1
On the anniversary of my twins’ death, I was eight months pregnant and got into a car accident. The crash caused massive internal bleeding.
Hudson Partridge, my husband, had gone mad with panic. He cradled me in his arms and rushed me to the hospital, begging the top specialists in the city to operate on me.
But even with the best medical care, they couldn’t save the baby.
When I opened my eyes again, Hudson was nowhere to be seen.
I searched the hospital halls until I reached the morgue and overheard his conversation with a doctor.
“Sir, the baby was still breathing. How could you… strangle him to death? That was your biological son!”
“I made a promise to Pepper. In this life, I’ll only have children with her. No one else’s child is allowed to compete for our son’s love.”
“Besides,” he added, “I already gave Quiana a pair of twins. If it weren’t for needing their blood to treat Pepper’s anemia, they would've never even lived to six!”
It turned out… The car accident… He had planned it.
The twins’ deaths… He orchestrated those too.
He even had two sons with Pepper!
I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. He’d already betrayed me long ago. What was the point in staying?
After confirming his affair, I reached out to three people.
The first was a friend working in the immigration office. I asked her to help expedite my application.
The second friend was a lawyer. I begged her to collect everything she could—any evidence that could leave Hudson with nothing in the divorce.
And last, I called my mother.
“Mom. I’ve decided to return and take over the company. I’ll be home within the week.”
“You should’ve come back sooner,” she replied with a sigh. “You and Hudson were never right for each other.”
I nodded, not feeling a thing. “You’re right, Mom.”
——
After hanging up, I stared at what little was left of my children’s belongings.
I couldn’t help but cry in bitterness.
If I hadn’t stubbornly insisted on marrying Hudson, would they still be alive?
Seven years ago, his company went under and he lost everything.
Pepper Blaine—that woman he adored—left without hesitation. She dumped him and took all the money with her.
Everyone turned their backs on him. Everyone but me.
I willingly married him with every cent I had. I stood by him during the worst of it. I watched him claw his way back from rock bottom. I worked three part-time jobs just to support him, surviving on three hours of sleep a night.
Back then, in his lowest, he promised, “Quiana, once I’m rich, I’ll give you the life you deserve. I’ll make you the happiest woman in the world.”
Well, now he was rich. And he’d forgotten every word he said.
He kept Pepper as his mistress in secret and even had two children with her!
And worst of all, for her sake… he murdered our three babies with his own hands!
I gathered the last of my children’s things and held a small, quiet funeral.
Just as I was about to bury their urns in the yard, a shrill voice shrieked behind me.
“Cheap woman! Who said you could bury this cursed trash in my yard?!”
Leilani stormed at me like a madwoman. With one brutal kick, she knocked over all three urns.
Then, as if that wasn’t enough, she spat on the ashes in disgust!
My scalp prickled in shock. I lunged to shove her away, but I was too late.
The ashes had already been trampled beyond recognition.
Then, a gust of wind then swept in, blowing the last of them away like dust.
I couldn’t hold back and roared at my mother-in-law. “Are you insane?! They were your own grandchildren!”
But Hudson didn’t come to my defense. He simply frowned and said, “Quiana, is that how you talk to my mother? Apologize!”
It felt like my heart was being carved apart with a dull knife. Eyes red with fury, I stared at him and questioned, “Hudson, open your eyes and look! Those were your children. Your own flesh and blood! Shouldn’t your mother be the one apologizing to them?!”
“They were just three dead kids. So what if the ashes are gone?” he replied nonchalantly. “That’s still no excuse to disrespect your in-law. I told you—apologize!”
I looked at his cold, commanding face that left no room for argument, and my chest ached so badly I couldn’t breathe.
Leilani had always hated me. She picked fights all the time, and her son never once stood up for me.
Pepper despised me, so Hudson crushed my dignity underfoot just to please the woman he loved.
In his heart, everyone was more important than me.
In fact, he’d grown more impatient with me year after year.
That’s why, during the accident, when he raced me to the hospital, I was foolish enough to feel touched. I thought, ‘Maybe he still loved me.’
Who would have thought he was just rushing to take our baby’s life?!
But I didn’t argue anymore. I dropped to my knees and began collecting the ashes, what little I could salvage.
Seeing that I was ignoring him, Hudson snapped. “Remember what you’ve done today. One day, you’ll regret this!”
Under the gloomy sky, rain began to pour. He stormed inside with Leilani, leaving me alone in the yard.
Two hours later, I gently placed all three urns into my suitcase.
As if they could hear me, I promised, “Don’t worry, my darlings. Mommy’s taking you home soon.”
2
Quiana’s POV
The next morning, just as I came downstairs, I saw Hudson sitting in the living room with Leilani.
She was happily playing on her phone while her son lounged lazily on the couch, skimming through a newspaper.
As soon as Hudson saw me, his expression darkened. He snapped, “You just had a miscarriage—does that really mean you have to sleep in this late? Get in the kitchen now and make breakfast!”
Leilani chimed in with a sneer, clearly enjoying herself. “Exactly! Lazy little tramp. What, do you think you’re some kind of pampered heiress now?”
The truth was, the Partridge used to have a housekeeper. But the very next day after I moved in, Leilani fired her.
She dumped all the housework on me without a second thought, mocking me at every turn. “Why hire help? Isn’t there already a free maid living under this roof?”
Back then, I loved Hudson. I was willing to put up with anything for him.
But not anymore.
Coldly, I looked them both in the eye and said, “I won’t do a single chore from now on. Neither of you deserve my efforts.”
Hudson’s face quickly twisted in fury. Just as he was about to lash out, the doorbell rang.
Leilani rushed to open the door. When she saw Pepper walk in with a child in tow, her entire face lit up, exclaiming, “Oh, my sweet, eldest grand—”
“Mom!” Hudson suddenly barked, cutting her off before she could say too much.
He looked so terrified like she might blurt out something she shouldn’t in the heat of the moment.
But Leilani welcomed Pepper and the boy in with open arms, shooting me several disdainful glances as she did.
“What are you so worried about?” she retorted to her son with a shrug. “Some people couldn’t even keep their own children alive. What right do they have to stop us from adopting someone else’s?”
She turned to Pepper, saying, “Dear, from now on, you and the kids will live here with me. It’s not safe out there!”
I stood frozen in place.
Then I heard Pepper let out a deliberately shy little laugh. “If I move in with the kids, won’t Quiana be upset?”
Hudson scoffed. “What are you afraid of her for? This isn’t even her home.”
Leilani quickly backed him up. “Exactly! If it weren’t for Hudson being so sentimental, I’d have told him to divorce that worthless woman and marry you a long time ago!”
Hearing those words from the two, Pepper covered her mouth and giggled with smug satisfaction.
My scalp tingled, a chill crawling down my spine as memories rushed back—everything that had happened since Pepper returned to Louisiana.
Leilani constantly belittled me to elevate her. She never even hid her intentions. She wanted me gone. She wanted Pepper in my place.
There was even one night my own mother-in-law invited Pepper over for dinner and secretly drugged both her and Hudson’s meals.
When I found out, I confronted him in a rage that caused a huge scene.
But instead of getting angry at his mother, he turned on me and said, “If you could’ve just given me a son, would Mom have had to go to these lengths? You brought this on yourself!”
After that fight, we didn’t speak for a month… until my twins went missing.
I practically knelt before him, begging. “Please, Hudson. Please just send someone to look for them!”
The next day, the twins’ lifeless bodies were brought home.
That was the first time Hudson hit me, shouting, “Why didn’t you watch them? Is this how you act as a mother?!”
My heart shattered. I collapsed onto my kids’ tiny corpses and cried for three days and nights.
All this time, I believed it was my negligence that killed them. I carried that guilt, that grief, for years.
But the truth? Pepper had a hereditary blood disorder. She needed frequent transfusions, and Hudson drained every last drop of blood from our two daughters just to keep his mistress alive!
Just thinking about it, I could almost hear my daughters’ terrified cries, begging for help.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked straight at Hudson. My eyes burned, my voice shaking with rage.
“Go ahead, Hudson. Let them move in. But I promise you—I won’t let any of you get away with it!”
And with that, I turned and walked back upstairs without looking back.
3
Quiana’s POV
Fuming, Hudson stormed upstairs after me.
When he saw that half of the master bedroom was already emptied, his tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed.
“Well, at least you’ve got some sense,” he said coolly. “You knew to vacate this master bedroom for Pepper.”
He turned and added, “She likes rooms with good lighting. From now on, you’ll stay in the guest room on the east side.”
At his words, I nearly broke down.
I suffered from claustrophobia—so severe that in the worst cases, it could cause me to suffocate and go into shock.
Back then, Hudson had done everything for me. The villa was always brightly lit, never a shadow in sight. The master bedroom had been specially designed by him, with full sunlight and open space, just so I could feel safe.
But now, for Pepper, he was forcing me into a windowless, dim, suffocating guest room that hadn’t seen sunlight in years…
Love and indifference were now a clear chasm between us—impossible to bridge.
Swallowing my grief, I kept my voice cold and steady. “Don’t flatter yourself. I only cleaned up the room to take my things, not to please her.”
“A child died, alright,” he said sharply. “But is that enough reason to run away from home?”
As if he were convinced I would never truly leave him, he added, “Besides, without me, where could you even go?”
Before I could respond, he barked an order to the bodyguards.
“Throw her things out.”
They didn’t hesitate. My luggage was dragged out and tossed aside—every last piece of it.
Not even the children’s room was spared.
The playroom I had lovingly built for our children was overtaken—claimed by Pepper’s two sons.
They cut up the clothes in the wardrobe, ripped apart my daughters’ sketchbooks, and even defiled the memorial portraits of all three of the children I lost!
Fury surged to my head. I lunged forward and shoved the two little brats away.
But before I could say a word, I was kicked violently down the stairs—by my own mother-in-law.
“Hold her down,” Hudson ordered coldly.
Just like that, the guards pinned me to the floor without mercy.
Hot blood trickled from my forehead, stinging my eyes. The pain was unbearable, but I gritted my teeth and shouted, “Hudson! You’re just going to let them trample on your own flesh and blood like this?!”
But my words didn’t move him. Whatever fatherly love had once existed in his heart was long gone. His eyes were filled only with Pepper and her kids.
With tears brimming, Pepper put on her usual pitiful act and whimpered, “Quiana, I know you’re upset and probably don’t like me… but please, don’t take it out on the kids.”
Even her two bastard sons had the gall to run up and cling to Hudson’s leg.
“Daddy! Daddy! That mean lady hurt us! You have to avenge us!”
Before Hudson could respond, Leilani stepped forward and slapped me hard twice.
Her face twisted in rage as she spat, “Shameless woman! I should’ve taught you a lesson a long time ago. Today, we’re bringing back the family rules!”
My cheeks burned red and swollen from the slaps. Blood mixed with tears dripped onto the floor.
Still, I couldn’t stop myself from looking at Hudson one last time, hoping for even the smallest flicker of humanity.
“Hudson! I’ll give you one more chance. Get them out of this house—her and her kids!”
But he only turned away and coldly ordered someone to bring out a whip soaked in salt water.
His voice was void of warmth. “Apologize.”
I gave a breathless, disbelieving laugh. “Why should I apologize?! You’re the ones who’ve pushed me past the limit!”
Before I knew it, the first lash already struck my back with a searing sting, tearing through my skin.
I screamed out in pain, and Hudson raised his voice, nearly roaring, “Now, are you going to admit you were wrong?!”
“N-No.” My voice trembled, breath hitching from the agony. “The biggest mistake I ever made… was falling in love with you, cheap man!”
Pepper frowned and tried to speak gently. “Quiana, I won’t allow you to speak about Hudson that way…”
I spat out a mouthful of blood. Like a madwoman, I cursed, “And who the hell do you think you are?! You’re just a damn mistress who clings to a man in power! What gives you the right to judge me?!”
My words must’ve enraged Hudson because he struck me again and again with the whip mercilessly.
At the first lash, he roared, “This one’s for Pepper!”
The second came down harder.
“And this one’s for failing to protect the kids!”
He didn’t stop until he punished me with sixty-fucking-four lashes, each one landing as if directly on my heart.
Soon, a sharp, metallic tang rose in my throat. I choked, gagged, and coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. And then, everything went dark.
4
Quiana’s POV
When I woke up, the TV was playing on loop—a video of me being whipped.
My pained groans had become the background music to the twisted celebration of Pepper’s kids. My bloodied back, raw and torn, was doused again and again with hard liquor by Leilani, like I was no more than a pile of rotting flesh left to fester in the corner.
If Wrenley, my friend practicing law, hadn’t arrived in time, I might already be a corpse.
The hospital room door creaked open. She stepped inside and immediately shut off the TV, her expression grim as she handed me a medical report.
“You’ve got five broken ribs,” she began. “There’s minor nerve damage along your spine, and you’re also suffering from a mild concussion.”
Her voice lowered. “This isn’t just domestic abuse, Quiana. We have solid evidence of infidelity during marriage too. That’s more than enough to strip Hudson of everything.”
I forced myself upright, my body trembling, and passed her a flash drive I’d hidden away.
“It’s all on here,” I said through clenched teeth. “A video of him, drunk, confessing everything. And copies of the messages he sent to the doctor—the one he bribed to kill my baby.”
I stared her dead in the eyes. “I don’t just want him to lose everything. I want him to pay in blood.”
Three days passed in the hospital. Hudson didn’t visit even once. But his Facebook updates? Constant.
I saw photos of him and Pepper embracing on the beach, kissing on mountaintops, tangled together in hotel rooms.
The comment section was flooded with congratulations. Leilani, completely unfiltered, even cheered for the two and urged them.
[Hurry up and give me another grandson with Pepper! Kick Quiana, that cheap woman, out of our house already!]
And Pepper took the chance to insult me indirectly with her new Facebook update.
[The woman who’s not loved is the real mistress!]
That was when I realized there was no pain greater than the death of hope; I couldn’t even cry.
The next morning, I was about to process my discharge paperwork when Hudson barged into my hospital room unannounced.
He slammed a stack of newspapers into my face.
“You published these stories?!” he roared. “Do you know what people are saying now? That Pepper is a homewrecker!”
I glanced at the front page, barely reacting.
It was an exposé about him and Pepper in a hotel—every detail spelled out in lurid clarity. Even a nearby convenience store owner was quoted in an interview.
“President Partridge cleared out all our condoms in one night!”
I let out a cold laugh. “I didn’t release those stories. But every word is a fact.”
Even now, he still tried to hide the truth of his relationship with Pepper.
“Quiana, how long are you going to keep making a scene?” he snapped. “How many times have I told you—there’s nothing going on between me and Pepper!”
His voice dripped with disgust. “Stop projecting your own filth onto everyone else!”
And right on cue, Pepper arrived—deliberately late, perfectly dressed in innocence.
“Quiana,” she said softly, “there’s really nothing between me and Hudson. We really are innocent.”
Innocent?
They already had two children together, and she had the nerve to call themselves innocent?
I didn’t even bother arguing. I simply stepped past them and walked toward the door.
But Pepper wouldn’t stop following me. She trailed me all the way to the hospital entrance.
That’s when it happened—a car came barreling toward me out of nowhere, completely out of control.
“Pepper!” Hudson shouted.
Without hesitation, he shoved me aside and threw himself in front of Pepper.
I hit the pavement hard but not before the car crushed both my feet.
The crack of my bones snapping was sharp and sickening. Pain flooded my senses as I collapsed on the spot.
Meanwhile, Hudson scooped Pepper, who was completely unscathed, into his arms. He ran back inside, calling for the best specialists in the hospital to examine her whole body.
Around me, nurses whispered in awe.
“I heard President Partridge cleared out the entire top floor just for her. He really dotes on his woman.”
“That’s nothing. I heard he’s even talking to lawyers about registering a foreign identity so he can marry Ms. Blaine outside the States.”
Everyone was singing praises of their love story.
Only I was left struggling in humiliation, screaming for help until my throat was raw, yet no one paid me any attention.
And in that unbearable silence, I couldn’t stop myself from remembering how my three children had died such terrible deaths.
When they cried out for help and no one came… was this how helpless they felt, too?
5
Quiana’s POV
In the end, it was me who made the emergency call and saved my own life.
After two days in the hospital, both my visa and passport had arrived. All that was left was the final step of the immigration process.
That evening, I followed through with my original plan—put on an evening dress and went to the auction.
Back when I had been trying to support Hudson’s career, I was forced to sell off the only heirloom my grandmother had left me: a bracelet.
Later, when I finally saved up enough money to get it back, it had already vanished without a trace.
Thank goodness, a month ago, it unexpectedly appeared in the catalog for this auction. That was when I made up my mind to attend.
The auction hall was a dazzling spectacle, filled with flashing lights and a crowd of high society. Hudson and Pepper made a showy entrance and took seats right in the front row.
I watched as Hudson casually bid on piece after piece—diamond jewelry, luxury watches—then casually handed each one off to Pepper.
Pepper’s smile was blinding. When she caught sight of me tucked away in a corner, she feigned kindness and turned to him. “Hudson, should we buy something for Quiana too?”
Hudson replied mildly, not even sparing me a look. “She doesn’t need these things.”
Hearing those exact words, Pepper gave me a smug, victorious smile.
A chill settled deep in my chest at my own husband’s reply. Was it that I didn’t need those jewelry—or that I didn’t deserve them?
In his eyes, I was still nothing more than a Cinderella dragged out from the slums. Even if I was now his wife, he still believed I was unworthy of precious things such as jewelry.
But it didn’t matter anymore. Soon, there would be nothing left between us at all.
When the final item was brought out, my breath caught in my throat.
The bracelet!
I raised my paddle on instinct. “One million!”
Pepper looked back at me in surprise, and then she immediately raised her own paddle. “Three million!”
“Four million!” I shot back.
“Five million!” she followed.
Back and forth we went, bidding higher and higher, drawing gasps from the crowd. Meanwhile, Hudson shot me a displeased glare.
With a subtle wave of his hand, he signaled the highest bid allowed by the venue and won the auction with a record-breaking price.
Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, he handed the bracelet to Pepper. “Anything you want, I’ll put it in your hands.”
But Pepper tilted her head, putting on an act. “Since Quiana wants it, let her have it instead.”
My heart pounded as I watched the bracelet inch closer to me.
But then, I heard a crack. The bracelet crashed to the marble floor, shattering into two pieces!
Before I could even think, I lunged forward, shoved Pepper aside, and dropped to my knees. I trembled as I gathered the broken fragments in my hands.
Hudson immediately rushed to support Pepper, his expression darkening as he shouted my way, “Are you crazy?! What the hell are you doing?!”
My eyes were red. Even my voice shook. “What—What am I doing? This bracelet belonged to my grandmother! Didn’t you say—didn’t you promise—that if we ever saw it again, you’d buy it back no matter what?!”
He froze, startled by my outburst. But after a beat, his voice turned cold. “That was years ago. How would I even remember? Besides, it’s not like Pepper did it on purpose, so why did you push her?!”
Without waiting for an answer, he turned and gently comforted his mistress. “Come on, Pepper, I’ll take you home.”
In front of dozens of shocked onlookers, Hudson abandoned his legal wife and walked out, holding another woman in his arms.
That night, the media exploded with the news: Hudson, rumored to have fallen for someone new.
But soon enough, those headlines were buried—replaced with carefully crafted stories about his longstanding romance with Pepper.
Public opinion split in two. Some stood by me. Others accused me of being the third party all along.
To quell the noise, Hudson held a press conference.
Only, it wasn’t really a press conference. It was Pepper’s birthday party in disguise.
They danced together, played a piano duet, intimately in sync like a couple in love.
Meanwhile, I found myself surrounded by Pepper’s circle of girl friends.
“See that? They’re perfect together! You’re nothing but a clingy old witch!”
“If President Partridge didn’t have some lingering guilt, someone like you would’ve been thrown out of the Partridges ages ago!”
“Here’s a tip: be smart and get a divorce… unless you want us to get rough with you.”
Their mocking laughter stabbed through me like shards of glass.
I lifted the hem of my dress and tried to walk away.
But someone stuck out their foot on purpose, and I went crashing to the floor.
A sharp heel slammed down onto my wrist. The red stiletto drove pain so intense it shot through my entire body like a bolt of electricity.
I instinctively turned my gaze toward the piano—toward Hudson. My mouth opened, but no sound came out.
He looked my way. But it was a glance as cold as that of a stranger. He averted his eyes almost immediately, expression untouched, and turned his full attention back to accompanying Pepper on the piano.
I clenched my jaw, biting back the sob building in my throat. I wouldn’t cry.
Still, I couldn’t help but remember the year Hudson and I had fallen in love.
Back then, I once cut my finger while cooking—just a small nick, barely bleeding. But he insisted on taking me to the hospital.
Even after the doctor said it was nothing, that no treatment was needed, Hudson stayed by my side the whole night, afraid I’d develop a fever or infection.
But now, my wrist had been trampled, my bones likely crushed under a heel—and he wouldn’t even spare me a second look.
The lively piano music danced through the air like a cruel joke, mocking my helplessness.
Across the room, Hudson and Pepper exchanged a smile, one as bright and sweet as a fairytale prince and princess.
Then, right there, in front of the crowd, they kissed.
6
Quiana’s POV
Even the reporters with a shred of tact could tell who he was protecting. They turned their sharp tongues on me, tearing me apart with their words.
My world went black. Whatever fragile hope I’d been holding onto shattered completely.
When I came to, Hudson was standing at my bedside. Suddenly, he tossed a check onto the covers.
“Fill in whatever amount you want,” he said flatly. “As long as you don’t press charges against Pepper’s friend.”
My wrist was tightly wrapped in gauze, the pain pulsing from it relentless.
I let out a laugh of bitter sarcasm. “Hudson, do you even know what they did to me?”
He looked bored. “They were just playing around. You didn’t die, did you? Why take it so seriously?” His tone turned even colder. “Just forget it. Don’t make things difficult for Pepper and her friends.”
As if to emphasize his point, he scribbled an amount—fifty million—on the check and tossed it carelessly onto the bed.
Then, as though remembering something else, he added with a dismissive wave, “And stop obsessing over that dead baby. If you still want one, I’ll give you another.”
With that, he turned and walked out. Not once did he look back.
He held himself like a man above all things, like my grief—the death of our child—was merely a tool to keep me in check.
My hands trembled with fury as I snatched up my phone and dialed the police.
“I’d like to report a crime,” I said clearly. “Someone attempted murder.”
Not long after, I received confirmation from them that an investigation had been formally opened.
That same day, my friend from immigration texted me—my documents had all been processed successfully.
I immediately checked myself out of the hospital, flagged down a cab, and returned to the family villa.
There wasn’t much I could take with me—just two or three clean outfits that barely weighed anything.
But those three urns felt unbearably heavy, as if I was carrying the weight of the whole world…
I booked the next flight home.
As the plane broke through the clouds, the knot in my chest finally began to loosen.
Staring at the city below, I imagined my words reaching the man I left behind. ‘Hudson, I don’t want you anymore.’
‘From now on, mountains may rise and rivers may divide us.’ I closed my eyes. ‘But for the rest of this life, I will never see you again!’
