He Kissed the Rose in the Abyss

In the capitals elite circles, all knew Crown Prince cherished his beloved daughter and wife of seven years, Iris Winter. Yet secretly, he kept another woman and an illegitimate son in his suburban villa, visiting them on every business trip.

After rebirth, the first thing I did was swallow abortion pills before him one, two, three Until blood streamed down my legs and his eyes reddened, rushing to stop me.

In my past life, he married me because I was pregnant with our daughter. I believed longing had finally been answered, but marriage brought only emotional abuse. Our daughter wasnt even allowed to call him Dad. On her birthday, he took her to kindergarten alone I thought his heart had softened.

Instead, he sent her into surgery to donate bone marrow for his son with his first love. She died of infection on the table; he skipped her cremation to celebrate his sons birthday. I sat with her urn until dark, only to hear, Decide your divorce terms. I dont want the daughter.

Ridiculous. I watched him leave, then set myself ablaze. Flames silenced the pain. Reborn, I vowed this tragedy would end at the start.

The hospital's antiseptic smell was acrid. I lay in the hospital bed, a cramping pain twisting in my lower abdomen, like a blunt knife churning inside. Liam Bowen stood by the bed, his face ashen.

"Iris Winter, are you deliberately taking abortion pills and playing the victim, just to hide Cathy Lin?"

Abortion pills. A bitter ploy. Hiding Cathy Lin. In his eyes, had I become so manipulative that I would use my own flesh and blood as a bargaining chip?

My voice was hoarse. "What does that have to do with me?"

Yes, I knew Cathy Lin. She was his first love, the woman hidden in the suburban villa. Liam's voice was low, laced with a strange certainty. "You know. You know about her existence, you know about the child's existence, you even know where I go every time I'm on a 'business trip'."

"Iris Winter, you've been reborn too, haven't you?"

In that instant, my heart nearly stopped. The hospital room was eerily quiet. I could hear my own heartbeat, a frantic drum against my ribs. Liam stared at me, his eyes holding a madness I'd never seen before.

"In the last life, you burned yourself and our daughter to death. I thought it was all over, but then I opened my eyes and I was back eight years ago."

All the blood in my body turned cold. He had been reborn too. He remembered everything from the previous life. He remembered our daughter's death, he remembered the fire, he remembered everything. But what he wanted to make amends for wasn't me, wasn't our daughter. It was Cathy Lin, it was that so-called son.

Liam's hand gripped my jaw, the force so strong it felt like my bones would shatter. "Where have you hidden her?"

I gritted my teeth. "I haven't."

His voice suddenly rose. "Tell me!"

"I told you, it wasn't me!" He ripped the IV needle from my hand, blood seeping from the puncture. My eyes reddened. "Liam Bowen, you're insane!"

"You're forcing me, Iris Winter!" He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Come in."

The hospital room door was pushed open again. Two men in black suits entered. One held a medical kit. A premonition of ill omen rose in my heart.

"Mr. Bowen, the items are here." The man opened the box, revealing a row of syringes neatly arranged inside. Liam took one, examining it under the light. "Iris Winter, I'll ask you one last time, where is Cathy Lin?"

I clenched my jaw, not uttering a single word. I hadn't kidnapped Cathy Lin; I didn't even know why she would be missing. But I knew that in this man's eyes, I would always be the wrong one. It was true in the previous life, and it was true in this one.

"Very good." Liam grabbed my arm, the needle piercing my skin. It wasn't injected into a vein, but shallowly into the muscle, then the liquid was slowly pushed in. The pain was like countless ants tearing at my skin.

"What is this?"

"Something to make you clear-headed." He expressionlessly pulled out the needle and took another. "Each injection will make you hurt a little more."

"Until you tell me where she is." The second needle went into my arm. The third into my calf. The fourth

I don't know how long it lasted before Liam finally stopped. My whole body trembled, cold sweat soaking my hospital gown. "Why don't you believe me?" I heard my voice, hoarse like a broken bellows.

Liam looked at me with an expressionless face. "Because you've changed." He spoke softly, yet his words cut into my heart like a blunt knife. I closed my eyes. Changed. Yes, I had changed. The Iris Winter of the previous life, who gave up everything for him, humbled to the dust, was dead. Dead in that great fire, dead before our daughter's cold urn, dead in his retreating figure.

But why should he demand that I not change?

"Liam Bowen, you remember the previous life. Then do you remember how our daughter died?" I opened my eyes and looked directly at him. His pupils suddenly constricted. "You personally sent her into surgery, to donate bone marrow for your son. She was only five years old, she didn't even dare to call your name."

"When she died from infection on the operating table, you were celebrating Cathy Lin's son's birthday."

"So, in this life, I simply took the abortion pills. That way, our daughter won't be born. She won't have to see a father who doesn't love her." I laughed, but tears streamed down my face. Not from pain, but from irony. In the previous life, he sacrificed our daughter for Cathy Lin's son; in this life, he tortures me for that son. From beginning to end, his heart only held that woman and that child. What was I? What was our daughter? A tool, a substitute, or a pawn to be discarded at any time?

No sooner had the words left my lips than a resounding slap landed hard on my face. My head was snapped to the side, blood instantly seeping from the corner of my mouth. Liam's voice trembled. "That was your child! How dare you abort her?!"

I covered my face, letting out a cold laugh. "How dare I? Liam Bowen, when you let her die on the operating table in the previous life, why didn't you ask yourself how you dared?" He raised his hand, as if to strike again, but it froze midway.

"You!" His eyes were bloodshot, his chest heaving violently. "Iris Winter, you don't deserve to be a mother."

I lifted my head, tears mingled with blood running down my face. "Liam Bowen, you are the least qualified to say that to me."

Just then, his phone rang. Liam answered, and his face instantly changed.

"What?!" He abruptly stood up.

I was dragged out of the hospital room by him, my wounds still bleeding, each step a searing pain. At the entrance to the emergency room, several bodyguards in black suits stood. The light in the emergency room went out. Liam rushed over, grabbing the doctor who came out. "Where's my son?"

The doctor removed his mask, his face grim. "I'm sorry, we did our best."

The air froze. I stood a few meters away, watching Liam's hand slowly relax, his whole body seeming to deflate. His voice was very soft. "What did you say?"

"The child had no vital signs when he arrived. We performed CPR for forty minutes" The doctor was still saying something, but I couldn't hear it anymore. Because the emergency room door was pushed open, and a woman stumbled out.

Cathy Lin. She was wearing a long white dress, her hair disheveled, her face streaked with tears. "Ethan! My Ethan!" She threw herself into Liam's arms, her whole body shaking. "Liam, my Ethan, how could he"

Liam stood stiffly, not embracing her, just staring in the direction of the emergency room. His voice was cold. "What happened? Ethan was fine, how could something suddenly happen?"

Cathy Lin sobbed, struggling for breath. "I don't know, I was driving him home today, and suddenly a car hit us from behind. When I woke up, he was lying in a pool of blood" As she spoke, she suddenly looked up, her gaze fixed on me. "It's you! It must be you!"

I froze. Cathy Lin tore herself from Liam's embrace and stumbled towards me. "Iris Winter, you killed my son!" Her voice was shrill and piercing, and everyone in the hallway turned to look. "You hate Liam, you hate me, so you targeted Ethan!" She raised her hand to strike me.

Liam grabbed my arm, yanking me in front of him. "Iris Winter, what do you have to say for yourself?" His eyes were bloodshot, like a deranged beast. I looked at him, and suddenly felt it was all so ridiculous. "Liam Bowen, why do you think I did it?"

He spoke each word distinctly. "Because you hate me, you hate Cathy Lin, you hate Ethan." "So the first thing you did after being reborn was abort our daughter, and the second was to target them."

I took a deep breath. "I didn't."

Cathy Lin shrieked. "You're still trying to argue! The police were just here, and they found the hit-and-run vehicle information!" She pointed at me, her voice shrill. "Liam, the police said the license plate number of that car belongs to Iris Winter!"

I reeled. My car? But I hadn't driven at all. I looked at Liam. "It wasn't me. You can check the surveillance."

Cathy Lin sneered. "Surveillance can be faked! You just want to kill my son and me!" She started crying again. "Liam, you have to avenge Ethan. He was only five years old, still so small"

Liam's grip tightened further. I felt like the bones in my arm were about to break. I stared at him. "If you don't believe me, call the police."

He suddenly laughed, a chilling sound. "Call the police? Iris Winter, do you think I'd let you off that easy, just to go to prison?" He released my arm and turned to his bodyguards. "Take her."

"Where?"

"To the outskirts." His voice was soft, yet it sounded like a death sentence. "I'll make her realize the price of killing my son."

The car drove for a long time. So long that the streetlights outside the window grew fewer and fewer, until finally, only darkness remained. I was thrown into the backseat, my hands and feet bound. The rough rope bit into my flesh, each breath tugging at the wounds on my wrists. Cathy Lin sat in the passenger seat, crying the entire time. Liam drove, not uttering a single word.

I didn't know where he was taking me. But I knew I might truly die tonight. The car jolted over a pothole, my body slamming hard against the car door, a sharp pain shooting through my shoulder. I gritted my teeth, refusing to cry out.

The car finally stopped. I was dragged out, my feet landing on dirt. There was nothing around, only the silhouettes of a few bare trees in the distance. The middle of nowhere. A bodyguard roughly yanked my arm. I stumbled, my knee hitting a stone, the searing pain making my vision black out for a moment.

Liam stood before me, looking down. "Iris Winter, I'll ask you one last time."

"Did you kill Ethan?" I lifted my head, looking into his eyes. My lips were purple from pain and cold, my teeth chattering as I spoke. "No."

Liam nodded. "Good. Since you won't admit it, I'll make sure you can never speak again." He turned to his bodyguards. "Dig a hole."

I froze. "Liam Bowen, what are you going to do?"

His voice was calm. "Bury you alive. Just like you killed Ethan, I'll make you taste despair."

The bodyguards began to dig. The sound of shovels piercing the earth was jarringly clear in the silent night. I watched the pit deepen, my heart aching. The wound on my knee was still bleeding, warm liquid running down my calf, soaking my pant leg.

"Liam Bowen, you're really insane." In my previous life, I thought love could be exchanged for love, and patience for tenderness. In the end, all I got was our daughter's urn and a self-immolation. In this life, I explicitly chose not to let our daughter be born, yet I still couldn't change anything.

Liam knelt down, pinching my jaw. His fingers were like iron tongs, gripping my mandible so tightly. "You forced me. In the last life, you killed our daughter. In this life, you killed Ethan."

"Iris Winter, how much more do you intend to destroy of mine?" I looked at his bloodshot eyes and suddenly felt so tired. "You never believed me."

Liam's hand stiffened. "You're not worth it!"

Yes, I wasn't worth it. Not worth him believing me even once. I stared into his eyes, my voice beginning to tremble. "Without any evidence, based solely on someone else's words, are you going to sentence me to death?"

Liam's fist clenched and then relaxed. His voice was as cold as the stones in this desolate wilderness. "I don't need evidence. I don't need the police. Iris Winter, today, you will be buried with Ethan." He waved his hand at the bodyguards.

The two tall men walked over, gripping my arms from each side. I struggled desperately. "Liam Bowen, you can't do this!" My bound wrists, under their pulling, had the rope deeply embedded in my flesh. I could feel my skin tearing, warm blood dripping from my fingers. With every step, the wound on my knee ripped further, the pain so intense I could barely stand. I used all my strength to try and break free, my legs frantically kicking the ground, leaving two deep marks in the dirt.

"Liam Bowen, are you going to kill me here?"

Liam pointed at the deep pit. "I'm going to bury you here."

The bodyguards dragged me towards the pit. In my previous life, I chose fire, burning completely, not even wanting to leave him ashes. In this life, he chose earth, to let me rot in an unknown wilderness, as if I had never existed.

I desperately turned to look at him, tears blurring my vision. "Please, just believe me once! Just once! I didn't do it! I really didn't!" Liam stood at the edge of the pit, his overcoat billowing in the wind. Only his voice cut through the wind. "I don't care anymore."

I screamed in despair. "No! Liam Bowen! You can't do this!"

Liam acted as if he hadn't heard. He turned, his back to the deep pit, and said coldly, "Bury her!"