Chapter 2

I've heard those hurtful words more times than I can count. In the past, each time I heard them, my heart would ache a little more.

I would always foolishly confront Xavion, asking:

"This is your child too. How can you say such things?!"

Whenever this happened, Xavion would just stare at me coldly, driving me mad with his silence.

But now, I felt numb, completely devoid of emotion.

Maybe it was because the miscarriage had left my body weak, but the cool breeze from the window made me feel especially cold.

"Xavion, could you please close the window? I'm freezing. The doctor said I shouldn't catch a chill during postpartum recovery. Thanks."

My voice was hoarse, my tone distant.

The doctors had given me the same instructions after my previous miscarriages.

Xavion's face remained cold, his words cutting like a winter's blade.

"You had a miscarriage, not a baby. What postpartum rest? Are you using this miscarriage as another excuse to slack off and avoid going back to the family estate to take care of my mother?"

With that, Xavion turned to leave. He'd been here for half an hour, and his patience had long since run out.

Before he left, he made a point of opening all the windows.

"Tch, can't catch a chill?"I want to see what happens if you catch a cold. Are you, an actress, getting too high and mighty? Ridiculous."

I silently listened to these words, just as I had for the past five years, bearing Xavion's hatred alone.

But now, I'm exhausted. I don't want to carry the burden of Madam Winters' death anymore, nor do I want to be the punching bag for the entire Winters family.

Five years ago, the story of the wedding ring descended upon Xavion and me.

I was the star performer at the opera house, while Xavion was a well-known playboy in high society circles.

One day, he and his friends stumbled into the theater to watch a show, and that's how we met and fell in love.

As our feelings deepened, Xavion brought me back to the Winters family mansion.

The Winters family was wealthy and influential, with generations of business marriages. Xavion was the exception.

He refused.

Not a single person in the entire Winters family liked me.

Except for Madam Winters.

Madam Winters was over ninety, and her health was gradually declining.The physical decline of her organs forced her, the once-powerful matriarch of the Winters family, to step down from her position and take to a wheelchair.

She was the only person in the Winters family who supported my relationship with Xavion.

She was very fond of me, often asking Xavion to bring me to the Winters estate to keep her company.

Xavion had been raised by her, and she frequently regaled me with stories of his childhood.

But as she spoke, the air around her grew heavy with sorrow.

Through fragments of her tale, I learned that Madam Winters had a childhood sweetheart before her arranged marriage.

However, everything had been unavoidable.

Later on, Madam Winters lost even the ability to speak.

Yet despite this, she still went against the family's wishes and approved of Xavion marrying me.

On the eve of our wedding preparations, Xavion and I took Grandma out for a walk.

As we reached a downhill path in the park, Grandma wrote on a piece of paper that she was thirsty. Xavion ran off to buy water, leaving me to watch over her.

In that brief moment, Grandma seemed to spot someone she knew from long ago and became very excited.

I held onto the wheelchair and looked around, but couldn't see a single soul."Serenity!"

Xavion's voice rang out behind me, and I turned around.

In that split second, the wheelchair rolled down the slope...

My carelessness led to tragedy.

After dealing with Madam Winters' funeral arrangements, Xavion still married me, but no longer out of love. Instead, it was out of hatred.

"Serenity, you'll be trapped in the Winters family, struggling and atoning for the rest of your life!"