He Chose Her. I Chose to Start Over.

"No! If you and Harold hadn't gotten married, I wouldn't have gone to the bar to drown my sorrows. I wouldn't have ended up with this child!

"This is all your fault! Lilly, I want you dead!"

She grabbed the police baton from the table and lunged at me, but I quickly dodged.

The next second, she let out a sharp scream and threw herself hard against the corner of the bed, collapsing to the floor.

Harold burst through the door.

"Lilly! Are you out of your mind?!"

Rachel's forehead was bleeding as she fell weakly into his arms. "Harold… I was worried she wasn't being treated well here, so I came to check on her.

"I just… I didn't expect her to call me a homewrecker and try to kill me…"

Harold pressed a hand to her forehead, clearly distressed. He then shot me a murderous glare, teeth gritting together.

"Lilly! Rachel has always been the one to back down. Why do you keep pushing her?!

"She still has filming commitments. Are you trying to ruin her career?!"

Amy cried uncontrollably, frightened by his shouting. I tried to calm her while demanding, "Harold, are you seriously believing everything she says?!"

"Unlike you, she doesn't lie through her teeth!"

Without another word, Harold scooped Rachel into his arms and called for Mrs. Wagner to restrain me.

"You're coming with me to the hospital. If Rachel ends up with a scar on her face, I'll destroy yours!"

At the hospital, Mrs. Wagner could not be bothered to keep a close eye on me and went to the end of the corridor to make a phone call.

Amy would not stop crying. I held her tightly, trying to soothe her, but she was too shaken to calm down.

Just then, a graceful middle-aged woman stepped out from a nearby patient room. When she saw me holding the baby, she kindly offered a pack of diapers.

"She probably wet herself. You should change her."

Her gentle smile made my eyes sting with gratitude. Even a stranger showed more care for Amy than her own father ever had.

After changing the diaper, I saw Mrs. Wagner was still on the phone. I seized the chance. Holding Amy, I headed for the stairwell to escape.

However, just as I turned the corner, I saw Harold storming toward me with Rachel in tow.

The moment he spotted me, he raised his hand and slapped me.

"You wretch! I should've confiscated your phone from the start!"

The blow made me stagger. Mrs. Wagner rushed over, alarmed.

By the time I regained my balance, Rachel—with gauze wrapped around her forehead—burst into loud, public sobs.

"Lilly, we were just innocent friends before you divorced Harold.

"How could you go online and call me a mistress? You've smeared my name like this… Maybe I'd be better off dead!"

Harold held her arm tightly. With a single look from him, Mrs. Wagner snatched Amy from my arms while I was distracted.

"Give her back to me!"

Panic surged through me as I lunged forward, trying to take Amy back.

However, Harold's hand clamped around my neck, choking me so hard that my face turned red. Just when I thought I would pass out, he finally let go.

"You're going live with me. You'll tell the world it was you who cheated, that Rachel and I were never involved.

"Otherwise, forget about ever seeing your daughter again!"

Gasping for air, I saw Mrs. Wagner—following Rachel's signal—pull out a handkerchief and start covering Amy's face.

She was trying to smother her!

Amy's cries were getting weaker and weaker, but Harold did not even spare her a glance.

He never saw her as his child.

I collapsed to my knees, trembling with fear. "Fine! I'll do it! Just let Amy go!"

That day, on a live broadcast, I held Amy in my arms and confessed through tears.

"I'm Lilly, Harold's ex-wife. I had an affair during our marriage, and he found out. That's why we divorced. Ms. Rachel Underwood was never involved. It was all my lies, my shamelessness, my jealousy…"

After the stream ended, Harold handed me a new phone.

"Smart choice. This is a new number—so Rachel can contact you easily.

"She has a kind heart. She was worried you'd have no way to make a living… so she suggested you stay and work as a maid at our house."

I quietly took the phone and got into the van reserved for household staff.

However, as soon as we stopped at a gas station, I tossed the phone out and ran—clutching Amy tightly—straight to the train station.