Chapter 4
“Therese, whether you acknowledge it or not, those children are my flesh and blood. You must treat them well!” Ryan thundered.
“If you don’t want to be thrown out, change your attitude and apologize to Daisy. Do that, and I’ll let today’s incident slide.”
I lifted my eyes, my gaze colder than ice.
“Ryan, you and she are the ones who wronged me. Why should I apologize?”
“Do you even realize the child in my womb… It was because of you-”
Before I could finish, Ryan cut me off with a mocking snort.
“You’re not seriously saying you’re pregnant too, are you?”
“Lie if you must, but at least make it believable. The doctor already said your uterus was damaged. You can’t get pregnant. You can’t even fake it properly, can you?”
“If you’re so stubborn, then get out there and kneel in the rose garden until you come to your senses. Don’t come back until you apologize!”
My whole body trembled. I stared at him in disbelief.
That rose garden… was the one he had personally planted when he proposed to me.
He knew I loved roses, but I had a severe allergy. I could only admire them from afar. Since I couldn’t accept bouquets, he gifted me an entire field of roses instead. He once said, “Flowers will wither, but my love for you never will.”
But now… that same love had become a prison of thorns.
Ryan ignored my struggles and forced my head down, pressing me to kneel among the
roses.
The thorns pierced into my flesh, sharp and merciless. I couldn’t stop trembling from the pain.
Pollen filled my throat with every breath, suffocating me. I could barely breathe.
I screamed out in desperation.
“Ryan, are you insane?! You know I’m allergic to pollen! You’re going to kill me!”
He simply stepped back with cold detachment, wrapping his arms around Daisy as he watched me suffer.
At that moment, I felt my heart turn to ash.
All the love I had given him was reduced to nothing but dust.
I knelt there all night, drifting in and out of consciousness, until someone finally dragged me out of the roses.
In the haze, I fell into a familiar embrace.
Ryan let out a sigh and gently brushed the dirt from my face.
“Therese, why do you have to be so stubborn? You can’t have children anyway. I’m only doing this for your own good.”
“As long as you agree to raise the kids, I’ll send Daisy away. We can go back to how things were.”
I pushed him away, face expressionless.
His stunned eyes followed me as I pulled out the divorce papers I had prepared long ago.
Through gritted teeth, I spoke each word clearly, “Ryan, I want a divorce.”
He stared at me, completely stunned, his gaze became frighteningly cold.
After a long moment, he snatched the papers from my hands, signed his name, and threw them in my face.
“Therese, you’d better not regret this!”
I ignored his shouting, picked up the signed papers, and turned to leave.
That’s when my phone began to vibrate uncontrollably.
I answered it, and a panicked voice from the hospital filled my ears.
“Miss Alba, your mother’s condition is critical. Please come immediately!”
The phone slipped from my fingers.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed to the ground.
For once, a flicker of pain crossed Ryan’s face.
He helped me up, voice trembling for the first time.
“Therese, don’t panic. I’ll take you to the hospital right now!”
But footsteps echoed behind us.
Daisy came running from the villa, her hair a tangled mess, crying pitifully as she flung herself at Ryan.
“Ryan! The child-our child is missing!”
Before the shock could settle, she dropped to her knees in front of me, clutching my legs in desperation.
“Therese, I was wrong! I know I was wrong!”
“Punish me however you want, just please… give my child back!”
