In Fu Private Hospital.
"Doctor, how's my baby?" Gu Shenghuan uneasily asked.
Her husband had a new lover, while her parents favored her younger sister. The child was her only motivation to continue living.
The child was her life!
The doctor handed the test sheet to Gu Shenghuan and pointed out, "Look at it. The fetus is not in the right position. Adjustments should be made as soon as possible."
Not in the right position? It might result in dystocia!
Gu Shenghuan lowered her head to stare at the words on the test sheet, at a loss of what she should do. She withdrew the phone from her pocket and hesitated for a long time before tapping on the call button.
"Fu Tingshen, where are you? I want to meet you."
There was not a sound from the other end of the line for a long while. Gu Shenghuan's eyes dimmed as she fight back the tears that were about to drip.
Sure enough, she shouldn't have been so expectant. Throughout two years of marriage, when had her husband ever accompanied her?
"Doctor, I'll think about it again..." Gu Shenghuan kept the test sheet and exited the ward with her face deathly pale.
Upon raising her head, she saw the man approaching her from the other end of the corridor. He had a tall and straight build, with his black suit adding to his imposing manner. His side profile was well-defined, his lips pursed as if he was displeased. Right then, he was talking to the doctor in a lowered voice.
A hint of joy appeared in Gu Shenghuan's blank eyes. She scrambled to her feet and walked over to the man. "Fu Tingshen, you're here..."
Halfway through her sentence, she came to an abrupt stop.
That was because Fu Tingshen had a woman by his side, Gu Manman, her younger step-sister.
"Gu Shenghuan?" Gu Manman was equally surprised to see her. Flashing a gentle smile, she began to softly say, "I felt dizzy all of a sudden. I happened to run into Fu Tingshen, so he sent me to the hospital. Gu Shenghuan, I hope you won't take it to heart."
It seemed to imply that Gu Shenghuan was narrow-minded if she decided not to forgive her.
The doctor opposite Fu Tingshen explained with a serious face, "Mr. Fu, Miss Gu's thalassemia is inherited, so her situation is not optimistic. It's best to conduct an operation as soon as possible. The umbilical cord blood of her closest relatives can treat aplastic anemia."
Before Gu Shenghuan could react, a terrible gut feeling aroused in her heart.
Fu Tingshen's face darkened. Sweeping his dark gaze past Gu Shenghuan, he ordered the doctor in a cold voice, "Doesn't Gu Manman need the umbilical cord blood of her closest kin? Use hers. The operation will start right away!"
Was he instructing the doctor to use the umbilical cord blood of her child to save Gu Manman?!
Gu Shenghuan's head jotted up in disbelief. "No, I don't agree!"
"Fu Tingshen, how could you be so cruel? It's your child!" She plunged into a panic, for fear that he would do as he had commanded the doctor to.
"Gu Shenghuan, who do you think you are?" His hand struck forward to grip her jaw so hard that it hurt.
Fu Tingshen locked his dark eyes on her. His originally icy facial features dropped several degrees colder, but when he spoke, his words sent a chill down her spine, "That's the child you stole. You should very well know how you married me. You don't deserve to give birth to my child."
"No, I wasn't the one who spiked your drink that night. It wasn't me, for real!"
Gu Shenghuan shook her head in a flurry as she gripped Fu Tingshen's sleeve tightly and shook her head non-stop.
A year ago, she was drunk at a college graduation party. When she woke up, she found him lying beside her. The room was a mess. A group of reporters from god-knows-where went straight to work by clicking and flashing their cameras at the two of them in bed. In an instant, words got out and spread like wildfire.
In fact, she was secretly delighted that the Fu Family had forced Fu Tingshen to marry her for the sake of their family reputation.
Throughout two years of marriage, she tried her best to play the role of a virtuous wife, but Fu Tingshen despised her and would often return home late. Later, she learned that the person he had always wanted to marry was her sister, Gu Manman.
In Fu Tingshen's eyes, she was a vicious woman who would use unscrupulous means to climb onto his bed.
Right then, he was going to sacrifice her and his child's lives to save Gu Manman!
Gu Shenghuan's eyes were bloodshot, her heart aching.
There was a hint of disgust in Fu Tingshen's eyes with his voice as cold as ice. "Get ready for the operation!"
With that, he did not bother to take another glance at Gu Shenghuan. Instead, he protected Gu Manman in his embrace and turned to leave.
Gu Shenghuan's body swayed before she dropped to the ground with a loud thud. It felt suffocating with her heart as cold as ice.
She half knelt on the ground with sorrow swirling in the gaze cast at the indifferent man from behind.
"You can be with Gu Manman. I...I will never interfere again. A divorce... Yes, don't you want a divorce? As long as you let me keep this child, I will sign the divorce agreement right away."
The medical staff dragged Gu Shenghuan into the operating room. Fu Tingshen turned around to dart her a glance with an apathetic expression. "Don't even dream about it!"
The white pure light from the incandescent lamp stung her eyes. Gu Shenghuan's eyes were streaked with fear and despair. "Don't... Don't hurt my child. Please! Please..."
The moment the scalpel landed on her skin, she felt great agony. She helplessly watched as the child was removed from her womb. It was bloody as the excruciating pain spread from her heart to her whole body with tears gushing out of her eyes like a dam.
The man, whom Gu Shenghuan loved dearly, burned with anxiety for another woman.
At the exact moment, her heart went still.
Gu Shenghuan's vision was pitch-dark. In the midst of the darkness, she screamed in a shrill and determined voice, "Fu Tingshen! I hate you!"
......
Three days later, in a mid-hill villa.
"It hurts..."
Gu Shenghuan felt waves of pain in her stomach. She struggled to open her eyes, and what entered her sight was the familiar furnishing of the villa and Gu Manman by the side of the bed.
"Where's my child?" Gu Shenghuan opened her mouth to ask in a hoarse voice.
"He's dead." Gu Manman's lips curled into a mocking smile. She approached Gu Shenghuan and softly whispered, "They say that it's a boy, but although he's dying, Fu Tingshen didn't bother to check on him. The doctor mentioned that he has always been by my side."
Her child...Her child with Fu Tingshen.
Gu Shenghuan's eyes were red-rimmed with the blue veins on her neck bulging. Her deadly glare was fixed on Gu Manman as she hissed, "Why did you do this to me? That's your nephew! You killed a life. Won't you have a nightmare when you sleep?"
"If he doesn't die, how will my illness be cured?" Gu Manman could not help but take a step back under her gaze. Her expression was gloomy as she went on to say, "You're lucky to be able to sleep with Fu Tingshen and become Mrs. Fu after having been spiked in your drink."
There was a flash of jealousy and hatred in Gu Manman's eyes. Immediately after, her expression shifted to that of a bright smile as she chirped, "From now on, however, you will no longer exist. I'll take over your position as Mrs. Fu!"
"What are you going to do?" A burst of worry surged in Gu Shenghuan's heart when she saw Gu Manman gesturing to the bodyguards behind her.
The bodyguards marched up to Gu Shenghuan and lifted her to the living room on the ground floor as if they were dragging goods.
Gu Shenghuan gasped in pain.
The wound was torn open with blood seeping out through the gauze. Gu Shenghuan was lying on the ground, shivering in pain. As she bit her lips and clutched the hem of her clothes, she hated how she could not stand on her feet.
"Don't worry. I'll send you to hell right away." Gu Manman lit a row of candles on the dining table as a wild smile appeared on her lips. "Mrs. Fu died of grief because she lost her child. She ignited the gas and took her life at home. What a piece of terrific news. Seeing how you're about to die, I shall tell you one more thing..."
In an instant, Gu Shenghuan's whole body was bone-chillingly cold.
Gu Manman's red lips parted to slowly mouth the words, "Your mother didn't die of an accident at all."
"You..." Gu Shenghuan's eyes shot wide open.
Gu Manman kicked her hard and left the house with her bodyguards. Before leaving, she turned around to Gu Shenghuan and bid farewell with a seemingly harmless smile, "Goodbye, my dear...sister."
"Bang..."
The door of the villa was slammed shut!
Gu Shenghuan closed her eyes in distress.
Fire erupted from within the villa with the entire mid-hill villa surrounded by raging flames that dyed half of the sky scarlet red.