Chapter 2
My vision blurred, whether from sweat or tears, I couldn’t tell.
“Julian… your Hayes family’s hereditary fertility disorder… your father came to our village, knelt in the rain for three days and three nights, before my parents finally agreed to let me go. That’s how I came to your family…”
My voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, yet I stubbornly uttered the question: “Now, how dare you… threaten my entire village?”
Julian scoffed as if he’d heard a joke, looking down at me with cold disdain: “You dare bring that up? That ‘siren bloodline’ of yours, it was all a scam from beginning to end.”
“If it weren’t for the stories you spun, do you think an unsophisticated village girl like you, not even fit for inspection, could enter my home? Serena, she made me a normal man, and now she’s pregnant with my child. What are you, anyway?”
He finished speaking, then turned, wrapped an arm around Serena’s waist, and left without a backward glance.
“Serena is the wife I want, no one can shake her position!”
I lay on the floor, covered in blood. The aphrodisiac’s effects still hadn’t worn off, my body felt like it was on fire, convulsing and burning in waves.
Mrs. Hayes rushed over. When she saw me in this state, her face turned pale: “Quick! Take her to the hospital, she’s fading fast!”
After consulting, the doctors looked grim:
“This type of aphrodisiac… can only be detoxified through intimacy. Otherwise, the only option is a complete blood transfusion, but the hospital’s blood supply is currently insufficient. If Miss Anya’s condition isn’t treated immediately, she might literally explode from within.”
“What do you mean, ‘explode from within’?!” Mrs. Hayes almost screamed.
A bodyguard explained: “This is a new formula brought back from overseas, there’s no antidote. It can only be counteracted by a man… otherwise, the blood throughout her body will burn her internal organs.”
“Absurd! This is insane. His father worked so hard to bring this daughter-in-law home, how can he treat her so badly!” Mrs. Hayes panicked and immediately called Julian, but he didn’t answer even after a dozen calls.
I lay there on an IV drip, feeling cold all over. Finally, on the third sedative injection, the call connected.
Mrs. Hayes roared: “Are you insane?! Anya is the daughter-in-law your father brought home! If you don’t come back and help her, she’ll die!”
“I’m warning you, she is the daughter-in-law the Hayes family has acknowledged! Come back immediately!”
A soft chuckle came from the other end of the line. Julian’s voice was utterly chilling: “She’s got some nerve, even going to you? Fine, I’ll handle it.”
The moment he hung up, my heart felt like it was being torn apart.
Mrs. Hayes grasped my hand: “Don’t be afraid, I’m here. I’ll see justice for you. I’ll make him marry you, and treat you well.”
But I gently closed my eyes, my nails digging deep into my palms.
“Auntie, when you came to the village, you said that once the Hayes family had a child, you would let me go back.”
“Now, Serena is pregnant… I’m no longer useful. Can you… let me go?”
Mrs. Hayes froze, then her face darkened. She quietly instructed a bodyguard: “Go investigate.”
Then, she gently patted my hand, but her voice was soft and gentle:
“The Hayes family’s children have always come from your village for generations. Your family has blessed the Hayes. We brought you into our home, hoping you would live a stable and happy life. Those other women were just extra insurance.”
“Julian used to follow you around every day, calling you ‘Sister Anya,’ always thinking of you for anything good. Later, he begged to get engaged to you. He liked you for over ten years, how did he suddenly become like this…?”
As I listened, tears finally streamed down my face.
When he was twenty, Julian booked out the entire city’s fireworks display to propose to me. The night I said yes, he held me and cried all night.
The boy who once swore to cherish me forever, threatening to be torn into a thousand pieces if he ever betrayed me, had now, for another woman, personally pushed me into a living hell.
My voice was hoarse, almost inaudible: “Auntie… please, let me go…”
Mrs. Hayes looked at me, silent for a long time, then finally sighed and nodded.
“My dear child, I know you’ve been wronged. I will send you back safely, exactly as you came. Julian wronged you, I will retrieve his assets for you.”
“You are a good child I watched grow up. Even if you’re not my biological daughter, I treat you as my own.”
Before leaving, Mrs. Hayes gently stroked my hair: “My dear child, hold on. I’ll find a solution.”
After she left, only a young assistant remained with me.
I lay on the hospital bed, the drug’s effects still lingering. My body felt scorched, my internal organs twisted and ached, my blood boiling in my veins.
I bit down on the blanket to stifle my cries, but a low moan still escaped my throat. My fingertips trembled from the pain.
The young assistant paced nervously. Just as my consciousness wavered and I was about to pass out, the door opened.
I struggled to lift my eyes. Entering were five bodyguards in black suits.
“Miss Anya,” the leader said coldly, “Mr. Hayes said there are two antidotes here.”
“One, is us.”
My mind exploded with a loud buzz.
I instinctively tried to prop myself up, but the moment I moved, agonizing pain surged through me, and I nearly collapsed back onto the bed.
“What does Julian Hayes take me for?!” My voice was hoarse beyond recognition, yet every word was clear.