Though I was pinned down by those burly security guards, my gaze never left Jacob.
Without hesitation, Leslie flashed a sinister grin and slapped me hard across the face.
Instantly, a burning sensation shot through me.
I struggled to fight back, but the guards held me down with iron grips.
Jacob said to me, "It's just a few slaps. You won't die."
With a smug expression, Leslie slapped me ten more times. Her gaze grew even fiercer than the heat on my face, that it almost burned me to ashes.
Finally, she stopped slapping me.
"Take her to the VIP ward. Let her recover first,” Jacob said after studying my swollen cheek.
Just when I thought he might show some mercy for our old times' sake, the next words he said shattered my hopes.
“Damn it. If you'd just obeyed, you could've had that transplant surgery sooner. Now we have to treat the infection in your facial wounds first.”
I was escorted by security guards to the private ward like a puppet on a string. The next day, Jacob came to the ward and stared at my wounds. His eyes held only disgust; there was no trace of pity in them.
I couldn't help but say, “I will never compromise with you! No matter what!"
Jacob looked at me in a daze. After a pause, he spoke slowly, “You've changed. The old you would obey me without question.”
When I stared into his dazed eyes, I saw surprise and confusion in them.
“I still have feelings for you. As long as you ...” Jacob’s voice softened.
“It hurts so much!”
His words were interrupted by Leslie outside the door.
He sprang to his feet, slammed the door and rushed out.
Leslie was clutching her belly, then she collapsed at the entrance of the ward.
“My lower abdomen hurts so badly! The attending doctor just said I must have the transplant surgery immediately! If it fails this time, I won't have any more eggs left.” She sobbed and buried herself in Jacob's embrace.
He immediately lifted her into his arms.
When she left, she winked and smiled at me, then her expression quickly changed into a look of pain.
Even though their voices were still ringing in my ears, I didn't care about them anymore.
When passing by Jacob, I smashed the court divorce judgment in my arms onto his chest. “It's for you.”
The judgment listed how he had cheated on me during the marriage and that the woman involved was my best friend.
He picked it up with disgust, as if handling worthless trash. The next second, his expression froze.
He trembled as he forced a smile. "This fake looks so real."
“It’s just asking you to be the biological mother of the child. Is that really such a big deal?” He frowned at me, looking at me as if I were garbage.
I held my head high and strode out. The car I had booked ahead of time was already waiting outside the golf course.
“Before going to the airport, I have to pick up my grandma first,” I said to the driver.
He immediately turned the car around and sped toward the small mountain village I knew well.
Jacob and Leslie's figures grew fainter in the rearview mirror. I confirmed the recordings and videos on my phone, destroyed the SIM card and tossed it out the window.
My former lover and best friend, I would like to thank you for letting me learn how to see people's true nature.
“Ma'am, why are you going to such lengths? Why did you throw away the SIM card?” The driver glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.
But I remained silent. Jacob held absolute power in Arlington City, so I had to make sure I vanished from his world, no matter what the cost.
All these years, I should have been working hard in my career, but I trapped myself in an imaginary ivory tower for the sake of so-called love.
I would leave this city forever today, as if I had never been here at all.
