Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

The woman shot a nasty glare at Bella's belly and spat out, "I hope your baby dies."

Bella's heart clenched at the woman's words.

The woman's eyes were burning with hatred, like there was some deep grudge between them.

A young guy pulled the woman away, but not before he turned back to give Bella a menacing look, also full of hate.

When Bella went inside, the woman's curse kept replaying in her mind, making her feel uneasy. So when she talked to Zachary, she was a bit distracted.

Zachary noticed and asked, "What's wrong?"

Bella forced a smile. "Nothing."

Three days later, it was Thanksgiving.

As it got dark, Oliver went out to buy groceries and cook dinner, telling Bella to wait at the stall. He'd come to get her once he was done cooking.

But Thanksgiving was all about family gatherings, so by evening, most people had gone home, and business was slow.

Bella decided not to wait for Oliver and closed the stall early, slowly pushing the cart home.

As she reached a quiet area, a group of men suddenly stepped out of the shadows, blocking her way.

Seeing their unfriendly faces, Bella got on guard.

She said, "Want to buy some barbecue? Sorry, I'm closed for the day. Come back early tomorrow."

She tried to walk around them, but one of the guys grabbed her roughly.

Up close, Bella realized it was the same young guy she had seen in prison. Bella asked, "What do you want?"

Normally, Bella wouldn't be scared in a situation like this, but now it was different. She was pregnant and close to her due date, so she didn't want to fight unless she had to.

The guy tilted his chin arrogantly and sneered, "You're carrying Zachary's baby, right?" Bella got it. The hatred in the eyes of the young guy and the middle-aged woman that day had to do with Zachary.

She didn't answer, but he didn't need her to. The fact that he had found her meant he had already done his homework.

"A heartless guy like Zachary doesn't deserve to have a kid. Beat her up!"

As he gave the order, he kicked at Bella's belly, and the other men rushed at her.

Bella dodged his kick but couldn't get out of their circle, so she had to fight back. Even though she was pregnant and her movements were clumsy, she still had some skills.

"You know Taekwondo? No wonder Zachary likes you," the guy said, surprised.

His expression quickly darkened, and a sinister look flashed in his eyes. "Hit her hard!" They swarmed her again.

Bella had to fight back while protecting her belly, not daring to use too much force for fear of hurting the baby. Despite her efforts, she was soon at a disadvantage, taking a punch to the back and falling to her knees.

As Bella tried to stand up, the guy stomped on her calf, keeping her down. Waves of pain radiated from her lower abdomen, giving her a bad feeling. She gathered her strength and struck the guy's waist.

In pain, the guy let go of her leg, and Bella managed to stand up. But he quickly grabbed her hair.

"If it weren't for Zachary, my brother wouldn't have gone down that path, my father wouldn't have fallen ill from anger, and we wouldn't be in this mess. A troublemaker like him deserves to have his family line end."

Bella's punch lost its force upon hearing his words, but the guy's kick landed squarely and viciously on her belly.

Bella staggered back, leaning against the wall and slowly sliding to the ground as the pain in her abdomen intensified.

As the guy prepared to advance again, a stick suddenly struck his shoulder.

The unexpected blow caught them off guard, and almost all of them were hit.

Oliver, wielding the stick, drove them away while glancing at Bella with eyes full of pain and urgency.

Oliver asked with concern, "Are you okay?"

"It looks like Zachary's partner is cheating on him," the guy who had been hit with the stick laughed.

Oliver gripped the stick, glaring at them with a cold smile. "It's really shameful of you to bully a pregnant woman."

Suddenly, headlights shone from a distance.

"Someone's coming," one of the men warned.

The guy glanced at the approaching lights, then back at Bella, who was pale and bleeding. Thinking that her baby might not survive, he ordered a retreat, and they quickly fled.

The unfamiliar car passed by and drove away.

Oliver dropped the stick, picked up Bella, and rushed to the hospital.

When Bella was wheeled into the operating room, her face was as pale as paper, her hair soaked with sweat, but she gritted her teeth and didn't make a sound.

The wait outside the operating room felt like an eternity for Oliver.

He pounded his fists against the hard wall, filled with regret. Why did he leave early? Why couldn't he wait for her? Why did he let Bella work so hard while pregnant? Fortunately, Bella gave birth to a son without any major complications. When Bella was wheeled out of the operating room, Oliver rushed over and held her hand, tears streaming down his face as he looked at her pale, weak face.

He didn't let go of her hand until she was settled in her hospital room.

Oliver said, "Bella, when you were taken into the operating room, I was really afraid that it might be the last time I saw you. I swear, I've never been so scared in my life. So I made a vow to God. I won't be greedy anymore. As long as you're okay, I don't need anything else. I just want you to be okay..."

Bella looked at him, too weak to speak, but her eyes were moist.

Lying on the operating table, she had felt like she was in so much pain she might die, filled with despair. The words "I hope your child dies" kept echoing in her mind, and she was truly afraid they might come true.

Oliver wanted to take care of her, but it was often inconvenient. Sensing her thoughts, he hired a private nurse for Bella.

As he fed her soup, he smiled and said, "You don't need to worry so much around me. Think about it, we were already talking about marriage back then. Even though we didn't have a wedding, in my heart, you're already my wife."

During the month of postpartum care, Oliver took care of both her and the baby. He cooked, did the laundry, made formula, bathed the baby, and put him to sleep. He took on all the chores.

Bella often tried to do things herself, not wanting to accept his help without giving back. Oliver tried to persuade her, but she was stubborn, so he had to firmly pull her back to bed.

Oliver said firmly, "I may not know much, but I do know that postpartum care is crucial for women. You need to be healthy to take good care of the baby. Don't forget, you're not alone now."

Inferno visited once, but he just dropped off some things and left quickly, not saying much about Oliver's presence.

Bella named the baby Finn.

Due to her poor health, Bella didn't have much milk, so she fed Finn formula. Given their limited conditions, and to make it easier to get up at night to make formula, Oliver slept in the same bed with them, with Finn in between.

Even after Bella's postpartum month was over, Oliver didn't let her touch cold water and continued to care for her as he did during the postpartum period, not letting Finn disturb her sleep.

In the blink of an eye, Finn was two months old. Bella had seen all the hard work Oliver had put in during these two months.

"You really don't have to do so much. Now that Finn and I are fine, you can go back. You have family and friends; you should have your own life."

Oliver, who was cooking in the kitchen, didn't turn around. He slowly stirred the soup

in the pot with a spoon; it was chicken soup he was making for Bella.

He knew Bella would eventually ask him to leave. These two months hadn't changed their relationship, but he didn't expect it to happen so soon.

He didn't want to leave.

Finn seemed to sense something too and cried incessantly. Bella couldn't calm him down, but he quieted down a bit in Oliver's arms, as if trying to keep him with his cries. Even though Finn was small, he was smart. He could feel the warmth and love from Oliver's care over the past two months.noveldrama

Faced with Finn, Bella was helpless, and Oliver ultimately didn't leave.

When Finn was three or four months old, winter had arrived. Bella insisted on going back to work at the stall. She needed to support herself and Finn; she couldn't rely on Oliver.

Unable to persuade her, Oliver had to handle the logistics, taking care of Finn, cooking, and doing housework.

To the neighbors, Oliver seemed like a man living off a woman. But he didn't care what others thought, as long as he could take care of her and Finn.

During the winter holidays, Jennifer came back.

At first, she couldn't understand Oliver's presence. She spoke little except to play with Finn. Later, after visiting Zachary, her attitude changed somewhat.

On New Year's Eve, when families were reuniting, Jennifer said she and her siblings would go back to the orphanage for a reunion dinner, so she wouldn't be back that night.

So Oliver made a big meal, but it ended up being just him and Bella.

They both drank some wine, and the memories brought on by the setting made them nostalgic as they got tipsy.

Bella said, "Last New Year's Eve, we agreed to go our separate ways. Did you forget?" Oliver looked at her slightly flushed cheeks, his throat tight. He didn't answer.

Bella took another drink and said, "You shouldn't be here on a day like this. You should be with your family."

Oliver smiled, avoiding the question. "Imagine if none of that had happened. What would we be like now?"

Bella, a bit drunk, rested her head on her hand. Listening to the distant sound of fireworks, she said softly, "Some debts might be from a past life, so we're destined to repay them in this one."

Oliver thought that perhaps the entanglement between him and Bella was also from a past life, making it impossible to let go in this one.

"Tomorrow is a new year. You should go."

After saying that, Bella seemed to lose her strength and rested her head on the table.