After Ten Years of Betrayal

During my time in the hospital, I neither cried nor made a fuss.

I managed to hobble over on crutches to pay the hospital bills myself.

Dennis sent me some money for living expenses, along with a rare message, “Let me know if you need more.”

It was the first time he directly messaged me. Normally, he'd just deposit the money into my account every month without a word. Even after I'd reached out to him hundreds of times, he wouldn't even reply with a simple emoji. But this time, I declined the payment.

Angry, he called me.

"Estella, you have no right to throw a tantrum," he snapped. "We'll talk about you complaining to my mom when I get back."

An hour later, Dennis brought Priscilla to the hospital for a pregnancy check-up.

Seeing my indifference, he shot me an angry glare and then went off to find Priscilla's doctor.

Priscilla sat by my bed, a smirk playing on her lips. "Well, isn't this perfect? After all those fertility treatments, you still couldn’t keep it. And now you won’t ever be able to have children again!"

She was trying to provoke me.

In the past, I couldn’t stand her. Whenever she showed up, I’d grab her hair and slap her until my anger faded. But now, I felt nothing towards her.

Priscilla grew irritated at the disdainful look I gave her.

When Dennis returned with the test results, she suddenly rammed her belly into the edge of the table. Blood began to drip steadily onto her Victorian-style dress.

She grabbed my hand, which was now bloodstained. "Mrs. Ford, please, don’t hurt my baby! Just because you've lost yours doesn’t mean you should harm mine. This is Dennis’s child! How can you be so cruel?"

I watched her solo performance in silence.

By the time Dennis stormed in, panic-stricken, I still hadn’t wiped the blood from my hands.

Dennis, as always, didn’t trust me.

He slapped me across the face. "Estella, I tolerated your nonsense before, but now you're targeting an unborn child? How could you be so heartless?"

His slap left me dazed. His furious voice echoed in the ringing of my ears.

"Apologize! I want you to get down on your knees and apologize!"

When I didn’t move, Dennis yanked me off the bed and forced my head toward Priscilla.

Apologize? Fine!

I swung my fist into his stomach...

Seeing her writhing in agony on the floor, a smirk tugged at my lips.

“Is this kind of apology satisfactory for you two?”

"Estella! Are you out of your mind?"

Dennis kicked me away, causing the stitches in my abdomen to burst open again...

Only then did he notice the fresh stitches on my abdomen. His eyes showed a hint of fear.

"You just had surgery? Why are there stitches from a miscarriage on your abdomen?"

For ten years, whenever Dennis was frustrated with other women outside, he’d vent it on me.

He never considered my feelings. Over the years, he forced me to terminate seven pregnancies; my uterus was already severely damaged.

This last child had been a result of countless fertility treatments, after which I’d always felt terribly sick. I couldn’t eat or sleep. Although I wasn’t pregnant, the suffering was no less than pregnancy itself.

Dennis stared at my wound for a long time. I thought he might recall the hardships I endured over the years for him.

But then, he laughed coldly.

"Estella, do you really hate me that much? Hate me for making you lose our children?"

"You went so far as to have your uterus removed just to spite me? Fine! You're ruthless!"

Dennis scooped up the frail Priscilla and left without looking back.

Clutching my bleeding wound, I broke out in a cold sweat from the pain.

Does it hurt? Knowing that I can leave the day after tomorrow, it doesn't hurt anymore.