ManyWriters

On the day I was seven months pregnant, Alaric proposed to his pure love.
That woman took off the ring Alaric had placed on her finger himself and tossed it into the sea.
"Alaric, I heard Miss Langdon used to be a state swim team champion. Why don't you have her jump in and fetch my ring for me?"
Her finger traced Alaric's pecs as she breathed into his ear, "I'll play any game you want tonight."
Alaric's heated gaze roamed over her legs, then he turned to me with a smirk.
I understood his meaning and frantically clutched my belly, pleading, "Alaric, I'm seven months pregnant, and it's winter..."
But Alaric just swallowed hard and scoffed, "You don't actually think I care about that bastard in your belly, do you? It's not like you haven't miscarried before. Why act all precious now? Jump in and find that ring, or you're never coming back up!"
He had someone forcibly lift me and throw me into the sea.
I bobbed up and down in the frigid water, searching back and forth for hours.
Until I felt something draining from my belly, until the azure sea water was stained with a streak of crimson...
I looked up at the scene on the cruise ship, where Alaric was marrying his pure love amid the cheers of the crowd, and my heart finally shattered.
Seven years of marriage, nine miscarriages, this was the last time.

Seven Months Pregnant into the Sea to Retrieve a Ring

That night, Aria and I were leaving our state swim team practice when we encountered a group of hooligans at the entrance of a pitch-black alley.


In that critical moment, Aria lunged at the group, screaming for me to run with all her might.


I was paralyzed with fear, but instinctively lifted my feet and ran out of the alley without looking back, searching for help.


But when I returned with others, I only saw Aria lying in a pool of blood, her clothes in disarray...


To this day, I still remember at the funeral home during our final farewell, Alaric, with bloodshot eyes, suddenly dragged me to the courthouse to get married.


Ignoring my cries and pleas, he forcibly took me at the very place where Aria was killed, which felt like a nightmare to me.


"Vivienne, this is only the beginning..."


"Your soul will be trapped here, trapped in the Everhart family, atoning for my sister's death for the rest of your life!"


From that moment on, I found myself in what seemed like an endless nightmare.


I trapped myself in that long, dark alley, constantly getting pregnant and miscarrying, torturing myself to the point of insanity.


But now, I'm exhausted. Even if it means death, I don't want to continue anymore.


Dr. Harrington, the obstetrician, is a good friend of mine.


Facing me as I was admitted to the hospital for yet another miscarriage, looking as frail and pale as a sheet of paper, she let out a sigh.


"Vivienne, this is your ninth miscarriage already."


"You should know how much damage pregnancy and miscarriage can do to a woman's body. You won't be able to have children in the future."


Fighting against my heavy eyelids, I forced a smile at her.


"That's alright. I don't... want to have children anymore anyway."


Myra seemed to hesitate, but ultimately offered some words of comfort: "How long are you going to keep torturing yourself? What happened wasn't your fault at all. If Miss Everhart is watching from heaven, she wouldn't want to see you destroying yourself like this!"


At the mention of Aria, I clenched my fingers tightly, then took a deep breath.


"You're right. That's why I've come to terms with it. I've decided to be a little selfish and let myself off the hook."


On the way back to the Everhart estate from the hospital, I received a call from Alaric, demanding that I get my ass back to the mansion right away.


The time displayed on my phone coincided with the anniversary of Aria's death.


I knew the Everhart family's annual program targeting me was about to begin once again.


Since Aria's incident, not only does Alaric hate me, but the Everhart family naturally won't let me off either.


The first year, Mrs. Everhart whipped me until my skin split open in front of her daughter's memorial tablet.


The second year, they forced me to kowtow every steps from the alley where Aria's incident occurred, all the way to Aria's gravestone.


Now, I've been drowning in this torment for seven long years.


As soon as I stepped through the threshold of the Everhart family home, Mrs. Everhart ordered the housekeeper to hold me down and forcibly strip off my clothes.


Fighting through the weakness and pain of post-miscarriage cramps, I was about to struggle when a bucket of black dog's blood was poured over me from head to toe.


Mrs. Everhart, holding a whip, looked at me with a cold sneer: "Vivienne, married for seven years, nine miscarriages, and you still say you're not a jinx?"


"How could our Everhart family be so unlucky to end up with someone like you?"


"You brought death to my precious daughter, to your own parents, and now you can't even keep your own child alive!" Seeing her mention my parents, a flicker of pain finally crossed my emotionless, numb gaze.


My mom and dad died in a car accident while taking me to the hospital for my fifth miscarriage.


Chapter 3