It was a rainy day with the sounds of rolling thunder.
In a study room on the second floor of Yale's residence, a flame flickered as someone was flicking a lighter on and off continuously.
Hanson Yale's cold gaze was fixed on a photo that was projected onto the wall by a projector.
It was the photo of a man and a woman lying on a bed, entwined in each others' arms. Only the man's face had been blurred in the photo, so Hanson could instantly recognise the woman with just one look at her face.
That woman was his wife, Wendy Simons, the most beautiful socialite in Heaven City.
"On the day that I had almost lost my life as I've gotten trapped in a burning building, the woman who had constantly professed her unwavering love for me was actually seeing another man behind my back..." He thought.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Someone spoke from behind the door in a respectful tone, "Master Hanson, we've just received a call saying that Mrs. Wendy is going to have a preterm delivery soon."
A slight frown creased Hanson's forehead. He got up and headed for the door without delay.
The shrill screams of a woman in labour pains came from inside a hospital ward.
"Get Hanson Yale here. I want to see him."
A woman in a long white dress, who was standing at the side of the bed, laughed mockingly.
"Wendy, my dear cousin, you're the reason that Mrs. Yale has fallen into a coma. You've even caused my sister's death and made me sterile. Don't you know that Hanson feels nothing but hatred for you after everything that has happened? I'm the person that he's in love with now. Last night, we were..."
Before she had even finished talking, Wendy who was still on the bed, grabbed the woman by the collar in a flash.
The exquisite beauty of Wendy's face still shone through albeit her pale complexion.
"You... are truly shameless."
"Well, in terms of shamelessness, I don't think that I could ever compare to you, who's been sneakily playing around with another man."
Wendy clenched her teeth. "I didn't."
"Oh right, you didn't." Tanya Nielsen leaned over and whispered in her ear. Her voice was so low that only the two of them could hear it. "I know that it's the truth, but Hanson doesn't believe you anymore. He only trusts me now."
Wendy's heart sank in an instant as Tanya's words hit home.
"That's right. Hanson doesn't believe me. Hanson... doesn't believe me anymore," Wendy thought.
Then, as if she had lost her sanity, Wendy violently pushed Tanya to the ground.
If truth be told, Tanya would not have been pushed over by Wendy so easily in the first place. However, she had just so happened to hear approaching footsteps from behind the door at that very moment.
So, Tanya deliberately fell to the ground and let out a yelp of pain.
The door burst open and a tall figure walked to Tanya's side quickly. The man helped Tanya up, and his fierce eyes glared at Wendy.
Upon noticing her ashen face and wet, messy hair, for some reason, Hanson felt an ache in his heart.
Just then, Tanya said to him, "Hanson, don't blame it on Wendy. She didn't do it on purpose. She only pushed me because the labour pains are too overwhelming. I don't blame her. I weren't even truly harmed, so this really is not a big deal. Honestly, nothing else matters as long as the baby is safely born."
Hanson had an exceedingly handsome face, yet now he was shooting a menacing look at Wendy. "How rude and overbearing! Can't you keep your temper under control when you're almost about to go into labour?"
Wendy was extremely heartbroken when she saw the look on Hanson's face.
Ever since she was a child, she had told everyone that she would marry this man one day.
"Hanson Yale, I want a divorce. This child..."
Upon hearing the word "divorce", Hanson moved closer to Wendy and grabbed her neck. Then, he said in a chilling voice, "Do you really think that I would still want to be with such a wicked and shameless woman like you? You just have to stay until the baby is born, and after this, Tanya will take care of the baby in your stead. You just need to stay out of my life. I don't ever want to see you again in this lifetime."
After saying that, he took his hand off Wendy's neck in disgust. Then, he turned around and strode out of the ward.
With a smug look on her face, Tanya turned her head and shot Wendy a sideways glance. Then, she left the room following Hanson.
"Wicked."
"I've loved him my whole life, but the only thing that I've gotten in return was the word "wicked"," she was lost in her thought.
Wendy felt as if she was experiencing hell.
She was in labour for seven hours.
But after it was over, she remained obstinately silent.
She was not going to let others look down on her, even if it meant that she had to keep her teeth clenched at all times.
Right after the child was born, Wendy had fainted as she was completely drained of energy.
By the time that she had regained consciousness, it was already dark outside.
Wendy, who was still in a daze, could vaguely hear a few people talking in hushed tones inside the ward.
"I heard that they've brought four dogs here."
"They're feeding such a small child to dogs... The mere thought of it scares me stiff."
Wendy had a sense of foreboding almost instantaneously. She asked in a hoarse voice, "What are the lot of you talking about?"
One of the nurses was shocked when she heard Wendy's voice.
"Whose child is being fed to dogs? This is a psychiatric hospital. Why would they keep a child here?" Wendy shouted.
"That's right. From the day that he has found out that I was pregnant, Hanson's had me confined in a psychiatric hospital right away.
It has already been eight months," Wendy thought.
"Isn't it pretty obvious? Of course it's your child. You had a stillborn baby. Miss. Nielsen has taken it away, and she's going to feed it to her dogs."
Those words made Wendy's hair stand on end.
She flung the quilt aside and got out of bed. Propping her weary body up against the wall, she dragged herself and ran out of the room.
As soon as she had arrived at the back door of the hospital, she could spot Tanya and several male servants standing there.
There were sounds of several dogs barking coming from the backyard.
"Tanya, what have you done? Where's my child?"
Tanya turned around with a grin on her face when she heard Wendy's voice.
"My dear cousin, you're truly luckless. You've had a stillborn baby after carrying it for so long. Hanson was extremely repulsed by it. He said that it was ominous, and he has given orders to have your daughter's body fed to the dogs."
She moved closer to the dogs quickly, only to see blood trickling down the mouths of two dogs in the dim light.
Wendy felt as if her heart was being torn apart. She threw herself forward, screaming hysterically, "No, no!"