Chapter 2

Rosalyn's POV

When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed.

Instinctively, I reached for my belly, only to find it empty.

"Mrs. Montfort, you're awake?" A nurse beside me asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Where's my baby?" I grabbed her hand frantically, my voice hoarse. "Is my baby gone?"

The nurse sighed. "You lost too much blood. The baby couldn't be saved. By the time you got to the hospital..."

I didn't hear another word after that. I just felt like my whole world had collapsed.

Even though this child came from Valentina's egg.

I had hoped for four years and carefully protected it for six months, and now it was just gone.

This really was karma.

I closed my eyes as tears slid down my cheeks.

"Rosalyn! You bitch!"

The hospital room door suddenly burst open.

Valentina rushed in and slapped me hard across the face.

"You lost my baby! Give me back my child!"

"Tina, calm down." Lysander walked into the room.

He didn't even glance at me. He went straight to Valentina, put his arm around her shoulder, and gently pulled her into his embrace.

"Stop crying. It breaks my heart."

Valentina looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, her voice whiny and coquettish.

"Lysander, our baby is gone... Rosalyn, this useless woman, couldn't even keep a baby safe..."

Lysander lowered his head and kissed her forehead, his voice gentle. "It's okay, Tina. This was just an accident. We can have Rosalyn get pregnant again."

Hearing him say this, my whole body trembled, my nails digging into my palms.

"Lysander!" I pushed myself up from the bed. The wound in my abdomen sent tearing pain through me, but I didn't care. "Are you crazy? You want me to keep having babies for you two? What do you think I am? A breeding machine?"

Lysander didn't answer, just frowned slightly.

Valentina lifted her head from his embrace. The tear stains were still on her face, but a cold smile had already appeared at the corners of her mouth.

"Rosalyn, don't you love Lysander? Didn't you say you'd do anything for him? What's wrong, you won't even have a baby for him?"

I was shaking all over with anger. I looked up at him, this man I once thought would love me forever.

His eyes were deep brown, and they used to be full of tenderness and affection every time he looked at me.

This man who gave me warmth and hope when I was at my most vulnerable and lonely.

Now he saw me as nothing more than a cold breeding machine.

"Lysander..."

My tears wouldn't stop falling.

"Why are you doing this to me? Was everything between us fake? Did you never love me?"

Lysander looked at me, expressionless. "Yes. Rosalyn, aside from being able to have children, you have no value to me."

In that moment, my faith collapsed. I completely lost hope in Lysander.

"I want a divorce." I said it calmly.

The room went quiet for a moment.

Then Lysander laughed.

"Divorce?" He let go of Valentina and walked to my bedside, looking down at me.

"Rosalyn, do you think the Montfort family is somewhere you can come and go as you please?"

"Lysander, stop wasting your breath on her." Valentina came over and took his arm, her chin slightly raised.

"Rosalyn, I suggest you be smart about this. The manor you live in, every penny you spend, all belongs to the Montfort family. What do you think you'll have left after a divorce?"

After saying this, she turned to the servant Mary behind her.

"Starting today, you're in charge of taking care of Rosalyn's meals and daily needs. Make sure she gets proper nutrition so she can undergo the second IVF procedure as soon as possible."

Mary nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

I was stunned. I looked at Mary, then at Lysander.

"You're going to keep me prisoner?" I asked him in disbelief. "Lysander, you can't do this to me! I'm your wife! I'm not your prisoner!"

Lysander didn't answer. Instead, he turned around and walked out with his arm around Valentina's shoulder.

When they reached the door, Valentina looked back at me and said with a smile, "A breeding tool, and you think you deserve more?"

She deliberately emphasized "breeding tool," then covered her mouth and laughed.

I collapsed on the bed, finally understanding my situation.

I was alone in the room. Mary brought in a bowl of oatmeal and placed it on the bedside table.

I slowly sat up from the bed. The wound in my abdomen was still throbbing with pain.

But the physical pain was nothing compared to what I felt inside.

I picked up the bowl of oatmeal and smashed it to pieces, then grabbed one of the shards and aimed it at my left wrist.

Since I had no way to escape from here.

I chose to end my own life.

I would rather die than have a second child for Valentina.

I closed my eyes. My hand moved quickly. Warm blood flowed out, and the sheets were soon stained red.

I felt my body becoming lighter, my consciousness fading.

Mary's screaming voice grew more and more distant.

"Something's wrong! She's trying to kill herself! Someone help!"

The door was knocked open. Footsteps and shouts blended together.

My last thought was, I'm sorry, Mom.

If only I had listened to you back then and not married Lysander.

Would none of this have happened?

And there was Leon, the son who shared no blood with me, but whom I carried for ten months and gave birth to.

I would never get to see him one last time.

In the darkness, I heard someone calling my name from far, far away.

It sounded like my mother's voice.

I wanted to answer, but I couldn't open my mouth.

Then, a beam of light fell from above, warm and bright, as if someone had opened a window in the ceiling.

I slowly opened my eyes.

What I saw wasn't the hospital ceiling, but the bedroom Lysander and I once shared.

I was lying in the big bed, my wrist wrapped in thick bandages, the sheets clean and soft.

"You're awake?" A voice came from beside the bed.

I turned my head.

Lysander was sitting in a chair by the bed, holding a bowl.

"Come on, drink your medicine first." He brought the spoon to my lips, his voice gentle.

I looked at him. The fireplace light cast his features in a soft, warm glow.

For a moment, I thought it had all been just a nightmare.

I thought I was still the happy Mrs. Montfort, cherished by my husband, living in this magnificent manor, living the life every woman envied.

But the wound under the bandage on my wrist was throbbing with pain, reminding me that everything before had been real.

I knew my suicide attempt had failed, and Lysander had brought me back home.

I suddenly grabbed Lysander's hand, tears streaming down my face.

"Lysander, please, just let me go."

Lysander's body clearly stiffened.