Chapter 3

Sabrina went home alone. The villa was huge, hollow, and cold. After changing her shoes, she went upstairs and started packing. To be honest, she had recently sorted through most of her belongings. This was just the final sweep. From the closet, she took out all the clothes that resembled Della's style. One by one, she folded them neatly and placed them into the suitcase. She would never wear them again. The sound of the door opening came from downstairs. Della stood at the foot of the stairs. Seeing Sabrina, she smiled sweetly. "Long time no see, Sabrina." When Sabrina didn't respond, Nester awkwardly explained, "Della wanted to check on Snowball. She said she hasn't seen him in a long time." Snowball was a dog Nester and Della had raised when they were together. After Della went abroad, Snowball stayed with Nester. Sabrina had been the one taking care of Snowball ever since she married Nester. "Whatever," Sabrina said, turning back toward her room. "Snowball! Snowball!" Della was already crouched down, clapping her hands to call Snowball over. A white Bichon Frise came running from the corner. Seeing Della, he excitedly pounced and wagged his tail like a propeller. "Oh my, he still remembers me. It looks like he still recognizes me as his only mom after being raised by another woman all these years." She hugged Snowball, laughing hard. Listening to the clear provocation in her words, Sabrina halted in her steps. Nester frowned. "Della, you left abroad without a word and didn't even take him with you. You lost the right to call yourself his mom a long time ago. "Now that you've seen him, you can leave." Della pouted. "It's dark and raining outside, so it isn't safe for me to go home alone. Can I… stay the night?" Nester was about to refuse, but it was true that rain began to pour outside, accompanied by rolling thunder. He instinctively looked at Sabrina, ready to convince her to agree. In the past, every time Della came by, Sabrina would make a scene, and he would have to spend ages calming her down. But before he could speak, she did. "The guest room's at the very end of the first floor. The sheets and bedding are clean," she said evenly. "Stay if you want." With that, she turned and returned to her room. Nester was stunned, and Della was equally taken aback, before she burst out laughing and looped her arm through his. "Look, Nester! Even your wife agreed." Staring at Sabrina's closed door, Nester couldn't help that strange unease from rising again. He yanked Della off and snapped, "Behave yourself!" That was when his phone rang with a work call. He glanced at her and said, "Stay put and don't cause trouble." After he disappeared into the study, Della was left alone in the living room. The smile vanished from her face as she walked to Sabrina's door and knocked. When Sabrina opened the door, Della was leaning against the doorframe, sizing her up. "Stop pretending to be generous. Do you think letting me stay will make Nester think you're understanding? "It won't work, Sabrina. I'll show you just how badly you've lost. Not only have you failed to win Nester's heart, but you couldn't even win Snowball's." She whistled, and Snowball ran over. "Snowball," Della said, pointing at Sabrina. "Go and bite her." Snowball briefly hesitated, but under Della's urging, he pounced and bit Sabrina's calf. Caught off guard, Sabrina cried out in pain, and her face immediately paled. Della laughed in satisfaction. "See? You can't even tame a dog, so how could you delusionally think you could steal Nester from me? You'd better give up now." Pain and humiliation sent a chill through Sabrina's body, but she bit her lip hard and refused to let another sound escape. When she looked up at Della, her eyes were icy. "You forgot something, Della. Every shared area in this villa, including the stairs and hallways, has 24-hour surveillance. It includes a comprehensive audio and video recording service. "If you want to stay here tonight and rekindle things with Nester, I suggest you stop provoking me, or I'll show him the footage. Do you think he'll still let you stay?" Della's expression fell, but Sabrina didn't bother looking at her again and turned around to shut the door. She walked up to the bed, took a medical kit from the drawer, and treated the wound. The antiseptic stung the wound with a sharp, fiery pain, but her expression didn't change in the slightest. After tending to the wound, she lay in bed and closed her eyes. Without warming milk for Nester, waiting for him to finish his work, or saying goodnight like she usually did, she went straight to sleep. In the middle of the night, she woke up choking violently on smoke. When she opened her eyes, the room was thick with smoke. Frantically, she stumbled out of bed and opened the door to see the hallway ablaze with flames. There was a fire in the house! Bracing herself against the wall, she moved outward step by step. But only after a few paces, she felt too weak from inhaling too much smoke and collapsed onto the floor with her legs giving out. The floor was scorching. Sabrina struggled to get up, but couldn't muster the slightest strength at all. Just as she thought she might die there, a figure burst through the flames. It was Nester! He was in his pajamas, his face smeared with snot as he anxiously looked around. Sabrina wanted to call out to him, but her throat was burned raw by the smoke, so she couldn't make a sound. She stretched out her hand and hoped he would see her, but he didn't even glance her way. Instead, he rushed into a corner of the room, where Snowball was all curled up and trembling. Nester scooped him up and turned away, not once looking back at her. As Sabrina watched him disappear into the flames, she suddenly started laughing until tears streamed down her face. He was here to save Snowball. Perhaps to him, she wasn't even worth as much as a dog.