Chapter 2

At the hospital, after the doctors rushed to save my mom, they came out and told me she'd had a heart attack and needed to stay in the hospital for observation.

Meanwhile, Wanda was experiencing signs of a miscarriage and had to stay in bed to recover.

I had just let out a sigh of relief when Michael rushed in.

He didn't even glance at me, heading straight for Wanda's bed. "Wanda, are you okay?"

Wanda opened her eyes, and when she saw Michael, tears welled up in her eyes again.

"Michael, I'm fine. Don't blame Grace. It's my own fault," she said.

But Michael turned to me, his eyes icy cold. "It's not your fault. If anyone's to blame, it's someone being petty."

I couldn't hold it in anymore. "Michael, can you be reasonable for once? Wanda ran into the coffee table herself. This has nothing to do with me."

He sneered. "If you hadn't come back and mocked her, she wouldn't have ended up like this. Grace, I never thought you could be so vicious. You can't even stand your own sister."

"I didn't!" I shouted back, but my protest sounded weak.

The nurses and patients around us all turned to stare, curious about the drama unfolding.

Their gazes felt like needles piercing me, making me wish I could sink into the floor.

Michael stepped forward and grabbed my wrist. "I don't care if you did it or not. You have to apologize right now."

I struggled to pull my hand free. "Why should I apologize?"

This was ridiculous. Michael cheated on me with Wanda.

And now I was supposed to apologize to Wanda because their baby got hurt?

Wanda's tears fell again as she pleaded with us to stop fighting.

With Michael still not letting up, Wanda suddenly grabbed a fruit knife from the table and, without hesitation, cut her wrist.

"Wanda!" Michael and I shouted together.

Blood immediately poured from her wrist, soaking the white sheets in red.

The nurses rushed in, grabbed the knife from her hand, and hurried to stop the bleeding.

"Michael, please, stop pushing Grace," Wanda said weakly.

Michael's eyes burned with even more anger. "Grace, are you happy now?"

Watching everything unfold, I felt the world spinning around me.

Trying to swallow my humiliation, I took out my phone, wanting to call the divorce lawyer I'd just hired.

But as soon as I unlocked the screen, Michael snatched my phone right out of my hand.

He glanced at the screen and sneered. "Grace, do you really think you still have the right to ask for a divorce?"

He grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the end of the hallway. "The old house your dad left you, and the company shares—transfer them to Wanda as soon as possible."

I froze, staring at him in disbelief. "Michael, that's my inheritance from my dad. It's got nothing to do with you or Wanda."

"Is that so?" Michael sneered, pulled out his phone, played a video, and shoved it right in my face. "Check this out first."

The video was blurry and the lighting was bad, but even so, I could still see that it was me in the video.

In the video, my clothes were a mess, and my face was twisted with fear and hopelessness.

This was exactly the moment I was assaulted back then.

In that instant, a suffocating sense of panic washed over me.

I never thought that Michael would be hiding something like this all along.

He was fiddling with his phone, his voice as indifferent as ever. "Back then, I found the evidence that got your dad acquitted. Now, I could anonymously upload this video online.

"And I'll get some people to add fuel to the fire, make up stories that you were willing, maybe even that you seduced him. Tell me, how do you think people will see you then?"

My whole body went cold, and my tears wouldn't stop falling.

He kept pressing. "Grace, just do what I say. Give up your inheritance to make it up to Wanda, and we'll act like none of this ever happened. Wanda can have the baby, and you can raise it while she goes back to college."

He paused, his eyes dripping with sarcasm. "Otherwise, you know exactly what'll happen to you."

I stared at Michael, tears blurring my vision. "Michael, if you hate me that much, why did you marry me back then?"

He smiled, reaching out to gently caress my cheek. "I don't hate you, Grace. But you know, any man would mind what happened to you back then. It's always been a thorn in my heart."

His fingertips brushed along my chin, his tone almost coaxing. "When the baby is born, things can go back to how they were. I won't have anything to do with Wanda anymore. We can start fresh, just the two of us, alright?

"You have three days to think about it."

I looked at him, that face I once knew so well, and inside, all that was left was a sickening sense of disgust and utter despair.

After leaving the hallway, I went back to the ward.

My mom was still unconscious, and Wanda lay in bed with her eyes closed, her face still pale.

Michael was hovering beside Wanda's bed, murmuring soft words to comfort her.

I stood in the doorway, and whatever hope I had left inside me was gone for good.

I knew there was no going back for Michael and me.

I refused to back down. Instead, I quietly made an appointment at a private hospital for an abortion.

There was no way I would keep this baby.