“Ethan Young, can you freaking hurry up already?”

“This house? It’s under my name, Olivia Reed. That means it’s mine!”

“I gave you seven years of my life. One lousy apartment—what’s the big deal?”

“Sign the damn papers!”

While Olivia snapped at him, she tossed the divorce agreement in his face.

In the living room, her mom, Diane Reed, and a bunch of her nosy aunts were all watching, waiting for Ethan to sign away everything and walk out with nothing.

Ethan glanced coldly at them. These women—every last one of them—only got into the provincial capital because of his connections as a top journalist.

Now? Like a pack of vultures ready to tear him apart.

He knew it—if he didn’t sign, they wouldn’t let him walk out of there whole.

Without a word, he grabbed the papers, didn’t even bother to read them, and scrawled his name.

Just as the group started grinning smugly, Ethan suddenly lifted Olivia onto his shoulder and carried her straight into the bedroom.

…

“Do you have to be so damn rough?”

“You look like you haven’t seen a woman in a century. Ugh, I can’t stand even one more minute of this.”

“Get it over with!”

“You keep dragging it out like that, I’ll call it marital assault!”

Ethan finally lost it too. He didn’t just get rougher—he growled, “Olivia Reed, shut your damn mouth.”

“This place? I paid for it in full. You want it? Fine. But do me one last favor—try acting like you care.”

Anger burned in Olivia’s eyes, but she held her tongue. She knew pushing him any further wouldn’t end well.

Half an hour later, sounds were still coming from the room.

Diane had enough. She stormed to the door and shouted, “Ethan Young! Get your ass out here!”

“Jianglan Daily shut down ages ago, and you still pretend to go to work like a damn actor!”

“Come out, liar!”

“Loser! No skills, no future. Olivia marrying you was the worst decision ever!”

“She’s about to be deputy director, and you’ve got the nerve to keep sponging off her?"

“Get out! You don't belong here!”

But Ethan didn’t bat an eye. Instead, he laughed and shouted back, “Ma, that apartment’s worth two million.”

“For two mil, a few hours of service doesn’t seem so bad, does it? You and your daughter got a bargain!”

Enraged, Olivia tried to shove Ethan away, but she was no match for him. His arms pinned her down even harder.

“Olivia Reed, don’t think that promotion makes you untouchable.”

“Your mom and that whole crew of yours? They wouldn’t be here if not for my connections.”

“That deputy post? Without me ghostwriting speeches and working my ass off, you think you’d have gotten it?”

“You want to screw me over and still expect me to smile about it?”

“Tell your mom to shut it. Otherwise, I’ve got plenty of ways to make your life hell.”

Then Ethan flipped her body over like he was grilling fish.

Furious, Olivia wanted to claw him to death, but she was pinned down too tightly to move.

All she could do was scream, “Mom, just go! He’s signing the divorce and giving up everything!”

But as she yelled, blood started to seep down her legs.

In an instant, both Ethan and Olivia froze.

“Shit!”

Ethan snapped out of it first. Cursing under his breath, he pulled his pants on quickly and grabbed a dress, wrapping it around her.

Olivia was trembling uncontrollably, tears mixing with cold sweat. She clutched Ethan’s arm and shrieked through gritted teeth, “Am I gonna die? Ethan, are you trying to kill me—”

“Shut up!”

Ethan barked, anxiety flooding him. No matter how scared he was, he forced himself to hold it together.

After dressing her as best he could, he scooped her up and rushed out with her in his arms.Olivia Reed felt like her body had completely given out, limp in Ethan Young’s arms. Still, she thrashed weakly, her nails digging into his back hard enough to tear skin.

“Olivia, stop freaking moving! If you die, don’t blame anyone but yourself!” Ethan growled through clenched teeth.

Diane Reed went pale when she saw her daughter like that. The noisy living room fell instantly silent.

Then reality hit. Diane rushed at Ethan, swinging at him in hysteria. “What did you do to my daughter?! You heartless bastard!”

“Out of my way!” Ethan snapped, sidestepping his mother-in-law. He kicked aside a plastic stool and barked, “Block me again, and if she dies, that’s on you!”

Without wasting another second, he bolted outside with Olivia in his arms.

The Reed relatives all froze and backed away in fear. Diane screamed and chased after him. Her bulky body slammed into the doorframe with a dull thud, but she didn’t even flinch from the pain, yelling, “The car keys! Grab the damn car keys!”

Ethan didn’t look back. In his arms, Olivia, finally terrified, pleaded with tears in her voice, “Ethan… save me. I was wrong...”

His chest tightened for a second, but he growled impatiently, “Shut up. Say one more word, I’ll dump you on the street.”

Despite his harsh words, he didn’t slow down. Down the stairs he flew. Diane stumbled after him, waving the car keys she had just grabbed.

“Hurry! Hospital!” she cried, hands shaking so badly she couldn’t even fit the key into the lock.

Ethan yanked the keys from her, unlocked the car, and put Olivia in the backseat. She was trembling and pale, lips pressed together, silent now, completely scared.

Ethan floored the gas. Horns screamed as he swerved through traffic, pushing the car to the limit.

At an intersection, he saw a woman clutching her daughter, waving desperately at passing cars — no one stopped.

Then his eyes fell on the girl she was holding. Her dress was so burned it barely covered her. Long legs, white as paper, peeked through torn fabric. Her face was deathly pale, lips trembling. She was clearly sick.

The mother, spotting Ethan’s car, threw herself in front of it, screaming for help.

Ethan braked hard. The woman, overjoyed, rushed to pull open the back door, completely unaware of Olivia already lying there. She climbed in with her daughter anyway.

Olivia wanted to explode at him, but she was spent. She struggled to sit up, moving aside to make space without saying a word.

“Thank you, thank you so much,” the mother gasped. “I waved at so many cars. No one even slowed down…”

Olivia glanced at the pair, then shut her eyes, too drained to care.

Ethan kept driving, asking, “You heading to the hospital? We are too. It’s no trouble. Really.”

At the ER entrance, Ethan jumped out and carried Olivia straight to the nurse’s station. The other mother followed, carrying her daughter on her back.

When a nurse saw the blood pooling under Olivia, her expression changed. She brought over a stretcher quickly. “How far along is the pregnancy? Any cramping?”

“Pregnant?” Ethan froze, like lightning had just struck.

He looked down at Olivia. She was shaking, too stunned to answer.

And in that moment, the truth hit him hard.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I was played!”

He spat out the words and stormed off, not sparing Olivia another look. The nurse wheeled her into the ER alone.

The woman who’d gotten a ride caught up to Ethan, apologetic and trembling. “I’m really sorry, sir. I… I lost my bag on the mountain. I was burning some offerings with my daughter, and one of the branches caught fire. Her dress… it got burned when the fire spread. I brought her here, but I don’t have the money for her treatment…”