Chapter 2

When I rushed to the hospital and heard that Matteo had made it through, I felt relieved.

Matteo had fallen from a half-built construction site.

He was thrown off the building, but luckily, a net caught him. Good thing he was just a kid, because if he'd been any heavier, it might have been impossible to save him.

However, even though the net helped, his legs, arms, and neck were all battered from the fall.

Luckily, he was still alive.

Matteo was covered in casts from head to toe. He looked at me with those big eyes. "Mom, why are your eyes so red? Did you cry?"

"You really scared me, sweetie. I almost thought I was going to lose you," I said.

"That won't happen, Mom. I'll always stay by your side. I thought Mr. Jennings was picking on you again," Matteo said, his voice soft and worried.

I shook my head, but I couldn't help it. The tears just kept falling.

Matteo clumsily wiped away my tears with his left hand. "Mom, if Mr. Jennings isn't good to you, then leave him. The kind of dad I want is someone who can make you smile. I don't need anyone else."

"Well, isn't this just heartwarming?" Seth said as he walked in, his eyes dripping with sarcasm.

Matteo looked up at Seth, his body going rigid, eyes wary and guarded.

I wiped my tears away without thinking.

I got up and led Seth out of the ward. Only after I saw Matteo resting through the window did I lower my voice. "What is it?"

"Didn't I tell you? You have no right to ask me for a divorce," Seth said coldly, tearing the wrinkled divorce papers to shreds and tossing them onto the floor.

"You were the one begging to marry me, and now you're the one asking for a divorce. Macy, who do you think you are?" Seth sneered.

I lowered my head, staring at the shredded divorce papers scattered on the floor.

Back when Matteo needed a kidney transplant, I'd just returned home. I got no resources, no money, nothing to my name.

That was when Seth stepped in and said if I married him, he'd get me the best doctor, find a kidney match as fast as possible, and even front the high medical bills.

I was terrified of losing Matteo, so I made up my mind right then and there that even if it was a trap, I'd walk right into it.

After we got married, Seth put me through all kinds of torment, but I kept telling myself it was just my way of repaying him.

Everyone said I was like his pet, coming over the moment he beckoned.

For so long, I let him crush whatever dignity I had left.

However, I was exhausted.

"Seth, I don't owe you anything," I said.

He let out a mocking laugh, then yanked me by the collar. "How can you even say that? Don't forget, if my dad hadn't taken you and Valerie in, you two would have rotted in some orphanage.

"Honestly, I'm starting to think he never should have brought an ungrateful brat like you into the Jennings family."

My hands shook as I shoved him away, and I was on the verge of falling apart. "Don't you dare talk about Valerie."

I met his eyes head-on, refusing to flinch even though he looked at me like he wanted to tear me apart.

Word by word, I said, "Seth, I don't owe the Jennings family anything, and I sure as hell don't owe you."

Seth lowered his head, his shoulders shaking as he tried to stifle his laughter.

Then he looked up and gave my face a mocking pat. "Really? Wasn't my father's death on you? Just because the police haven't found any proof, you think you're innocent, huh?

"You're wrong. Our marriage is nothing but a shackle around your neck. Until the truth comes out, you're not going anywhere."

Right there in that hallway, his overwhelming hatred yanked me back into the memories I never wanted to revisit.