“Looks like you won’t understand rules unless I teach you a lesson!”
Daniel Miller stormed toward me like a lit firecracker, towering over me as he clenched his fist so tightly his knuckles turned white. When his punch came down, I could almost hear my bones crack under the impact.
“Vivian climbed the stairs until she was drenched in sweat, her ankle swollen, and you wouldn’t even apologize?”
He cursed as he kicked me in the side. “I’ll ask you one last time—will you admit you were wrong?”
Collapsed on the freezing ground, my bones felt shattered, and a metallic taste rose in my throat. My belly clenched in sharp spasms, each wave of pain worse than the last. I forced out three words through gritted teeth: “I… was… not… wrong…”
“Then die!” The last trace of warmth vanished from Daniel’s eyes. He raised his boot, the air hissing as it came down hard against my stomach.
“Ah—!” The pain crashed through me like a tidal wave. Curling into a ball, I felt something warm gush down my thigh.
Looking down, I saw the pale fabric of my dress soaked through—my water had broken!
“My water… my water broke!” I screamed, clutching at his pant leg in terror, my voice trembling.
“Daniel! Take me to the hospital! The baby’s coming!”
But Vivian Lee rushed in first, carrying the empty bucket they had used to drench me earlier. Before I could react, she slammed it down onto my swollen belly.
The jagged ice shards still clinging to the bucket pressed cruelly into me, the chill cutting through my soaked clothes. My amniotic fluid mixed with the freezing water, spilling across the floor.
“What are you doing?!” I shoved her away with the last of my strength, my vision blurring with pain.
Vivian staggered back two steps, her eyes welling up as she pouted innocently. “I… I thought since you looked like you were in so much pain, an ice compress would help… I just wanted to relieve it for you…”
“Emma, are you insane?!” Daniel pulled Vivian protectively behind him, his eyes blazing with rage.
“Vivian was only trying to help, and you pushed her? You think only your pregnancy matters? What about when Vivian was forced to climb stairs while pregnant? Did you care about her then?”
He turned to the guards and shouted, “Bring in the biggest ice block from the walk-in freezer!”
Two security guards in suits quickly carried in a block of ice as tall as half a man, frost clinging to its surface. It looked like it weighed dozens of pounds.
“She says she’s in pain, doesn’t she?” Daniel’s voice dripped with venom. “Then give her some ‘ice therapy.’ Let that block stop her whining.”
The guards hesitated, but moved forward anyway, lowering the looming ice toward me. The air itself felt sharp enough to split bone.
I shook my head in despair, tears mingling with blood as they fell. “No… Daniel… please…”
Just as the ice was about to touch my stomach, a thunderous voice roared from outside the freezer, filled with authority:
“Let’s see who dares touch her!”
Light spilled through the door crack, outlining a tall figure. Against the glow, I couldn’t see his face, but his presence tore through the icy despair surrounding me.
Through blurred vision, I recognized that once-familiar face. Michael Anderson stood in the doorway like a warrior of light, instantly shattering the darkness around me.
Daniel’s face flushed purple as he snarled, “Michael Anderson! This is Miller Corporation’s turf—you have no right to meddle!”
Michael didn’t even blink. Behind him, more than a dozen security guards in black suits filed in, their imposing presence filling the freezer with overwhelming pressure.
