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Chapter 4
After I got out of the ice cellar, I came down with an illness that kept me bedridden for nearly two weeks.
Sadie casually mentioned it to Jim, saying she was worried I might pass on something contagious. Just like that, he moved me into the coldest, most remote utility room in the entire villa.
The servants, always quick to take sides, did not hesitate to follow her lead. While I was burning up with fever, they took away my quilt just because Sadie said so.
That room was damp and dark, and the cold wind seeped through the cracks in the window, making every bone in my body ache.
I was curled up, shivering, when Sadie strutted in.
Wrapped in thick fur and dressed to perfection, she did not bother hiding her true self this time as Jim was not around.
“Hayley, you’re going to be a mom soon. How are you still this fragile?”
I looked at her, confused.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re using those three years of so–called devotion to guilt–trip Jim, aren’t you? Just to make him marry you. Well, congrats. He said you’ll be his wife no matter what now.”
Her face twisted for a second like she could not quite swallow that fact. Immediately after, she smirked again like she had already won.
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“But too bad,” she added smugly, “you can trap a man’s body, not his
heart.
“Jim said once my baby is born, he will give his last name to it.
“And as for yours, he hates you so much, so he probably doesn’t even want it. Once your baby’s gone, mine will be the only child of the Upton family.”
In the end, she gave a soft, dreamy sigh.
The fur around her swayed gently as the cold wind blew through the room. It was as if the wind cut through me like knives but did not even ruffle her warmth.
I let out a quiet laugh. No sound. Just a bitter smile.
Yeah. She was right.
In Jim’s eyes–and in everyone else’s–I will always be that pitiful woman who clung to him out of gratitude, doing everything just to marry him.
At the same time, I also felt relieved that Jim still did not know about my
pregnancy.
I pressed my lips together, trying to ease the burning dryness in my throat from going without food or water for so long.
“Sadie, come here for a second.”
She walked over with an annoyed look on her face.
“What now, Hayley?”
As she got closer, I used the last of my strength to force out the words through clenched teeth.
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“Sadie, take that illegitimate monster in your belly and get out.”
Before I could even take in her shocked expression, a cold, angry voice cut through the air behind me.
“Hayley, you just won’t learn.
“I should’ve known better than to treat you with even the slightest bit of kindness. The second I do, you go after Sadie again.”
I knew that voice too well. It was Jim.
Maybe it was because I was already feeling weak, but the moment I heard him say that, my chest tightened and tears welled up.
In those three years of rock bottom, Sadie, who took advantage of the chaos to step on me, was cherished and put on a pedestal by Jim, while I, the one who sacrificed everything to help him rise again, was the one he personally ground into the dirt.
“I told you to kick her out ages ago, son. Now look what’s happened.
“If she’s already acting like this in front of us, who knows how she’s been treating Sadie and your unborn child behind our backs.”
That cold, scolding voice came from Petra Crowley, Jim’s mother, as she wheeled herself out from behind him. Her sharp eyes, full of disdain, locked onto my frail figure lying on the bed.
Sadie stepped forward with a soft sigh, trying to look pitiful.
“Mrs. Upton, don’t be upset over me. I’m fine. I just felt a little wronged, that’s all.”
And right in front of me, the woman who constantly looked down on me turned into a helpless little girl.
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Petra grabbed Sadie’s hand and shot me a fierce glare before snapping, “Silly girl, even if the whole world wrongs someone, it won’t be you!
“You’re not just one person anymore–you’re two.
“And you? Just an infertile good–for–nothing:”
Sadie’s lips curled in satisfaction, and she turned her smug gaze right back at me, not even trying to hide it.
“Mom, can you not stir things up?”
Jim rubbed his temples, clearly annoyed.
Getting snapped at by her own son only made Petra more furious, and of course, she took it all out on me.
“Hayley, why are you still standing there?”
Petra shot me a glare that held no trace of the woman I had cared for over the last three years. It was not disappointment but full-blown hatred.
“You think repaying the debt makes you some kind of savior to our family? Ha! You are nothing compared to my future grandson.
“Let me tell you something, Hayley. We might’ve gone bankrupt, but we still had plenty set aside. That little money you brought? We didn’t need
- it.
“We just wanted to see who’d come crawling in to take advantage.”
My heart stopped.
I turned to Jim. His expression was vague, but it told me enough.
My voice trembled as I turned to question Jim.
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“Jim, is that true?”
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