Two weeks later, I received a congratulatory package from the hospital.
I froze. I had just lost my child—why would the hospital be sending congratulations?
When I opened it, a family portrait slid out.
Louise stood proudly with a woman who looked strikingly like me, cradling two rosy-cheeked infants.
The four of them beamed with joy. A perfect, happy family.
At the bottom of the box lay a card: “Congratulations to Mr. Darren and Mrs. Lizzie on the safe arrival of their dragon-and-phoenix twins!”
Staring at the photo, my fingernails dug so deep into my palms they nearly broke the skin.
They killed my child—how dare they smile so happily?
That night, Louise came home earlier than usual, his face glowing with excitement. He pulled me onto the sofa and handed me an envelope.
Inside was an adoption agreement.
“Honey,” he began, voice soft, “I know you’ve been heartbroken every day since losing the baby. You don’t know how terrified I was when the doctor said you might not make it. If anything had happened to you, I couldn’t have gone on.”
“So… we won’t have our own. Let’s adopt instead.”
I glanced at the papers. Twins. Less than twenty days old.
My heart went cold. Just as I thought—he wanted me to adopt the children he’d had with his mistress.
He was dreaming.
Fury overtook me. I tore the agreement to shreds, sobbing until my throat burned.
“Our child was just taken from us—and you want me to raise someone else’s?” I screamed. “I refuse!”
Louise clearly hadn’t expected my reaction to be so fierce.
At first, he tried to soothe me. But when he realized I wouldn’t give in, his expression hardened.
“Whether you agree or not, this is happening.”
“I will never agree!” I shouted back, eyes blazing red.
Smack—
His palm cracked across my face. The first time he had ever struck me since we married.
Before I could recover, he dragged me down into the dark basement and locked the door.
“Reflect on your actions. I’ll release you once you come to your senses.”
I never imagined Louise would go this far—for Karen, for their children. He didn’t care about the Scott Family’s power. In his eyes, I was nothing more than a trapped bird, powerless to leave.
I remained in that basement for ten full days.
No matter how I cried, screamed, or begged, he refused to let me out. Only the servants came at noon, silently sliding in a tray of food.
Hunger clawed at me, fear gnawed at me and I began to wonder if I would die down there, alone and forgotten.
But one day, when the servant came, I seized my chance and escaped.
The moment I stumbled into the living room, the phone rang. It was my brother, Jimmy Scott.
“Sis, you must divorce Louise immediately,” he said, voice sharp with urgency.
“I just uncovered the truth. Mom and Dad’s car accident years ago—it was orchestrated by Louise and Karen. Back then, he sent her abroad to cover it up because he was terrified we’d find out.”
Shock rooted me to the floor. But before I could process it, I saw Louise charging at me, a club raised high.
Panicked, I screamed into the phone. “Jimmy, save me!”
The next instant, pain exploded in my skull and everything went black.
When I woke, I was back in the basement, chained by despair.
Tears streamed down my face as my brother’s words replayed in my mind.
My parents had loved me dearly. And yet I had been deceived into marrying the man who murdered them.
No. I couldn’t die here. I would make them pay—with blood.
I grabbed a stone and began prying at the iron bars. Bit by bit.
I didn’t stop, even as my hands split open and bled.
Days passed. Finally, the bars gave way.
When I stepped outside, I was met with the sight of a lavishly decorated house filled with guests.
I hurried up to one of them. “What’s happening?”
The guest beamed at me. “Mrs. Scott, isn’t this your twins’ full-moon banquet? How could you not know?”
He pointed toward the stage. “See? Mr. Darren and Mrs. Scott are holding the babies right there, toasting the guests.”
“Who are you?” I demanded.
Others began to gather, curious at the commotion.
On stage, Louise and Karen’s faces darkened, panic flashing in their eyes before Louise straightened his posture and barked coldly.
“You! Have you lost your mind? How dare you impersonate my wife, the heiress of Scott Group!”
“Security! Get this imposter out immediately!”
Three or four burly guards lunged toward me.
“I’m not—ugh—let go of me!”
A nod from Louise and a guard clamped a cloth over my mouth. My desperate struggles meant nothing.
But then—
“Who said my sister is an imposter?”
At that critical moment, my brother Jimmy appeared.
