On the night of the thunderstorm, in the garden beneath the stormy sky...
In the second-floor study, the dim glow of a lighter flickered—bright for a moment, then fading again.
James’s cold eyes stared intently at the image projected on the wall. It was a photograph of a man and woman entwined in an intimate embrace. The man's face was obscured, but the woman’s face—James recognized instantly.
It was his wife, Eleanor. The city’s most beautiful young lady.
On the very day he had been trapped in a raging inferno, fighting for his life, this woman—who had sworn she loved him, who had claimed she could never live without him—was betraying him with another man.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. From outside, a voice spoke respectfully.
“Sir, there’s a call from the other side. Madam Eleanor is in premature labor. She's about to give birth.”
James’s sharp gaze narrowed. He rose abruptly and strode out.
---
In the hospital ward, agonized screams filled the air as Eleanor endured the pains of childbirth.
“Call James… I want to see him…” she pleaded between contractions.
Beside the bed stood a woman in a long, pristine white dress. A cold sneer curled her lips.
“My dear cousin Eleanor,” she said mockingly, “did you forget? You caused your aunt to fall into a coma. You killed my sister. And because of you, I’ll never be able to bear children again. James despises you. He only loves me now. Just last night, we shared something special…”
Before she could finish, Eleanor—pale and weak, but not without strength—lunged forward and grabbed her by the collar.
Even in her pain and exhaustion, Eleanor’s beauty remained radiant.
“You... you shameless woman.”
Ava merely smiled. “Call me what you want, cousin. But no matter how shameless I am, what about you? Sleeping with another man behind James’s back.”
“I didn’t,” Eleanor snapped through gritted teeth.
“Oh, that’s right,” Ava whispered, leaning close so only Eleanor could hear. “You didn’t. And I believe you... but James doesn’t. James only trusts me.”
The words pierced Eleanor’s heart like a dagger.
Yes… James didn’t believe her. He never had.
Something snapped. Eleanor, consumed by pain and fury, shoved Ava with all her might.
Ava could have kept her balance. But just then, footsteps echoed from the corridor.
Instead, she let herself fall, collapsing to the floor with a dramatic cry of pain.
When the door to the ward swung open, a tall figure strode in swiftly. James moved straight to Ava and helped her to her feet. His sharp eyes swept toward Eleanor.
Seeing her pale face and damp hair clinging to her cheeks, a flicker of something stirred in James’s cold heart—an unfamiliar ache. But it vanished the moment Ava, standing beside him, spoke softly:
"James, please don’t blame my cousin. She didn’t mean it. She only pushed me because she was in pain from the labor. I understand… This kind of pain is nothing, really. As long as the child comes into this world safely, I don't mind at all."
Her gentle, selfless words only fueled James’s anger. His gaze returned to Eleanor, now filled with contempt.
"How arrogant you are!" he snapped. "You can’t even restrain yourself when you're about to give birth?"
Eleanor’s heart clenched at the sight of James’s cold expression. The pain was suffocating.
This was the man she had declared to the world she would marry—since she was a child, she had loved no one else.
"James… I want a divorce. This child—"
At the mention of the word “divorce,” James’s face turned stone-cold. He stepped forward, grabbed her by the neck, and hissed, his voice like ice:
"You vile, despicable woman. Do you think I would still want to marry you? Give birth to this child, and then hand him over to Ava to raise. You—you can get out. I never want to see you again in my life."
With that, he flung her arm away in disgust and stormed out without a backward glance.
Ava turned to Eleanor, her expression filled with triumph. Without a word, she followed James out, leaving only a cold silence behind.
Vicious.
That was the word he used to describe her.
She had loved him for a lifetime, but in the end, that love was repaid with a single word—vicious.
The labor lasted seven agonizing hours.
But not once did Eleanor cry out again.
Even through clenched teeth and searing pain, she refused to let anyone outside laugh at her weakness.
And when the child was finally born, Eleanor lost consciousness—completely drained, her strength spent.
When she woke again, darkness had already fallen outside the window.
In her hazy state, she heard the low murmurs of people in the ward…
"I heard that he brought four dogs here."
"feeding the baby to the dogs... It's really scary to think about it."
Eleanor suddenly had a bad feeling. She said hoarsely, "What are you talking about?"
One nurse was shocked when she heard the voice.
Eleanor roared, "What do you mean by feeding a child to dogs? Where is my child?"
From the day she was pregnant, James sent someone to lock her up in a psychiatric hospital.
It had been eight months.
Your child was taken away by Miss Ava and fed to the dogs."
Upon hearing this, Eleanor got goosebumps all over his body.
She pushed the quilt away, got out of bed, dragged her tired body, and ran out of the room with the help of the wall.
When she came to the back door of the hospital, she saw Ava and a few maids standing there at a glance.
In the yard, there were a few dogs barking.
"Ava, what did you do? Where is my child?"
When Ava heard Eleanor's voice, she turned around with a smile on her face.
"My good cousin, you are so lucky. You have been pregnant for so long, but you have given birth to a dead child. James hates it very much. He said it was unlucky and asked people to feed your daughter's body to the dog."
She ran over quickly and saw the two dogs with blood on their mouths through the light.
Eleanor felt that her heart was torn apart. She screamed and rushed out, "No, no..."
