Camille thrashed in panic, but rough hands pinned down her wrists and ankles, another clamped over her mouth. She was nothing more than meat laid on the butcher's block, helpless beneath the blade.
The injection ended quickly. Then they dragged her into another room.
A nurse stuffed gauze into her mouth, strapped her tightly to the bed, and picked up an electric probe, pressing it against her belly.
The low, ominous hum of the machine sounded like a death curse. Camille's desperate cries dissolved into muffled whimpers.
Pain like needles stabbing into her abdomen spread through her body in violent waves. She convulsed, her limbs jerking uncontrollably.
One round ended—only for the nurse to jab another needle into her arm before resuming the shocks.
Her mind slipped into a haze. Her body lost control of even its most basic functions. The torment dragged on, hour after hour, until deep into the night.
When it finally ended, she lay crumpled like a beaten dog in filth and stench. That was when Katherine strolled in.
"Tsk, tsk... look at you, Miss Hudson—so dirty and foul."
She waved a hand in front of her nose in mock disgust, then nudged Camille's stomach with the tip of her shoe.
Malice gleamed in her eyes.
"Don't worry. I don't intend to kill that bastard in your belly. I just want you and that child—to suffer a little first."
Looking at her smug, venomous expression, Camille's hatred boiled over.
"You're nothing but a beast! If you want Rafael, that secondhand trash, take him! But why hurt my child?"
"If you're so capable, why don't you make him divorce me and marry you openly?"
Her words struck like a whip, and Katherine's face twisted with fury.
"If it hadn't been for your scheming parents, the marriage alliance with him would have been mine!"
"But what did you gain? You bled your family dry, and still ended up with nothing!"
"And now? Rafael loves me. Even the slightest pregnancy sickness, and he's frantic with worry! While you were being electrocuted, soiled and broken, he was listening to my baby's heartbeat."
"Camille, accept it—you and your cursed family were born cheap. You'll never beat me!"
The venom in her words snapped Camille's restraint. With every ounce of strength left, she lunged at Katherine.
But just as she was about to reach her, Rafael burst into the room.
He instinctively pulled Katherine into his arms and shoved Camille away. She crashed to the floor, pain shooting through her battered body.
When he finally looked at her—her clothes fouled, her face was ghostly pale—his expression faltered. Guilt flickered, and he almost reached to help her up.
"Rafael! Thank heavens you came in time!" Katherine clung to him, tears spilling instantly. "Miss Hudson can't stand my child's existence. She tried to kill us both!"
Camille let out a bitter laugh at her shameless lie and forced out the truth—that Katherine had colluded with hospital staff to torture her.
But Rafael cut them both off, his face clouded with gloom.
"Enough! Both of you are pregnant, yet you can't behave yourselves? Must you stir up trouble again and again?"
"Katherine, I told you not to provoke Camille. Why can't you listen? If you're unwell, go home and rest instead of running about!"
His words sounded like a scolding, but his tone dripped with tenderness.
Then he turned to Camille. Seeing her filthy, trembling body, some flicker of pity softened his gaze.
"Camille, this is your fault too. Katherine may be a little willful, but you're also expecting. Shouldn't you both show each other some tolerance?"
Camille stared at him, stunned. Then a laugh broke from her lips—harsh, broken, edged with despair. Tears streamed down her face.
"You're right. I was wrong. Not just me—my parents, even this child's existence, everything is a mistake!"
"Rafael, if I could turn back time, seven years ago I would've let you rot in the mud where you belonged, never to rise again!"
His pupils contracted. A sharp, inexplicable ache stabbed his chest.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward, lifting her into his arms despite the filth clinging to her. His voice softened into desperate comfort.
"Camille, I was wrong. I shouldn't have said that. Don't be angry, please."
"You're carrying our child—you can't let your emotions spiral like this. Come home with me. I'll take you home."
Without sparing Katherine another glance, he strode out, carrying Camille in his arms.
