Chapter 2

After the transfusion, I was chained beneath Lily's hospital bed, utterly humiliated and stripped of all dignity.

Diane Hart, Vanessa's mother, glared at me. Seeing that I was awake, she abruptly slapped me hard across the face. "You son of a bitch! I definitely made the right decision not to let you be with Vanessa back then! How could you harm a baby like that?"

Since I was already weak, I felt as if I were at death's door when Vanessa's parents beat me. Meanwhile, Vanessa just stood by and watched. Her eyes, which originally had been full of love, were now only filled with indifference.

"Ethan, this is what you deserve!" Richard Hart, Vanessa's father, sneered and kicked me in the groin.

Immediately, I felt a sharp pain in my lower body and screamed in agony.

In the last moment before I closed my eyes, I saw Vanessa running anxiously toward me.

When I woke up again, I heard Vanessa's voice before I even opened my eyes.

"Maybe it's for the best that he can't have children anymore. If Ethan could hurt Lily before having a child of his own, who knows what he would do if he really became a father?" she remarked.

She paused before continuing coldly, "Besides, my mother would never acknowledge Ethan's child anyway. The heir of the Hart family will only be Caleb's child."

A tear silently rolled down my cheek as I wondered if Vanessa ever truly loved me.

I opened my eyes only after the footsteps had faded away. My hand trembled as I touched the stitched wound on my lower body.

Just then, Caleb walked into the ward. He sneered upon seeing my weak state.

"Ethan, you're not even a man anymore. You don't have a child of your own, either. Should we start calling you a childless has-been?"

After saying that, he burst into laughter.

With my last bit of strength, I smashed the IV bottle against him.

However, Caleb wasn't angry at all. Instead, he deliberately fell to the ground.

A second later, Vanessa slapped me hard across the face, and I vomited a mouthful of blood.

"Ethan! What are you doing?"

In a tearful tone, Caleb explained aggrievedly, "Vanessa, please don't hit Ethan. I only came in because I wanted to thank him for donating blood to Lily…" 

He sniffled before adding, "But he probably thought I was provoking him and attacked me without warning. It was my fault."

Vanessa cast me a look of sheer disappointment before helping Caleb up.

"Ethan, I never imagined you would become such a vile person. You really are nothing like Caleb. Maybe I should have listened to my mother back then."

With that, she turned around and left without hesitation.

Looking at Caleb's smug expression, I laughed until tears filled my eyes.

Vanessa was not the only one who had made the wrong choice. I had too.