The host on the stage realized something was wrong and frantically ordered people to take it down, but it was already too late.

Flashes went off one after another; camera shutters clicked incessantly as everyone vied to take photos.

Reporters even shoved their lenses into Flora’s pale, bloodless face, snapping shot after shot.

Julian closed his eyes and snapped fiercely:

"That’s enough!"

He jumped to his feet and swept his gaze over everyone in the room:

"Delete them all, or no one leaves this place today."

"If any of these photos leak, you are making an enemy of the Yan Corporation. I suggest everyone here thinks clearly about the consequences!"

He gestured, calling his assistant over:

"Go investigate who is behind today’s events."

Flora watched blankly as he methodically handled the sudden crisis on the scene.

Someone paused and shook their head, saying:

"Mr. Yan really has a good temper, still cleaning up for that woman. I really don't know what he's thinking, it’s not worth it."

"Exactly, a woman as fickle and loose as that isn't worthy of Mr. Yan at all!"

Julian finished giving his orders, and his gaze finally fell upon her.

It was a look of cold, mocking, and extreme disgust—a look that made it seem as though he wished he could kill her.

Flora felt a chill crawl down her spine; she was almost flayed alive by that gaze alone.

He strode over with a terrifying presence and pinched her face:

"Flora, give me an explanation."

An explanation?

Flora opened her mouth, forcing herself to stay calm:

"I don't have one."

"Someone framed me."

"That day, on the way back from the Jiang residence, the people who picked me up drugged me. They took the photos during that time before sending me back to the Yan house."

"Aside from that, nothing happened."

She stood there, pale-faced, desperately propping up her crumbling self-esteem.

"Drugged?" Summer covered her mouth and giggled, "Sister Flora, even if you’re confused, you can’t use such a clumsy excuse. If you were drugged, why didn't you tell Julian back then?"

Flora clenched her fingers tight.

At that time, she had been completely immersed in the shock of being pregnant, and since her medical results showed nothing abnormal, she had pushed the matter to the back of her mind.

But Julian didn't know that.

He stared at her coldly, sneering:

"You mean to tell me you were kidnapped by a group of men, and they didn't do a single thing to you?"

"Flora, do you even believe this kind of lie yourself?"

"I asked the housekeeper; your return time that day was perfectly normal. Do you think there was enough time for a kidnapping in between?"

Flora closed her eyes, a bitter taste in her mouth:

"Julian, I have no obligation to explain myself. We were already planning to divorce."

"Forget about whether this happened or not; even if it did, it has nothing to do with you."

"Besides, nothing happened in the first place. I have no need to lie to you."

"Nothing to do with me?"

He laughed, almost in a blind rage.

"A fine 'nothing to do with me.' Flora, you still dare to use divorce as an excuse? Have I been too lenient with you?"

He gripped her neck and leaned in close, his voice drilling into her ear like a poisonous snake. "I haven't touched you in three months, and you’re already so desperate for it? You went and found all these men?"

"Flora, you are truly cheap."

He grabbed her arm, dragged her brutally out of the venue, shoved her into a car, and drove toward home.

The villa door was kicked open. He dragged her upstairs to the bedroom, threw her onto the bed, and pinned her down.

8

Flora panicked and struggled desperately:

"Julian! What are you doing?"

"You’re insane!"

Rip—her dress turned into rags in the blink of an eye. His eyes were bloodshot as he clamped his hands around her throat.

The humiliation was far worse than the pain.

Flora broke out in cold sweat, tears streaming down her face in large droplets.

Julian stopped, looking down at her coldly from above:

"Shouldn't you be grateful and happy that I’m touching you? Flora, what are you pretending for?"

He gripped her throat again:

"Do you really think I’d touch you?"

"Flora, I find you filthy."

Disregarding her shame, Julian called the housekeeper in.

The housekeeper saw the situation in the bedroom and immediately lowered his head, not daring to look again.

"Throw her into the cold storage room. Cleanse her body properly," Julian ordered coldly.

Flora’s body shrank back; she reacted instantly:

"No!"

Julian hadn't expected her to defy him, and he narrowed his eyes icily.

Flora clutched her pajamas to her chest, gritting her teeth:

"Julian, we’ve already agreed to a divorce! Who do you think you still are to me? You have no right to treat me like this!"

"Divorce?" Julian sneered. "Who agreed to that?"

He shook his head, then nodded. "You aren't wrong; we will divorce."

"But that will be because I choose to leave you. The Yan family cannot tolerate a filthy, loose woman. Before that happens, you must be punished for your mistakes."

Flora jumped off the bed, barefoot, running toward the door.

A second later, she stopped.

Two tall, sturdy bodyguards blocked her path.

She retreated, fumbling for her phone, her fingers trembling as she dialed the emergency services.

In the next second, Julian snatched the phone away and smashed it against the floor; the screen shattered into pieces.

"Are you out of your mind?" she glared at him with bloodshot eyes, despair in her voice. "Julian, this is illegal detention, intentional injury."

"I didn't do it, and that’s that. If you don't believe me, we can divorce right now and part on good terms. Julian, let me go. Hurting me won't do you any good."

Julian curled his lip coldly: "Family matters—what constitutes 'intentional injury' there?"

Flora couldn't speak, a chill seeping through her very bones.

He pinched her wrist, looming over her:

"Flora, if you do something wrong, you must pay the price."

"Take her away."

The two bodyguards stepped forward, pinning her on either side.

Flora struggled with every ounce of her strength: "No! You can’t do this to me!"

"I’m pregnant! Julian, I’m carrying your child!"

She exerted a strength she had never possessed before, actually breaking free from the two sturdy bodyguards.

For the first time, she dropped all her pride and dignity, kneeling down, begging through tears:

"Julian, I’m pregnant. The baby won't be able to take it, I beg you..."

This was her child. She had felt it flutter; she had heard its heartbeat. This was a child she had resolved to cherish and protect.

Nothing could be allowed to happen to it.

Julian’s brow twitched violently.

"Impossible," he denied immediately. "You’re still lying to me."

He sneered: "Flora, stop the performance. You haven't been able to conceive for all these years; there’s no need to use such a pathetic lie now."

"Even if you really were pregnant, how do I know if it’s the bastard spawn of one of those men in the photos?"

Flora stiffened, her tears freezing in her eyes.

"Drag her away." He waved his hand impatiently.

"No!! Julian, I’m telling the truth! I really am pregnant! Julian!"

She scrambled in a panic to grab his pant leg, but he kicked her away coldly.

The bodyguards surged forward, twisting her arms brutally.

She screamed and kicked, but it was all in vain; in the end, she was dragged away by force.

The heavy iron door of the cold storage room was shut, and the sub-zero temperature closed in instantly, as if it were freezing her very marrow.

Flora, wrapped in her long pajamas, curled her body as tightly as she could, trying desperately to hold onto the warmth in her belly.

Cold.

So cold, so cold.

So cold it made her bones shiver.

"Baby, don't be afraid... Mommy is here..." Her teeth chattered as she murmured the words over and over, trying to keep her consciousness.

But a human body, let alone a pregnant woman, simply could not endure this temperature.

When the cold reached its peak, she began to feel heat, as if her blood were boiling.

She began to hallucinate; Julian’s face flickered in her memories—cold, disgusted, impatient.

"Flora, you’re too loud."

"This isn't a place for you. Get out."

"You've messed up again. Go back to the Jiang family."

Twenty-one-year-old Flora stood in her memories, fading from brilliance to gray, bit by bit.

She turned back to look at the thirty-year-old Flora, tears falling:

"I’m sorry. I regret it."

Flora lay curled on the ground, her eyes unfocused. The dull, throbbing pain in her abdomen was turning sharp, but she could no longer feel it.

Her vision began to go black.

...

9

When she woke up again, she was in the hospital.