The cell was dim and so stuffy it felt hard to breathe. Elaine Norwood lay flat on the bunk without moving. After five straight days in here, she had cried herself dry. Now she could only stare blankly at the iron frame above her head, mind gone numb.
"Elaine Norwood, who said you could lie there? Get up. Go rub Sister Hong's back."
A woman in the same prison clothes strode over, yanked Elaine off the bed, then dug her nails hard into her arm.
"You cheap thing, still think you're the young madam of the Harrington family? If you've got any sense, hurry over and wait on Sister Hong."
Elaine was dragged so hard she crashed onto the floor. She struggled with all her strength, trying to shake the woman's hand off.
But the more she fought, the rougher the woman got. She grabbed a fistful of Elaine's hair and started hitting and kicking her without mercy.
"You little tramp, once you're locked in here, you do as you're told and serve Sister Hong proper. Still daring to act up? Even if I beat you to death, nobody'll care."
"Who do you think you are? You're nothing but an orphan, and you still had the nerve to steal someone else's man. Shameless."
Elaine clutched her stomach with both hands and finally shot back, "I'm not the other woman. I'm Edmund Harrington's wife."
That was the truth. She was the wife of Edmund Harrington, the young master of the Harrington family. The child in her belly was already more than three months along.
But just a few days ago, Edmund Harrington's childhood sweetheart had come back from out of town. For that woman, he wanted a fake divorce from her.
She refused. They had a terrible row at home. Then Meredith Renfield kept provoking her with that fake soft tone of hers until Elaine lost her temper and slapped her twice.
Those two slaps were like a spark in a powder keg. Meredith dropped to the floor at once, making it look as if the baby in her belly was in danger, and Elaine was forced to admit fault.
Elaine felt wronged to the core. She didn't believe she'd done anything wrong, and no matter what, she refused to bow her head and apologize. So they sent her to the detention house.
Back then, they had promised she'd be let out after three days.
But now five days had already passed.
And through these five days, the two women in this cell had tormented her until she barely looked human.
She ate only their leftovers. Sometimes they even threw the food onto the floor on purpose and made her crouch down and eat it like a dog.
Every day she had to knead Sister Hong's shoulders and pound her back. Too hard got her cursed out. Too light got her cursed out too. Sometimes she even got slapped.
She had endured every bit of that humiliation through gritted teeth, telling herself again and again to hold on, hoping Edmund Harrington would remember her one day, remember there was still a child in her womb, and come take her out.
"You filthy slut, you've still got the nerve to talk back?" The woman flew into an even worse rage. Her vicious eyes dropped to Elaine's stomach. She lifted her leg and drove a hard kick straight at it, a twisted smile tugging at her mouth. "Carrying a bastard and still saying you're not?"
"Ah!" The pain hit so hard Elaine Norwood’s whole face twisted. Both hands flew to her belly as she curled up on the floor, trembling and rolling in agony.
A warm stream ran down between her legs. Her face went white in an instant, and panic flooded her eyes.
"My child—please, save my child, I’m begging you."
Clutching her stomach, she looked at the woman and pleaded for help. Beneath her, blood had already spread into a red stain, and the sharp smell of it quickly filled the cell.
"It’s just a bastard child. If it’s gone, it’s gone. What’s there to fuss over?"
The woman looked downright pleased, turned around, and went back to her bunk without even sparing Elaine another glance.
Elaine held her belly, her face pale as paper from the pain, beads of sweat packed across her forehead. Still, driven by instinct, she dragged herself toward the cell door and pounded on it with all the strength she had left.
"Open the door! Please, save my baby!"
Bright red blood slowly spread across the floor. The fear in her eyes deepened bit by bit. Gritting her teeth, she kept slamming her hand against the door, like she wanted to smash it open herself.
The door suddenly swung open.
She lifted her head and saw that familiar, hard-lined face. She reached out, trying to grab him.
"Marcus... save my child..."
The moment the words left her mouth, she could not hold on any longer. Her whole body went limp and collapsed.
Marcus Vance’s face turned dark with fury. He bent down, scooped Elaine into his arms, and strode out without another word.
...
Vivienne Norwood’s trading tower had opened for business that very day. She was in such a good mood that her partners kept pressing drinks on her, and by the end of it she was dead drunk.
In her haze, she felt as if she were floating through a shopping mall, drifting around and around, going up and down in circles.
Then, all at once, a flood of memories that did not belong to her came crashing into her mind. The tearing pain nearly suffocated her. She wanted to black out, but no matter what, she could not fall asleep.
Because someone kept cursing right into her ear, nonstop.
"Useless thing. You couldn’t even keep a child safe. What good are you?"
Edmund Harrington was restless and on edge. His eyes fell on the bloodless face lying on the hospital bed, his expression tangled and hard to read. "Mom, Elaine didn’t mean for this to happen. If I hadn’t sent her in..."
Dorothy Harrington cut in coldly. "She was the one who hit Meredith Renfield first, and she flat-out refused to apologize. Shouldn’t she be taught a lesson?"
"I only meant to have her locked up for a few days, just so she’d learn some sense. How was I supposed to know she’d be so fragile?"
"It’s only a girl child. Lost is lost. What matters now is taking good care of the one in Meredith Renfield’s belly."
Edmund Harrington’s face darkened at once. The child Meredith Renfield was carrying was not his at all.
Ten days earlier, Meredith Renfield had suddenly shown up in front of him, crying so hard she could barely speak, begging him to help her. She said she wanted nothing more than a proper name for her child, just enough to let the baby be born without disgrace.
Elaine Norwood had been brought into the Harrington house when she was ten. They had grown up together, so of course there was some affection there.
But with Meredith Renfield, it was different. They had known each other since they were children. Their bond ran deep, and on top of that, he owed her his life. How could he just stand by and let her fall?
He had explained it too. It was only a fake divorce with Elaine Norwood. Later, once things settled down, they could register their marriage again. But Elaine Norwood would not believe a word he said. She had to make a huge scene, and that was how things ended up like this.
"Mom, enough." He looked drained, his brows tight with fatigue. He truly did not want to keep talking about it.
"Xiaopan, be good. Rest and recover properly. In half a year, we’ll get the certificate again."
Vivienne Norwood suddenly caught onto something. Her eyes flew open. Those memories, vivid as if they had happened to her in truth, made her instinctively reach for her stomach.
There was only a dull, throbbing ache there now. That faint little curve that had once been there was gone.
"My baby! My baby..." Her face went white as paper. She kept repeating the words under her breath, then slowly turned her head to the side.
A faded blue window frame, worn with age. A gray terrazzo floor, cold and old-fashioned. Sitting in front of her was a tall, skinny man in black-rimmed glasses. His white shirt collar hung open, and the top buttons were undone.
Behind him stood a woman in a blue floral blouse and flared trousers, thick-soled shoes on her feet, her big wavy hair pinned with a fancy barrette.
These two...
Weren’t they the exact same pair she had just seen in that dream?
The man in front of her... that heartless bastard?
And the woman... that mother-in-law who cared more about an outsider than whether her own daughter-in-law lived or died?
So this was...
She had transmigrated?
