When I woke again, the first thing that hit me was the nauseating scent of candles in the guest room.
Turning my head, I met Kendrick’s bloodshot, sorrowful eyes.
He didn’t need to say a word. The tearing pain in my body had already told me everything.
My child… was gone again.
“Why are you here?” I croaked, my voice hoarse.
He had come to the villa.
“I was notified by the servants and immediately brought my family’s medical team. Luckily, I came. If I hadn’t, Sam would have left you in that guest room like this,” Kendrick said, his anger barely contained, as if he wanted to go after Sam himself.
But now, with my child gone, I was truly numb, my heart dead inside.
At that moment, Sam pushed open the guest room door and walked in, his expression complex, eyes shifting between me and Kendrick. “Tania, your friend really cares for you—he came immediately.”
I lifted my eyes calmly to meet Sam’s. “Sam, let’s get a divorce.”
Sam seemed unprepared for my blunt demand, especially in front of Kendrick. He froze for a moment and the faint guilt on his face quickly gave way to irritation.
“Divorce? No. If you want a divorce, it has to wait until after tomorrow’s banquet. Everyone will be rehearsing at the venue beforehand—this is not the time for any mistakes.”
He paused, as if recalling something and his tone became self-righteous. “Besides, Tania, you’ve lost two heirs of the Freight Family in succession. You’re a criminal to the Freight Family. Even if we divorce, you should leave empty-handed.”
Criminal? Leave empty-handed?
I had lost two children. Once because he abandoned me, once because he protected someone else while letting me suffer. And in the end, it was all my fault?
Unable to bear it any longer, I lifted my head with all my strength and pointed toward the door. “Get out, Sam! Get out!”
Sam said nothing in response. He turned and slammed the door behind him.
With him gone and the servants leaving, the entire villa fell silent.
But the secrets of the master bedroom, the lingering candles in the guest room, the blood under me in the living room and Sam’s repeated acts of protecting Raline—all of it collided and burned wildly in my mind.
I staggered out of bed, dragging my exhausted, agonized body and took one step after another toward the villa’s master bedroom.
Kendrick realized what I intended to do. He didn’t stop me; instead, he firmly supported my trembling body.
In the master bedroom, the portrait of the beauty still hung on the wall. Behind it lay that filthy, hidden chamber—the source of all my suffering.
“Ah!” I let out a guttural scream, suppressed to the extreme.
I could no longer hold back. I spun around, lunged at the vanity, grabbed the candlestick and hurled the burning candle at the thick curtains. The moment the flames touched the fabric, they shot up instantly. The fire spread rapidly and the scorching heat surged toward me.
With a pale face, I watched it all, feeling a strange mixture of exhilaration and relief. Finally, I was destroying this prison with my own hands.
“Go.” Kendrick scooped me up, rushing out of the villa as the flames began to devour it.
The car was ready and sped straight toward the airport.
Only when the plane ascended into the clouds, heading for Yuvalle City, did I truly feel it—I was free.
Sam, goodbye. Never to meet again.
