Chapter 6

When Adeline woke up again, she was lying in a hospital bed.

She touched her flat abdomen, her heart filled with a desolate sorrow.

"You're finally awake," the doctor said, his voice laced with indignation. "You had a massive hemorrhage from the miscarriage. If you had been a few minutes later, even God couldn't have saved you."

Only then did Adeline learn that she had been found by a passing fisherman after she had fainted, narrowly escaping death.

"Where is your husband? Why hasn't he come?"

Adeline gripped the bedsheets with her fingertips and shook her head. "I’m divorced."

The doctor opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately shook his head and left.

During her hospitalization, Dominic never showed his face. Instead, Bianca’s social media feed was constantly updating.

On the first day, it was a close-up of a bowl of chicken soup.

The caption read: [Dominic cooked for me himself. I’m so happy!]

On the second day, there was a photo of the man leaning against Bianca’s stomach, listening for a fetal heartbeat.

The caption read: [Our baby will definitely be the happiest baby in the world!]

Looking at the photos, Adeline's tears splashed onto the screen.

While she was losing her child, Dominic was enjoying "father-child time."

This was the love he spoke of—so hypocritical and cheap.

She wiped her tears, intending to turn off her phone.

Suddenly, two people burst in and knelt at her bedside. "Mrs. Dominic, please, we beg you to fulfill our Bianca's wishes!"

Bianca's father slammed his head against the floor repeatedly.

"Mrs. Dominic, you come from a single-parent home; you know a child can't be without a father. Please fulfill their family of three. Think of it as earning blessings for your deceased child."

Thinking of her child sent a jolt of agonizing pain through Adeline’s heart.

Seeing her silence, Bianca's father suddenly stood up and threw himself against the wall.

With a dull thud, he collapsed to the ground, his head covered in blood.

Bianca's mother screamed and threw herself over him, wailing, "Old man?!"

Before Adeline could react, she felt a sharp pain in her arm.

Bianca was gripping her tightly, crying piteously. "Adeline! You can do whatever you want to me, but why must you push my parents like this?!"

Dominic stood behind her, shielding her. For once, he didn't give Adeline a cold face. "The doctors will take care of your parents. Don't cry."

Looking at the two of them embracing each other, Adeline felt nothing but numbness. Her voice was as light as the wind. "Dominic, our child is gone."

Dominic’s movements paused. Meeting her eyes filled with disappointment, a flash of irritation crossed his gaze. "Honey, don't look at me like that. That was just an accident."

Those words left Adeline's heart mangled and bleeding.

He seemed to have forgotten how much he had once longed for a child of their own.

He had also forgotten how deeply he had once loved her.

Someone among the onlookers in the hallway recognized Adeline and sneered:

"That mental patient from the trending search is pushing people to jump again!"

"Hurry up and send her to the asylum before she hurts someone else!"

Bianca said through her tears, "Dominic, you heard them. I think we should send Sister Adeline to the psychiatric hospital..."

"No," Dominic refused without a second thought.

But Bianca pulled on his sleeve, her eyes rimmed with red. "I know you can't bear to, but I'm carrying your child. What if she goes mad again? What will happen to our baby?"

Dominic fell silent.

Adeline stared at him, her clenched fists tightening unconsciously until he finally looked over.

"Honey, the girl just suffered a pregnancy scare, and the doctor said she needs to keep her emotions stable. Why don't we trouble you for a bit? Besides, once the baby is born, he'll be given to you to raise anyway."

There was a hint of warmth in his smiling eyes, but his words chilled Adeline to the bone.

"Dominic, you don't love me anymore. Why won't you just let me go?"

Dominic frowned as if he disagreed with her statement. He reached out to wipe the tears from her face, his tone both tender and obsessive.

"What nonsense are you talking about? We are going to be together for a lifetime. I would go crazy without you. How could I not love you? Everything outside is just a temporary distraction; it won't last long."

Adeline opened her mouth, but ultimately lowered her head in exhaustion.

Dominic didn't give her another chance to struggle and had her sent to the psychiatric hospital.

Before she left, Bianca gave her a provocative smile.

The next three days were the longest nightmare of Adeline's life.

Electric shocks, shoving, insults, solitary confinement...

In that so-called "asylum," she was battered until she was nearly covered in blood.

Her roommates soaked her bedsheets and forced her to stand against the wall all night as punishment.

She counted the days one by one. After a full week, Dominic finally came to pick her up.

As he approached, his heart gave a slight jolt. "What happened here?"

Adeline’s hands were covered in scrapes and bruises, and there was blood at the corner of her mouth.

Bianca immediately took his arm and curled her lip. "Is she using a pity tactic? We've settled everything with this hospital; who would dare bully her?"

Dominic stared at Adeline for a few seconds before taking out a handkerchief to slowly wipe the blood from her lip. "Honey, this tactic doesn't suit you. Don't play this game next time."

Adeline twitched the corner of her mouth, lacking even the strength to explain. She simply said, "Okay."

Dominic frowned, seemingly surprised by her attitude. "Good. My wife has finally learned to be obedient."

Suddenly, Bianca clutched her stomach. "Dominic, my stomach hurts so much."

Dominic couldn't be bothered with Adeline. He hurriedly dropped the words "Go home yourself" and rushed Bianca to the hospital.

Standing alone, Adeline felt an eerie sense of calm.

She went to the hospital by herself to dress her wounds, then to a temple to light an eternal lamp for her unborn child. Finally, she went home, booked a ticket to leave, and fell into a heavy sleep after washing up.

This sleep brought back many memories.

In her dreams, she was unable to conceive, and Dominic was willing to endure three hundred strikes of the family cane just to marry her.

After the wedding, he pushed the notarized documents of his assets in front of her and swore: "Everything I own belongs to you."

Once, when her eye was accidentally injured by a psychiatric patient, Dominic had immediately wanted to give her his own cornea.

He had offered her a heart full of sincerity and personally spoiled her to the heavens.

But ten years had passed, and that sincerity had long since rotted into a mass of corruption.

When she woke up again, Dominic was sitting on the sofa.

Their eyes met. He was nonchalantly playing with her phone, his eyes fixed on her with a dangerous tone.

"Adeline, you bought a ticket. Where exactly were you planning to go?"