8-Month-Pregnant, Strapped to a Drop Tower by Him

Chapter 8

Sophia never outright admitted it, but she never denied it either.

The person who risked everything to save his life, he had always believed it was her. In his darkest moment, he had clung to that belief, convinced she was his salvation. So later, no matter how selfish or cruel Sophia's actions became, he excused them, convinced she must have had her reasons. He forgave everything. He tolerated everything.

And for her, he had been willing to hurt me.

Now, he stood there, staring at my lifeless body.

If this was really me… then what about the baby?

His mind refused to go any further. He didn't want to believe it.

No. This had to be a trick.

I must have conspired with everyone to stage this, to escape punishment. He would investigate it himself.

But with every step of his investigation, the truth unraveled in ways he wasn't prepared for.

He had always thought I forced my way into the Miller family, exploiting a moment of weakness. To him, I was nothing more than a convenient partner, someone to tolerate for the sake of an alliance.

His heart had always belonged to Sophia.

He had never truly loved me.

But now, Michael's words shattered everything he had once believed.

He stumbled back to our home, his thoughts a chaotic blur.

The butler glanced behind him. "Sir, hasn't Mrs. Miller returned yet? The crib delivery came today, but we weren't sure which room she preferred, so we were waiting to ask her."

He hesitated before adding, "Also, Mrs. Miller mentioned she'd be going into confinement soon. She wanted to give Mrs. Wu the recipe for your hangover soup. Sir, I know you've always been distant toward her, but she truly loves you. She's been kind to all of us. That incident with Miss Sophia… I'm sure Mrs. Miller didn't mean it. She was pregnant, after all…"

James' eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the butler, dazed.

Ever since Sophia had returned, all he ever heard was how cruel I was, how I targeted the woman he loved.

To him, I had always been petty and manipulative.

But now, in everyone else's eyes, I was someone entirely different.

And only now did he realize, I had always been quietly by his side. No matter how cold he was, I never wavered. I still took care of everything for him. I still put him first.

Without a word, he turned and went upstairs.

Since Sophia's return, she had taken over our bedroom. I had been cast aside to the guest room.

When he pushed the door open, the sight of a half-knitted baby sock lying on the bed stopped him in his tracks.

He stepped forward, picking up the tiny unfinished sock with his trembling hands.

Without thinking, he pulled out his phone and called his assistant.

"Look into everything," he ordered, his voice hollow. "Every single thing I've overlooked."

Then, he locked himself in that room for three days.

The assistant compiled years of reports and sent them over.

James read through them one by one, his grip on the papers tightening with every revelation. He saw how I had been punished again and again, how I had been humiliated, how he had been fed lies, Sophia's lies, about me.

By the time he reached the last file, his hands were shaking.

It was an old surveillance video.

His mother's suicide attempt.

The footage was grainy, but clear enough. The person desperately clinging to him that day, refusing to let go even as her arms bled from the effort…

It was me.

In the video, my lips were bitten raw, my entire body straining to keep him from falling, even as my right hand twisted unnaturally under the weight.

His vision blurred.

And then, finally, he picked up the USB drive the manager had given him.

It took him several tries before he managed to insert it into the computer.

The screen lit up.

And what he saw sent him crashing to the floor.

There I was, bloodied and in agony, my eyes filled with helplessness as I reached for the baby, our baby. But my strength had long since failed me. I could only watch as,

He slammed the laptop shut.

His hands clutched his head as a choked sob tore from his throat.

The divorce papers I had left behind slipped from the desk. His fingers curled around them, crumpling the pages as he broke down completely.

"I'm sorry…" His voice cracked. "Emily, I didn't know… I swear, I didn't know…"