Julian immediately shook out the winter coat resting over his arm, carefully draping it over my fragile shoulders. "I wanted to say something the moment I saw you today. Your body is far too weak; stop dressing so lightly. Catching a cold is bad for the baby."

Subduing my cough, I huddled deep into the warmth of his coat, looking up at him with immense gratitude.

Just as I opened my mouth to thank him, a sharp, mocking voice echoed from directly behind us—

"Clara, I've long heard from Ethan that you and Dr. Julian were high school classmates, but I never imagined your relationship was so profound that he would personally escort you to the OB-GYN department."

Chapter 8

Turning around, I saw Melanie clutching Ethan's arm as they stood by the elevator doors, presenting a picture of absolute intimacy.

As our gazes locked, the sheer frost radiating from the depths of Ethan's eyes stabbed straight through me, making my breathing instantly falter.

"Cough, cough—"

Seeing me collapse into another severe fit of coughing, Julian rushed to rub my back, offering a worried suggestion, "This won't do. Go rest in my private office for a bit. I'll drive you home the moment my shift ends."

The moment those words left his mouth, the temperature in the corridor seemed to instantly plummet by ten degrees.

In the very next second, before I could even finish coughing, a powerful hand gripped my wrist and violently yanked me backward. At the exact same time, Ethan's brutally frigid voice thundered over my head—

"There is no need to trouble Dr. Julian. I am perfectly capable of looking after my own wife."

The declaration struck like a lightning bolt, leaving the other three people entirely stunned.

Julian was the first to snap out of the shock, firing back with absolute fury, "Where on earth was this attitude before now? Suddenly you remember that Clara is your wife!"

The smug pride vanished from Melanie's features in an instant. But I was the most shocked of all; I never anticipated that on the literal brink of our divorce, I would finally hear Ethan acknowledge my identity in a public space.

Before I could unravel the meaning behind his words, Ethan tightened his grip on my hand, dragging me forcefully down the corridor and violently shoving me into the passenger seat of his car.

"Slam—"

The car door was violently shut by Ethan. A man who historically never allowed a shred of emotion to show on his features now looked as though he were a ticking time bomb of pure rage.

The suffocating aura filling the confined space of the vehicle made it near impossible for me to draw breath.

"Is this the real reason you rejected me last night?" he demanded suddenly.

I looked at him, completely bewildered.

Ethan turned his head to glare at me, his eyes burning with absolute disgust. "The only reason you agreed to the divorce so quickly is because of Julian, isn't it? When exactly did the two of you start?"

The toxic accusation stabbed deep into my chest, causing my lips to tremble with a violent ache. "What exactly do you mean by that? In your eyes, am I truly that disgraceful of a woman?"

"Answer me."

Ethan's icy tone was completely devoid of mercy. He gripped me tightly, pulling me closer as his hand clamped down hard on my waist, demanding a confession. "Throughout these four years, have you ever betrayed me? Have you slept with him?"

His increasingly sharp, horrific words felt like thousands of needles driven straight into my marrow, sending an agonizing pain radiating through every nerve in my body.

Ethan and Melanie were the ones carrying out an illicit, public affair, so how could he possibly turn around and smear mud onto my name?

Scalding tears spilled over, refusing to be held back any longer. Yet the hand pinning me down only continued to increase its crushing pressure, as if intending to grind me into dust.

Suddenly, as if the little life inside my womb could sense its mother's unendurable agony, a violent, tearing pain exploded right in the center of my lower abdomen.

My face turned deathly pale in an instant, and I reached out with a trembling hand, desperately clutching his sleeve. "It hurts..."

In the next fraction of a second, my vision went completely black, and I plunged into unconsciousness.

Lost in a heavy, suffocating fog, I had no concept of how much time had passed.

When I finally forced my eyelids open once more, I found myself lying in a hospital bed. As the blurry surroundings slowly sharpened, the very first thing to enter my field of vision was Ethan's frigid, terrifying face.

My breath hitched, and my eyes locked onto the ultrasound printout gripped tightly in his hands—a sheet explicitly detailing a pregnancy!

I scrambled into a sitting position in pure panic. He knew about the baby!

"Ethan, I..."

Before my frantic explanation could leave my throat, Ethan crumpled the ultrasound sheet into a tight ball inside his fist, pinning me with a merciless command: "Terminate this pregnancy."

The entire hospital room fell into a deathly, suffocating silence.

Those few careless words felt like a massive boulder crushing down on my chest, cutting off my air supply.

"Why?" I choked out.

Ethan's features darkened, as if he believed I was playing dumb. He offered a cruel, mocking sneer, "You are carrying out a disgraceful affair with Julian, and you still have the audacity to ask me why?"

My heart suffered a violent spasm. He actually believed the child wasn't his?

Gripping the edges of the hospital blanket, my face entirely bloodless, I sobbed, "I have never done a single thing to betray you."

"Then how do you explain the fact that you became pregnant despite taking the morning-after pill every single time?"

The man's piercing, razor-sharp gaze left me completely speechless, unable to offer a defense.

My visible panic only caused Ethan's expression to turn more monstrous. "The divorce hasn't been finalized yet. Don't even dream of using the title of Mrs. Ethan to raise another man's bastard."

With that, he tossed the crumpled ball of paper into the wastebasket, his tone dripping with absolute revulsion. "I will have the medical staff arrange the surgical procedure immediately."

He turned and strode out of the room, explicitly refusing any further communication.

Almost immediately, several nurses wheeled a surgical gurney into the room. My heart leaped into my throat, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around my stomach, scrambling off the mattress in absolute terror. "I won't do it! I refuse the surgery!"

Tragically, before I could even make it to the door, my path was completely blocked by the medical staff.

My entire system was stretched to its absolute breaking point, my eyes filled with absolute despair. "You cannot do this to me!"

"How much money did Ethan give you? I will pay you double! Please, I beg of you, do not take my baby away!"

Hearing my hysterical screams, the attending doctor sighed and spoke gently, "Miss Clara, we haven't accepted money from anyone. We are preparing the procedure for your own well-being."

"Due to your long-term, continuous consumption of contraceptive medication over these past few years, the severe side effects have caused the fetus to develop with critical abnormalities. This child no longer has a heartbeat."

Chapter 9

The doctor's words struck my mind like a violent clap of thunder, causing my own heartbeat to cease for several long seconds.

In an instant, it felt as though every ounce of strength had been completely drained from my body, and my tightly clenched hands slowly dropped to my sides.

The nurses gently supported my hollow, puppet-like form, guiding me into the operating theater. It wasn't until the glaring brilliance of the surgical lamp illuminated the room that my empty eyes flickered slightly.

"Doctor... will it hurt?"

The doctor offered a soothing reassurance, "No, it won't. Once the anesthesia is administered, you'll just go to sleep and everything will be over."

The light in my eyes remained entirely dead. "I was asking about the baby."

The icy medication was injected directly into my bloodstream. A few moments later, I felt a distinct, physical presence slip away from my body.

I felt no physical pain, yet a chilling agony resembling the literal tearing apart of my own flesh and bone rippled outward, settling deep into my limbs. Silent tears leaked from the corners of my eyes, dissolving into my dark hair.

In the end, I truly could not hold onto anything.

...

My mind and body were completely shattered. Following the surgery, I plunged into a relentless cycle of horrific nightmares.

In my dreams—

It was the height of autumn, and the wind carried the sweet, intoxicating fragrance of osmanthus blossoms.

An accidental collision at the corner of the academic building led to a high school-aged Ethan picking up my dropped student ID card, his smile clean and pure: "What a coincidence, we're in the same class."