Chapter 5

“That assistant was still screaming that I was a vile creature before they dragged her away, saying I didn’t deserve to be the savior’s partner…”

I opened my mouth, but not a single word escaped my throat.

I could only shake my head with all my strength, trembling as I pleaded, “I… I didn’t… Send me to the medical bay… The brothers… They can’t hold on much longer…”

“You’re lying again!”

Caleb impatiently furrowed his brow. “Professor Albright rallied her old subordinates overnight and even found the base’s records officer. Wasn’t it you instigating her from behind? You think by stealing Celeste’s credit, you can secure the second-in-command position at the base?”

Celeste cried and pleaded in his arms, “Astrid, I beg you, please don’t separate Caleb and me… If you really insist on taking my credit, I’ll just run out of the base alone and die in the zombie horde!”

She made a move as if to run, and Caleb immediately held her tight.

He was enraged, and he kicked my stomach again.

“How many times have I warned you not to bully Celeste, but you just won’t listen! Since that’s the case, I’ll have to resort to special measures.”

He suddenly turned and coldly ordered his personal guard.

“She forced Celeste to run into the zombie horde, so she should pay the price. Go, shut down Professor Albright’s lab’s purification system, and throw the people out of the research facility!”

“Caleb!” I shrieked, tearing my throat. “You’re insane! That’s Professor Albright! Her research is for all humanity!!”

“So what?!”

Caleb scoffed. “To get you into the command structure, she forced me to marry you. Now you’re a captain, and I’ve even let you command your own unit. If you couldn’t find the oasis, that’s your own uselessness. I’ve repaid my debt of gratitude, I don’t owe you anything anymore!”

“Do it!”

I frantically lunged at the personal guard, trying to stop them, but I was brutally kicked to the ground.

The wound on my abdomen, which had barely stopped bleeding, burst open from the violent impact, gushing like a broken dam, instantly staining the floor beneath me crimson.

I screamed in agony, my throat raw, curling into a ball.

Caleb was about to drag me further, but then he suddenly saw the pool of crimson on the floor, and his face went white.

He instinctively stopped, turning to Celeste and demanding.

“What happened?! I told you to take care of her and her pregnancy, why is she still bleeding?!”

Celeste’s face also changed slightly.

But her eyes darted, and she quickly squeezed out tears.

“I’ve always taken good care of Astrid… This is the medical report they did for her yesterday.”

She handed over the report, her voice choked.

“The report says she only has superficial wounds, and her bodily functions and the baby are all perfectly normal.”

Caleb snatched the report. He only scanned it once, and he believed it.

The next second, he furiously lifted me from the ground and violently threw me onto the cold, hard metal floor.

My head slammed down hard, and blood instantly gushed out.

“You dared to lie to me?!”

He growled, “To make me soft, you can even fake a miscarriage?! How disgusting, how utterly vile!”

“You thought I’d fall for it this time? Dream on!”

He raised his leg, kicking my abdomen mercilessly, again and again.

Blood mixed with screams splattered with every impact.

“Ah… no… no…”

I pleaded, almost tearing my throat, but my body grew colder and colder.

Until I had no strength left to even beg, only able to curl up in my own pool of blood.

He wiped his blood-stained boots and turned to Celeste, his face full of apology.

“I’m sorry, Celeste, for making you smell this disgusting odor. I’ll deal with her right away. Once it’s done, I’ll fly you to the oasis to see the scenery, as compensation for my mistake, okay?”

Celeste, however, shook her head tearfully, her voice pitiful.

“Forget it. Astrid hates me so much. What if you leave with me, and she immediately comes up with a new way to sabotage me?”

“Otherwise, I’ll just take my team and leave. I’ll even let her have the credit.”

She spoke cautiously, utterly wronged, yet it perfectly struck Caleb’s nerve.

His face instantly turned as dark as night, his voice gentle but chillingly cold: “Don’t worry, I won’t give her any more chances to harm you.”

He waved his hand: “Lock her in the containment cell outside the base. Once I officially announce Celeste as the discoverer of the oasis tomorrow, then release her.”