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We Hired a Surrogate, My Husband Secretly Impregnated Her
NovelShort
Hoàn thành
In the third year of their marriage, Dorothea found out that Jimmy Hemenway had been lying about Kim Burganger being their surrogate. Over the past three years, Kim’s pregnancies had nothing to do w...
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第1章
In the third year of their marriage, Dorothea found out that Jimmy Hemenway had been lying about Kim Burganger being their surrogate.
Over the past three years, Kim’s pregnancies had nothing to do with IVF. Jimmy himself had been the one getting her pregnant every time.
Outside the hospital’s fire exit, Dorothea overheard him talking with his close friend.
Jimmy let out a chuckle. “That stuff you got me works really well. Get me more. I want Kim’s third baby to be another girl.”
Burt paused, clearly taken aback, before voicing his confusion. “I honestly don’t get you. You love Dorothea so much, so why do you keep building a family with Kim? And if IVF would’ve done the job, why insist on sleeping with her? You’ve even kept pushing for daughters, dragging things out instead of finishing the agreement.”
“Don’t tell me you actually fell for that nanny.”
Silence hung in the air for a brief moment.
Then, Jimmy let out a scoff. “So what if I did?”
“I used to think of her as nothing really more than a surrogate.”
“But now, every time I think about her leaving, I dream about her at night.”
“I can’t lose Dorothea. But I also don’t want Kim gone.”
Outside the door, Dorothea felt like she had been plunged into an icy abyss. Even her heart seemed to freeze solid.
Back then, after she’d injured her uterus and learned she could no longer conceive, she had brought up divorce once.
Jimmy had dropped to his knees in front of her, his eyes full of devotion, and made a solemn promise. “Dorothea, you’re the only one I want in this life. If you leave me, I’d rather die.”
And yet, in just three years, every promise he had made had dissolved into nothing.
In that moment, something inside her died completely.
Since Jimmy had betrayed her love, she would leave him for good. She would disappear from his life and give him exactly what he seemed to want: freedom.
Later, after she truly disappeared from his world, she heard from friends that Jimmy had gone nearly insane scouring the world for any trace of her, trying to win her back.
Unfortunately for him, it was far too late.
…
Everyone knew that Dorothea was the woman Jimmy cherished most.
He had pursued her so passionately that the entire city knew about it. Every confession he made caused a sensation.
But no one knew that just three years into their marriage, the words she heard most often were about another woman.
“Wait here. I’m going over to Kim’s place.”
Kim was once the Hemenways’s nanny.
Back when Dorothea saved Jimmy, she injured her uterus and lost her ability to bear a child.
The Hemenways were desperate for an heir. And that pressure landed squarely on Jimmy. His parents wanted him to sleep with another woman and continue the bloodline.
Jimmy endured seven days and seven nights of relentless punishment from his family. He would rather lose his inheritance and the family name than give in.
“Dorothea, it’s okay. They can punish me all they want. I can endure it.”
He knelt there with his back straight despite the blood staining the floor beneath him.
She couldn’t watch him like that. The guilt ate her alive. In the end, she gave in.
That was how his parents chose the then-young nanny to become the surrogate.
According to the agreement, once Kim gave birth to a boy for the Hemenways, she would be given five million and sent away permanently.
Legally, the child would belong to Dorothea.
“I promise you, Dorothea, nothing will happen between me and Kim. The baby will be conceived through IVF.”
“Once the baby’s born, you’ll be the only mother.”
Unfortunately, the first baby was a girl.
Jimmy told Dorothea to wait again until Kim gave birth to a boy.
Not long after Kim’s postpartum recovery, she got pregnant again.
This time, Dorothea personally waited outside the delivery room while Kim gave birth to the second child.
Inside, Kim’s cries of pain echoed. Soon after, the sound of a newborn’s crying followed.
Cheers and congratulations then filled the room.
The door opened, and a nurse stepped out, her face full of excitement.
Dorothea quickly stood up to approach the nurse, only to hear, “Congratulations, Ma’am. It’s a baby girl!”
The words hit her like a thunderclap.
Her world spun, as if the sky itself had collapsed.
The nurse hurried to steady her. “Ma'am? What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Dorothea took a deep breath and leaned against the wall until she steadied herself. “I’m fine. Go ahead and get back to work. I’ll let Jimmy know.”
With that, she stepped forward and slowly made her way out.
As she passed by the fire exit in the hallway, she heard Jimmy and his close friend Burt talking.
“Congrats, bro! Another baby girl! Just what you wanted!”
Jimmy chuckled. “That stuff you got me really works. Get me more. I want Kim’s third baby to be another girl.”
Burt paused, clearly taken aback, before voicing his confusion. “I honestly don’t get you. You love Dorothea so much, so why do you keep building a family with Kim? And if IVF would’ve done the job, why insist on sleeping with her? You’ve even kept pushing for daughters, dragging things out instead of finishing the agreement.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for that nanny?”
Silence hung in the air for a brief moment.
Then, Jimmy let out a scoff. “So what if I did?”
“I used to think of her as nothing really more than a surrogate.”
“But now, every time I think about her leaving, I dream about her at night.”
“I can’t lose Dorothea. But I also don’t want Kim gone.”
Burt sighed. “Aren’t you afraid Dorothea will find out? You know her. If she does, she’ll never come back.”
Jimmy scoffed. “She won’t. After marrying into my family, she’s lost her family and her job. How would she survive without me? Besides, she loves me too much to actually leave.”
Outside the door, Dorothea felt like she had been plunged into an icy abyss. Even her heart seemed to freeze solid.
Suddenly, she remembered that back then, when she learned she couldn’t get pregnant because of her injured uterus, she had once brought up divorce.
Jimmy had dropped to his knees in front of her, his eyes full of devotion, and made a solemn promise. “Dorothea, you’re the only one I want in this life. If you leave me, I’d rather die.”
And yet, in just three years, every promise he had made had dissolved into nothing.
His so-called “surrogacy” had been nothing but an excuse. He had slept with Kim himself, gotten her pregnant, and built a second family with her.
The love story everyone once admired was nothing more than a meticulously staged deception.
With a click, the door swung open.
Jimmy froze at the sight of her pale face. Panic instantly broke across his expression. “D-Dorothea… what are you doing here?”
Dorothea raised her hand and struck him without hesitation. “I heard everything. Jimmy, I want a divorce.”
He frowned slightly. “Hey, if you’re upset, you can hit me or yell at me all you want. But don’t talk about divorce.”
“I know what you’re worried about. Don’t worry. You’ll always be my only wife.”
“Kim? She’s just someone I keep on the side for fun. The one I love most is still you, Dorothea. Nothing will ever change that.”
Dorothea’s heart felt like it was being torn apart. Her cold eyes stared at him in disbelief. “I won’t accept that! You fucking promised, Jimmy! I’m the only woman you’d love forever!”
He met her gaze coldly. “Dorothea. Stop being unreasonable.”
But she insisted, “Jimmy, let’s get a divorce.”
The next second, he pulled out his phone, his voice calm and cruel. “Smash that old piano in my wife’s room and throw it out.”
Before they got married, Dorothea had been a pianist. Her dream had been to become a world-class performer.
But after their wedding, Jimmy had made her give that dream up, saying he didn’t like her being in the public eye.
That piano in her room was a keepsake from her mentor and one of the last ties she had to her music.
She grabbed Jimmy’s arm tightly, her face drained of color. “Jimmy, you can’t do this!”
“Dorothea,” he said, his voice carrying a trace of gentleness, “tell me. Do you still want a divorce?”
Her whole body turned cold. She stared at him stubbornly, unable to utter a single word.
Holding the phone, Jimmy spoke to the servant in a low voice. “Do it.”
The next second, Dorothea heard a loud bang through the phone, followed by the heavy, muffled sound of the piano breaking apart.
That was when her composure shattered. “No!” she cried. “I won’t divorce you! I won’t! Jimmy, don’t touch my piano!”
Finally, he smiled in satisfaction. He reached out and ruffled her hair.
“If you stay obedient like this, honey,” he murmured, “you’ll always be my wife.”
Jimmy still wasn’t fully reassured even after Dorothea gave him her word.
He had someone escort her home, and guards were stationed outside the villa gates, as if he really feared she might leave him.
The moment she stepped inside, she bolted straight for the room where the old piano was kept.
What she saw made her stop cold.
The piano had been smashed to pieces, violently destroyed with what looked like a hammer. The keys were shattered across the floor like broken teeth.
Suddenly, it felt like the entire world had been muted.
Her eyes widened as she stared at the scene in front of her. A metallic sweetness gradually rose in her throat.
The next second, a mouthful of blood burst from her lips, staining the carpet beneath her.
Her vision went dark, and she collapsed to the floor.
When she regained consciousness, she was still lying in the same position. Not far from her was the ruined piano.
Pulling out her phone, she dialed Jimmy’s mother.
“Mom, back when I risked my life to save Jimmy, you said you’d grant me one request, no matter what, as compensation.”
There was a brief pause on the other end. “Right. What do you want, dear?”
“I want a divorce from Jimmy,” she said, her voice rough. “And I need you to prepare a new identity for me. I have to make sure that after the divorce, he will never be able to find me again.”
She knew Jimmy’s obsessive nature all too well. There was no way he would let her go so easily.
It wasn’t enough to just leave him. She had to make sure he could never track her down and drag her back into this gilded cage.
The only person capable of making that happen was his powerful mother.
“Alright,” Olga replied. “I’ll do it. But it will take a month to prepare everything.”
If enduring one more month meant Dorothea could escape this hell and finally break free from the web of lies Jimmy had so carefully spun, then it was worth it.
第2章
Three days later, early in the morning, Jimmy returned to the villa. One arm was wrapped around Kim while the other carried a baby cradle.
“Dorothea,” he said, “Kim’s been discharged from the hospital. She just gave birth, and she’s still in a bad condition. I’m going to have her stay here so it’ll be easier to take care of her.”
Holding her eldest daughter Chrisette by the hand, Kim gave Dorothea a soft, apologetic smile.
“Sorry to trouble you, Dorothea.”
The moment Chrisette stepped inside, her eyes lit up. She let go of her mother’s hand and immediately began exploring the villa.
Jimmy glanced at Dorothea. “Once Kim finishes her postpartum recovery, and when the second child is officially registered under the family name, she’ll formally acknowledge you in public with a toast.”
At that point, Kim would be publicly acknowledged as part of the family.
“From now on, the two of you should get along. Stay by my side together.”
‘Stay by his side together with his mistress?’
A cold, mocking smile flickered in Dorothea’s heart, but she simply nodded. “Alright. No problem.”
After all, she would be gone in a month.
A trace of surprise crossed Jimmy’s eyes. “You’re agreeing just like that? You’re not going to make a scene?”
Dorothea frowned slightly, as if confused. “Make a scene? Why would I? Didn’t you say I should behave?”
Jimmy released Kim and stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Dorothea’s waist as he led her aside.
“I know having Kim move in will make you uncomfortable.”
As he spoke, he placed a key in her palm.
“This is for a newly released villa at Bel Air. I’ve already bought it and registered it under your name. Think of it as compensation.”
Just then, Chrisette came running down the stairs.
“Daddy! While you were talking, I already picked a room for Mommy! The biggest one at the end of the hallway. The one with a view of the garden downstairs. Mommy will surely love it!”
Jimmy nodded. “Kim just gave birth. She needs proper rest. The master bedroom gets the most sunlight. It’s the most suitable.”
He turned to Dorothea, saying, “Dorothea, go move your stuff out the master bedroom for Kim.”
That was the master bedroom. The bedroom he and Dorothea once shared.
The day they first moved into the villa, Jimmy had eagerly taken her upstairs the moment they walked in.
“Dorothea, I designed this room myself. It’s all based on what you like.”
A starlit ceiling. A European-style double bed. Soft pink walls.
And now, he was asking her to give it up.
Now, it didn’t matter anymore. She was leaving soon anyway.
“Okay,” Dorothea said quietly before turning and heading upstairs.
She packed everything: her clothes, her jewelry, all of her personal belongings.
She even took down their wedding photos from the wall.
Every trace of her existence in the master bedroom was erased, as if she had never lived there at all.
She moved into a guest room on the first floor.
Sitting by the window, she placed her hands flat on the table, imagining piano keys beneath her fingers. She closed her eyes and began practicing the piece in her mind.
A quiet resolve began to take shape in her.
Once Jimmy’s mother finished arranging everything, she would return to the world of piano performance and pursue her dream of becoming a pianist.
She was completely immersed in the music in her head when the door suddenly burst open.
Jimmy stormed in, his face red with rage.
“Dorothea! I knew it! You’re not as simple as you pretend to be!”
“If you’re unhappy, take it out on me! Hit me, yell at me, whatever you want! But why would you go after my child?!”
第3章
“Jimmy, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”Dorothea turned to face him.
His expression darkened, his voice cold as ice. “Dorothea, I know you’re upset. But I’ve already made it up to you. If the Bel Air villa isn’t enough, just tell me what you want.”
“But you crossed a line going after my child! You knew Chrisette has a severe pollen allergy, and you still hid pollen under the sheets?”
“She’s three years old, Dorothea. Three! How could you do something so cruel to her?”
At his words, Dorothea felt her blood surge backward and something stab viciously into her heart. So the moment something happened to his mistress’s daughter, the blame could be pinned on her without proof, just like that. Furious, she let out a cold laugh. “Jimmy, if I had really wanted to hurt Chrisette, do you think she’d still be alive today?”
“Dorothea! How dare you still try to argue your way out of this?” Seeing that she still refused to admit it, Jimmy’s anger only flared hotter, his eyes frighteningly cold.
“Whether I’m lying or not can be proven. There are surveillance cameras in our bedroom. They’re on all day except when we’re asleep. If someone really harmed Chrisette, one look at the footage will tell us who did it.”
Dorothea let out a mocking laugh and was just about to pull out her phone to check the bedroom footage when a slender figure suddenly rushed into the guest room and charged straight at her.
Kim lunged at her like she’d gone mad, knocking the phone out of Dorothea’s hand so that it shattered on the floor, while her nails raked across Dorothea’s cheek and she screamed hysterically, “I know you’re unhappy that I moved in, and I can accept that! But why would you go after my child?!”
“My child is my life! Were you trying to kill me too?!”
Her emotions spiraled out of control, and her vision went black as she nearly collapsed.
Jimmy caught her from behind.
He pulled her tightly into his arms, holding her as if she were something rare and priceless.
Meanwhile, blood was running down Dorothea’s cheek where Kim had scratched her, and he didn’t even spare her a glance.
She pressed a hand to her face and repeated, “Jimmy, I’ll say this one last time. I didn’t do it.”
“That room used to be yours,” Kim said through tears, crying even harder on cue. “Who else would deliberately hide pollen under the sheets to trigger Chrisette’s allergy? If you didn’t want to give up the master bedroom to me and Chrisette, you could’ve just said so. There was no need to do something like this to Jimmy’s child and me.”
Jimmy gently wiped away Kim’s tears, then lifted his eyes toward Dorothea, his gaze dark and vicious, every word bitten out through clenched teeth. “Dorothea, the facts are right in front of us. I’ll give you one last chance. If you still refuse to admit it, then don’t blame me for what I do next.”
It felt as if something had clenched tightly around her heart, and all the color drained from her face.
The man standing in front of her was no longer the same man who had once stepped forward to defend her when others falsely accused her of stealing, the same man who had once stood by her side and proved her innocence.
She lifted her eyes, the rims red, and cut him off. “Jimmy, I’m telling you—I will never admit to something I didn’t do!”
Since none of them believed her, she no longer had the strength to keep arguing. The truth was the truth, and as for those who refused to believe her, she would never love them again.
Without waiting for a response, Dorothea turned around and was about to leave this ugly scene behind.
Whatever patience Jimmy had left finally snapped.
“Dorothea, you’ve really disappointed me. You’re being far too disobedient.”
He lifted a hand and gestured behind him. “Do it. Let her experience what an allergic reaction actually feels like.”
The moment the words fell, two bodyguards immediately stepped forward, wrenching Dorothea’s arms behind her back and pinning her down by force.
She couldn’t fight them off and was held there helplessly, while another two bodyguards walked over carrying a large basin of peanut juice, stopped in front of her, grabbed her jaw hard, forced her mouth open, and poured the entire basin down her throat.
Dorothea clenched the hem of her clothes so tightly that her fingertips turned white.
She didn’t understand. His phone could just as easily pull up the surveillance footage and reveal the truth, so why wouldn’t he believe her? Why wouldn’t he even bother to check? There was only one answer. Because in his eyes, there was only Kim and Chrisette now.
Dorothea was severely allergic to peanuts. Even a palmful was enough to leave her body covered in hives and her breathing labored.
She didn’t know how much peanut juice they had forced down her throat. She only felt the world spinning around her and her consciousness slipping away.
Through the haze, a memory surfaced—their first date. She had accidentally eaten peanuts and gone into a full-body allergic reaction.
Jimmy had run three red lights just to get her to the emergency room.
From that day on, not a single peanut had ever appeared in the villa again.
And now, he was standing not far away, holding Kim in his arms, watching all of this with cold, indifferent eyes.
Only when Dorothea’s body broke out in hives, her breathing turning shallow and strained, on the verge of suffocation, did the bodyguards finally let go.
Dorothea collapsed onto the floor, too weak to even sit up.
Through her blurred vision, she saw Jimmy supporting Kim as they walked out, his voice softening as he said to her, “Let’s go. Chrisette just woke up at the hospital. She’s asking for you.”
Dorothea watched as his figure disappeared completely from sight.
No. She couldn’t die here from an allergic reaction.
She had to live. She had to get out of the Hemenways alive.
Biting down hard on her lip, she forced herself to stay conscious. With trembling hands, she dialed emergency services.
When she woke up again, she was in a hospital room, an IV drip feeding anti-allergy medication into her veins.
Jimmy sat beside the bed, carefully applying ointment to the exposed areas of her skin.
When he saw her eyes open, he said flatly, “You’re awake? Don’t move. I’m not done applying the ointment yet.”
He continued what he was doing as he spoke. “I know you feel wronged, but Chrisette’s allergic reaction was too severe. And Kim just had a baby. She’s extremely emotionally unstable while she’s recovering. If I hadn’t been harsher with you, this wouldn’t have blown over.”
“I’ve already called in the best specialists in New York. You’ll be fine soon.”
“Once you’re discharged and feel better, whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.”
“This is the new phone I bought for you. I already had the company’s tech department transfer all the data and information from your old phone.”
A mocking sneer rose inside her, but on the surface, she only nodded obediently. “Okay. I understand.”
The very next second, Jimmy received a phone call and hurriedly left, using work as an excuse.
How could Dorothea not know? He was going to accompany Kim and Chrisette, but none of that mattered anymore. From beginning to end, all he had ever wanted was to keep her confined, controlled, possessed, and toyed with.
Soon, the day she would truly leave would come, and since she had no way to take revenge on him for now, then when that day came, she would send them both straight to abyss!
With a cold smile, she pulled up the bedroom surveillance footage, wanting to see who had scattered the pollen under the bed, only to discover that part of the recording was blank. Kim really was good at this, but Dorothea would not let her off so easily. One day, she would get hold of Kim’s weakness.
Dorothea spent an entire week in the hospital. During that week, Jimmy hardly showed up, which suited her just fine.
A week later, her condition had finally improved enough for her to be discharged, but Jimmy never came to pick her up.
She returned to the villa alone. But the moment she pushed open the guest room door, she found Kim standing right in front of her.
Dorothea frowned, instantly on edge.
“Why are you in my room? Aren’t you supposed to be staying in the master bedroom?”
Kim gave a small smile, her tone deliberately gentle.
“I heard you were getting discharged today, so I came to wait for you. About what happened last time, I was too emotional. I wanted to apologize to you.”
She paused, then added, “You can’t be a mother, so you probably don’t understand how scared to death I was…”
Her words were suddenly cut off by a kid’s laughter coming from inside the room.
Dorothea pushed past her and froze at the sight that shattered her completely.
The guest room was a mess. All her belongings had been dragged out and scattered everywhere.
Chrisette sat on the bed, surrounded by pages. It was Dorothea’s handwritten sheet music from the past three years.
One by one, the little girl tore the pages apart, crumpled them into balls, and tossed them to the small dog crouching nearby.
The dog wagged its tail excitedly and ran over to grab the paper balls in its mouth.
“Chrisette! What are you doing?!”
Dorothea rushed forward, her voice shaking with anger.
Chrisette looked up at her with wide, innocent eyes. “Oh, you’re back, Auntie Thea! Mommy said I could play in your room. These scrap papers are so fun! Even the dog likes them.”
第4章
A sharp ringing filled Dorothea’s ears, and her mind went blank.
The sheet music she had worked so hard on, hiding it from Jimmy, pouring everything into it, had become nothing more than trash in the eyes of a three-year-old.
She had carefully saved every page, planning to organize them over the next few days and send them to an orchestra overseas for a chance at an audition.
That was her way back. After the divorce, it was her only shot at returning to a classical orchestra and stepping back onto the stage as a pianist.
Dorothea took a slow breath. She reminded herself that this was just a three-year-old child.
Forcing down her anger, she said, “Chrisette, give me the rest of those papers, and I’ll forgive you for what you did.”
A flash of stubbornness crossed Chrisette’s face. “No! Mommy said this room is mine today!”
She turned and shouted, “Mommy! Auntie Thea is trying to kick me out! You have to help me!”
Kim stepped forward when she heard that, a faint, mocking smile tugging at her lips.
“Come on, Dorothea, it’s not a big deal. Chrisette likes your useless sheet music. Just let her play with them. Why are you being so petty?”
The anger surged through Dorothea.
She couldn’t hold it back anymore. She pushed past Kim and reached for the sheets in Chrisette’s hands.
In the next second, the kid’s foot slipped, and she tumbled off the bed.
Her scream rang out, followed by loud, panicked crying that echoed through the entire villa.
Kim’s expression changed instantly. She shoved Dorothea aside and rushed over, pulling Chrisette into her arms.
“Chrisette! Are you okay? Don’t scare me, baby!”
Dorothea’s head slammed hard against the bedframe. Blood from the back of her head trickled down her neck.
Hearing the commotion, Jimmy came down from the upstairs study and immediately checked on Chrisette in Kim’s arms.
Clutching her swollen forehead, Chrisette sobbed, “Daddy, it hurts! It hurts so much!”
Meanwhile, Kim burst into tears. “I know. I know I’m just a nobody compared to you, Dorothea. I’m not as capable. I can’t play piano like you. But Chrisette just wanted to look at your music, and you… you actually laid hands on her!”
Jimmy turned to Dorothea, his voice cold and sharp.
“So over a few sheet music you composed, you’d hurt a three-year-old? Is that how much you hate Kim and her child?”
Dorothea felt like something inside her had shattered.
So he had always known what those scores meant to her and still let someone else purposely destroy them.
She lifted her gaze, staring straight at him. “Jimmy, I didn’t—”
He cut her off, his expression dark.
“Dorothea, did you forget what you promised me? When you married me, you agreed to leave your past behind and just be a dutiful wife.”
That old piano, barely more than junk at this point, was the only thing he had ever allowed her to keep.
“Stuff like this shouldn’t exist in the first place. I’ll give you anything else but not this.”
As soon as he finished speaking, two bodyguards rushed in and dragged her out of the room.
Then they gathered everything: her handwritten compositions, her piano certificates, her music books, and scores. Then, they dumped it all into a large metal barrel in the backyard.
Jimmy personally lit a torch and tossed it in.
The flames shot up instantly, thick smoke billowing into the air.
Dorothea collapsed into hysteria.
“No!”
Dorothea watched with her own eyes as everything connected to the piano burned to ash.
Meanwhile, she was pinned to the ground by the bodyguards, her cheek pressed hard against the concrete.
Every time she struggled, her skin scraped against the rough surface, sending sharp unbearable pain across her face.
But she didn’t care at all. All she wanted was to break free and hurriedly put out the fire.
By the time everything in the metal barrel had burned to nothing, her cheek was torn and bloodied, staining a small patch of the concrete beneath her.
She couldn’t hold on any longer. Darkness swept over her, and she completely lost consciousness.
第5章
When she woke up again, she found herself locked in a pitch-black, enclosed room.
Dorothea snapped fully awake.
She knew this place. It was a punishment room in the Hemenways' villa, designed for servants who stepped out of line.
The space was barely two square meters, and at unpredictable times, venomous insects would be released inside.
Her whole body trembled as she curled up in the corner, forcing herself to endure the feeling of unknown bugs crawling across her skin.
She had no idea how much time had passed when she finally heard Jimmy’s voice outside the door.
“Dorothea, why are you always so difficult? Why can’t you just behave and be a proper wife?”
“You have to understand that everything I do is because I want to keep you by my side. I love you that much.”
At last, the door opened, and she was let out.
At her bedside, the floor was littered with cigarette butts.
Jimmy had stayed there for three full days. The emotion in his eyes looked too sincere to be fake.
It took Dorothea a full week to recover. Only then did the swelling from the insect bites across her body finally start to go down.
Then came Kim’s birthday. Even though she hadn’t fully recovered from childbirth, she insisted on throwing a party.
Jimmy, of course, agreed without hesitation.
Kim looped her arm through his, acting sweet and innocent. “Jimmy, can Dorothea come to my birthday party, too? We’re going to be, like, sisters from now on. We should share everything, right?”
Jimmy turned to Dorothea.
“Dorothea, you heard her. You’ll be in charge of organizing Kim’s birthday party.”
A cruel smile tugged at his lips.
“Use the same standard as your own birthday parties. I wouldn’t want anyone saying I play favorites.”
A sharp pain suddenly stabbed through Dorothea’s chest.
There was a time he had said to her, “Dorothea, I’ll be there for every birthday you ever have. And I’ll give you ninety-nine completely different birthday experiences.”
And for the past three years of their marriage, he had kept that promise.
But now, his tenderness and affection were no longer hers alone.
She wanted to refuse, but the moment she thought of everything Jimmy had done to her lately for Kim and the child, the words lodged in her throat at once, as if her windpipe had been sealed with cement—neither able to come out nor be swallowed back down.
In the end, Dorothea only gave a faint smile and said, each word slow and deliberate, almost like she was coughing up blood, “I’ll have everything ready.”
——
A week later, the yacht party was dazzling, the lights almost blinding.
Dorothea, dressed in a simple gown, moved through the crowd nonstop.
She kept a close eye on every staff member, checking every detail, making sure nothing went wrong.
At the same time, she had to greet guests, playing the role of a perfect, dutiful hostess.
Kim, on the other hand, was dressed to impress, basking in attention as she accepted compliments and gifts from every direction.
Dorothea couldn’t be bothered.
After all, she had already received a message from her mother-in-law.
In just half a month, everything would be finalized. Dorothea would finally be free of the abyss that was Jimmy.
Suddenly, Kim’s gaze landed on her. “Hey, Dorothea, I don’t think you’ve given me a birthday gift yet.”
Dorothea clenched her hands so tightly her knuckles turned white, but she said nothing.
“Forget it, I won’t make things difficult for you,” Kim said with a smile. “You’re amazing at piano, right?”
She pointed toward the piano nearby. “Why don’t you play something for me?”
“Alright.” Dorothea walked over calmly and sat down at the piano. She took a deep breath and began to play.
When she finished one piece, Kim pouted. “That’s it? Play another one.”
Dorothea didn’t refuse. Her expression didn’t change as she continued playing.
When the second piece ended, Kim had already walked up behind her.
Before Dorothea could react, Kim had already slammed the piano lid down hard right onto Dorothea’s hands!
A sharp crack echoed through the yacht. It was the unmistakable sound of bones breaking.
A wave of pain washed over Dorothea,her vision going black as she instinctively tried to pull her hand back.
The next second,the entire yacht lurched violently.
“Shit!We hit a reef!”
Panic filled the cockpit as one of the crew shouted,“Damn it!The steering is out of control!We’re going to crash!”
Screams erupted all around.Guests scattered in every direction,scrambling to find life jackets.
Just like that,the celebration descended into chaos.
Dorothea had just caught her breath when someone shoved her from behind.She stumbled,lost her footing,and hit the floor hard.
The crowd surged over her,trampling her body.
Her hands,already crushed under the piano lid,were stepped on again and again.
At first,they were just swollen and red.But with every step,she could feel the bones shifting inside,and the pain made her suck in sharp breaths.Eventually,after being stomped on over and over,her hands twisted out of shape completely,and she stopped feeling them at all.
By then,the yacht was completely out of control.
The captain rushed out of the cockpit and found Jimmy.“Sir,the lifeboat’s ready.Please come with me and board with your wife.”
Without hesitation,Jimmy scooped up the terrified Kim in his arms and followed the captain.
He didn’t even glance back at Dorothea,who was still being trampled in the crowd.
Seeing this,Dorothea forced herself up,shoving away the people stepping on her as she struggled into a sitting position.
She absolutely could not die here like this!
She had to survive,to get out of this man-eating cage alive,and to escape Jimmy’s control.
Disheveled and miserable,she silently followed behind him.
The lifeboat pulled away from the yacht and headed toward shore,but not long after,the engine suddenly died.
The captain tried restarting it several times,but it wouldn’t turn over.
His face went pale as he reported,“Sir,the lifeboat is overloaded!We need to reduce weight,or it won’t start!We’ll all be trapped here!”
Jimmy turned to her without a second of hesitation.
“Dorothea,Kim just had a baby.She can’t get wet,and she definitely can’t get chilled.Put on a life jacket and get in the water.”
“I’ll send someone back for you as soon as I get her safely to shore.”
Jimmy left, abandoning her and choosing to save Kim first... Dorothea closed her eyes numbly, her eyes dry, unable to shed a single tear.
第6章
Before Dorothea could even react,a bodyguard had already pulled a life jacket from beneath the seat.
With multiple fractures in both hands,she had no strength to resist at all.
All she could do was watch helplessly as they forced the life jacket onto her.
With a loud splash,she was shoved into the churning sea.
The cold,salty water soaked into the countless wounds on her hands,and the surface of the water quickly bloomed red.
——
When she woke up again,she was already in the hospital.
Olga sat at her bedside,faint shadows beneath her eyes,as if she had been keeping vigil for days.“Dorothea,you’re finally awake.”
Dorothea’s voice was hoarse.“Mom…how long was I out?”
Olga sighed.“This is all my fault.I didn’t know Jimmy could be that heartless.By the time we got the news,you’d already been drifting at sea for a full day and night.After they rescued you,you spent a week in the ICU before your condition stabilized enough to move to a regular room.Altogether,you were unconscious for ten days.”
As she spoke,she placed a plane ticket and a stack of documents on the bedside table.“I got everything you asked for.I’ve seen how much you’ve given up for Jimmy all these years.The stocks and cash in there are my personal compensation to you.”
Dorothea lifted her heavily bandaged hands,trembling as she picked up the ticket and documents.
When she reached the last page,she froze.“Mom…why is there an acceptance letter from the London Symphony Orchestra in here?”
“That’s part of it too.And don’t worry about your hands.While you were unconscious,I brought in the best orthopedic specialists to treat you,and I made sure there won’t be any lasting damage.”
“Also,Jimmy may be a fool,but I can’t let the family be played for fools by a woman like Kim.Here’s the evidence you wanted.Kim was the one who spread the pollen on her own daughter and framed you for it.”
As she said that,Olga handed Dorothea a flash drive.
Only at that moment did a tear finally slip from the corner of Dorothea’s eye.
A bright smile slowly appeared across her face.
“Dorothea,the car is ready.Today they’re officially registering the second child under the family name,and Jimmy’s distracted right now.This is your best chance to leave.”
Dorothea nodded,clutching the plane ticket and acceptance letter tightly as she got into the car.
Thinking about everything Kim had done to her,and about all the humiliation and suffering she had endured over the past month,Dorothea felt hatred surge through her chest.
In the car,she hacked into the yacht’s surveillance system and clipped the footage of Kim maliciously slamming the piano lid onto her hands.She bundled that together with the earlier footage proving Kim had spread the pollen herself and sent everything to her closest lawyer friend.
“It’s been a while.I need a favor.I want to officially retain you as my attorney and have you sue Kim for aggravated assault and child abuse.I’m on my way to the airport right now.Meet me at departures in thirty minutes.”
As she spoke,she quickly wrote out a power of attorney,signed it,then used her lipstick like sealing ink and pressed her fingerprint onto the document.
She made it to the airport smoothly and,after handing the signed authorization over to her lawyer friend,boarded her flight.
The plane taxied,lifted off the runway,and soared into the blue sky.
Sitting by the window,she watched as New York grew smaller and smaller beneath her,and for the first time,she felt completely at ease.Her red lips slowly curved into a smile as she said softly,
“Jimmy.Kim.Welcome to abyss!”