Chapter Two

Poppy turned her head slowly toward the corner of the room.

The moment her eyes landed on him, her heart violently stuttered!

Will Mascot sat there with his legs elegantly crossed, dressed in a flawless tailored suit as if he hadn’t just run down to the hospital.

His gaze was ice-cold, filled with deep resentment and disdain. Not a trace of warmth. Not a hint of concern for the woman who had just given birth to his children.

Poppy's voice came out weak and trembling. “Will… What are… What are you doing here?”

She never called him. He was supposed to be on a business trip thousands of miles away. He wasn’t supposed to know she had gone into early labor.

Will didn’t answer immediately. He took his sweet time closing the leather folder in his lap, the silence in the room growing heavier with every passing second. Only the steady beeping of the heart monitor echoed like a countdown to doom.

Slowly, he stood up. The sharp click of his expensive leather shoes against the tiled floor sounded like judgment itself as he approached her bed.

He stopped right beside her, towering over her fragile, bloodless body. There was no pity in his eyes — only cold calculation, as though he were looking at something disposable.

He spoke in a tone that was calm yet merciless. “I received news that my wife was planning to disappear with my children. Did you really think you could hide it from me, Poppy?”

Poppy's chest tightened painfully. She struggled to push herself up, but a sharp stab of pain made her gasp. “The babies… Will, please… stay away from them—”

“You’ve finally given me what I wanted,” he cut her off ruthlessly. “Our marriage is over.”

Poppy was taken aback.

“What…?” her lips trembled, together with her eyes widening in disbelief and horror.

Will snapped his fingers. His assistant immediately stepped forward and placed a thick envelope into his hand.

His lips curled in utter disgust. “You tried to run away. You even looked into abortion clinics behind my back… But in the end, you still delivered what the Mascot family needed — twin heirs. Well done.”

“How can you accuse me of something so vicious?!” Poppy's voice cracked with pain and anger. “I never tried to abort them! I—”

Will interrupted coldly, “I don’t want to hear your lies anymore. You have fulfilled your duty. Sign the divorce papers. I want you out of the country before midnight. From today onward, it should be as if Poppy Mascot never existed in our lives.”

He tossed the envelope onto the bed like throwing trash.

Tears of fury and despair burned in Poppy's eyes. “You… you cannot be serious! I just gave birth! I’m still bleeding, and you want to snatch my children away from me? I am their mother!”

Will let out a low, mocking chuckle that sent chills down her spine.

“I don’t keep useless loose ends, Poppy. You will never see my children again. Ever.”

He straightened his tie with indifference and turned to leave, as if she was no longer worth his time.

But just as he reached the door, the thick envelope flew past his head and slammed against the wall.

Will paused. He glanced back with a bored, arrogant smirk at the furious yet powerless woman on the bed.

“I will not let you take them away from me!” Poppy hissed, her voice shaking with raw hatred.

Will's smirk only deepened before he walked out without another word. The door closed with a soft, final click.

And the room fell into a heavy silence.

Poppy lay there gasping, her body screaming in pain from that small burst of anger. Yet the unease in her heart only grew stronger.

Who told him?

She had been so careful — the burner phone, the secret flight ticket, the late-night calls to the modeling agency in New York… How did he find out?

The only person she had trusted with everything was—

A soft, mocking chuckle suddenly sounded from the corner near the plastic bassinets.

Poppy's blood instantly ran cold.

“Jill…?”

Jill didn’t even look at her. Her gaze was fixed on the two sleeping infants with the hungry, possessive eyes of a wolf staring at fresh prey.

She reached out with a perfectly manicured finger and gently traced the edge of the baby girl’s bassinet.

Jill whispered sweetly, “Don’t worry, my little darlings… You’ll be mine very soon.”

Then her eyes shifted to Poppy, filled with pure contempt and jealousy.

“As for your mother…” Jill smiled viciously, “she’ll be going on a very, very loooooong trip.”

Poppy's fingers gripped the bedsheet tightly as Jill took slow, deliberate steps toward her. The smile on her stepsister’s face was wide, but her eyes were completely dead.

“You know,” Jill said casually while reaching into her designer bag, “I didn’t originally plan for you to leave the country. But Will is too generous. Honestly, I don’t know why he’s letting you live at all.”

Her expression suddenly twisted with ugly rage.

“I need those children more than you do! Do you understand that?!”

Poppy's heart pounded violently. She watched in horror as Jill pulled out a syringe from her bag.

Jill tapped the syringe with a sickening flick, her smile turning manic.

“Do you understand me, dear sister?”

Tears of betrayal and fear filled Poppy's eyes. She gave a small, shaky nod.

Only then did Jill's face soften into a satisfied smile.

How bitterly she had cried when the doctors told her she could never have children. And in that same year, this useless bitch came to her happily announcing her pregnancy with twins.

The jealousy had eaten her alive!

She had even secretly mixed abortion pills into Poppy's food for months. But now… she no longer needed tricks.

The moment Jill brought the needle closer to Ashley’s neck, Poppy's survival instinct exploded.

Poppy screamed at the top of her lungs, “You crazy bitch!”

Her voice was hoarse but also filled with undescribable fury. “Stay away from me!”

Despite the agonizing pain tearing through her lower body and the blood still seeping between her legs, Poppy fought like a cornered beast.

She swung her arm wildly and slapped Jill hard across the face, leaving five red marks on her stepsister’s cheek.

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