Chapter 3
Julian knelt over me, adjusting his clothes.
He laughed loudly, as if trying to see through me, and gripped my chin tightly.
“I truly underestimated you. To be the young mistress of the Pei family, you’d even curse your own son. You don’t love him as much as Grandpa Arthur said, do you?”
“How could heaven let such a vain woman be a mother? Leo had terrible luck with you as his mother!”
With that, he disgustedly flung my chin away.
He looked at me as if I were something filthy, then stood up and left.
I slowly sat up, a cold smile on my face.
“Julian, in your eyes, I’m just a worthless, vain woman?”
“If it weren’t for you, who used tricks to deceive Grandpa Arthur, adding Serena’s credit to your own, and harming her so she couldn’t have children in this life, you would never have touched the threshold of the Pei family!”
“Serena is genuine and kind, while you are full of vanity, without a single truthful word! Your schemes won’t work on me. Everything that belongs to her, I will help her take back, one by one.”
Julian slammed the door as he left.
I recalled the third year of the apocalypse. The Pei family was gradually declining. Julian was infected by the smog and fell into a coma.
Grandpa Arthur said there was the largest hospital in the southwest, the only one with intact equipment, that could save Julian.
To repay my debt, I ignored my teammates’ warnings. Alone, with a gun and a hammer, I fought my way through floor by floor to occupy the hospital, ensuring Julian received timely treatment.
We then used it as the Pei family’s territory, expanding outwards.
When he finally woke up, I collapsed, covered in injuries and exhaustion.
Julian held me, slipping a wedding ring onto my finger.
He said he would only acknowledge me in this life.
Drifting through the apocalypse for so long, it was the first time I felt loved, and I dared to fantasize about happiness.
It wasn’t until I was pregnant, close to giving birth, that Julian brought back a woman covered in blood.
From then on, his resentment and hatred towards me grew deeper and deeper.
After I gave birth to Leo, Serena stood in the doorway, looking at Leo with envy.
I didn’t know then that it was the beginning of my happiness slipping away.
Julian frantically sought my affections, but then, upon learning of my pregnancy, forced me to take medication to abort.
The first time, he was still willing to explain. The second, the third time, he grew increasingly annoyed, revealing his true colors.
“Ava, this is your retribution for what you did to Serena.”
“All the pain she suffered because of you, I will make you endure, little by little!”
I hugged Leo’s urn and my packed weapons, then opened the door to leave.
But bodyguards were already waiting outside, striking me with electrified riot batons.
“Apologies, Ms. Ava, but Ms. Serena has caught a cold. Young Master Julian wants you to take care of her puppies.”
“The Young Master said the puppies are fragile, and their feeding and care must be quick. If Ms. Ava is even a little slow, you’ll be punished and warned.”
Before I could even question it, another baton struck my back.
The searing pain of the electric shock always reminded me of Leo’s death, when I was held back by the electric fence, crying out powerlessly.
By the time I reached Serena’s room, my body was numb from the beating, every step trembling.
Julian, however, thought I was faking it, his face impatient as he urged me.
“Hurry up and feed the puppies! If they get hungry and make Serena upset, you won’t eat tonight.”
I gritted my teeth, enduring the pain, and picked up the bottle to feed them.
But the puppy in my arms kept whimpering uncomfortably.
Serena heard it and walked over, letting out a sharp cry.
“Sister Ava, it’s still so small, why would you kill it?”
Tears welled in her eyes. She reached out to grab me, then weakly collapsed to the ground, only looking at me and demanding:
“Sister, I can’t have children anymore. I just wanted to raise a few dogs with Julian. Is even that not allowed?”
Julian’s heart ached. He slapped me hard across the face.
My already numb body couldn’t support me. I hit the corner of a table, dazed and unable to open my eyes.
But he cursed me for faking it, picked up Serena, and frantically called a doctor.
I lay on the ground, regaining my senses only after a long while.
Picking up the dead puppy from the floor, I saw blood at its mouth. It had been poisoned.
I rummaged through my belongings, put the puppy in a small metal basin Leo used to play with, and added two toys so he wouldn’t be alone.
Before leaving, I lit a match and took the basin outside to set it ablaze.
Having taken care of everything, I felt a sense of peace and left.
Just as the city gates registered my face for exit, a bullet pierced my knee, the pain making me pass out.
When I woke again, Julian was dragging me, throwing me at the entrance of Serena’s room.
Three half-burned puppies, charred all over, lay there.
He furiously kicked me in the chest, cursing.
“You bitch, how dare you hurt Serena’s puppies?! What right do you have to get revenge on her?!”
He dragged me out, pulling me before a sobbing, breathless Serena, forcing me to my knees.
Serena gasped through her tears.