Julian, still in his construction site clothes, rushed to her bedside in a few strides.

"Honey, who hurt you like this?"

His eyes were red as he gripped her hand, his voice choking and trembling.

Clara was initially pondering whether the person before her was a robot or the real Julian.

But when she caught sight of the red mark on the back of his neck, she suddenly froze.

She pried his fingers off one by one and scoffed lightly.

"What, are you here to avenge me?"

Julian froze for a moment, as if he hadn't expected this reaction.

But he quickly regained his composure, his tone filled with determination.

"Of course."

"Honey, don't worry. No matter how rich or powerful the person is, I will get justice for you."

The sincerity in his eyes was so flawless that it was impossible to find any cracks.

It was as if he weren't the one who had pushed her to take the knife for someone else yesterday.

Clara curled her lip, feeling nothing but irony.

He wanted to say more, but a sudden exclamation came from the next ward.

It was Ivy’s voice.

Julian jumped up and rushed out almost instantly, completely forgetting his facade.

When he reached the door, he finally realized something.

He hurriedly threw out a "Something came up" and left without looking back.

The heavy sound of the door slamming shut echoed.

Clara tugged at the corner of her mouth, wanting to laugh, but she couldn't.

The next day, Ivy came to visit her with a pile of gifts.

"Clara, I really have to thank you this time. If you hadn't taken that knife for me, the baby might be gone by now."

As she spoke, she took Clara’s hand and placed it on her slightly protruding belly.

"Don't worry, once the baby is born, I will definitely have him call you godmother."

Clara suddenly remembered her own three children who had passed away early, and her eyes stung.

She pulled her hand back, her voice raspy.

"Forget it. I have bad luck; I can't keep my children."

"Clara, have you had children too?"

Ivy grabbed her sleeve, full of curiosity, and pressed on.

"Which hospital did you give birth in back then?"

"City First Hospital."

"What a coincidence!"

Ivy listened, looking thrilled, and spoke excitedly.

"I was an intern there four years ago!"

Halfway through, her cheeks flushed, and her voice took on a hint of shyness.

"My husband and I met around that time too. It seems he was taking care of his mother at the hospital then."

Clara’s body stiffened abruptly, and even her breathing stopped.

Ivy didn't notice the paper-white pallor of her face and sighed.

"You wouldn't believe it. I had just broken up with my ex back then and was constantly distracted. I fell asleep while performing a surgery and accidentally cut off a newborn’s hand, thinking it was the umbilical cord. I thought my life was over at the time."

"Later, my husband heard about it, and I don't know what methods he used, but he managed to suppress the news in less than a day. He even donated fifty million in equipment to the hospital just to protect me—"

Chapter 5

Boom—

Clara felt as if her brain had been crushed by a train. The surrounding sounds seemed to fade away, leaving only the sound of whistling wind in her ears.

Time rewound to seven years ago.

The day she gave birth to her first child, she had clearly heard the baby’s cry.

But Julian had told her that the baby was born stillborn.

She hadn't believed it, but when she ran to the morgue, she only saw a dead infant missing half of its tiny hand.

So, it turned out that the baby she gave birth to wasn't stillborn at all—it had been murdered by Ivy!

Her blood froze instantly, and a piercing cold washed over her.

Clara laughed softly, though tears were the first to fall.

When she was hovering between life and death in the operating room, Julian was outside thinking about how to please the young nurse.

When she suffered from postpartum depression and wanted to end her life countless times, he was calculating how to clear everything up for the murderer of their children.

Even if the price was the life of their own child, he was willing to pay it.

How ridiculous—this was the man she had loved for ten years.

Clara looked at Ivy, who was smiling with such carefree ease, and a surge of fury rushed to her head. She raised her hand to strike her hard!

But in the next second, a powerful force clamped onto her wrist and bent it back sharply.

Snap—

The sound of bone breaking exploded throughout the room.

Before Clara could even scream in pain, she was kicked hard in the chest, her back slamming heavily against the wall.

Black spots danced before her eyes. She curled up on the floor in pain, lacking even the strength to cry out.

Julian pulled Ivy into his arms and checked her carefully before glancing at Clara coldly.

When he saw the look of pain on her face, the fury in his eyes stalled for a brief second, and he opened his mouth.

Ivy suddenly covered her belly and began to sob.

"Honey, my belly... my belly hurts so much."

Julian’s gaze tightened, and the hesitation on his face was instantly overwhelmed by deeper fury.

His voice was extremely low, and he spoke through gritted teeth.

"Clara, if anything happens to Ivy or the baby today, I will never let you go!"

After saying this, he ignored Clara’s struggle and forced her into the car.

When the doctor mentioned the possibility of a threatened miscarriage, the fury in Julian’s eyes became apocalyptic, and the air pressure around him grew suffocating.

"Clara, kneel down and apologize to Ivy by kowtowing."

His voice was deathly low, his brows filled with an unshakable hostility.

Clara sneered, clenching her teeth to hold back her trembling.

"Expect me to apologize to a murderer? That will never happen in this lifetime."

Julian’s gaze paused, and a flicker of guilt, invisible to others, flashed in his eyes.

But upon hearing Ivy’s wailing behind him, his hesitation vanished completely. He raised his hand.

The bodyguards rushed forward immediately, delivering a heavy kick to Clara’s knees!

"Ah—"

Clara shrieked. Her knees slammed onto the ground, sharp gravel piercing her skin and leaving bloody streaks.

Tears sprayed out instinctively, but she still held her back straight, speaking word by word.

"I did nothing wrong, I will not kneel—"

But before she could finish, her head was slammed into the floor with a bang.

Again, and again, until she couldn't take it anymore and passed out.

When she opened her eyes again, Clara discovered she was back at the Oakwood villa.

She tried to push herself up to leave, but was blocked by several bodyguards in black.

"Miss Clara, Mr. Huo has ordered that until Madam is confirmed to be fine, you are not allowed to leave the villa for a single step."

Clara was so angry her teeth chattered.

"This is illegal imprisonment."

The bodyguards remained stone-faced, saying nothing more.

Clara didn't bother arguing with them further and shifted her gaze.

She paused when she saw the bruise ointment displayed on the cabinet.

"Where did this come from?"

The bodyguards looked at each other, and after a long moment, stammered.

"It... it's the medication prescribed by the family doctor; it has nothing to do with Mr. Huo."

Nothing to do with him?

But this ointment was clearly the one he had spent the entire country scouring to find and then having specifically formulated for her unique constitution, which made her prone to scarring.

No one knew the formula except him.

Clara scoffed, feeling disgusted. Just as she was about to throw it away, she heard:

"Clara."

Ivy stood at the door with red eyes, her eyes brimming with water.

"I... I don't know where I provoked you last time."

"But you saved me, and as long as you don't hurt my baby again, I won't hold it against you."

Clara listened, finding it laughable.

"Not hold it against me? Miss Jiang, should I be complimenting you on your magnanimity?"

Ivy’s nose turned red instantly, and she hurriedly explained.

"No, Clara—"

But immediately following that, she leaned in close to Clara’s ear without warning.

She still wore that innocent and naive expression, but the words she whispered made Clara’s blood run cold.

"Clara, let me tell you a secret: that medical accident four years ago... I did it on purpose."

Chapter 6

Clara’s body stiffened, and she was suddenly nailed to the spot.

Ivy curled the corners of her lips, a smile of ambiguous meaning on her face.

"If that bastard seed didn't die, how could my child possibly live?"

The world seemed to have been pressed on pause.