Chapter 3

###Chapter 3

"Huh?" Kendall peeked out from behind Hector and let out an exaggerated gasp. "Isn't that the unidentified body from the news? The one that was supposed to be used for medical research? So Beatrice stole it?"

"How twisted! Did you steal a corpse just to get Hector's attention and put on this whole act? Aren't you afraid it'll come back to haunt you in your dreams?"

Hector's expression changed instantly, fury flashing across his face. "Beatrice, aren't you afraid you'll actually curse your mother to death?"

"You disgusting woman. I really misjudged you!"

His eyes bloodshot, he strode toward me and grabbed the heirloom bracelet on my wrist—the Miranda family's ancestral bracelet.

He yanked it violently. "You're not worthy of wearing the Miranda family's bracelet. Give it back!"

The bracelet dug painfully into my wrist bone as he forcibly ripped it off, bringing tears to my eyes.

He hurled it into the trash can, then turned and pointed at my mother's body. "Take it back. Contact the police and let them handle it!"

I lunged forward and clung to Hector's leg, desperately begging. "She really is my mother! Kendall deliberately destroyed her face. I swear!"

His response was a hard kick to my lower abdomen. "Shut up! I'm sick of listening to your lies!"

Pain exploded through my stomach, and I felt a rush of hot, wet blood between my legs.

I struggled across the floor and grabbed my mother's hand, refusing to let go.

"Give my mother back to me..."

But Hector pried my fingers away one by one. "Beatrice, I don't have the patience to keep playing along with your act. Can't you just behave yourself for once?"

The bodyguards dragged my mother's body away.

A moment later, I heard a car engine roar to life downstairs.

My heart went completely cold.

I raised my head and looked through tear-filled eyes at Hector's face, a face that had become utterly unfamiliar to me.

The last trace of affection I had for him disappeared. In its place was a hatred that surged through me like a storm.

"Hector, I don't love you anymore. I'm leaving you!"

A sudden metallic sweetness flooded my mouth, but I forced myself to swallow it back down.

Hector looked down at me coldly, each word firm and absolute. "You'll always belong to me. If you dare try to run, I'll chain you up myself. You won't even be allowed to leave the house—"

He stopped mid-sentence. His gaze suddenly dropped on the blood soaking through my dress.

"Oh God... Why are you bleeding so much?!" he gasped.

"Beatrice is acting again..." Kendall began.

But Hector brushed past her and scooped me into his arms. He rushed out of the private room.

"Don't be afraid. I'll take you to the hospital!"

...

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Miranda. The severe impact to your abdomen caused a miscarriage." The doctor's words echoed through the hospital corridor.

Hector's mind went blank with a deafening buzz, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.

On the hospital bed, I held my empty lower abdomen. But my tears had long since dried up.

We had spent five years desperately trying for this child.

Medication, injections, and painful procedures. After all those years, we had finally conceived.

Yet by the time I learned she existed, her father had already kicked her out of my life with a single blow.

Hector walked in with red-rimmed eyes. "I'm sorry, Beatrice. I didn't mean to..."

I stared blankly into the dark night beyond the window without saying a word.

At that moment, a pair of strong arms wrapped around me.

His familiar scent, his warm chest.

Two hearts pressed closely together, yet they had long since stopped beating in sync.

Hector's voice was hoarse as he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out the family heirloom bracelet he had thrown away earlier.

He forcibly slipped it back onto my wrist. "We can have another child. I promise. Beatrice, I absolutely won't let you leave me."

After gritting out the words, Hector slowly released me. "What happened today was filmed by someone and posted online. Now Kendall is getting even more hate."

"Have your mother come forward and clear things up. Tell everyone that she was the one behind the photoshopped bed pictures and that she deliberately staged a fake corpse to frame Kendall."

I stared at him in disbelief. "Hector, do you even hear yourself?"

He looked away, a flicker of guilt crossing his face.

"You've always complained that we never had a proper wedding after registering our marriage, haven't you? Give me some time. I'll make it up to you with a million-dollar dream wedding."

I couldn't even cry. Instead, I laughed.

A wedding offered to me after squeezing the very last drop of blood and flesh from my mother? I didn't want it!

"Hector, my mother would never help that vicious woman clear her name!"

Hector's expression gradually hardened. "I knew you'd say that."

He took out his phone and opened a video, holding it up for me to see. "So I already took care of it."

The moment I saw what was playing in the video, my pupils contracted sharply.