It felt like a thread snapped in my mind, and I instinctively rushed forward.
"Lily, what did you just say?!"
Lily rested her hand on her abdomen, smugness written all over her face. "Ah, sister, you heard me. Then I won’t hide it anymore. I’m carrying Hank’s child now. If you know what’s good for you, leave him immediately!"
My daughter, born prematurely, lay on a ventilator, her tiny body covered in tubes to keep her alive.
She was so fragile, her cries so faint they sounded as if they could vanish at any moment.
And Lily was pregnant with Hank’s child!
Noticing my silence, Lily’s brow furrowed. "Sister, it’s because you always covet what isn’t yours that your child was born prematurely. Perhaps she wasn’t meant to exist in this world…"
Before she could finish, I glared at her and slapped her hard. "Shut up!"
The next instant, Lily toppled down the stairs like a kite with a severed string.
Hank had suddenly appeared behind us. He darted forward, catching Lily in his arms.
She collapsed against him, her flushed face tilted up, nearly in tears. "Hank, it hurts!"
Those four words made Hank’s usually composed expression darken.
"Alex, what are you doing? Is this how you treat my only sister?"
My eyes burned with tears as I stared at the man I had loved for over twenty years.
"She said she’s carrying your child and wants you to divorce me. She even cursed my daughter. Shouldn’t I have slapped her?"
Hank instinctively loosened his grip on Lily and took a step toward me. "Didn’t I say I don’t agree…"
"Ah!"
Lily’s shrill cry cut him off. She collapsed to the floor, her face pale, clutching her belly. "Hank, my stomach hurts so much. I think the baby’s gone."
I coldly looked at the man before me, waiting for his choice.
The next second, he rushed to Lily without a backward glance and scooped her into his arms.
"Alex, this child has nothing to do with me, and don’t mention divorce again." His voice turned icy. "But you struck Lily. That won’t be overlooked. Kneel here and repent until the baby is safe."
Several bodyguards instantly surrounded me, forcing me to the ground.
The cold tiles pierced my knees, stabbing deeper into my heart that still loved Hank.
My child needed an incubator to live, and my mother was gone forever—yet Lily remained untouched.
I watched his retreating figure, my heart filling with bitter disappointment.
Rain poured down, and only late at night did Hank finally send word to the guards to release me.
I drove straight to the hospital, still soaked to the bone.
Lily’s words had left me uneasy, and I planned to transfer my child to the hospital under the Quinn family’s name.
But the moment I entered, I was met with the sight of my child’s lifeless body.
Frantic, I demanded, "How could my baby die? Who did this?!"
The nurse, startled by my return, dropped the documents in her hands.
A voluntary relinquishment agreement slid to the floor—signed by Lily.
"She’s not the mother. How could she sign it for me?!"
The nurse looked stricken. "She said Director He approved it. Director’s project sustains the hospital—we couldn’t refuse his order…"
I clutched my child’s body, tears streaming, my heart consumed by regret.
It was my investment in Hank that killed my baby!
My phone buzzed. A message from Lily: This is what happens if you refuse to leave. Next time, I can’t promise who it will be.
I gripped the phone so tightly the edges cut into my palm, blood dripping down.
When my baby became a small urn, I felt the last thread tying me to Hank break.
The nurse escorted me out, murmuring with sympathy, "Ms. Quinn, you’ll have another child. Please accept my condolences."
I brushed the box in my hands.
"No."
"There won’t be another. I don’t want this man anymore."
