Chapter 3

Levi nodded and agreed with Claudia's suggestion.

"Alright! I just got my salary today. Let's go to that five-star restaurant that costs 3,000 dollars per pax! I've been wanting to go there for some time, but I couldn't possibly bring Selena there with me.

"She's got the words 'country bumpkin' etched into her forehead. The waiters would laugh at us as soon as we stepped foot into that place!

"Of course, only beautiful, elegant people like you deserve to dine at such a prestigious place with me."

Levi used to tell me that he was terrible at romantic gestures and words, but he seemed to be doing fine with Claudia.

He then cast a look at me on the ground, where I was still struggling with the pain, and resumed his cold and haughty attitude.

"Everything Audie brought back from the hospital is made from silk, so they must all be hand-washed. And we don't have the time or energy to watch your performance on the floor.

"When we get back, make sure you have cleaned out the room for Audie and her baby!"

Levi and Claudia then stepped over me, hand in hand, like they were stepping over a pile of trash.

I didn't know how much longer I lay on the ground, but finally, I mustered enough strength to move.

The baby in my stomach must have inherited all of its father's vile genes. It still seemed to be doing fine even after being tortured so much.

I placed my hand on my tummy and could feel it moving in me. Then, I grabbed my phone, with its screen now shattered to bits, and called the hospital.

"Hello, I would like to book an appointment for an induction of labor."

I grew up in the countryside with my grandmother, Gwen Pearson. Since I was young, I'd been told that I had to sow good seeds in order to have a good harvest.

Since I had decided to cut all ties with Levi, I wasn't going to let a child with his genes and bloodline stay by my side.

As soon as I hung up, I received a notification on my phone that someone I followed on Twitter had just posted a tweet.

It was a photo of two hands making a heart, with a baby's feet in the center of them.

The accompanying caption read, "Thank goodness Mommy and Baby are both safe and sound."

Levi had posted the tweet. It was from his second account.

I'd accidentally come across his second account on his phone. Most of the tweets he'd posted there were about how excited he was to be a father as he eagerly waited for the birth of his child.

I'd stupidly thought that this was a secret account he'd created for our baby, thinking that he didn't know how to express it to me extrinsically.

But now, I knew that I had been a fool all along.

I swiftly contacted a moving company.

When we got married, I single-handedly replaced all the old, rotting furniture in our run-down apartment.

Levi's friends had teased him in the past when they learned about it.

"Say, Lev! I didn't know that you married a rich country girl! Your wife must be loaded!"

"Make sure she's not pretending to be rich! Otherwise, you're going to be saddled with debt when the bills arrive!"

Back then, I'd explained seriously to his friends that the furniture was a wedding gift from Grandma after she sold off some of our livestock. I never realized how black Levi's face was turning when I was explaining things.

It had just been the first day I'd married into his family, and he humiliated me in front of all the other guests by shouting at me.

"Shut up! You're such a disgrace and an embarrassment!"

I hadn't understood back then why he'd called me a disgrace or an embarrassment.

It wasn't until long after that that I found out about Levi's friends looking down on me because I had come from the countryside. They treated "city girls" and "country girls" with much disparity.

Levi hadn't come from a rich family, just a regular one. That meant he was often invisible to his usual group of wealthier friends. It wasn't until two years after he married me that he started earning a sizable salary.

However, I didn't think that he would want to kill the goose even before it had managed to lay him any golden eggs.

Since Levi started this, I made sure I made him pay—tit for tat.

I told the movers to pile up the furniture into their truck. There was literally nothing left in the apartment other than the four walls.

While I was resting at a hotel, I received an angry call from Levi.

"Selena Freeman, are you out of your mind? Where did all the furniture go?

"How could you do such a thing and steal them away? I'll sue you for marriage fraud! I'll put you in jail to think about what you've done!"

I scoffed coldly.

"I have all the receipts for when I bought the furniture with my own money. What's wrong with taking my things away?

"You were the one who stole my money without my knowledge. Levi West, you had better crack that brain of yours and return that money to me. Otherwise, I'm taking you to court!"

After a few bouts of heavy breathing, Levi managed to calm himself down.

"Selena, I know that there must be something wrong with your brain. You just couldn't digest all the information at once.

"But Audie and I never once slept together! Don't you dare sully our innocent relationship like that!

"Where on earth are you right now? Come back at once! And bring back all the furniture! The baby needs to rest, and so does Audie!

"The nanny had been taking care of the baby back then, so you can't possibly want Audie or me to continue caring for the baby, can you? Come back and look after the baby for her!"

I laughed coldly and answered him in no hurry, "What, there's such a huge space left in the apartment now, and you're still saying that it's not good enough for you, your mistress, and your bastard child?

"Why would I care whether or not any of you get any rest?"

Levi seemed stunned on the other end of the line. He then gritted his teeth and shouted, "Selena Freeman! You'd better watch that mouth of yours!

"You're going to have to come back sooner or later with that big belly of yours! Don't tell me that you're planning on relying on your grandmother to sell off more livestock to look after you and your baby!

"I'm giving you one last chance. Don't you dare come begging at my feet like a dog when the time comes and you realize you needed me after all!"

So, Levi thought that I couldn't afford to leave him because I came from a poor family background and was heavily pregnant. Was that why he'd been bullying me so relentlessly all this while?

I scoffed coldly again and replied, "I'm divorcing you, you bloody idiot!"

After hanging up, I took another huge bite of my beef stew made from bone broth.

Levi only knew that Grandma owned some livestock, but he didn't know that she actually owned a massive farm that exported livestock all over the country!

How audacious of him to take advantage of me!

He was going to learn what it meant to upset and cause the wrath of a "country bumpkin" like me!

…

The next morning, I went home to Grandma and told her everything.

Grandma was 63 years old this year, and she was an iron lady who had been through countless hardships in life.

When she learned that I was planning to induce labor, Grandma's eyes reddened. However, her voice was determined as she said, "It's okay to make mistakes as long as you have the courage to turn back and make things right.

"Lena, let's go to the best hospital in town!"

I never shed a single tear when I was with Levi. However, I couldn't stop myself from crying as I fell into Grandma's embrace and let her hold me.

I went to the hospital for labor induction. It wasn't much different from actually giving birth since I was so close to my delivery date.

After getting the injection, I felt the cool forceps entering my body under the cold, bright lights in the labor room. In no time at all, the life in me was reduced to nothing but a mass of flesh.

When I was getting discharged, the nurse asked me if I wanted to bring home my baby's ashes.

I held the little wooden box in my hands and felt a sudden grief overwhelming me.

This was the very evidence taken from my body, proving that I had been abused and bullied by Levi, the monstrous beast, for two whole years.

I held the tightly wrapped box in my hands as I waited in the hospital lobby for my driver, Tom Hardy, to pick me up. However, I didn't think that I would bump into Levi and Claudia here, with their baby, for their regular check-up.