After Kevin carried me to a safe spot, he tried to rush back in to salvage those memories, only to have the flames sear his hand. He stumbled back out, no longer daring to go in.
After the firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire, Kevin carefully helped Cora into the bedroom and did not look at me again.
“Pack up your things and move out," he ordered. "Cora will be staying in the master bedroom.”
“Oh, and Cora just had a miscarriage. She needs someone to look after her. That someone will be you," he added.
I was in disbelief. "Me? Serve her?"
Kevin's eyes turned icy when he said, "What? Don’t forget, you still need my help. Think about the Johnson Family, your father and your daughter. Kelly, think it through!”
So, I stood outside the master bedroom, clutching a thin quilt, listening to Cora’s exaggerated giggles and Kevin’s gentle murmurs of comfort from inside.
Silently, I turned away and walked down the hall to a small, dark room that hadn’t seen sunlight in years. When I opened the door, a wave of moldy air hit me. This place used to be a storage room, but now it has become my “new home.”
In the middle of the night, Cora sent me several photos of her and Kevin in intimate poses, including a video. In it, Kevin was moving on top of her, his low moans ripping through my eardrums.
I casually tossed the phone aside, intending to continue sleeping, but then another message from Cora popped up.
[Kevin and I love each other so much, yet you still cling on like a leech? Don’t forget! It’s Kevin who paid all of your father's and daughters' medical bills! You'd better listen to me, or with just one word from me, I can send them all to hell!”
The next morning, I was jolted awake by harsh banging on the door.
“Madam, Miss Welder wants you to come serve her.”
Lucy’s voice came through the door, tinged with reluctance.
Remembering Cora’s threat from the night before, I dragged my aching body to the master bedroom.
Cora was applying makeup in front of the mirror. When she caught sight of me in the mirror, her red lips curled into a cold smile.
“You’re here? Go prepare the bathwater for me," she ordered. “It must be exactly sixty degrees Celsius, not a single degree more or less.”
I silently entered the bathroom.
By the time the water temperature was adjusted, Cora had already undressed and was standing behind me. She deliberately displayed her smooth, firm skin and the cesarean scar on her abdomen in front of me.
“This is from when I gave birth to Nate,” she said, touching the scar. “Kevin was heartbroken and said he never wanted me to suffer again.”
She leaned close to my ear, whispering, “What a pity … your uterus is gone and you’ll never give him a child now.”
I bit down hard on my lip until the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
Cora stepped into the bathtub and suddenly screamed, jumping out. “Do you want to scald me to death?”
She slapped me across the face, making me stumble and slam into the sink.
Hearing the sound, Kevin rushed in and Cora instantly dove into his arms, sobbing. "Kelly blames me for taking away her uterus and deliberately scalded me with hot water …”
I looked up to defend myself, only to meet Kevin’s frigid gaze. Right at that moment, I understood that he would never believe me again.
“Kneel and apologize to Cora,” he ordered.
I stood motionless. He grabbed my hair and forced me to kneel on the slippery tiles. The pain from my knees hitting the ground made my vision go black.
“I’m sorry.”
The words spilled from my lips mechanically as my mind silently counted how many times Kevin had hurt me for Cora's sake.
After Kevin left, Nate came to find me and asked, "Auntie, can you help me wash my hair?”
I eyed him warily, but his innocent expression was that of a pure child.
Maybe I was just overthinking it? With a sigh, I knelt to wash his hair.
Just as the foam began to lather, he suddenly grabbed my wrist and pushed it into the water.
“Go to hell! Mom said that if you die, she can marry Dad legitimately!”
I struggled, caught off guard as he shoved me face-first into the tub. With a strength no child his age should’ve had, he slammed my head under the water.
I could no longer struggle and the next moment, the back of my head collided with the ceramic and everything went black.
