I was kidnapped when I was five months pregnant. Tragically, the kidnapper was hired by my husband’s childhood sweetheart, Casey Paul.
My husband, Miquel Walker, was a top lawyer who would rather abandon me and our child to protect his childhood sweetheart. Even when my dad died, he did not come and chose to attend his sweetheart’s puppy's funeral.
I could not help exclaim, "Miquel, so you tell me that my dad is not as important as a puppy?"
He answered "Yes,” without hesitation.
After I filed for divorce, he pretended to be seriously ill and begged me to look back at him.
***
After I opened my eyes, I was in an attic in the wilderness, where Casey and I were kidnapped.
The kidnappers asked my husband to choose between two options and as expected, he chose his first love, Casey.
"You've been married since you were thirty, so your innocence is no longer important to you. That’s why I will go save Casey first, okay?"
After Miquel finished speaking, he ran straight to Casey without even looking at me.
In the next second, the kidnappers' hands kept groping my body. Even though I resisted hard, they not only didn't let me go, but became more and more excited with my reaction.
"Your husband has said that your innocence is worthless, so why don’t you accompany us for having fun?"
I knelt on the ground and kowtowed to them with all my strength. My five-month pregnant belly prevented me from bending down completely, but even so I did not get any sympathy from them.
Miquel had carried Casey away, while my clothes were torn to pieces by the kidnappers.
The human instinct of escape made me run quickly to Miquel, but he just looked at me as if I was garbage.
“It's important to save Casey first. After all, I won't despise you even if you lose your innocence," he said indifferently.
I knelt on the ground and hugged Miquel's legs tightly, begging him to take me away too.
But at that moment, Casey fell into a coma, making Miquel afraid that something might happen to her. As a result, he did not have the patience to argue with me.
The next moment he kicked me and even though I tried my best to protect my belly, I still fell to the ground.
At that moment, I suddenly felt a pain in my abdomen and the feeling of falling made me feel like I was dying.
When I woke up, I was in the hospital, while the baby in my belly had died.
At the moment, my phone screensaver had the message from Miquel and today's hot searches.
[Miquel: Don’t cry over spilled milk. Even if you lose a child today, you can always have another one later. After all, I've already sent you to the hospital, so you better stop making a fuss.]
His message felt like beads from a broken string.
Because when I did my prenatal check-up, the doctor said that I was lucky to have the baby. He even asked us to take good care of that hard-earned child.
But as a father, Miquel did not feel any pity about the baby. How cruel he was.
As for that day’s hot search, it was related to me and Miquel. The first title was, ‘Popular Actress Carla Hess Was Suspected of Being Kidnapped and Lost Her Innocence’
The other one was, ‘Top Lawyer Miquel Walker Bought the Film and Television Rights.’
At that moment, the comment section was full of insults. Some said that I was not worthy of Miquel and some asked me to die as a token of my sin.
At that moment, Casey updated a status for her circle of friends, with a picture of Miquel kissing her forehead and the caption read, "The air is sweet when I am with Miquel."
After the picture was posted, Casey sent me two messages.
[Casey: The trending search that destroyed your innocence was bought by Miquel to protect me. You must be very heartbroken, right?]
[Casey: I came back this time just to take away everything from you, including Miquel.]
Casey spoke arrogantly and confidently and all that confidence was given to her by Miquel.
After recuperating at home for a short while, I returned to the circle.
Miquel had not been home for a long time. He also did not reply to my text messages or answer my phone calls.
I wanted to rest at home for a few more days, but my agent advised me to go out and show up earlier to avoid being misunderstood again.
I thought so too. I could not always rely on Miquel. Sooner or later, I would have to go out and face reality.
As a result, I was interviewed, but the host always asked me about the kidnapping in a vague way.
Since it was a live interview, more and more people came to watch as her interview topic changed.
I could feel her topic pressing on me and I noticed a familiar figure in the crowd.
Upon closer inspection, I found that the person was Casey. I was wondering why the topic of today's interview was so wrong. It turned out that the host was bribed by her.
“Excuse me, Ms. Hess, what do you think about abortion and kidnapping?"
Faced with the host's repeated questioning, I chose to leave directly.
However, she kept handing the microphone to my mouth. I just answered it by smiling and said sorry, then prepared to get up.
But that day she seemed determined to continue interviewing me and kept pulling my sleeve to prevent me from leaving.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Hess. We have already paid you for the interview. Would not it be inappropriate for you to just leave?"
I looked up at the host; she looked at me with provocation and sarcasm.
I handed the microphone back to her and said I could refund all the money.
After that, I went backstage to get my things and leave, Casey also came.
She dressed low-key that day, wearing a mask and a baseball cap.
The outfit was obviously carefully arranged, making it hard not to think that what happened that day had nothing to do with her.
"Ms. Hess, you must be feeling very uncomfortable right now. After losing your child, you can't even rest properly. What’s more, you have to come out and show up in public.
“Miquel probably hasn't been home for a while. I'm sorry he's been with me these past few days."
Listening to Casey's proud and arrogant words, I suppressed the anger in my heart.
We were in public at that moment, with so many eyes staring at me. That was why I could not lose my temper with her, otherwise it would be bad for my reputation.
I kept giving myself psychological counseling in my heart, thinking that there were some things I had not confirmed personally, so I should not misunderstand Miquel.
Finally, I managed to suppress my anger, but the diamond bracelet on Casey's wrist completely broke my heart.
The diamond bracelet on her wrist was the same as mine. That diamond bracelet was given to me by Miquel on my birthday, that was the day before yesterday.
Miquel knew the exact size of my bracelet, but the size of the bracelet he bought that time was a bit small. He said it was a problem with artificial additives, so I believed him at the time.
But I realized the truth after I saw the diamond bracelet that Casey deliberately showed me.
The treasure that I got turned out to be her leftovers.
Chapter 2
Casey walked towards me step by step, trying to let me see the diamond bracelet on her wrist more clearly.
Then she gently shook the diamond bracelet twice as if showing off a treasure.
"Miss Hess, the pattern and base color of the diamond bracelet on your wrist are the same as mine, but your diamond bracelet seems to have impurities."
Looking at Casey's smug look, I secretly clenched my fists.
“Thank you for your concern, Miss Paul. It is common to have a similar bracelet after all, so it is not my concern right now. Please excuse me because I have something to do and need to leave now."
Just before I took my first step, she sneered, "Carla, be careful when you go home. Don't break the gift that Miquel gave you."
The word ‘gift’ from her mouth hurt my heart deeply.
It turned out that the diamond bracelet I had always treasured was actually a leftover piece from someone else.
Not long after I returned home, Miquel also came back.
Even though I was angry in my heart, I still felt sorry for him when I saw his tired eyes.
I had prepared earlier and had already forgotten. I walked to his side and wanted to take the briefcase from his hand, but at that moment Casey walked out from behind him.
Miquel saw my eyes fall on Casey, he immediately stood in front of his childhood sweetheart, fearing that I would hurt her.
“I haven't been back these past few days because I was accompanying Casey to see a doctor. She hasn't recovered from the shock she suffered from the last kidnapping.
"I brought her back so that I could take better care of her. Don't think too much about it."
After Miquel finished speaking, he took Casey's hand and led her to his bedroom.
For so many years, he and I have been sleeping separately. He always said that he went to bed late and was afraid of disturbing me. He also told me not to enter his bedroom easily because there were work materials in it.
But at that time, Casey, who had nothing to do with him, could enter at will. What was the difference between that and slapping me in the face in public then?
After coming out of Miquel's room, Casey said that it was her favorite bedroom on the second floor.
At that moment, she was walking in front like a child, laughing and talking happily, while Miquel was like her supporter.
Sometimes he reminded her to be careful with her steps and sometimes he stroked her head.
In the end, the bedroom Casey chose was the one I lived in at that time. She looked at Miquel pitifully.
“Miquel, I like this bedroom, but it looks like someone has lived in it. Could it be Carla's bedroom?
“But it's okay, I'll just change it."
Casey deliberately sobbed twice, trying to make herself appear more pitiful.
Miquel smiled and scratched her nose. After a while, he said, "Since you like it, this bedroom is for you to live in. I'll ask her to move out later."
Casey took the initiative to hug Miquel's waist and rubbed her head against his chest twice before saying, “Thank you, Miquel. I knew you are the best."
Miquel’s flustered face was like a knife stabbing my heart.
We were obviously husband and wife, but why did their intimate appearance at that moment made me feel like an outsider?
At that moment, the resentment that had been accumulating in my heart for a long time gradually erupted.
"When I lost my child, you were accompanying her to see the doctor. The trending searches about me being kidnapped were also to suppress the rumors about her.
“Who exactly is your wife, Miquel? Why should I move out?"
Miquel saw me arguing with him, he looked at me with displeasure on his face.
The sweet appearance he had shown towards Casey just then disappeared and when it was his turn to look at me, there was only coldness and impatience in his eyes.
"It doesn't matter if you lose your innocence at the age of 30. Casey is only in her early twenties and has a bright future. What's wrong with you helping her?"
I looked at Miquel with disbelief in my eyes. I couldn't believe that the man I had loved for so many years could be so cruel.
"But the person who kidnapped me was hired by Casey. If you don't believe me, I can take a screenshot and show it to you."
As Casey heard me say to take a screenshot, she was shocked.
Because when Casey sent me the message, she just wanted to provoke me and make me quarrel with Miquel, which could make us get divorced.
Seeing me looking through my phone for chat records, Casey started crying and pretending to be pitiful.
“Miquel, don't believe what Carla said. How could I possibly frame her?"
Seeing Casey crying, Miquel could no longer sit still. She hugged her in her arms and kept comforting her.
I found the chat history, I put the phone in front of Miquel, trying to let him know everything.
"Miquel, look at yourself and see if the person who said these things to me is Casey. Why can't you believe me?"
When Casey saw me handing the phone to Miquel, she cried even harder.
Miquel snatched the phone I handed over and threw it aside.
"Do you think Casey is as vicious as you? Even though she was the one who brought the person here, you didn't get hurt at all.
"Carla, do you find it interesting that you keep being aggressive?"
Miquel finished speaking, he still felt a little unsatisfied and kicked the phone that he had dropped on the ground again.
Soon, I realized if Miquel would never listen to me anymore, because he trusted his childhood friend more than me.
If it was about Casey, Miquel couldn’t tell which was right and which was wrong.
In his mind, I had always been an image of a vicious woman. In other words, there was no place for me in his heart anymore.
Chapter 3
Miquel had not come back since our last quarrel.
I tried to numb myself with work so that I wouldn't care so much about him.
At the same time, I was also betting on when he would come back and kept brainwashing myself that he might be busy and might still have me in his heart.
Until the afternoon when I received the news that my father had passed away, everything changed completely.
When I arrived at the hospital, he had already failed to be resuscitated.
He died of liver cancer, a congenital disease. Even though I spent a lot of money on his treatment, I was ultimately unable to save my father's life.
My mother passed away early and it was not easy for my father to raise me alone.
I had advised him to find another one before, but he was always afraid that I would be wronged.
I squatted helplessly in the corner. My child was gone, my father was gone and all my blood relatives in the world were gone.
It meant I was alone in that big city, right?
In the end, I could only call Miquel.
I calmed myself down and tried to speak more lightly so as not to make him too nervous and worried.
But the moment I heard his voice on the phone, I couldn't stop crying.
“Miquel, my father passed away. Come over when you have time."
I thought that no matter what grudges we had between us, he would still come for my dad's sake.
But I still overestimated how cruel Miquel was.
“Miquel, please try the little cake I made myself," Casey's joyful voice came from the other end of the phone and Miquel nodded to her gently.
Then he replied to me with three cold and heartless words, "I have no time, I am busy."
That kind of Miquel made me feel unfamiliar. So, I called him again, but no one answered.
It was not that he did not see it, because he just directly put me on the blacklist.
It turned out that I was so insignificant in his heart.
I handled my father's funeral on my own, but Casey seemed to think that I was not miserable enough and took the initiative to send messages to provoke me.
[Casey: Carla, the time your father passed away today is the time when my puppy also passed away. So, Miquel is accompanying me to the puppy's funeral.]
Listening to Casey's words, my heart sank.
I thought she was trying to provoke me on purpose, but the next moment Miquel and Casey updated their WhatsApp Status at the same time, I learnt the truth.
Casey updated a photo of a puppy with the caption that read, "Chloe, who has been with me for three years, has passed away. I hope you can find your mother in your next life."
Miquel posted a photo of him holding hands with Casey and they both wore the same ring on their ring fingers.
I remember that ring was a new model from a well-known foreign brand.
When I wanted to buy it and wear it with him, Miquel said, "You will only wear it on special occasions, so it's a waste of money, unless you wear it every day. But I know your habit, Carla."
Looking at the WhatsApp Status they posted simultaneously, I took the initiative to send a WhatsApp message to Miquel.
[Carla: So, you think it's okay to wear a ring that's a waste of money with someone else. Also, when you say you can't come to my dad's funeral, you are just accompanying Casey to her puppy’s funeral. Am I not as important as her?"]
Miquel on the other end of the phone answered without any hesitation.
[Miquel: It's not that you are unimportant, but you are not as good as Casey in any way, including her puppy.]