I arrived at the kindergarten to pick up my three-year-old son, but instead, I walked into a nightmare.
A crazed man, wielding a knife, was attacking indiscriminately. Without hesitation, I shielded my son with my body, feeling the cold steel pierce my flesh again and again. Pain exploded through me as I collapsed into a growing pool of my own blood.
Willy Nelson, my husband, arrived just in time. He subdued the attacker and turned him over to the police, then rushed us to the hospital, summoning the best medical team in the city. As I was wheeled toward the operating room, weak and barely clinging to consciousness, I forced out a desperate question.
"How is my son?"
Willy's red-rimmed eyes wavered. He hesitated, then finally spoke, his voice trembling. "He lost too much blood... He didn't make it."
His words shattered me. The grief was so unbearable that my body gave in—I blacked out completely. What I forgot to mention before surgery was that I was immune to anesthesia. I regained consciousness in the middle of a hushed conversation between Willy and the doctor.
"Mr. Nelson, the child could have been saved. Why did you order us to stop resuscitation?" The doctor's voice was thick with disbelief. "That was your own son—he was only three!"
Willy's reply was cold, devoid of sorrow. "I never wanted him to live. His birth was a mistake. How dare he ask me for a birthday present? Was he already eyeing the company's inheritance?"
My blood ran cold.
"Sophia and I have a son who's about to turn eighteen. I promised her I'd give him the company as a coming-of-age gift. I won’t let anyone take that away from him."
My mind reeled. The love I thought we shared, the marriage I believed in—it had all been a lie. I had been living in a carefully constructed hell.
Fine. If that was what he wanted, I would grant him his wish.
——
The doctor sighed as he examined my wounds. "Madam was gravely injured, but her uterus is intact. She may still have the chance to bear children in the future."
Willy's voice turned sharp. "Who gave you permission to preserve it? Remove it completely. I want her to never conceive again."
The doctor gasped, horror evident in his tone. "Mr. Nelson, you're handing over the company to Sophia’s son in three days. Even if Madam were to have another child in the future, it wouldn’t change anything. She just lost her son—must you really go this far?"
Willy stroked my cheek gently, but his words were merciless. "Allowing her to give birth to that cursed child was already my greatest mistake. And that mistake had the audacity to ask me for a birthday present. He must have been after the inheritance."
"I swore to Sophia that no one would compete with our son for his rightful fortune. Even if she married another man back then, I vowed to eliminate every obstacle for her and our child."
A knock on the operating room door interrupted them. A chillingly familiar voice echoed in the sterile room.
"Mr. Nelson, thank you for forging the psychiatric evaluation that got me acquitted. I did my part—I got rid of the brat. Now, about my reward..."
Willy’s voice was dismissive. "I’ll have someone transfer five million dollars to your account. Take the money and leave the capital. Never show your face in front of Carol Shirley again."
The man chuckled. "Pleasure doing business."
Willy turned back to the doctor. "Hurry up and proceed with the surgery. I still have to take Sophia to pick out the gift I ordered for Benny. Oh, and be sure to use extra anesthesia—I don’t want Carol to feel any pain."
The footsteps faded into the distance. I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to cry. It was never a random attack. The man wasn’t mentally ill at all. He had been hired—by my own husband.
My little boy... my precious child... had been murdered. On his birthday. All because of a fabricated lie. And the one who orchestrated it all was his own father.
Agonizing pain tore through my body as the cold surgical instruments moved within me. My anesthesia immunity made every cut, every incision, a living nightmare. The agony finally overwhelmed me and I blacked out.
When I opened my eyes again, Willy was beside me. His gaze was filled with feigned sorrow, his tone dripping with affection.
"Carol, you're finally awake. Does it still hurt?" He reached for my hand, his grip warm, yet sickeningly deceitful. "I've been outside the operating room this whole time. You don’t know how scared I was. Losing Liam is already the greatest pain of my life. If anything had happened to you, I wouldn’t have been able to live."
I stared at him, my heart hollow.
"Carol, the doctor said your abdominal wounds were severe. Your uterus was too damaged—you won’t be able to have children anymore. But don’t worry, I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life. Just the two of us. Isn’t being child-free a good thing?"
His words were poison disguised as honey. I felt nothing. No sadness, no anger, no fear. Only emptiness. And in that void, something dark and resolute began to take root.
