Chapter 40 He glared at his mother , anger in his eyes . " Stop it ! Natalie is my wife . How could you lock her up like that ?" } His mother stared at him in disbelief . " Daniel , you're really defending an outsider over your own mother ? Am I wrong ? You and Natalie have been married for three years and still have no children . Even hens can lay eggs , she's not even as good as a hen ! " Daniel blurted out , " That's because ... " He didn't finish , but I already knew because he and Jennifer had killed my child . " No matter what , you can't treat her like this . " He walked over and gently took my hand . " But I pushed him away. " Since you like someone that can give birth , you should've married one from the start ! " } Without looking at his mother's face , I turned and went upstairs . Daniel hesitated for a moment , then lifted his foot to follow me . But just then , Rihanna let out a cry of pain . Jennifer quickly pulled her into her arms , panic on her face . " Rihanna , what's wrong ? Is your heart hurting again ? " } " Daniel , I think Rihanna got scared by Natalie . Can you come check on her ? " Daniel immediately turned and walked over to them , eyes full of worry as he looked at Rihanna . He pulled out his phone and called the family doctor . Jennifer hesitated . " But if you don't follow her , won't Natalie be upset ? " Daniel frowned . " She spoke to my mother like that . What right does she have to be angry ? Don't mind her . " " But I had seen it clearly , with my own eyes . When Daniel turned to chase after me , Jennifer secretly pinched Rihanna . Her cry wasn't from heart pain . But even if I told him , he wouldn't believe me . Standing on the stairs , I saw the concern in Daniel's eyes as he looked at Rihanna . Back in the bedroom , I closed the door and threw out everything related to Daniel . He had already destroyed every photo we took over the past three years . I didn't want a man like him anymore . " Just as I finished cleaning and was about to sit down , Daniel pushed open the door from outside . } Seeing the empty shelves , confusion filled his eyes . " Natalie , what did you lose ? " I shook my head , voice calm . " Nothing . Just some things that didn't matter . " " Daniel didn't seem to care or want to know what had gone wrong . He nodded . " Go downstairs and apologize to my mother . I've made tea , just bring it to her . " Without a word , he led me downstairs and pushed me toward the table . I looked at the steaming tea and , despite the heat , picked it up . Just as I was about to hand it to my mother - in - law , Jennifer walked over . " Natalie , why don't you let me do it ? " " Jennifer looked at me with a smug smile , but acted like she was doing it for my sake . " Get out of here ! " Seeing her hand reaching for the teacup , I quickly swung my arm to push her away . But she held on tight and fought me for it . " The cup fell to the floor and Jennifer let out a loud scream . " Daniel , my arm hurts ! " } Her eyes turned red right away and she held out her shaking arm to him . " Even though there wasn't a single scratch on her , Daniel's eyes were full of anger and pain . " " Natalie , you've gone too far . Jennifer was just trying to help you and your hurt her ! " His voice got louder and then he raised his hand and slapped me . " Seeing the state I was in , my mother - in - law laughed proudly . " Daniel , I told you before , this woman should've been locked up . Otherwise , she'd end up doing something disgraceful . And now look , it's happening , isn't it ? " She pointed at the same two men who had locked me up before . " You two , lock her up ! Don't let her hurt my daughter - in - law again . " % The men grabbed my arms and tried to drag me toward the basement storage room . " This time , Daniel said nothing to stop them . " Looking at him with a mix of pain and disbelief , I asked , " Daniel , you know I'm afraid of the dark . Are you really letting her lock me up ? " He hesitated for just a moment , then looked at me with cold indifference . " You shouldn't have hurt Jennifer . You know how much she means to me . Natalie , locking you up is just a small punishment 2/2 62.2 % P . You shouldn t nave nurt Jennirer . You know now mucп sne means to me . Natalie , locking you up is just a small punishment -to stop you from doing anything worse . " \ The door shut and the storage room went completely dark . I pounded on it in panic and shouted , " Daniel , let me out ! " One second passed . Then two . Then three . Everything stayed silent . " I stumbled back a few steps and curled up in the corner , completely helpless . With my head buried in my arms , I suddenly remembered the day Daniel found out I was afraid of the dark and how he promised he'd never leave me alone in it again . But this time , he knew . And still , because of Jennifer , he locked me in anyway . As the tears fell , something inside me finally broke . "