After the chaos at the hospital, Rafael stayed home for three days straight.
He spared no expense hiring a maternity nurse, learned how to massage Camille's body himself, and even cooked her nutritious meals with his own hands.
Watching him bustle about so attentively, Camille felt an ache in her chest.
If not for the betrayals and the wounds carved into her heart, this scene would have been bliss.
But after everything, his tenderness now felt like mockery.
Still, she told herself—it wasn't so bad. As long as nothing happened, in five days she could slip away quietly.
So when Rafael suggested they visit the temple together to pray for their child's safety, she didn't refuse.
But when she returned to the hall holding the blessed bracelet given by the master, her blood froze.
Rafael was lighting a blessing lamp for Katherine's child.
And he had dared to place that lamp right beside her parents' memorial tablets.
Fury consumed her. Without thinking, she rushed forward and slapped the lotus lamp off the altar.
"Rafael! Have you no shame? Pray for your bastard if you want—I won't stop you. But how dare you defile my parents' spirits by putting it here! Aren't you afraid that by tainting their peace, you'll only curse that bastard child of yours instead?"
Her words lit his rage. His palm cracked across her face before he even realized it.
Both of them froze in shock.
But Rafael didn't help her up when she collapsed to the ground. Instead, his voice thundered through the temple.
"You're a mother yourself now! How can you be so cruel, so venomous as to curse an innocent child?"
Camille's ears rang from the blow. She laughed bitterly, tears burning her eyes.
"Cruel? Compared to you, I wouldn't dare claim the word."
His gaze flickered, as if her words had scraped against his guilty conscience. But he pressed on, unwilling to yield.
"Don't twist things to shift blame! Do you still think you're the rich heiress you once were? Stop clinging to that pride. If not for me marrying you, you'd have been begging for scraps just to survive!"
His sharp words pierced her heart like knives. Never had she imagined the man she once risked everything for would one day strip her dignity so ruthlessly.
"Rafael, have you forgotten? Everything you have now came from the Hudson family. My parents died because of it! And now you humiliate me in front of their tablets—are you even human?"
They stood locked in hostility when Katherine's call came through.
Rafael let out a long, weary sigh. With cold command, he ordered the guards to escort Camille home, then left in a hurry.
From that day on, she was placed under virtual house arrest. Rafael didn't return home, not even once. He didn't call, didn't send a message.
And yet, Camille knew his every move.
Katherine made sure she did—gleefully sending her updates every day.
Sometimes it was news of him accompanying her to burn incense at her dog's grave.
Sometimes it was videos of them shopping for baby supplies together.
Camille endured it, indifferently, until the third afternoon.
That was when Katherine called her via video chat.
The screen jolted—and Camille's world collapsed.
Her parents' memorial tablets were engulfed in flames.
Every muscle in her body went rigid. Then the camera shifted, and she saw Rafael shielding Katherine with his arm... while standing there, watching, as the tablets turned charred black.
Her mind nearly shattered. Her parents' ashes were already gone—if even the tablets were destroyed, she feared she would lose her last shred of sanity.
She stumbled to the front doors of the villa, pounding on them, screaming for the guards to let her out.
Minutes bled into hours but no one answered.
Her rage and grief surged, tearing through her chest.
With a final cry, blood gushed from her lips. Darkness swallowed her as she fainted.
Camille was jolted awake by Rafael's furious roar mixed with Katherine's sobbing.
"You almost caused Camille to lose the baby! If anything had happened to her, I would never forgive you!"
The moment he noticed Camille had woken up, Rafael yanked Katherine over to the bedside and forced her down.
"Kneel. Apologize to her."
