Chapter 007

Morgan's POV

"The Living Pharmacy, this screenplay I wrote five years ago tells the story of an eight-year-old girl 'selected' from the foster system by a powerful family, only to become her sister's medical resource. You didn't even know about it, did you?" I stood on the study floor, my eyes locked on Robert.

Robert stepped back in shock, as if truly seeing me for the first time. Catherine's head snapped up, her face turning pale. "Morgan, you can't—"

"I can't what?" I shouted, my voice trembling with fury. "Can't tell the world the TRUTH? This screenplay already has quite a following in the industry, yet you so-called 'family members' NEVER even bothered to read it! How ironic that my 'FATHER,' a top Hollywood producer, knows absolutely nothing about his 'DAUGHTER's' work!"

Robert's face instantly contorted with rage. His hand flew across my face with brutal force. The impact sent me sprawling backward, crashing into an expensive antique vase. The sound of shattering porcelain echoed through the study. I felt a wave of dizziness. It took several seconds to regain my consciousness.

Sitting on the cold hardwood floor, I realized I'd misjudged everything. I had thought my five-year marriage was an elegant prison, but only now understood how wrong I'd been. Despite the cold indifference of both the Reynolds and Montgomery families, they had never laid a hand on me before.

After all, I had been Olivia's precious "living pharmacy," too valuable to risk losing. But things were different now. Olivia's latest stem cell treatment had shown remarkable results. When I threatened to expose the truth, they felt free to hurt me physically.

"Did you slap me because I challenged your authority as my supposed FATHER, Robert?" I cradled my reddened cheek, feeling the stinging pain as I smiled mockingly. "Or because you finally realized I'm holding a bomb that could destroy the Montgomery family?"

Catherine slowly approached me, wearing that "loving mother" expression I knew too well—the same one she used after painful stem cell extractions at the hospital, as if her sympathetic looks could erase all the suffering she had permitted.

"Morgan, darling," Catherine said softly, reaching out to touch my cheek, "you know we've always considered you family. This home is your safe haven, and we all love you. Why would you hurt us like this?"

I stepped back, avoiding Catherine's hand, feeling cold fury rise within me. "Home? Safe haven?" My voice cut like a knife. "That's amusing, Catherine. When your husband picked me from the foster system, did he bring me into a 'home' or a private medical laboratory?"

"Morgan, you can't think like that—"

"I can't think like what?" I interrupted. "Can't remember being eight years old at the hospital for the first time, when you told me 'it's just a routine check-up' before watching doctors extract my bone marrow? Can't remember being thirteen when Robert made me cancel dance class because 'Olivia needs you'? Can't remember spending my entire adolescence in hospital beds while you just stood there with that pitiful look in your eyes?"

Catherine's tears streamed down her face, but I no longer believed in their authenticity.

"The saddest part," I continued, my voice low and filled with pain, "is that I truly believed you loved me. I believed it when you read me bedtime stories and felt proud of my achievements. But now I understand—those were just consolation prizes for the 'living pharmacy,' performances to ensure my continued cooperation."

"It wasn't like that!" Catherine cried out. "I truly love you, Morgan. Maybe it started because you could save Olivia, but watching you grow up, I genuinely came to see you as my daughter—"

"Enough!" I cut her off sharply. "If you truly saw me as your daughter, you wouldn't have let Robert lure me back here with lies today! You wouldn't allow your husband to hit me while you stand there saying nothing!"

"I want you to shut the fuck up!" Robert Montgomery charged toward me again like an enraged bull.

To my surprise, Alexander stepped between us.

"Mr. Montgomery," Alexander stood tall and commanding, his tailored suit covering his gym-honed physique, "whatever happened, we can resolve this in a civilized manner without resorting to violence."

In reality, I wasn't that surprised. Alexander was the perfect business executive. Even toward a wife he treated with indifference, he maintained social appearances. If he hadn't stepped in to help me during that social media crisis, I would never have fallen in love with him. What a massive mistake that had been.

"How could you hurt your mother like this?" Unable to confront me directly, Robert shouted past Alexander. "You ungrateful, shameless little bitch! She gave you a family, and you threaten to destroy the entire family with that garbage screenplay!"

Yes, that's what I had once believed—that Catherine had given me a home. I smiled bitterly, mocking my former naive self.

"Alexander?" Olivia's voice suddenly came from the doorway, deliberately soft and fragile. "Mom? What's wrong?" Seeing Catherine crying, Olivia appeared extremely anxious, her angry blue eyes quickly glaring at me. "Morgan! Is it you making Mom upset again?!"

"What if it is?" I shot back as Olivia strutted toward me.

In an instant, Alexander rushed forward to block Olivia. "Careful! There's broken glass on the floor! Your body can't risk any injuries!"

That was real love. Not the calculated business move of "saving" my reputation—he didn't even care about my injured shoulder or the handprint on my face. Instead, he crossed a floor of shattered glass just to ensure Olivia wouldn't suffer the slightest harm.

Watching the elite couples comfort each other, protecting their loved ones from me—the outsider—I lowered my eyes, rubbing the red marks on my forearm. This was my life. My "loving" family and perfect husband protecting the true heiress from me—the ungrateful intruder.

Suddenly, I lost all interest in talking to these people.

I texted Aurora and walked out. No one stopped me. My so-called family and husband were too busy protecting their princess to care about a mere tool.

I felt the weight of this endless day crushing down on me—my shoulder throbbing with pain, waves of nausea from my pregnancy washing over me, the fear after revealing my screenplay, and the stinging pain where Robert had hit me... My body couldn't take anymore. My head started to spin, and my legs felt weak beneath me. Cold sweat covered my forehead as my heart pounded wildly in my chest. My body, carrying new life inside it, finally gave up after all this trauma. The world started to go dark around the edges, my breathing becoming quick and shallow.

In the final scene before fainting, all I saw was Aurora's red Ferrari appearing in my vision.