chapter 6

It was common for psychiatric patients to hurt themselves when they lost their minds.

That was not my case. There were all kinds of scars, bruises, and even cigarette burns on me.

There was no doubt that I had been abused.

My gaze was blank as I stared at Daniel. "Tony demanded that I not tell anyone about them. If I did, I would never be able to leave the hospital," I said.

Thinking of Tony’s face, I started to be emotional again.

Daniel's eyes reddened. He said, "Don’t worry. You won't go back there."

"Really?" I asked and looked at him with hope in my eyes.

Seeing him nod at me, I smiled, trying to please him, and said, "I'll behave myself. I won't make mistakes again."

Daniel was about to speak when the door of the ward was opened. Stephen walked in.

He handed Daniel my medical report.

It demonstrated my health condition. First, I was deaf in the left ear. Second, my left kidney was missing. Third, I had late-stage cervical cancer. Fourth, I had a miscarriage before, which caused severe uterine bleeding.

Daniel's expression changed drastically. I saw his bloodshot eyes as he stared at me. "What’s the hell going on? I don’t know your suffering at all. What did they do to you? Tell me!" Daniel said frantically.

I was so frightened by his reaction that I fell off the bed. "Are you angry with me? I'm dying, so please don't send me back. I don't want to die in there."

Daniel froze. He said, “You know you have cancer, don’t you?”

He was right. Although I hadn't seen a doctor for a long time, the increasingly severe pain told me that I was severely ill.

Stephen lifted me back onto the bed and told Daniel that I couldn't be stimulated by bad feelings anymore. Then, he left.

Daniel calmed down. He asked me about my kidney in a soft voice to avoid scaring me.

I should have been afraid to recall the past, but at that moment, I suddenly felt peaceful.

I lifted my hospital gown to reveal an ugly scar on my belly.

"Tony took my kidney away because I resisted when he beat me. He was irritated by the same mistake,” I said.

"You should have called me to say you were pregnant. If so, I would have come to get you out," Daniel said with a trembling voice that made his speech hard to hear clearly.

I looked down, rubbed my belly, and looked at Daniel with sadness in my eyes.

"I did tell you, but you didn't believe me," I said.

Three years ago, I was pregnant with Daniel's child.

I was indeed crazy at that time because I drugged Daniel to have sex with him. I thought I could win his heart in this way.

Unexpectedly, he was so cold-hearted that he decided to send me to the psychiatric hospital.

Later, I found myself pregnant.

It was difficult for me to contact Daniel, so I had to carefully hide my belly.

Fortunately, the hospital gown was loose. No one noticed my change.

One day, I seized a chance to sneak into Tony's office and called Daniel.

I said, "I'm pregnant with your baby. Please come and get me out."

His response was impressive.

He said, "That’s an absolutely lame excuse."

Then, he hung up before I could explain.

I was caught by Tony and brutally beaten.

Finally, I was put in a room in solitary confinement.

At midnight, I miscarried.

Blood was everywhere, but no one came to help me.

As the morning approached, a doctor on rounds noticed something wrong with me.

Because of this permanent injury, I occasionally suffered from stomach aches.

Hearing the whole story, Daniel covered his face in agony and said, "I’m sorry. I had thought you were trying to trick me again. I'm sorry for you and our child."

I was indifferent to his pain. My experiences were so harrowing that I almost became numb.

"It's okay. You have a son with Ada. My baby didn’t deserve to live in this world. It would have been an illegitimate child if he had been alive," I said.

As if hurt by my words, Daniel said in a hoarse voice, "That child isn't my son. Ada and I are not a couple."