Chapter 1

Ten years ago, I took a knife from a crazed patient to save Gideon, losing my ability to ever become a mother.

Ten years later, he is America's most celebrated "Charity Doctor." Over the years, he brought home three pitiful orphans and asked me to treat them as my own.

I poured my heart and soul into raising them, until the eldest smashed a vase into my face.

Lying in my hospital bed, I overheard the whispers of my husband and his lover.

"Gideon, making her raise our three illegitimate kids as charity orphans... aren't you afraid your philanthropic reputation will be ruined if she finds out the truth?" The woman's coquettish voice carried a probing edge and a hint of schadenfreude.

My breath instantly hitched.

Gideon scoffed coldly. "So what if she does? She should be thanking me for letting her play mother."

"But she did take that knife for you back then..."

"Don't mention the knife!" Gideon interrupted, his tone suddenly dripping with venom. "She was already diagnosed with infertility before the stabbing!"

"Since she loves scheming so much, I'll let her be a free nanny to our flesh and blood for the rest of her life. It's exactly what she deserves!"

......

"Old witch, who told you not to buy me the newest VR headset!"

Two hours ago, accompanied by the arrogant curse of my eight-year-old eldest son, Leo, a vase crashed into my face.

Blood instantly blurred my vision, and I collapsed to the floor. The other two children I had poured my heart into raising weren't panicked at all; instead, they hid behind the sofa, clapping and laughing.

When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed, my face wrapped in layers of gauze, throbbing with excruciating pain.

I didn't dare open my eyes, but I heard the voices of my husband, Gideon, and head nurse Camilla beside my bed.

A suffocating sourness swelled in my throat. I bit my lip tightly, letting the hot tears slide silently down, dampening my temples.

"But Leo went too far this time. What if she wakes up and insists on sending him to juvie?" Camilla whined playfully.

"She wouldn't dare!" Gideon's tone was haughty and condescending. "Leo just threw a tantrum and broke a vase. If she dares to press charges, I'll expose her to the media for abusing orphans. Once I secure the position of Chairman of the Medical Board, we'll kick her to the curb."

So, the three pitiful, orphaned children I had treated as my own were actually my husband's love children with his mistress!

My husband had been standing by, watching coldly as I played free nanny to my enemy's children, reveling in the sick thrill of his twisted revenge.

At that moment, my heart completely died.

Only when the hospital door closed and their footsteps faded completely down the hall...

Did I dare to bite down on my blanket and weep silently.

Ten years ago, facing a crazed hospital assailant wildly swinging a boning knife, I pushed Gideon out of the way without hesitation and took the devastating blow for him.

That knife shredded my uterus, permanently stripping away my right to be a mother. In exchange, it preserved his unblemished hands and paved the way for his glorious career today.

He knelt by my hospital bed back then, sobbing and swearing to love me forever. He told me it didn't matter if we couldn't have biological children; we could adopt, we could rescue orphans who needed our help.

To spare Gideon from a lifetime of guilt, I lied, claiming I had long suffered from a severe uterine disease and was naturally infertile anyway.

I thought this was my most profound sacrifice for our love. I thought his decade of tolerance and the three orphans he brought home were proof of his deep devotion to me.

Over the years, these three children proved to be inherently malicious, finding every possible way to bully me.

Putting thumbtacks in my shoes, intentionally tripping me on the stairs...

Whenever I ended up battered and bruised, Gideon would hold me tenderly and sigh, "Beatrice, they are pitiful orphans who lost their parents. They carry deep trauma. If you just show them a little more tolerance and lovingly guide them with patience, you will heal them one day."

I believed him. I swallowed my grievances time and time again, treating these three vicious children as my own, pouring out my blood, sweat, and tears to teach and protect them.

But in Gideon's eyes, this was the most satisfying punishment for a venomous wife like me.

He brazenly dumped his mistress's children into my arms, watching them torment me day after day, mocking my pathetic state, and enjoying the twisted high of his revenge.

With trembling hands, I touched my heavily bandaged face and wiped my tears away.

Shortly after, Gideon returned to the room.

He walked in holding a bouquet of white lilies. That face—the one that always looked so compassionate and soulful for the cameras—was now painted with pitch-perfect heartache.

"Beatrice, you're finally awake." He reached out and gently brushed back my hair. "Your wound took seven stitches... Do you know how terrified I was?"

Watching his flawless textbook acting, my stomach churned in sheer disgust.

Before I could speak, he continued, "I've already locked Leo in his room to reflect on his actions. But honey, the hospital's PR department seems to have caught wind of this."

Gideon squeezed my hand tightly, his gaze earnest. "If a scandal breaks out that an orphan adopted by the 'Charity Doctor' destroyed his adoptive mother's face, not only will Leo's life be ruined, but my medical foundation will also take a massive hit. For the sake of everything we've built, and to protect the child's fragile self-esteem, let's tell the public you just tripped and fell. Okay?"

Half my face was smashed open, yet his mind was entirely consumed with calculating how to salvage his bastard son's reputation and his own hypocritical charitable halo.

Forcing down the coppery taste and nausea rising in my throat, I managed a weak, compliant smile.

"I'll do whatever you say, Gideon. It was just an accident. How could I bear to destroy the children and your career?"

At my assurance, a fleeting look of relieved triumph flashed through Gideon's eyes.

He tenderly kissed the back of my hand, probably laughing maniacally inside at what an easily manipulated fool I was.

But he didn't realize that the wife who had loved him for ten years had died during his conversation with his mistress moments ago.

Let him gloat.

From this moment on, I will strip away his halo as the "Charity Doctor" inch by inch, and personally grind the status and reputation he values most into the absolute dirt!