“If you would just apologize publicly, we could still live together peacefully. I’ll give you a child. Why won’t you agree?”
I had no interest in arguing with him. I hid my phone securely.
Just then, Heidi spoke softly.
“Caleb, go get another bowl of porridge. Mr. Fang doesn’t seem unreasonable. We can talk calmly.”
As soon as Caleb walked away, she dropped the gentle facade and forced me into the corner.
Her voice was low, like a snake hissing.
“Do you know why I hit your father? Because he deserved it. Who told him to show off in front of me? Caleb belongs to me. Even if he marries you, he is still mine. Your father deserved what happened.”
I couldn’t help but throw a punch, but my body was covered in injuries. I was no match for her.
In an instant, she had me pinned to the ground.
She stepped on my chest and leaned down, her lips brushing my ear.
“If you insist on being disobedient, I’ll make sure you learn your lesson. Your father died in prison because of you.”
I struggled and raked my nails across her ankle, leaving a deep scratch.
Seeing Caleb about to come out, Heidi immediately clutched her forehead and let herself collapse onto the floor as if she had been shoved.
Caleb saw her fall, and the bowl in his hand shattered against the ground with a sharp crack that tore through the air.
He rushed toward us, screaming, his fury twisting his face into something monstrous.
“Julia! How dare you touch Heidi? Can you afford to compensate for the child she’s carrying? You and your father’s lives wouldn’t be enough!”
He charged forward, grabbed my shoulders, and shoved.
I was thrown hard, my back slamming into the sharp corner of the entryway like a heavy hammer striking me.
Pain exploded in my chest. My vision went black. I staggered, then collapsed.
I heard Caleb’s hysterical roaring, Heidi’s fake frightened sobs, and the murmurs of people around us.
The noises tangled together, stabbing into my ears like countless needles.
I tried to push myself up, but my body refused to move.
My consciousness cracked open, leaking away rapidly.
In the last moment before everything went dark, I saw Caleb glaring at me with a frown, yet still holding Heidi protectively, terrified that she might be startled.
Then the darkness swallowed me completely.
When I opened my eyes again, the first thing that hit me was the sharp smell of disinfectant.