Sebastian's expression twisted and his eyes were full of disgust as he ordered, “All of you, get out. Don't let that wretched woman, Chiara, deceive you any longer. Lock her in."
"She'll be released only when Sofia's wounds no longer hurt. I’ll personally release her when that happens."
He drove all staff out and left me trapped inside the scorching steam chamber. Without care of my wailing cry, he closed the cafeteria door and sealed my fate.
My baby, my poor, fragile baby, cried only a few times before his tiny body stiffened in my arms. His skin had lost its elasticity, his breath had faded into nothingness.
I sobbed but my cries of agony eventually swallowed by the searing heat. My body slowly disintegrated and turned into boiling water.
While my flesh melted away, Sebastian was busy making grand gestures of love for Sofia to compensate for the six months of being pregnant alone. Sebastian would orchestrate a grand proposal that shook the entire city.
Even without a marriage certificate, he swore to give her the honor of being his wife.
As my lifeless body turned into a bloody mess, he dominated the top ten trending searches with headlines celebrating his love for Sofia. Every major city’s billboard broadcasted his vows to Sofia in an endless loop.
As I took my last breath, he stood aboard a helicopter and showered the city with rose petals in a publicized, extravagant proposal that was broadcast live to millions of netizens.
Now, I watched them spend their wedding night while lying on what was once my marital bed.
Sebastian held Sofia lovingly in his arms and said, "I'm sorry, Sofia. Chiara tricked me back then. She claimed she willingly gave herself to me that night to save me from the effects of the herbal medicine that I took. I married her because I felt responsible to her, after all, we had already done it and I was not the kind of person that abandons someone after having sex."
"You don’t have to worry though. She owes you too much. This time, I made sure she paid for everything. From now on, she’ll have to behave. She won’t dare interfere with our life again. Once you're fully recovered, we'll have another child. The three of us will become a family and ..." He hesitated for a moment. "Since Chiara already has a child, she and her baby can live with us. The five of us will coexist peacefully."
Sofia’s smile faltered, a flicker of unease and malice flashed in her eyes. "What?"
"Don’t worry," Sebastian reassured her. "She may still be my legal wife, but to the world, you're my true partner. Just think of her as a live-in nanny. She will help you to cook and clean for us. Besides, our child will have a playmate."
When she heard this, Sofia's eyes flashed with a hint of viciousness and satisfaction that she quickly masked it with a soft smile. "Of course, I agree. I'll get along with her."
I laughed bitterly at the absurdity of it all.
After everything he had done, he still did not want to let me leave. He truly believed I would willingly watch him showering Sofia with love while serving as a maid in my own home.
I took a deep breath but my tears were now nothing but an invisible memory.
I understood why he was so confident that he thought I would never leave, no matter how much he hurt me. It was because I had endured everything in silence.
A month ago, Sofia, Sebastian's first love collapsed at my doorstep. Out of compassion, I rushed her to the hospital. However, when she woke up, she cried to Sebastian and accused me of pushing her down and causing her to lose her child.
Shocked, I tried to explain to him that I did not do anything to her except take her to the hospital.
Sebastian's eyes turned icy as he stared at me.
Seeing the doubt in his eyes, I pulled out her medical report to prove that she had lost the baby long before I ever found her. However, before I could show him, Sofia burst into tears and sobbed pitifully in his arms.
With a cold glare, Sebastian struck me across the face and sent me sprawling to the floor.
"Enough! You’ve gone too far! Sofia has already forgiven you, yet you still refuse to admit your wrongdoing! “He ordered the guards to take me home and lock me up while demanding that I reflect on my actions.
I foolishly believed that once he calmed down, he would listen to reason. However, after half a month of imprisonment, when I finally saw him again, his gaze held nothing but seething hatred and he looked at me as if I were his greatest enemy.
