Chapter 4

Seeing me, he froze, rubbing his eyes in disbelief: "I can't believe I'm seeing my darling. This booze is really something else."

Ethan slumped onto the couch. Watching him continuously pour alcohol down his throat, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.

I walked over to him.

"Ethan......"

Before I could finish, he pulled me tightly into his arms, mumbling with his eyes closed: "Darling, I miss you so much. Can you please not leave me?"

"I know I've wronged you."

"I shouldn't have cheated, shouldn't have imprisoned you, and most of all, I shouldn't have secretly had the doctor remove your uterus."

"I thought that would keep you by my side forever, but you still left me."

Ethan's words hit me like a bolt from the blue. In that instant, I felt as if all the blood in my body had frozen.

"What did you say?"

I looked at Ethan, my eyes filled with disbelief.

"What exactly happened back then? Why did you have the doctor remove my uterus?"

"Darling, please don't blame me......"

Ethan tightened his grip around me, the strong smell of alcohol assaulting my senses.

"It was Lorne who told me."She said that if a woman loses her ability to bear children, she completely forfeits her right to choose a partner and will only cling to a man like a vine."

"My darling, you're so exceptional. This is the only way I could keep you."

"Please don't hate me..."

Ethan kept talking, but I couldn't hear a single word.

My mind was echoing with what he had just said.

So... it was all a carefully woven lie he had crafted.

I never lost my ability to have children due to severe bleeding.

Instead, it was because he wanted to trap me, to make me permanently dependent on him, robbing me of my right to be a mother.

I hate him so much!

It felt like a giant hand was squeezing my heart tight. The pain was so intense I could barely breathe.

Looking at Ethan, who was still muttering to himself, my tears fell like pearls from a broken string, unstoppable.

Why?

Zoran, you're the one who broke your vows, yet you claim to love me while doing something that will make me suffer for the rest of my life.

I couldn't bear to be in the same room with Ethan anymore.

I broke free from his embrace and ran out as fast as I could.

I ran and ran desperately, not stopping even when I felt my lungs were about to burst.Suffocation, dizziness, and pain assaulted my body in waves.

How I longed to just die right then and there!

If I could choose, I would rather have never met Ethan at all.

I ran to the beach and walked into the sea without hesitation.

One meter, two meters, three meters...

The water gradually rose to my chest.

I gave up on everything and fell backwards.

The salty, foul-smelling seawater rushed violently into my nostrils.

My vision went black, and I lost all consciousness.

However, I didn't die.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself locked in a small, dim room.

I tried to move my stiff body but discovered that my hands and feet were all tied up with rope.

I suddenly felt panicked.

It reminded me of those days when I was held captive by Ethan.

"Awake?"

A familiar voice rang out, and a flash of surprise crossed my eyes.

"Lorne?"

I struggled to speak, my throat feeling like I had swallowed countless razor blades.

"That's right, it's me."

Lorne walked elegantly towards me, holding a cup of coffee in his hand.