Chapter 3

Serena's POV

Adrian shot to his feet.

"Tell me who that man is!"

I reached for my medical report.

"Mr. Rockwood, we're here to discuss the project. If you have no further questions, let's get started."

But he refused to move aside.

After the meeting, I had barely stepped out of the elevator when he cornered me in the hallway.

"Get rid of the babies."

I wondered if I'd heard him correctly.

"What did you just say?"

"I said, get rid of the babies."

Adrian grabbed my arm, obsession burning in his wolf eyes.

"If you're willing to come back to me, I'll overlook where you've been for the past three years.  I'll even pretend the man you've been with never existed."

He grew more agitated with every word.

"I can give you shares in the Rockwood family fortune, all my personal assets, even the entire company. I'll give you anything you want, as long as you come back."

I struggled free.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"I know you still love me!"

He acted as though he hadn't heard a word I'd said.

"I was wrong three years ago. I shouldn't have sent you to that facility. But your mental state was so unstable back then!"

I was so furious that I actually laughed.

"So you think forcing a woman who's thirty-six weeks pregnant to terminate her pregnancy is also for her own good?"

"I..."

"Adrian, you locked me in a room without a single window. You let those people inject me with suppressants and force me to take medication. You even let them pin me to the floor and beat me."

"Adrian, you locked me in a windowless room. You let those people force medication down my throat, inject me with suppressants, and pin me to the floor whenever I resisted."

I slowly rolled up my sleeve.

The gruesome scar on the inside of my arm was still there, an ugly reminder of everything I'd endured.

Adrian's expression changed.

His gaze locked onto the scar, and for the first time, I saw the color drain from his face.

He stared at it as though he couldn't understand what he was looking at.

"Serena..."

His voice cracked.

"What happened to your arm?"

I let out a bitter laugh.

"You're asking me that now?"

He took an unsteady step closer, his hand trembling as he reached toward the scar.

"Let me see."

I immediately pulled my arm away.

"Don't touch me!"

His hand stopped in midair.

For a moment, he looked completely lost.

"Was it... the staff?"

I stared at him coldly.

"You sent me there, Adrian. You signed the papers. You ignored every desperate phone call I made. Does it really matter who held me down when you were the one who put me there?"

His face turned ashen.

"I didn't know it was this bad..."

"No. You didn't want to know."

I pulled my sleeve back down.

"And my children were conceived out of love between my husband and me. No one is going to hurt them."

My voice grew colder with every word.

"If you ever try to harm them, I'll make sure you and the entire Rockwood family pay for it."

Adrian stumbled backward.

"You weren't like this before..."

I met his gaze without the slightest hesitation.

"You're right. I wasn't."

I paused.

"Because I used to believe you loved me."

Just then, a soft female voice interrupted us.

"Adrian?"

Ivy approached, holding a cup of coffee.

"Why did you suddenly come all the way over here? I've been waiting in the office for you to have lunch together."

When she noticed me, her familiar innocent expression immediately appeared.

"Serena, you're here too."

I didn't respond.

Ivy, however, took the initiative to approach me.

"What happened in the past was all my fault. If I hadn't kept asking Adrian for help, the two of you wouldn't have had so many problems."

She lowered her head, her voice full of wounded innocence.

"That time at the airport, I was the one who asked him to pick me up. If you need someone to blame, blame me. Please don't make Adrian so miserable anymore."

The same old act.

Three years ago, she'd used that exact trick to provoke me countless times.

The moment I showed even the slightest displeasure, she'd retreat behind Adrian and play the victim.

And Adrian would always take her side.

Back then, jealousy would have driven me out of my mind.

Now, I was simply sick of it.

"Save the theatrics."

I looked at her.

"You're laying it on too thick."