"Get out. All of you, get out. No one is taking my baby from me."

Vivian Hartley curled up in the corner of the hospital room, one arm wrapped around her baby’s cold little body, the other gripping a syringe so hard her fingers had gone white. The needle was pressed right against the artery in her neck.

Her eyes were red, wild, full of hate and fear as she stared at the man in front of her—her husband, Adrian Holloway.

Adrian’s face was icy. "If you really want to die, then do it. Saves me the trouble. I can collect the bodies of you and your son together today."

His voice was cold, furious, merciless. Every word hit Vivian like an arrow straight through the heart, sharp enough to tear flesh from bone.

"Adrian Holloway, this is your son. Your son." Her voice shook so badly it was almost breaking apart. "He was just born, and now he’s dead. Fine, hate me if you want. Kill me if you want. But why did our son have to die? Why him? Why?"

She was too worked up to notice the needle had already broken her skin. A bead of blood welled up at her neck.

Adrian’s pupils tightened. In one swift move, he seized her wrist and yanked the syringe away. At the same time, a nurse rushed in and snatched the baby’s body from her arms.

The second Vivian realized her child had been taken, she completely lost it.

She struggled like crazy, screaming herself hoarse. "Give him back! Give my baby back! Adrian Holloway, make them give him back to me!"

Adrian clamped down on her wrist and shoved her onto the bed, his whole body radiating rage. "If you hadn’t been so jealous, if you hadn’t tried to hurt Audrey, none of this would’ve happened. She’s still in surgery right now, fighting for her life."

"I didn’t hurt her. She pushed me. She wanted to hurt me and our baby. She told me—"

"She pushed you?" Adrian let out a humorless laugh, so angry it was almost terrifying. "You really think everyone is as vicious as you are? Vivian Hartley, you’ve always done whatever it takes to get what you want. Don’t forget how my mother died."

Just a few hours ago, Audrey Sinclair had come to the house. She had tried to shove Vivian downstairs. In the chaos, Vivian grabbed Audrey, and the two of them fell together.

But in Adrian’s eyes, it was simple.

Vivian had gotten jealous, wanted Audrey dead, and ended up dragging herself down too. To him, this was all her fault. She deserved every bit of it.

Right. If anyone wanted to talk about cruelty, who could beat her?

Back then, it had been her. She had pushed Adrian’s mother downstairs. The woman never made it after the emergency treatment.

Vivian cried until her voice was shredded raw. "So my child had to die to pay for that? Is that it? Adrian Holloway, believe me or don’t, I never pushed Audrey Sinclair, and I never pushed your mother either. If you hate me that much, then take my life. Take it. But give my baby back. Bring him back to life. Bring him back!"

"Still lying?" Adrian was on the verge of exploding. "My mother said it herself before she died—it was you. Vivian Hartley, you’re not just cruel, you’re a liar to the core. This is the debt you owe. And if anything happens to Audrey, I’ll make you pay with your life."

"My life?" Vivian suddenly grabbed his hand—the one still holding the needle—and forced it hard against her own neck. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face pale as paper, but there was something almost mad in the way she looked at him. "Fine. Take it now. Do it, Adrian Holloway. If you don’t kill me today, then this won’t end between us for the rest of our lives. I’m your legal wife, your Mrs. Holloway. No matter how much you love Audrey Sinclair, she’s still just the side piece you can’t bring into the light. I’ll become a thorn stuck between the two of you forever. I’ll make sure neither of you ever knows peace. I’ll use your misery to mourn my son."

Adrian’s eyes turned blood-red. "Vivian Hartley."

"Do it then!" Vivian Hartley roared, her voice raw and cracked. "Adrian Holloway, there’s no clearing this up between us in this lifetime. You say I killed your mother, but Audrey Sinclair killed my son too. One debt after another, one grudge piled on another—none of it can be untangled. So fine, let’s just keep torturing each other. Until one of us dies. Nobody gets to walk away clean."

The moment Adrian thought of his mother’s death, real killing intent flashed in his eyes.

Right then, a doctor rushed in from outside, breathless. "Mr. Holloway, Miss Sinclair’s condition has taken a bad turn."

Adrian shot Vivian a cold, knife-sharp look, then turned and hurried out.

Vivian laughed.

She had seen it clearly just now—that murderous look in his eyes. No mistake.

She had really been stupid. She used to think that if she gave enough, if she stayed long enough, she could warm Adrian’s heart with her sincerity, melt the hate buried inside him. But in the end, she hadn’t warmed him at all. She had only dragged her own son into death with her.

Then a sudden gush of warmth spilled beneath her.

Before she blacked out, she heard a nurse scream, "Oh no—the patient is hemorrhaging..."

When Vivian woke up again, the first thing she saw was Audrey’s delicate, pretty face—and that smug little smile hanging at the corner of her lips.

Vivian shot upright in bed.

The second she thought of her dead son, rage crashed over her like a tidal wave, fierce and suffocating, swallowing her whole.

"Audrey Sinclair, I’m going to kill you. You’ll pay for my son’s life."

Audrey stayed calm, almost lazy. "Vivian Hartley, the one who killed your child was you. Why didn’t you just divorce Adrian? If you had let go sooner, your child wouldn’t have died. You killed Aunt Holloway, so what right do you have to keep clinging to the title of Mrs. Holloway? Adrian never loved you. Why won’t you let go?"

Vivian shouted back, her eyes red. "Audrey, if this had happened before, maybe I would’ve let go. Maybe I would’ve made it easy for you two. But now? Dream on. Even if Adrian and I spend the rest of our lives tearing each other apart, I still won’t hand him over to you. Never."

"I grew up with Adrian. We were childhood sweethearts." Audrey curled her lips, her tone full of open provocation. "You were the one who used dirty tricks to force him into marrying you. Adrian is mine. No one gets to fight me for him. What, you still want to shamelessly stay by his side with that pathetic excuse?"

Then, with fake pity, she added, "I heard your son could’ve lived when he was born. No idea why he died in the end. Such a shame. He was such a beautiful baby, and just like that, gone. But honestly, that’s karma. You killed Aunt Holloway. How could Adrian possibly accept a murderer giving birth to his child?"

Vivian froze completely.

What Audrey meant—how could she not understand?

Vivian stared at her in disbelief and roared, "No. He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t do that."

That was Adrian’s biological son.

No matter how much he hated her, how could he take his own son’s life?

"Why not?" Audrey gave a cool little laugh. "You know better than anyone how much Adrian hates you. The woman Adrian loves is me. I’m carrying his child right now. Do you really think he’d care about your bastard?"

Only at that moment did Vivian finally understand just how badly she had lost.

She had thought she would break down, thought she would cry until her heart split open, thought she would scream at Audrey in rage and hatred.

But she had none of it.

When her heart really dropped into an icy abyss, Vivian Hartley finally understood just how ridiculous her obsession and all that pain had been.

Seeing that Vivian wasn’t breaking down the way she expected—wasn’t screaming, wasn’t going insane—Audrey Sinclair felt this ugly, bitter frustration rise in her chest. She grabbed Vivian by the collar and hissed through clenched teeth, “Vivian Hartley, if I were you, I wouldn’t even stay alive and keep getting in everyone’s way. Do you even know how insanely annoying you are?”

Audrey’s grip was hard, so hard the collar tightened around Vivian’s throat and made it difficult to breathe. Instinctively, Vivian shoved her away. She didn’t even use much strength, but Audrey, who had still been acting all high and mighty a second ago, suddenly fell to the floor with a sharp cry.

“Ah!”

Vivian hadn’t even processed what happened when a tall figure rushed in from outside and scooped Audrey into his arms.

“Vivian Hartley, are you out of your mind? You pushed Audrey downstairs, and she still didn’t hold it against you. The second she woke up, she was worried about you and came to see you. And what did you do?” Adrian Holloway stared at Vivian coldly, his black eyes boiling with rage. “If you dare hurt her again, even a little, I’ll make you disappear from Jiangcheng.”

Vivian forced down the stabbing pain in her chest and tugged at the corner of her mouth in a faint, mocking smile.

Audrey came to see her?

In Adrian’s eyes, Audrey could do no wrong. She was perfect in every way. Only Vivian was the vicious, rotten woman.

Audrey’s voice turned soft and pitiful. “Adrian, don’t blame Vivian. She probably just lost control because she lost the baby. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have shown up in front of her and upset her.”

“Audrey, why are you still speaking up for her?” Adrian shot Vivian a cold glance. “Stay away from Audrey from now on.”

Vivian sat on the hospital bed, watching with her own eyes as her husband carried his mistress away. And where Adrian couldn’t see, Audrey threw her a smug, triumphant look, like she’d already won.

The next time Vivian saw Adrian was on the day she was discharged.

“Sign this.”

His expression was dark as he threw a document in front of her.

Vivian lowered her eyes and glanced at the words on it. Divorce Agreement.

Those two words felt like needles stabbing straight into her eyes.

She laughed, but the ache hidden in that laugh was something Adrian would never understand.

“Adrian Holloway, our child just died. The body isn’t even cold yet, and you want a divorce?”

Adrian Holloway’s eyes were ice-cold. "Vivian Hartley, you’d better sign it. If you don’t know what’s good for you, trust me, I’ve got plenty of ways to make you agree."

Audrey Sinclair was pregnant. Of course he was in a hurry to divorce her, so he could clear out the spot of Mrs. Holloway for Audrey.

Vivian gave a rough, bitter laugh, full of self-mockery. "Just to divorce me, you’d even go after your own son. Adrian Holloway, I really want to see this. If I don’t sign, what exactly are you going to do to me? If you can send me down there to be with our son, then honestly, I should be thanking you."

She had nothing left to live for.

And Adrian really did show her, with actions instead of words, exactly what he would do to her.

That same afternoon, right after he left, the police came to the door and took her away on a charge of intentional assault.

The moment the handcuffs locked around her wrists, Vivian felt cold all the way to the bone.

He had shown no mercy to their child.

And he showed even less to her.

In the end, she was sentenced to five years.