After leaving the mansion, Adeline immediately called the mortician to schedule the toys made from her late child’s hair lock. However, the mortician told her that Damian had already taken the hair.
“Why did you take my child away? What are you going to do?”
Adeline rushed to the mansion, frantically calling Damian along the way. When he finally answered, he was furious at her accusations.
“What are you doing? They are also my children. Do I have to report everything I do to you?”
Adeline broke down completely, crying and begging him.
“I already said I would give up my position as the Ravenswood Family’s daughter-in-law. Why do you still want to hurt them? Just give me back the children’s toys and I’ll disappear. I’ll never appear in front of you again.”
Disappear and never appear again. Those words echoed in Damian’s mind. He clenched his phone tightly. He didn’t understand why Adeline was so desperate to leave him. Wasn’t it she who insisted on being with him in the first place?
For years, Damian had endured her lies and schemes. He married her and was even willing to have another child just to comfort her. So, why was she still not satisfied?
“It’s just a box of toys, but you think they’re more important than me. Adeline, you’re unbelievable!”
Damian hung up and Adeline couldn't reach him again. Overwhelmed with rage and despair, she fainted.
When she woke up in the hospital the next day, she saw a thin, transparent hose inserted into her body and Damian sitting by her bedside.
“You're awake,” he said.
Adeline suddenly sat up, but the bag attached to the hose tugged at her abdomen, causing sharp pain.
“Where are the toys? Where are my child’s toys? What did you do with them? Give them back to me! Give them back!”
Damian’s face, which had initially been calm, turned cruel.
“Toys, toys, toys! You say you don’t want me to have children with you, but you care so much about a dead child’s toys? Who are you trying to fool?”
“You want the toys, right? Then, do what you used to. Take off your pants, please me like before and I’ll let you see the toys.”
Adeline’s lips trembled, while her tears fell like thin threads. Why was Damian still humiliating her when she didn’t want anything anymore? She had simply loved the wrong man and now she had to suffer this cruel punishment.
Her heart ached. She gripped the edge of the quilt tightly. But she had no other choice. She had promised in front of her mother’s tombstone that she would retrieve the children’s toys.
Adeline closed her eyes tightly. Like a puppet whose soul had been taken away, she removed her pants and spread her legs in despair.
“Don’t forget what you said,” she whispered.
“Remember to give me back the toys.”
Damian stared at her like a madman, stunned that she had really agreed. Suddenly, he pulled the quilt up to cover her.
“I’m not interested in lifeless corpse. I’ll let you see the toys after your bile is drawn.”
Bile?
Adeline looked at him in confusion.
“The doctor said Jessica has weak liver and gallbladder function. There’s a possibility that she’ll get healthier if she gets bile, so I took some of yours.”
“Why? Did you even get my consent?”
Adeline was almost hysterical. She couldn’t even control her own body anymore.
Damian, unusually calm, took the bag off the hose and replied as if doing her a favor.
“Bile regenerates. It won’t affect your body. The children’s toys are at the mansion. Come see them if you want.”
With that, he left. Adeline tried to follow, but the doctor stopped her for disinfection and bandaging.
Once they were done, she rushed to the mansion. The fairy tale castle that once stood on the lawn had been removed. In its place was a mourning hall filled with yellow and white chrysanthemums.
Her steps slowed.
Wreaths surrounded the area and several boxes were placed in the distance inside the mourning hall. For a moment, she thought she might have wronged Damian. Perhaps he had taken the toys for a proper funeral.
But the longer she looked, the more something felt wrong.
Why were there three boxes of memorials meant for the dead, but only one photo? When the mourners bowed, she finally saw the photo clearly. And she was instantly shocked.
