Chapter 2

Maya's POV

Vanessa took several steps back, avoiding Adrian's outstretched hand.

"The doctor said I'm only a month along. Ending the pregnancy now wouldn't have much of an impact."

She lowered her head, her voice trembling with sobs.

"I'll sign the divorce papers. I won't ask for anything. Adrian, just focus on making things right with Maya."

With that, she turned and rushed toward the door.

Adrian immediately chased after her.

I reached out to stop him. "You're going to explain everything to me before you leave!"

He shoved me aside.

"Maya, stop being unreasonable!"

"This is between Vanessa and me. What right do you have to force her into anything?"

"After you humiliated her back then, her mental health was in terrible shape. I've spent years helping her recover, one day at a time. What are you trying to do now? Push her over the edge all over again?"

I stumbled backward.

A shard of glass at my feet sliced across the side of my neck. A sharp pain shot through me, and my vision went black. Warm blood trickled down my skin and soaked into my collar.

Just before I collapsed, I heard Marcus cry out in panic.

"Adrian! Maya's bleeding badly!"

But Adrian only replied impatiently, "Call an ambulance and get her out of here. Then have someone clean up the floor. Vanessa can't handle this kind of scene."

I lost consciousness completely.

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

Nurses were talking quietly outside my room.

"Vanessa is so lucky. Her husband has been by her side in the VIP ward the whole time. He even accompanies her whenever the doctors make their rounds."

"The woman in this room is badly hurt, too. She nearly injured her carotid artery, and she hasn't had a single visitor."

"Same hospital, same kind of patient. What a difference."

I raised a hand and touched the bandage on my neck.

The wound still throbbed.

But I no longer wanted to shed another tear over Adrian.

I had just managed to push myself upright when the door burst open.

Adrian strode toward me and seized my wrist.

"Maya, what the hell are you trying to do?"

"Wasn't it enough to make a scene in person? Now you've got the media attacking Vanessa online, too?"

I stared at him in disbelief.

"I didn't do anything."

He gave me a cold laugh and shoved his phone in front of my face.

The screen was flooded with negative stories about Vanessa.

Some people had exposed her past affair with Adrian. Others questioned how a secretary who had once been fired had suddenly become the wife of a corporate CEO.

There were even posts raising doubts about Adrian's supposed death.

The company's stock price had taken a hit as well.

"And you still dare to deny it?"

Adrian glared at me, his eyes icy.

"Didn't your best friend used to work for that media outlet? When has she ever refused to stand up for you?"

I struggled to pull my hand free.

"She left that job a long time ago."

"Enough!"

He cut me off sharply.

"Maya, I never thought you'd turn into this kind of person."

"You used to be so kind. Now you're willing to destroy Vanessa and the baby she's carrying just to get revenge on me."

His tone softened slightly as he continued.

"Have you forgotten how much it hurt when you lost your own baby?"

My entire body went rigid.

Five years ago, I had only just found out I was pregnant when I discovered Adrian's affair.

That day, I returned home from the hospital, eager to share the good news with him. But when I pushed open our bedroom door, I heard the sickening sounds of intimacy coming from inside.

I stormed into the room and found him in bed with Vanessa, both of them naked and wrapped in each other's arms.

I lost control. I rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and charged back toward them.

But Adrian's first instinct was to shield Vanessa. He shoved me away with such force that I crashed into the vanity.

Pain tore through my abdomen.

Before I could even cry out, blood had already soaked through my dress.

That was how I lost my baby.

Later, Adrian knelt before me and swore on his own life that he had ended things with Vanessa for good.

I forgave him.

And then he faked his death, using it as an escape from me, so he could build a life with that woman in plain sight.

I raised my head. My eyes felt painfully dry.

"Adrian, you have no right to bring up my baby."

"Vanessa can be your wife, but she'll never change the fact that she once came between two people who were in a relationship."

His face turned livid.

"I told you, this is between you and me! It has nothing to do with her!"

Then he leaned closer, lowering his voice to a menacing whisper.

"You've spent all these years working yourself to the bone to pay for heart surgery for the woman who adopted you, haven't you?"

My whole body stiffened.

"I heard the hospital has finally found a suitable donor."

He straightened and looked down at me coldly.

"You'd better think carefully about what you should say and what you shouldn't do."

"Otherwise, I can't promise your mother's surgery will go smoothly."