Chapter 3

A wave of panic washed over me.

The next second, Sera’s gaze shot at me like daggers.

Julian’s face was grim. He seized my wrist.

“Grandfather, we have something to do. We’ll be leaving now.”

He dragged me out roughly, then shoved me into the car, speaking in a low, heavy voice.

“To the hospital.”

The results came quickly: I was indeed pregnant.

I stood frozen, my hand unconsciously going to my lower abdomen.

I had thought about it before, what it would feel like to have a child of my own blood.

But the next second, that faint glimmer of hope was crushed by Julian Blackwood.

He casually glanced at the report, then said coldly,

“Arrange for an abortion immediately.”

Seeing my eyes welling up, he grabbed my wrist tightly.

“Unhappy about this? You have no right to carry my child.”

I blinked, forcing back the burning tears, and nodded.

“I understand.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he said nothing more.

It wasn't until I was being wheeled into the operating room that I caught a fleeting glimpse of something like reluctance in his eyes.

When I came out of the operating room, Julian Blackwood was nowhere to be seen.

The anesthesia had worn off, and my lower abdomen throbbed with a dull, heavy ache.

Just then, the hospital room door was pushed open from the outside.

Sera, exquisitely made up and clicking in her heels, walked in.

Without a word, she slapped me hard across the face.

“You bitch, how dare you get pregnant with Julian’s child!”

Her face contorted into a monstrous mask as she gestured to the two people behind her.

“Drag her to the bathroom!”

I was pulled off the bed and onto the floor, dragged all the way into the bathroom, and thrown onto the cold tiles.

Then she kicked me several times in the abdomen.

The excruciating pain made me curl up, cold sweat beading on my forehead.

Clutching my stomach, I pleaded with a trembling voice,

“Sera, I didn’t mean to get pregnant. Please, let me go…”

She grabbed my hair, forcing my head back.

“You dared to get pregnant with his child behind my back, and you want me to let you go? Dream on!”

“Julian loves me. Even if you’re pregnant, you’ll never sit in Mrs. Blackwood’s seat!”

She motioned to the two behind her again, and the next moment, a bucket of ice water was poured over me.

The biting cold seeped into my bones, and I shivered uncontrollably.

“Julian only keeps you around because he’s angry I married Silas Thorne, just to spite me.”

“Once I get my divorce, he’ll marry me. And you, you won’t even be fit to polish my shoes.”

She then tilted her chin at the two behind her.

“Beat her! Beat her until she can never bear children again!”

Fists and feet rained down on me like a storm.

Pain surged through my entire body, and I finally couldn’t take it anymore. I passed out.

When I woke up again, I was lying on the cold bathroom floor.

My fingertips trembled as they touched my flat abdomen, and tears streamed down my face like a broken string of pearls.

Perhaps this was for the best, saving me from future entanglements.

Julian Blackwood eventually found out that I had been beaten into unconsciousness.

Before he could question me, Sera innocently explained,

“Today I came to the hospital to kindly visit my sister, but when she saw me, she became extremely emotional and started smashing things.”

“I only argued back a few words, and she attacked me. My arm still hurts.”

“My assistant only intervened because he couldn’t bear to see me hurt.”

After her explanation, Julian believed her.

The next moment, the hospital room door was violently kicked open from the outside.