A Cancer That Fooled Me, a Lie That Set Me Free

"Oh, no. Your mom's ashes, they're gone."

Rosalie feigned panic, kicking and stepping on the fragments.

I quickly reached out to stop her. However, before my hand could even touch her, she stumbled backwards. That woman clutched her stomach and collapsed onto the ground.

"Ah! Christy, don't push me!"

I froze in place and Sawyer pushed me away forcefully.

Seeing Rosalie's pale face and painful groans, he raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face.

I fell backwards. My face instantly swelled, my head spinning.

"Christy, if anything happens to Rosalie, I'll make you pay with your life."

He picked up Rosalie and rushed out like a madman.

I knelt on the ground, carefully gathering the shattered pieces of the amulet, sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm sorry, Mom. It's my fault. I loved the wrong person."

I lay down on the bed, still clutching the remains, when someone suddenly yanked me up.

I met Sawyer's furious, dark gaze when I opened my eyes.

"Rosalie has been with me without any status or recognition, even bearing a child for you and instead of being grateful, how could you do something so monstrous?"

"How could you become so vicious?"

Before I could react, a voodoo doll covered in needles was thrown at my face.

I picked it up and saw Rosalie's name and a string of birth characters written on it.

"Rosalie is in critical condition, fighting for her life in the emergency room because of her premature labor and it's all your fault!"

I stared blankly at the doll, feeling nothing but exhaustion.

It was such a clumsy setup and he didn't even investigate. He just immediately assumed I did it.

Seeing me remain silent, he took it as guilt.

Ignoring my struggle, he dragged me from the bed, shoved me into his car and drove straight to the hospital.

Then he kicked me to my knees in front of the operating room.

"Kneel here and repent. You can only get up when Rosalie Stevens is out of danger and forgives you."

A dull ache spread through my lower abdomen. I remembered the child in my belly and tried to grab his sleeve.

Someone ran from the end of the hallway.

A woman in a halter top dragged a middle-aged priest with her. "Sawyer, this is the one who has been telling my daughter's fortune since she was little. He's already prepared the exorcism talisman water. As long as the person who cast the curse drinks it, my daughter and the baby will be safe."

I stared at the bowl of dark, unknown liquid and my blood ran cold.

I trembled and took two steps back, only to be restrained by Sawyer's bodyguards.

"Christy, drink the talisman water. Once Rosalie is out of danger, I'll help you persuade her. Rosalie is so kind, she'll definitely forgive you."

My face was pale as I desperately shook my head. "I didn't do anything. I won't drink it."

He sighed with a look of disappointment, then turned around. "Hold her down and force it down her throat."

I gagged. My whole body was convulsing, tears streaming down my face. "Sawyer, you're blind and heartless. You'll definitely regret this."

He just looked at me coldly.

"Christy, you have to accept punishment for what you've done wrong. You owe this to Rosalie."

After being forced to drink it, I was thrown against the wall. Before long, an excruciating, gut-wrenching pain exploded from my lower abdomen.

The agony was so intense that my vision darkened and what little strength I had left drained away rapidly.

Feeling the warm, relentless wetness spreading beneath me, my face twisted in terror.

"Sawyer."

From inside the operating room, Rosalie's weak cries rang out.

"Sawyer, I'm sorry. After I die, take good care of our child. We weren't meant to be in this life. Let's be husband and wife in the next life."

Sawyer's eyes turned bloodshot and his voice trembled. "Rosalie, I won't allow you to die! I can't live without you, do you hear me!"

Rosalie went silent. Sawyer lost control, rushing forward, frantically pounding on the operating room door.

"Rosalie, Rosalie, don't you dare die! I love you! If you come out alive, I'll marry you right away. I don't want a next life; I only want you in this time!"

He had his assistant quickly print out a divorce agreement.

Turning around, he froze for a moment at the sight of the large pool of blood beneath me, then quickly scowled in disgust.

"Rosalie is fighting for her life inside and you still have the nerve to fake your injuries with blood packs? You're truly not even half the person she is."

He grabbed my hand, forcing me to sign the divorce papers.

Then, he casually dipped my thumb in the blood from my dress and pressed it onto the agreement.

"Let's get the divorce over with. Rosalie needs me more right now."

As the divorce agreement was handed into the operating room, I, hemorrhaging badly, was discovered by a passing nurse and rushed into the emergency room.

"Severe internal organ failure. Oh my god, her uterus is completely ruined. We can't save the baby."

"She's unconscious. Get the defibrillator, now!"

In a daze, I heard the doctor's excited voice from outside the door, "The mother is conscious!"

"Congratulations, Sir. Your wife and daughter are safe."

Tears streamed down my face onto the operating table.

My hands were also falling.

At the same time, the electrocardiogram drew a straight line.