my child!"

"He just had surgery. Your actions could endanger his life!"

Kaiser frowned as he glanced at the curled-up dog in Paloma's arms.

"Samara, even if you're upset, you shouldn't take it out on a dog. It doesn’t understand."

Samara smiled bitterly through her pain, "The creature may not understand, but do the two of you, as humans, understand?"

If she hadn’t kicked the dog, it might have bitten off a chunk of her leg.

Paloma trembled with rage, "Did you just call Charlie a creature? Samara Freeman, are you human? Do you have any compassion?"

Though Kaiser was displeased, when he noticed Samara's injury, his expression briefly showed concern, and he seemed inclined to go to her.

Paloma, however, cried even louder, "If anything happens to Charlie, I won’t be able to live either."

In the end, Kaiser’s attention returned to Paloma, comforting her with a pat on the back, "Don’t be upset, Paloma. The priority now is to take Charlie to the vet."

Paloma shot Samara a hateful look, wishing she could punish her.

"If you weren’t Kaiser’s wife, I’d make you kneel and apologize to Charlie!"

Samara watched Kaiser leave with Paloma.

A passing nurse, Madeleine, saw Samara’s blood-soaked leg and gasped.

"Miss Freeman, what happened? How did this injury occur?"

Samara’s eyes were red; she held back her tears and replied, "Got bitten by a dog."