Chapter 5

But the medicine never came. I'd lost too much blood, and the pain was unbearable.

Half-conscious, I curled up under the blankets and didn't even know when I passed out.

When I regained awareness, it was because of crying and shouting outside my door.

"Mom, my sister and I don't want to go in and see Edward Hartley!"

"He's vicious. He tried to hurt my dad, so Grandpa had him whipped. He deserved it!"

Then I heard Charles trying to comfort them too.

"Evelyn, the children are still young. If they don't want to go inside, just let it be. Catching his sickness wouldn't be good."

"And your parents only punished my brother because they hated seeing him disappoint them. Back then, they had already arranged for him to marry a seamstress from the estate, and she swore she'd make him happy."

"But he took the marriage contract and forced you to marry him in front of everyone, just so he could cling to the Foster family's wealth and status."

"Now he still can't learn proper behavior, and even the children don't love him. I wonder if he regrets insisting on marrying you..."

Evelyn fell silent for a moment after hearing that.

Then she said, "In that case, take the children back to Moonlight Manor."

"I'll pass your feelings on to your brother. Hopefully this suffering teaches him a lesson and he'll learn to respect you more in the future."

Listening to that little performance made my whole body go cold.

Back then, the seamstress my parents chose for me was insane. Her former husband had died because of her.

My parents wanted me to marry her so she could keep me locked away forever and make sure I never got in Charles's way.

If the system hadn't helped me find the marriage contract between the Hartleys and the Fosters, and if I hadn't deliberately forced Evelyn to marry me in public with that contract in hand...

I probably would have been beaten to death already.

As I was thinking that, a sharp pain stabbed through my head again, like a pack of wild dogs tearing at my bones.

The pain made my head spin, and I couldn't help asking the system,

"It hurts so bad. How much longer until I die?"

The system replied: [Soon. Only three hours left.]

At that same moment, Evelyn's cold voice sounded by my ear. "What do you mean, how much longer until you die?"

I opened my eyes and realized Evelyn had come into the room at some point. Charles had already taken the children away.

Evelyn sat by the bed, medicine in hand, her face tense.

She stared at me and asked coldly, "Edward Hartley, how old are you? Why do you keep pulling these dramatic life-and-death stunts?"

"How are the children supposed to feel close to someone this unstable? How am I supposed to trust you around them?"

She was looking down on me again.

I shakily propped myself up and looked straight into her eyes, speaking with complete seriousness.

"Evelyn Foster, I really am dying."

"After this, I won't bother your happy little family with Charles anymore, so you don't need to keep warning me over and over."

Then I pointed at the door, my face blank. "If you don't want to see me, then stop coming here."

"I don't want to see you either. The door's right there. Get out."

Maybe my gaze was too cold, because for once, Evelyn actually looked stunned.

As if she had never imagined that one day, the man who had always treated her like his whole world would suddenly stop trying to please her.

She grabbed my shoulder tightly and pressed, "What do you mean by that?"

I met her eyes and answered in plain, blunt words.

"I mean you don't need to keep reminding me how worthless I am. Since you and the children all reject me, then let's cut ties from now on."

"Remember this. I'm the one abandoning you. I'm the one giving up the children."

Evelyn's hand clenched hard, and a strange unease rose in her chest.

She stared at me and asked in a tight voice, "If you leave us, where can you even go?"

"From the day you married me, whether you live or die, you belong to the Foster family."