?Chapter 72:


    She had once harbored the naive hope that Noah’s heart was just unreachable, that perhaps his love was something she could earn through persistence and sacrifice.


    But now, the truth was painfully clear—his icy indifference and calcted cruelty were directed solely at her.


    In contrast, his demeanor towards K was tender and considerate; he was even willing to sacrifice her for K’s happiness.


    This realization shattered herst vestige of hope, like fragile ss swept away by relentless winds.


    With a heavy sigh, Sadie closed her eyes, her eyshes quivering as they veiled the despair welling up inside her.


    Well, just let it be.


    It was time to let go.


    Her fingers, cold and trembling, tenderly brushed over her t abdomen, connecting with the faint but determined heartbeat within—a tiny life striving to blossom against the odds.


    “Sweetie,” she murmured with a gentle resolve. “Your father doesn’t want us, but we have each other. Together, we’ll make it through.”


    As Sadie lifted her gaze once more, her eyes mirrored nothing but steely resolve.


    “So what if he wasn’t there to save me? I survived, didn’t I? He’s not that important to me.”


    K’s expression transformed in an instant, her meticulously applied makeup failing to mask the predatory glint in her eyes.


    Her carefullyid ns were unraveling before her.


    Fixating on Sadie’s belly, hidden only by a thin quilt, K seemed to be searching for a glimpse of her greatest fearing to life beneath the fabric.


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    The air thickened with tension as Sadie caught the lethal intent flickering in K’s gaze. Her defenses rose instinctively.


    She could already tell—K wasn’t going to back down that easily. Faking vulnerability, Sadie let her eyes droop sorrowfully as tears began to spill, tracing damp trails down her cheeks.


    “But it was because of him that I lost the baby. His child is gone. Maybe this is his retribution,” she murmured, her voice a mix of grief and maniption, cleverly leaving her words open to K’s interpretation.


    “The child… is gone?” K’s voice cracked, a mix of disbelief and sudden tion coloring her tone as she shifted her focus back to Sadie, searching her face for confirmation.


    Sadie offered no reply, allowing the silent tears to gather and fall, leaving moist traces on her nose.


    She portrayed the image of utter devastation.


    As K observed Sadie’s breakdown, a flicker of doubt shadowed her triumph.


    Sadie had always presented a facade of toughness in her presence.


    Since when had she be so visibly broken?


    Yet K quickly brushed aside the flicker of doubt.


    Sadie—a pathetic fool. What kind of schemes could she evene up with?


    She had Sadie figured out—dumb as a rock and twice as stubborn. Surely, if Sadie had been feigning weakness, she wouldn’t have been so thoroughly bested in the rivalry that simmered between them. With this realization, a weight seemed to lift from K’s shoulders, a liberating exhale after holding her breath. What did it matter if Sadie survived?


    The child was dead, and divorce loomed on the horizon like an inevitable dawn.


    Suppressing a victorious grin, K inhaled sharply, her joy bubbling just beneath the surface, yet her exterior remained a mask of concern. “Sadie, don’t take it too hard,” she murmured, her voice gentle as she wrapped her fingers around Sadie’s hand. “This loss doesn’t mean you won’t be a mother again.”


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