For three days, Adrian Gu lived inside a nightmare.

The news spread quickly.

The president of Gu Group had injured his pregnant wife.

The woman he once promised to protect.

The woman carrying his children.

But Adrian ignored every headline.

He ignored every business call.

He ignored every person trying to contact him.

Because there was only one thing repeating in his mind.

The sound of the doctor’s voice.

“You killed your two children with your own hands.”

Every night, he saw the same scene.

Claire falling to the floor.

The blood.

The fear in her eyes.

And the worst part…

The way she looked at him.

Not with hatred.

With disappointment.

That was what destroyed him.

If she hated him, maybe he could accept it.

But she looked at him like she finally understood who he was.

On the third day, Adrian finally followed Claire’s words.

Investigate.

At first, he thought she was only trying to make him feel guilty.

He believed what happened was a terrible mistake.

A moment of losing control.

A misunderstanding caused by Isabella.

But when his assistant placed the security footage in front of him…

His entire world collapsed.

“President Gu.”

The assistant hesitated.

“The footage from that day was recovered.”

Adrian stared at the screen.

The video showed the entrance of his house.

Isabella arriving.

No panic.

No fear.

No confusion.

She walked calmly.

Then she waited.

The moment she saw Adrian approaching, her expression changed instantly.

Tears appeared.

Her body began trembling.

A perfect performance.

Adrian’s fingers tightened around the table.

Then came the audio.

Her voice.

Clear.

Cold.

“When Adrian comes in, you just need to make him see blood.”

A man’s voice answered.

“And then?”

Isabella laughed.

“Then we won’t need to do anything.”

The room became silent.

Adrian stopped breathing.

The woman he thought he was protecting…

Had planned everything.

The assistant continued.

“There’s more.”

Another file appeared.

Messages.

Payments.

Arrangements.

Isabella had contacted people before coming to the house.

She knew exactly what would happen.

She knew Adrian’s weakness.

She knew he would never hesitate when it came to protecting her.

Because for years, she had been the person he could not forget.

Adrian closed his eyes.

The truth was unbearable.

He hadn’t been manipulated into hurting Claire.

He had allowed himself to be manipulated because he wanted to believe Isabella.

That was the part he could never forgive.

Not her.

Himself.

That evening, Adrian went back to the hospital.

Claire was awake.

She was sitting near the window.

The sunlight fell across her face.

She looked peaceful.

Too peaceful.

When he entered, she didn’t turn around.

“Claire.”

No response.

He walked closer.

“I know the truth.”

Her fingers stopped moving.

But she didn’t look surprised.

“Isabella planned everything.”

Silence.

“She used me.”

Claire finally looked at him.

Her eyes were calm.

“Did you expect me to feel better?”

Adrian froze.

“No.”

Her voice remained soft.

“Because the problem was never only Isabella.”

That sentence hurt more than any accusation.

“You were the one holding the knife.”

Adrian lowered his head.

“I know.”

“No.”

Claire looked away.

“You don’t.”

He looked at her.

“You still think you made one mistake.”

A pause.

“But I lived with your choices for three years.”

Her hand touched the blanket.

“Every time she called, you answered.”

“Every time she cried, you ran.”

“Every time I needed you, you believed I could wait.”

Adrian’s eyes became red.

“Claire…”

“You protected the woman you couldn’t forget.”

She looked at him.

“But you destroyed the woman who loved you.”

He had no answer.

Because every word was true.

After a long silence, Adrian whispered:

“I lost our children.”

Claire closed her eyes.

A tear finally fell.

But it wasn’t because she forgave him.

It was because she remembered the children she would never hold.

“Yes.”

Her voice trembled slightly.

“You did.”

Those three words almost broke him.

Adrian fell to his knees beside the bed.

For the first time in his life, the powerful businessman looked completely helpless.

“I would give anything to change that day.”

Claire looked at him.

“But you can’t.”

“I know.”

“Then stop asking me to forgive something that cannot be undone.”

The room became silent.

A week later, Isabella Xu was arrested.

The evidence was undeniable.

The recordings.

The financial records.

The messages.

Everything proved that she had planned the confrontation.

But when Adrian saw Isabella being taken away, he felt nothing.

No anger.

No satisfaction.

Only emptiness.

Because losing Isabella was not his punishment.

His punishment was knowing that he had destroyed the one person who truly loved him.

Months passed.

Claire recovered physically.

But she never returned to the Gu family.

She moved into a small house near the coast.

She started painting again.

Something she had stopped doing after marriage.

One afternoon, Adrian appeared at her door.

He was no longer the arrogant president everyone feared.

He looked tired.

Older.

Like a man who had finally carried the weight of his own decisions.

“I won’t ask you to come back.”

Claire looked at him.

He continued:

“I don’t deserve that.”

For once, he wasn’t trying to convince her.

“I only wanted to tell you something.”

She waited.

“I loved you.”

A faint sadness appeared in her eyes.

“I know.”

That answer surprised him.

“You knew?”

Claire nodded.

“Yes.”

“Then why…”

“Because loving someone isn’t enough.”

Her voice was gentle.

“You have to protect them.”

“You have to choose them.”

Adrian lowered his head.

Because that was exactly what he failed to do.

Before leaving, he placed a small box on the table.

Inside were two tiny bracelets.

The ones made for their twins.

“I thought you should have them.”

Claire touched them carefully.

For a moment, she closed her eyes.

Then she said:

“Goodbye, Adrian.”

He looked at her one last time.

The woman standing there was the same woman he married.

But also someone completely different.

Someone who survived him.

Years later, Claire would hear that Adrian never remarried.

That he visited the children’s memorial every year.

That he spent the rest of his life carrying the consequences of his choices.

But Claire never looked back.

Because the woman who loved Adrian Gu had disappeared on the day he raised the knife.

And the woman who survived…

Finally learned how to choose herself.