Chapter 2

“Jax, what’s taking Ria so long? Is she mad at me? Should I apologize to her?” Rebecca pouted and said coquettishly.

“She’s your wife after all. I can’t compare to her…”

Jaxon seemed to be amused as he feigned anger. “Really? I’ll go to her, then.”

Rebecca immediately started sobbing.

“There, there. I was teasing you. You’re the most important person to me. Arla should consider herself blessed to be with a man like me. She can’t be mad. Plus, she should be the one apologizing to you. If she hadn’t recommended prenatal yoga to you, you wouldn’t have…”

My spirit started trembling when I heard that. I never recommended prenatal yoga to Rebecca.

I had bumped into her after coming home one day. But I never had my guard up around her since she was Jaxon’s childhood friend. Besides, she had been pregnant, just like me.

She praised me for my glowing face and well-maintained figure. “You flatter me. Maybe I exercise a lot, so that’s how I keep my shape,” I responded civilly.

She smiled and said, “You’re lucky, Ria. You have a good husband. He loves you and takes great care of you.”

I was not quick to catch her sarcasm. I even smiled in return and replied, “Yeah, Jax is very good.”

Unexpectedly, she signed up for a prenatal yoga class after that, and Jaxon even paid for it.

However, when an accident happened, they blamed me.

“Becky, you don’t have to be nice to Arla when she comes over later. Just treat her as a nanny and teach that witch a lesson. Otherwise, she’ll feel so great about herself.”

Rebecca feigned ignorance and asked, “Why? I can’t treat her as the nanny.”

Jaxon snorted in disdain. “She should get up and do some chores after lying down for so many days. She didn’t have to take care of the baby or do anything. I’m sure she’s getting weak and lazy.”

Rebecca leaned into his arms gently and spoke softly. “I’m so jealous of her for having such a good husband like you. Meanwhile… I fell in love with the wrong guy. I couldn’t even keep my baby despite returning to the country to rest. Regardless, she’s still your wife. I can’t do this to her even though she harmed me and made me lose my baby. When she’s here, I should be the nanny instead.”

Anger overcame Jaxon, and indignation shone in his eyes. “Stop bringing that up. I get furious when I hear about it. She was pregnant too, so how could she be so cruel? Wasn’t she afraid of karma? You also reminded me of another thing. She didn’t even apologize to you after that. Once she reaches, I’ll make her get down on her knees. Becky, you can’t go easy on her. You need to punish her hard to make her learn from her mistakes!”

Rebecca looked worried. “Jax… you know I can’t do that.”

Jaxon waved and spoke firmly. “I won’t let her off the hook.”

As I listened to them, I found their conversation ridiculous and thought, ‘I died in the end. Isn’t that punishment enough?’

Seven days ago, Rebecca had an unexpected miscarriage and called my husband.

“Jax, can you come over and stay with me? I’m so scared. It hurts so much.”

I had just given birth to the baby, and I was resting at home. After Jaxon received her call, he sounded anxious.

“Becky’s my childhood friend. I can’t leave her alone.”

He left me, and I tried to comfort myself; perhaps he was just being nice.

However, he was gone the entire night before he rushed home in exhaustion.

I was about to ask him why he was away for so long. But he gloomily interrogated me instead, “Did you recommend prenatal yoga to her? She’s weak, so she can’t exercise much. You tried to harm her, didn’t you?”

The sudden accusation stunned me. Before I could figure out what was going on, he tried to leave with my daughter in his arms.

I ignored the painful wound on my belly and hurried to stop him. As we fought over our daughter, he kicked my belly furiously. On top of that, he grabbed my hair and pushed me to the floor.

“You made Becky lose her baby. Obviously, you should give your baby up to comfort her. You need to pay the price for the pain of losing her baby!”

I dragged my dying body and hugged his legs.

Then, I cried and begged, “That’s my baby… I’m begging you! She can’t live without me…”

Yet, he frowned as if something had occurred to him. After that, he put the baby down.

“I’m sure a cunning woman like you will sneak out. You’ll harm Becky because of your jealousy.”

He grabbed my hair and dragged me to the basement. Then, he tied me up with a rope.

“This is your punishment. Reflect on your mistakes here and behave yourself. Stop being a jealous girl. Once you learn from your mistakes and behave yourself, I’ll release you. Don’t worry. Isn’t the nanny at home? She’ll deliver food to you on time.”

I could only wail helplessly since he gagged me. I burst into tears and exhausted myself from resisting and begging for mercy.

In exchange, he slapped me.

“Shut up! Do you want more punishment?”

A sharp pain came from my lower abdomen, as the torn wound was bleeding. I watched him leave in endless despair.

Jaxon forgot that he had fired the nanny three days ago. He wanted me to do everything to build a relationship with my baby. No one was going to give me food.

I would not forget how desperate I felt over the next few days. I prayed for someone to save me the entire time.

Even so, a strong desire to survive gripped me.

The rope made bloody marks on my skin, and wounds that had scabbed over torn open again. I bawled my eyes out while I was on the verge of death.

Eventually, I escaped the abyss that imprisoned me. But my body did not escape, just my spirit…