When Katelyn’s eyes met Vincent’s, the room seemed to fall into a deep, still silence. The usual sounds—the rustling of leaves outside the window and the faint noise from the hallway—faded away, as though everything had come to a stop. Katelyn kept her gaze on him. After a few seconds that felt like forever, her lips slowly curled into a bright smile.

“Okay, I don’t regret anything I’ve done.”

Vincent’s smile grew wider, and he nodded. “That’s good to hear.”

Though they hadn’t known each other for long, they had quickly developed an unspoken understanding, often needing only a glance to communicate. Katelyn couldn’t help but feel that partnering with Vincent had been the right choice. After all, how else could she have found someone who felt like a true friend? It was as if they were meant to find each other.

Everything was going smoothly for Katelyn, but on the other side, the Bailey household was in turmoil because of Jeff’s affair. As soon as Jeff got rid of Sharon, he rushed to the hospital, where Vivian was quickly taken into the emergency room.

Jeff anxiously paced the hallway, his hands clasped together as if in desperate prayer.

“I’ve done so much good in life. Please, God, be merciful. Don’t take this baby away from me.”

His entire future seemed to rest on that baby.

But the empty hallway offered no comfort, only silence. Then hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. Sharon and Lise had followed Jeff’s car and had just arrived at the hospital.

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Lise watched Sharon closely, her nerves on edge. She kept reminding her in a hushed voice, “Mom, please don’t do anything reckless. We could lose everything.” Throughout the drive to the hospital, Lise had tried to talk sense into Sharon, but she wasn’t sure if her words had made any impact.

Sharon nearly broke into a run as she headed straight for Jeff, ignoring Lise’s pleas. All she could think about was making him pay.

The moment Sharon spotted Jeff, she lunged at him, grabbed his neck, and slapped him twice, hard. The slap echoed through the hallway, snapping Jeff’s head to the side.

With eyes blazing, Sharon hissed, “You’re a monster in human skin! How could you do such awful things? Don’t you feel any guilt for what you’ve done to me and Lise?” Lise stood there, stunned, her mind buzzing as if in a daze. In that moment, she realized her attempts to calm her mother had failed completely.

Sharon couldn’t grasp the plan. With her limited understanding, she was only making things worse. Jeff stumbled to his feet, his eyes filled with rage. “I haven’t even begun to deal with you. How dare you cause another scene?” he spat.

But Sharon wasn’t intimidated. She lifted her chin and stepped closer, glaring at him. “How dare you talk to me like that! Jeff Bailey, with all the horrible things you’ve done, you deserve to rot in hell.” As Sharon spoke, her anger boiled over. Suddenly, she lashed out, her nails digging into Jeff’s face.

She moved so quickly that Lise couldn’t stop her in time. “Mom!”

Sharon was strong and sturdy. When she had gotten angry before, she had once pinned Jeff to the sofa, clawing at his face just like this. Back then, Jeff had let her vent her anger in that way.

But now, they were bitter enemies. There was no way Jeff would stand for it. He shoved Sharon away, grabbed her by the hair, and slapped her twice in return.

Sharon’s face puffed up, and she collapsed to the floor. Dazed, she didn’t immediately realize what had happened.

Jeff snarled, “You want a fight? Fine, let’s fight. I must’ve been a fool to marry a woman like you. You’ve cursed our family with nothing but bad luck.”

Lise quickly rushed over, placing herself between them. She shouted, “Dad, what do you want from us? We were a happy family. Do you really want to shatter that?”

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