Chapter 1

The checkup was over when the Simmons heiress walked in, her belly round and heavy.

By some coincidence, the husband listed on her file had the same name as mine.

I told myself it was chance, until I saw my husband circle an arm around her waist and ease her carefully into his car.

Rain came down in sheets. I stared at the twenty-some missed calls on my phone and made it home in a daze.

Nathan finally came back in the middle of the night, and the sight of me on the couch seemed to break his heart.

"How are you soaked through? Let me dry you off."

Once he finished, he went and got the hair dryer, drying my hair with great care.

"Silvie, back when I started the company, you went through all the hard times with me. Things are finally turning around, and it's time you got to enjoy the good life with me."

"How did the checkup go today? Did the doctor tell you anything?"

Only then did it register. "Tell me what?"

His hands went still. He looked pained, hesitant. "The doctor probably couldn't bring herself to tell you. The hospital called me today."

"They said our baby isn't doing well. They recommend we terminate as soon as possible."

"I know you can't bear it. Neither can I. But this is for your own good, and I've already booked the surgery for you at the hospital."

If I hadn't seen that woman's prenatal file and the fake marriage certificate today, I might really have believed him.

He wanted to sacrifice my child to pave his own way.

Well, he'd have to see whether I, the true-born Simmons heiress, agreed to that first.

1

I raised my eyes and looked at Nathan Henson, calm. "Why did the hospital call you and not tell me?"

His hands never stopped, his expression open, his voice still gentle. "The doctor was worried the shock might be too much for you while you're pregnant, so she reached out to me first."

I tugged the corner of my mouth. "I'm the baby's mother. I should be the first to know."

"No matter how considerate a hospital is, they don't go over the pregnant patient's head to give a family member a termination recommendation alone."

Nathan tucked away the flash of anger in his eyes and reached out to smooth my hair. "Silvie, don't overthink it."

"You grew up with no parents, all on your own, and you didn't get much education. You can't follow these medical things, you can't make sense of them." "Just trust me and set your mind at ease. I'm your husband. Every decision I make is for your own good."

Inside, I laughed coldly, but I didn't argue with him any further.

Out of nowhere, the memory of how we first met came back to me.

Back then I was spoiled and willful, a girl who knew nothing of the world.

My parents had given away my puppy without asking me, so I stubbornly ran away from home.

Alone, wretched, and helpless, I ran into a pack of street thugs cornering me in the middle of the night.

I was terrified, certain I was about to be hurt, and that was exactly when Nathan stepped in and saved me.

Back then he had nothing, in the hardest stretch of building his company.

Day after day he ran around begging investors for funding, hitting wall after wall, scraping by in a tight, worn-down life.

Later, remembering that he'd saved my life and aching at how hard he had it, I hid it from everyone and swallowed my pride to go to my brother, a man of real position, and win Nathan his first crucial investment.

It was that money that pulled his teetering little company back from the edge.

It carried him step by step to where he is now, with a business the world sees as thriving.

His company looks impressive these days, but next to the Simmons family and their vast fortune, it's nothing.

He probably thought that as long as he kept Hildegarde Simmons, the fake Simmons heiress, happy, he could ride the Simmons family's power straight to the top and slip into the highest circles.

Nathan set the hair dryer down and reached out, meaning to circle my waist. "It's late. Let me help you shower, then get some rest early."

He'd barely stood up when the phone beside him rang.

He glanced down at the caller's label, and something like panic crossed his eyes.

He snatched up the phone and explained to me quickly, "Silvie, something urgent just came up at the company. I have to go back and deal with it."

Without waiting for my answer, he grabbed his coat from the entryway and left.

I got to my feet slowly, picked up my car keys, and followed him downstairs.