###Chapter 5
In the darkness of the trunk, the sickening movement went on for a long time.
Riley’s broken voice drifted in from outside, deliberately soft. “The baby is fine but… slow down… be gentle… I can’t take it…”
She always knew how to crush my dignity and hurt me in the deepest place.
“After all, Vexia just lost her baby… If she hears us… she’ll be heartbroken…”
But Darren moved even harder. The dull sound of impact echoed and his words were cold.
“Then let her hear it clearly.”
I bit down so hard.
I didn’t love him anymore. So why did it still hurt like this?
After a long time, everything finally stopped.
When the trunk opened, the bodyguards dragged me out like a broken doll and threw me onto the ground. Fresh air rushed into my lungs. My heart, which had nearly stopped from panic, slowly began to beat again.
Riley walked toward me barefoot, wearing Darren’s oversized white shirt.
“Four years… and you never satisfied him?” She bent down. Her voice was so low that only I could hear it. “My waist almost broke just now.”
I shut my eyes tightly, holding back my tears in the last darkness before dawn.
Then I heard Darren’s footsteps.
He acted as if he didn’t see me covered in cold sweat, dirty at the mouth. He simply picked Riley up carefully and placed her back into the soft car seat.
Then he knelt down on one knee. With the same hand that signed million-dollar contracts, he gently held her bare feet and rubbed them to warm them.
“You’re pregnant and still walking barefoot?” He lowered his head and kissed her playful lips. “From now on, don’t touch anything cold. Remember that, okay?”
“I will… I was wrong.”
Suddenly, I remembered the seven months of my pregnancy. Every morning, I woke up early to make breakfast for him. I ironed his expensive shirts by hand. But I never received a single look of concern.
Love and indifference had always been clear.
After settling Riley into the car, Darren finally walked toward me. The smell of perfume and sweat clung to him. My stomach twisted again.
He pulled me up roughly. His voice was flat. “You should be grateful Riley is fine tonight.”
His eyes moved to the dry dirt at the corner of my mouth. He paused for a second, then let go of me.
“Walk back by yourself.”
I couldn’t believe what I just heard. “It’s more than ten miles. You want me to walk?”
“That’s the only way you’ll learn, Vexia.”
The car sped away, leaving a cloud of dust behind. I stood alone in the cold night wind, wearing thin clothes. I didn’t even have money for a taxi.
My wound opened again in the cold. I was freezing and in pain. Every step felt like walking on knives.
When dawn finally broke, a giant billboard by the roadside lit up.
[Eugene Family Heir Spends Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars! Grand Banquet in Two Days to Celebrate the Family’s Heir!]
I heard people talking nearby.
“I heard Darren invited the most important people in the city, even half of the entertainment industry… He even bought a castle for his fiancée and their baby.”
“That child is the future heir. His fiancée is so lucky.”
On the screen, the castle shone bright and beautiful.
Her child was his treasure.
My child, even until death, received nothing from his father.
I stared at the flashing screen and took out my phone. Then, I dialed my assistant's number.
“Prepare a gift. Congratulate Darren and his precious heir.”
Darren, the DNA test report of your child will be the third gift I give you.
Just after I hung up, a message from Darren’s father came. [The procedures went smoothly. The day after tomorrow, you will receive what belongs to you.]
I licked my dry lips and tasted blood.
By the time I finally reached home, my feet were covered in blisters.
As soon as I entered the yard, I saw decorations everywhere. The servants were busy preparing for the coming banquet.
I walked inside in a daze and went straight to the nursery that had once been prepared for my baby. I wanted to pack my child’s things to take them away.
However, the moment I pushed open the door, my whole body turned cold.
