Love and Hate Etched at Rebirth’s Dawn

Before I could even scream, the lights snapped on.

Daniel Carter sat leisurely in a chair, holding up his phone, firing off flash after flash in my direction.

The shirtless man beside me got out of bed and spoke respectfully to him.

“Mr. Carter, the task you assigned is done.”

Daniel’s lips curved into a mocking smile.

“Lily, don’t blame me. You’re the one who refuses to live a good life and insists on getting a divorce.”

“If you take back the divorce, we can pretend tonight never happened. How about that?”

In that moment, I understood what he meant earlier when he’d said I would regret it.

To stop me from divorcing him, he had actually set me up in such a filthy way!

“Daniel, you’re disgusting! Nothing even happened!”

“I know that—but the outside world doesn’t. Tell me, if those intimate photos got out, what would people say? You’d have a hard time showing your face in society again.”

“Your late parents, your brother—they’d all be shamed because of you. Lily, could you live with that?”

I was rendered speechless. After all, we’d been together for ten years—he knew exactly where my weak spots were.

I might be wearing a nightdress, and I knew nothing had happened, but with a half-naked man in my bed, there was no way to explain it.

Maybe it was the stress, or the fact that I’d only just had the abortion surgery, but a sharp pain twisted through my lower abdomen. My face went pale as blood slowly seeped from me, staining the sheets.

Daniel’s expression shifted instantly to alarm.

“Lily, are you okay? I’ll take you to the hospital right now.”

But before he could move, his phone rang. Sophia Miller’s voice came through, soft and trembling:

“Daniel, the power went out at my place… I’m scared. Can you come keep me company?”

“Sophia, don’t move around too much or you’ll hurt yourself. I’m coming.”

Before leaving, he glanced at me with a complicated expression.

“Lily, I’ll go check on her. Call yourself a car to the hospital. When I’m done, I’ll come find you.”

“About the divorce… I suggest you think it over carefully.”

When everyone was gone, the silence was suffocating, the air thick with humiliation.

My phone rang. A deep, magnetic voice spoke with concern:

“Lily, I heard from your brother that you’re getting a divorce. Are you okay?”

I had held back my tears when Daniel was humiliating me earlier, but now they broke free all at once.

Wiping my eyes, I said:

“I want Daniel to walk away with nothing. Help me win, and I’ll marry you.”

By the time I left the hospital with my medicine, the sky outside had already brightened. Daniel was leaning against the car, waiting for me.

“Lily, I’ve thought about it. Last night, I was wrong. I just didn’t want you to leave me, so I acted on impulse.”

“You’re weak right now—come home with me, let me take care of you. We can talk things through.”

I was about to refuse, but then I remembered—my passport was still at the house.

I had already told my brother Michael that after the divorce, I’d go to France to be with him and my sister-in-law.

Once I sat in the back seat, my hand brushed against a pair of lace underwear—stained.

The thought of what they had done in this car made my stomach churn.

Daniel was busy driving and didn’t notice.

Trying to look casual, I glanced at the dashcam, then, suppressing my disgust, slipped the underwear into my bag. It might come in handy as evidence.

When I opened the front door at home, I found the electronic lock code had been changed—to Sophia’s birthday.

I thought of Daniel’s recent words about not wanting me to leave, and the irony was almost laughable.

I ignored Sophia in the kitchen and went straight upstairs to pack my passport.

“Lily, you’re back? I made you some medicinal porridge—have it while it’s hot. Get your strength back, and soon you can do IVF again to give Daniel a baby.”