I had been dating a lawyer named Lucas Dubois for three years. But in the past three years, he had cancelled our wedding ninety-nine times. The first time he did was when his assistant mishandled work and he left me alone at the beach. This caused me to have a fever for three days straight.
The second time was when his assistant caught a cold, so he rushed away to deliver the medicine. Since I was left alone at a drinking party, I was forced to drink several glasses of liquor, which caused the fetus to give signs of distress and I suffered a difficult labor.
On the hundredth promised wedding, as I prepared to walk down the aisle, I discovered another bride already standing at the altar. And standing before me was Lucas’s assistant, who was also his beloved foster sister, Anne Adam.
"You know that she is frail and often sick. Her only dream was to wear a wedding dress once. So, since the perfect opportunity came, I agreed," Lucas reasoned.
Tears welled in my eyes as I watched the ring meant for me slip onto Anne's ring finger.
Late that night, the police called me. They said my father was seriously injured in a car accident. And, I rushed to the scene.
But when I got there, I saw Lucas holding a trembling Anne in his arms. "Nova, please don't be upset. Anne is also traumatized. Can you forgive her?”
As I looked at my father’s dying body, I couldn’t help but remember the day my child passed away in my arms, so I immediately sued Anne.
The night before the trial, Lucas presented a mediation agreement to me and said, "Let me handle the case for Anne. Nova, please sign this agreement."
When the negotiation failed, he had his assistant knock me unconscious to force my signature. That was when the aftereffects of my difficult labor struck and I clutched my lower abdomen and sobbed.
He then transferred a dollar and fifty cents to me with a look of disdain. "You love to buy a dollar and fifty-cent items, right? Consider this money as my payment for your uterus…"
I had only used a dollar and fifty cents for clothes and bought a dollar and fifty cents for daily necessities for his sake, but now he used it as a weapon to humiliate me.
Due to the pre-trial mediation agreement and Lucas's defense, Anne could walk away free, but my father died in the hospital.
Three months later, when I produced condemning evidence against them, Lucas knelt before me, begging for forgiveness.
1
When the police reviewed the highway surveillance footage, it was revealed that Anne had been speeding while clutching a wine bottle, which led to the tragedy.
In front of my father's blood-covered and barely clinging to life’s body, I held back my tears and cooperated fully with the police investigation.
"Anne is a pitiful child." Lucas's tone carried nothing but concern for her.
"Nova, forgive her, please. She is still young." He gently pulled the terrified Anne to her feet.
His soft words made her break down completely, so he cradled her in his arms.
When the ambulance finally arrived, Lucas still insisted that the medics take Anne first, even though my father had already closed his eyes in exhaustion.
"She is too scared. Please treat her first,” he pleaded, his grip on the ambulance door tight with tension.
But the paramedics, seeing that my father was dying, quickly realized his condition was far more severe. They roughly wrenched Lucas's hand away and lifted his father into the ambulance.
This made him so furious, but when he turned, he acted as if nothing had happened while urging me to forgive her.
Although tears were staining Anne's cheeks, her eyes brimmed with disdain as she looked at me.
Seeing my father's horrific injuries reminded me of the child who had slipped away in my arms all those years ago—all because of her.
That year, I suffered a severe hemorrhage during difficult childbirth. Though the baby survived, I lost all strength and passed out.
When I awoke, Lucas appeared in the hospital room with his so-called “assistant.” She held the fragile infant with malicious intent, then dropped the child hard onto the floor when her grip slipped.
Despite emergency resuscitation, the baby stopped breathing. My heart shattered so completely I could barely breathe.
“She was just too excited when she saw the baby. Nova, forgive her,” he had said callously.
I held my child and wept through the night in the pouring rain, only to hear him making excuses for her. Those casual words haunted me for years.
“Nova, your father is certainly not in danger. Anne is crying terribly … so, perhaps you should...”
Smack! Before he could continue, a loud slap cracked against Anne's face.
“I will take you to court! Everything must be settled once and for all.”
I glared at her, my eyes blazing with fury. Covering her swollen cheek, she looked away guiltily, unable to meet my gaze and burrowed into his embrace.
Later, Anne was taken away by the police and placed under custody. Lucas just stood frozen in place, his brow furrowed and his teeth clenched.
The night before the trial, I was preparing to visit my father in the hospital when I was knocked unconscious by men in black and carried away.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a basement. A court settlement agreement lay before me, leaving my mind blank.
“I’m sorry, Nova. This was the only way to bring you here.” Lucas sat across from me and continued, "Sign this agreement and I'll handle Anne's situation.”
I lifted my head, my expression resolute. “She must pay the price! For what she did to my child and to my father!”
The dim basement light obscured Lucas's face, but the chill radiating from his icy gaze sent shivers down my spine.
“She's still young. It was just a minor mistake. Why are you so relentless?” He produced a check for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars that he had prepared. Then he urged me to sign.
Rage boiled within me, my eyes blazing with fury. “This is murder! My father was my only family. Don't think money can fix this.”
But he just frowned and turned away. Then his assistant beat me mercilessly behind him and all I could do was clutch my stomach and weep bitterly. The pain was so great that my back was drenched in cold sweat.
