The musty scent of dust filled my lungs, making me cough violently.
Slowly pushing myself up from the floor, I carefully ran my fingers over the belongings in my arms.
The watch still retained a trace of warmth from the fire.
Half of the diary had already been reduced to ashes, and one side of the watch face had been burned black.
Beside them were several old pieces of clothing, shriveled and twisted from the flames.
Tears slipped silently down my cheeks as the dull ache on my face left me utterly exhausted.
Alaric hadn't always been like this. In the past, he was really gentle.
If I mentioned craving pastries from a bakery on the outskirts of the city, he would drive for two hours through the rain in the middle of the night just to buy them for me.
If one of his friends mocked me, he would immediately turn against that person and even use his influence to make that friend's company suffer.
I once believed I was the happiest woman in the world.
But after Delilah appeared, everything changed.
He would leave home in the middle of the night because of a single phone call from her.
He would abandon me on my birthday.
He would leave me to attend prenatal checkups alone.
For her, he had forgotten everything about Jamie.
About the pitiful first child we had lost.
How ridiculous.
Now, he couldn't even remember who that name had belonged to.
...
For the next six days, I was almost completely cut off from the outside world.
Each day, I survived on a few slices of stale bread that the maids casually tossed to me.
Along with a small amount of water placed in a dog's water bowl.
"Young Mistress said that's all you deserve."
Now, every maid in the mansion had begun calling Delilah "Young Mistress," while I was nothing more than an unwanted outsider.
My stomach cramped relentlessly from hunger, but I had no choice except to pick up the bowl and drink.
I was pregnant.
I had to eat and drink properly.
I couldn't allow my body to deteriorate.
The more Delilah wanted to destroy me, the more determined I became to protect my baby.
On the seventh day.
As I lay weakly on the floor, the sound of a key sliding into the lock echoed through the room.
A thin beam of light spilled in from outside. The sharp click of high heels followed, accompanied by a malicious female voice.
"Oh, how pitiful, Estelle. Once a respected obstetrician, and now you're no different from a dog."
"Actually, maybe you're even worse off than a dog. At least stray dogs are free to roam the streets."
Exhausted, I slowly lifted my head.
Delilah stood against the light, a baby cradled in her arms. Step by step, she approached me, her voice bright and piercing.
"How does it feel to be abandoned, and no one cares whether you live or die?"
"In the end, I'm still the one who came to visit you. Aren't you touched?"
Looking at the smug expression on her face, I forced myself to sit up. But after days of hunger, my body had long since run out of strength.
A wave of dizziness hit me without warning. The world spun, and darkness clouded my vision.
"Get out."
"I don't want to see you."
Faced with my feeble resistance, Delilah merely let out a mocking laugh.
"I came to set you free. If you're not grateful, fine. Why are you so angry?"
"What do you want?"
I asked through gritted teeth.
I stared at Delilah warily, every nerve in my body on high alert. But she merely shrugged.
"Nothing, hmmm...."
She smacked her lips lightly.
"I was just thinking... if my son becomes Alaric's only child, then no one will be able to fight him for the inheritance in the future, right?"
A chill shot down my spine.
Instinctively, I wrapped both arms around my stomach as Delilah's gaze slowly dropped to my abdomen.
Panic surged through me as I staggered backward. My heart pounded so violently it felt as though it would burst out of my chest.
My baby.
The only thing I had left in this world.
The only relative I had left.
"You can't hurt my son."
The smile on Delilah's lips deepened. Calmly, she let out a whistle.
Two large maids stepped into the room. Their faces were unfamiliar to me, I had never seen them.
"Help me get rid of the bastard growing inside that bitch."
Delilah's voice was icy, as though it had risen straight from hell itself.
My heartbeat nearly stopped. Bracing myself against the floor, I forced myself upright and tried to flee with the last bit of strength I had left.
But one of the maids reacted faster.
She grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked hard, as if she intended to tear my scalp off.
"Stay away from me!"
"Get the hell away from me!"
One maid swiftly pinned my arms behind my back while the other dragged me by the hair.
I was hauled out into the hallway like a slaughtered animal.
Alarm bells rang wildly inside my head. I struggled desperately, but it was useless.
In return, one of the maids slapped me twice across the face. The force was so brutal that my scalp went numb.
Pain exploded across my cheeks, making even breathing feel unbearable.
Several times, I tried to plant my feet and stop moving.
Each time, I was met with a vicious kick that nearly sent me crashing to the floor.
Step by step, I was dragged closer to the grand staircase.
My vision blurred. My body turned ice-cold.
The blood in my veins seemed to freeze.
"No..."
"I'm pregnant."
"If you do this, you're committing murder."
My voice trembled so violently that it came out hoarse and broken.
The moment I lifted my head, I met Delilah's gaze.
Holding the baby tightly in her arms, she looked down at me with undisguised amusement.
"Hurry up."
She urged them impatiently.
At that exact moment, the maids released me.
Then a tremendous force slammed into my back. My body instantly lost its balance.
I pitched forward as the world spun violently around me.
Instinctively, I wrapped both arms around my stomach. The next second, I tumbled down the staircase.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Each impact felt as though every bone in my body was being shattered and pieced back together again.
My screams echoed through the mansion, mingling with the sickening sounds of flesh and bone crashing against marble.
Blood streaked across the stairs.
A shocking, glaring red.
"Ah! Estelle, don't push me!"
Suddenly, Delilah's shrill scream rang out.
A figure appeared within my blurred vision.
