Chapter 1

Willow clutched her stomach in pain as heavy snow fell. It felt as if a knife had scraped her insides.

She had almost fallen to the ground in agony several times. However, she still pounded on the door of Lakecoast Villa stubbornly.

"Please, Zayn. Lend me 50 thousand dollars. Aaron's really your flesh and blood!

"He'll die if he doesn't undergo surgery soon. I beg you, please save him!" Willow pleaded.

The pain had become even more excruciating, causing her to spasm uncontrollably. She tried to keep her back straight, only to curl up in a ball from the pain.

The pain from late-stage stomach cancer was truly unbearable.

Gritting her teeth, Willow continued to pound at the tightly closed door.

"Please, Zayn. I'll do anything you ask as long as you're willing to lend me the money! Please—"

Her lifeless eyes lit up when the villa's door was pushed open with a loud bang.

"Is Zayn finally willing to see me?" she asked.

Stepping out, the butler, Arthur Wright, hung a signboard on the door expressionlessly. Then, the door was locked forcefully again.

Willow staggered when she saw the words on the board. Tears streamed down her face.

'Willow Sanford and dogs are not allowed inside.'

Willow's sobs turned into laughter. In Zayn's eyes, she was more inferior than a dog!

He had all but deemed her as a vicious woman.

Four years ago, she detested him for being poor. Aborting their child without hesitation, she broke up with him to marry into the elite Mayers family. She had even hired someone to break his legs.

That wasn't the truth, though. However, he didn't believe her explanations.

The snowstorm gradually grew heavier. The harsh wind seeped into Willow's heart along with the frost. She could no longer discern what was colder—her body, or her heart.

A few dead leaves were stuck to her right arm. Willow subconsciously raised her left arm to brush them off, only to realize that she could no longer move it.

Her left arm had been disabled during the four years she was imprisoned by Skyler Dawson and Louis Mayer.

Zayn could never imagine the things she had experienced in the past four years. At times, even Willow found herself unwilling to recall it. Whenever she did, all that appeared was a bloodstained abyss of hell.

There was no longer a shred of light left in her heart.

…

Three days later, Willow finally saw Zayn.

They were husband and wife, yet he had arranged for her to live in a small apartment called Bordello.

Bordello, named after the word 'brothel'…

It was such a fitting metaphor.

Usually, it was nearly impossible for Willow to find Zayn. He would only come to the apartment when he wanted to torment her. That way, he could trample on her dignity ruthlessly.

Zayn threw her on the floor roughly. Fixing his shirt slightly, his suit remained impeccable as he exuded an arrogant air.

There was only a chilling coldness left in his dark gaze.

Looking down upon her disheveled state on the floor, he spoke up, "You're not Skyler. Get out!"

Willow's stomach spasmed in pain. Pressing against her stomach, Willow's lips quivered in pain.

However, the pain of late-stage cancer was nothing compared to the pain in her heart.

Skyler Dawson…

Once again, he had mistaken her for Skyler.

Zayn once told her that he could only lay eyes on her when he envisioned her as Skyler. Otherwise, he would feel nauseated.

He wasn't like this before.

Back then, she was the woman he adored dearly.

Willow struggled to crawl in front of Zayn when her senses returned. Reaching out, she grabbed his hand tightly.

"Zayn, can't we get along in the future? I know you have a lot of misunderstandings about me. I can explain…

"The reason I broke up with you four years ago was because Skyler kidnapped Grandma. Skyler threatened me with Grandma's life—"

All of a sudden, Willow felt a pain around her neck. Zayn had grabbed her neck so tightly that the rest of her words were cut off.

Chapter 2

"Who gave you the right to slander Skyler? Four years ago, you hired someone to break my legs.

"If Skyler hadn't sold her kidney to raise money for my treatment, I would've been a cripple now!" Zayn continued.

"Skyler sacrificed her kidney to save me. What about you? What did you do back then, Willow? You were with Louis!" he seethed.

"I wasn't!" Willow exclaimed.

She shook her head forcefully. "Zayn, there was nothing between Louis and I. Skyler was the one who framed me! I didn't hire anyone to break your legs, it was Skyler—"

"That's enough!" he interrupted her coldly. There was a chilling look on his sculpted face. "I don't believe a single word you say."

Willow didn't argue. Her explanation would only cause her to make a fool of herself if he didn't believe her.

Willow pressed hard against her painful stomach. "Zayn, I brought Aaron for a checkup a few days ago. He's in a bad condition now. Can you lend me some money?" She struggled to speak up.

"Oh, right. I forgot about the money." The corner of his lips curled upward. However, the smile on his face looked particularly cruel and sinister because it didn't reach his eyes.

Letting go of her neck, Zayn took two hundred dollars out of his wallet before throwing it on her face.

Willow felt as if her heart would shatter into pieces from the sorrow. Picking up the money carefully, she placed it away in her wallet submissively.

After all, two hundred dollars was still money.

Zayn had cut off nearly all of her financial sources to humiliate her. Every penny he gave was the money Aaron needed to save his life.

Willow spoke up carefully after putting away the money. "Zayn, can you lend me 50 thousand dollars? I promise I'll find a way to return it as soon as possible.

"Please, Zayn. I beg you, please save Aaron!" she pleaded.

"You want me to save that bastard?" Zayn sneered. His gaze was as cold as ice. "After ruthlessly killing my child, what makes you think the bastard you had with Louis should stay alive?

"I can't wait for him to die as soon as possible. Why would I save him?" he said, sarcasm dripping in his voice.

"No, Aaron's not an illegitimate child! I didn't abort our child. Aaron's your flesh and blood—" she exclaimed.

"Shut your mouth!" Zayn had exhausted the last bit of his patience. "I don't mind sending that bastard on his way if you continue to hold me accountable for him!"

He would personally deal with Aaron…

All of a sudden, Willow didn't have the courage to ask Zayn for money anymore. After all, there was no way he would lend it to her.

Biting down hard on her lips, she could only throw away her dignity.

"Zayn, two hundred dollars is too little..." she begged.

A sinister laughter echoed from his mouth. A desolate chill filled their surroundings.

"You would throw away your dignity for that bastard?"

Zayn threw a thick stack of money on Willow's face after his words fell. Turning around, he left without hesitation.

She couldn't feel the pain even when the sharp edges of the dollars cut her face. Even if two thousand dollars weren't enough for Aaron's surgery, it was still enough for a blood transfusion.

Aaron would be able to live for a couple more days. That was all that mattered.

As for her face…

How could such vanity matter when compared to Aaron's life?

Willow thought Zayn had a change of heart when she heard footsteps outside the door. Thinking that he had returned, she rushed toward the door in a hurry before opening it.

However, Zayn wasn't the one who stood by the staircase. It was Aaron.

Aaron's gaze followed Zayn's departing figure. His face was filled with longing and sorrow.

Gripping a piece of paper tightly in his hand, Aaron's lips moved silently. Willow could tell that he had uttered the word, "Dad."

Aaron quickly hid the paper in his hand behind his back when he saw Willow. He managed an innocent smile on his pale face. "Mom," he called out.

"I'm sorry, Aaron. It's all my fault. I know you've always wanted your father, but I…"

"It's alright, Mom. I don't need Dad." Aaron hugged Willow's arm lightly. It was heartbreaking how mature he was.

"All I need is you, Mom. You're the best mom in the world." His body stiffened after his words fell.

Just like all the times before, Aaron collapsed in Willow's embrace, motionless.

Chapter 3

As Aaron fell, the paper in his hand fluttered beside Willow's feet like a withered leaf. She could see the three people depicted in the paper.

There was Aaron, Willow, and… Zayn.

Aaron had always wanted a dad. He had only denied it because he was scared that she would be upset. He had even written a few crude words earnestly next to Zayn's drawing.

'My greatest hero'.

Willow's tears fell silently. In Aaron's heart, Zayn was his hero. But to Zayn, Aaron was a bastard that he looked down upon the most.

It was such a tragic irony.

Once again, Willow's heart was engulfed in throbbing pain. She held Aaron closely in her arms as tears streamed down her face.

"I'm sorry, Aaron. I'm so sorry!" she wept.

Willow dared not allow the slightest delay. Holding Aaron tightly, she drove to the hospital in the old van for a blood transfusion.

Aaron had severe thalassemia major. Even if he were to undergo surgery this time, the doctor had warned that he still wouldn't make it past age five.

But without the surgery, he wouldn't even make it past this winter.

Aaron was only three and a half years old. He was such an obedient and mature child. Willow couldn't accept the fact that his precious life would end in this desolate winter.

"Hang in there, Aaron. I won't let anything happen to you!" she swore.

All of a sudden, a red sports car rushed out at the intersection in front of the hospital before colliding viciously with Willow's van.

Willow turned the steering wheel, but the sports car still crashed into the van.

At that deafening moment, Willow clearly saw the vile and twisted look on Skyler's face.

"Aaron!" Willow screamed.

Willow could clearly feel her body bleeding, but she could no longer care. As she carefully picked up Aaron who was covered in blood, Willow rushed toward the hospital.

Aaron was sent to the emergency room as soon as they arrived. Willow felt an unprecedented panic as she stared at the light outside of the room.

Willow prayed over and over again in her heart. Nothing would happen to Aaron.

"Willow!"

Hasty footsteps echoed behind her. Zayn had pressed her body against the wall before she regained her senses.

"Zayn…" she muttered.

Willow's consciousness was already in a daze. Her face was pale from the loss of blood.

Zayn's heart ached when he saw Willow covered in blood. However, his demeanor quickly changed when he recalled Skyler's words just a while ago.

"How dare you crash into Skyler intentionally? She's pregnant! Do you want both her and the child dead?" he seethed.

Skyler was pregnant?

Willow's heart tightened in suffocation. All of a sudden, she remembered the words he said on her eighteenth birthday.

"You're the only person I want in this lifetime. Whether it's my body or my heart, you're the only person I'll give it to. You're my one and only, Willow," he promised.

His vow still existed, but he had gotten someone else pregnant.

The tips of Willow's fingers trembled in pain. It was as if her lively, beating heart had withered in an instant.

She was no longer his one and only.

"Speak up!" he snapped.

Zayn strangled WIllow by the throat ruthlessly. "Even if Skyler wasn't your biological sister, she had still addressed you as such for more than 20 years. Why would you harm her?" he questioned.

"I didn't do it, Zayn. It was Skyler! She intentionally crashed into Aaron and I. She wants to kill him…" she explained.

"You really won't change, huh, Willow? Why would Skyler regard her own child's life lightly just to crash into you and that bastard? The doctor just told me that they can't save the child!" he seethed.

Zayn's eyes reddened. Although he had never looked forward to the child, he still felt the urge to tear Willow apart when he thought about her vile deeds.

"You've killed both my children. You owe me two lives. You're truly despicable, Willow," he snarled.

"Zayn, I really didn't do it…" she pleaded.

The doctor hurried over. "Mr. Carter, Ms. Dawson and Mr. Aaron's blood types are both Rh-negative. Both of them need an urgent blood transfusion.

"However, the hospital's blood bank only has enough blood for one of them…" the doctor spoke out.

"Let Skyler have the blood transfusion!" Zayn said.

Zayn's sharp gaze flitted past Willow's face. "As for that bastard, he should've been dead a long time ago!"

Chapter 4

Willow had already experienced Zayn's heartlessness before. But at that very moment, she still felt a chill in her heart as he ruthlessly crushed Aaron's hope to live.

Her teeth chattered from the coldness. "You can't do that, Zayn! Aaron's really your own child!

"You were the only man I've been with. There's no way he could be someone else's child!" she screamed hoarsely.

"You'll regret it if you don't save him!" Willow swore.

"I was the only man you've been with?" Zayn asked. There was not a glimmer of light in his dark gaze.

There was a cold sarcasm on his face as he raised his eyebrows.

"I've seen you with Louis with my own eyes. Who gave you the guts to say that I was the only man you had?" he snapped.

"I didn't! Please believe me, Zayn! I've never cheated on you with Louis!" she exclaimed.

Zayn sneered. The hostility around him surged like tides. "You're filthy to the core, yet you're still trying to act innocent in front of me.

"Don't you feel disgusted with yourself, Willow?" he questioned.

Did she feel disgusted with herself?

His words were hurtful. However, she couldn't care less.

All Willow wanted was for Aaron to live.

Turning around, she grabbed the doctor's hand. "Please give Aaron the blood transfusion, doctor! He'll die if you don't!

"He's only three and a half years old. He hasn't even had the chance to enjoy his life yet.

"He can't die! Please, he can't die…" she begged the doctor.

A thought suddenly struck Willow's mind. "Zayn, Skyler's faking it! She smirked at me after she purposely collided with us. There's no way she was hurt when she had such a gleeful and arrogant smile!

"Zayn, she's trying to harm Aaron on purpose! You can't fall for her trick!

"Please, don't take away Aaron's blood transfusion. His life depends on it!" Willow pleaded to Zayn.

"Please, anyone. Who can save my child…" she cried out.

"You're hopeless, Willow!"

Paying no more heed to Willow, he ordered the doctor again, "Save Skyler! I'll hold all of you accountable if anything happens to her!"

"Yes, Mr. Carter." Afraid to offend Zayn, the doctor quickly arranged for Skyler to have the blood transfusion.

"No! Doctor, you can't give it to Skyler! Please, please save Aaron! I beg you, please save him…" Grabbing the doctor by the hand, Willow knelt to the ground.

"Please save my child… Please…" she begged.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Sanford…" the doctor replied as she pried away Willow's hand.

Letting out a small sigh, the doctor ordered the assistant to send the blood bag to Skyler's emergency room.

The remaining flicker of light extinguished in her eyes. Willow gazed at the doctor hopelessly.

Saving Skyler would mean that Aaron would die.

A thought flashed in Willow's mind when she looked at Zayn. She grabbed his hand agitatedly.

"Zayn, your blood type is Rh-negative too! You can give your blood to Aaron! Please, can you give him a blood transfusion?" she asked.

"You want me to give that bastard a blood transfusion?" There was not a hint of warmth on his cold and haughty face. "He's too dirty."

"Zayn, you can give your blood to Skyler if you're unwilling to give it to Aaron. Let Aaron use the blood bag from the hospital…"

Zayn shook her hand off roughly. His cold gaze felt as if the Grim Reaper had arrived from the depths of hell to reap lives. "I want that bastard to die, Willow."

He wanted Aaron to die…

Willow fell to the ground dejectedly. He had once whispered for her to have their child in her ears.

He had been the one who swore that he would make the child the second happiest person in the world.

Back then, she was still a naïve and innocent woman. Smiling without a care in the world, she had asked, "Why wouldn't they be the happiest person in the world?"

He kissed her earlobe gently. "That's because the happiest person in the world would be you, Willow."

She wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. In the end, she didn't become the happiest person in the world.

Their child was about to lose his life. Where in the world could happiness be?

In the end, his oath was all but a joke.

Willow stood up stiffly. Her eyes brightened when she saw the drying blood stains on her body.