Chapter 1

I had been dating Carter for three years, and we strictly followed a 50/50 split on everything.

Dinner, movies—we split the bill right down the middle.

If we ordered a dish he didn’t like, I paid for it.

If we watched a movie I didn't care for, he paid for it.

We lived this way for a long time. That was until my biotech lab developed a revolutionary new chip.

A chip that allowed a couple to split a pregnancy 50/50.

I brought the contract to Carter, and he signed his name without a second thought.

But—

It seemed he completely misunderstood how the chip worked.

The day my pregnancy was confirmed, Carter’s attitude did a complete 180. He pulled out the calculator he always kept in his bag and started aggressively tapping the buttons. After five minutes of intense math, he finally looked up.

"Sienna, you need to Venmo me $4,032.10."

I thought I had misheard him. But looking at the deadpan, confident look on Carter’s face, he wasn't joking.

I quietly folded my ultrasound report, put it in my bag, and challenged him. "Say that again."

"I said, I calculated our 50/50 split for the pregnancy. You owe me $4,032.10."

Seeing my dumbfounded expression, Carter dragged me over to a bench in the hospital hallway and started breaking down the numbers, line by line.

"The estimated cost for hospital registration, regular prenatal checkups, prenatal vitamins, and delivery is about $2,000."

"Postpartum recovery, nutritional supplements, and baby supplies will be at least another $2,000."

"Our apartment is 1,000 square feet, and rent is $2,000 a month. But since you're pregnant, your physical volume will increase, meaning you’ll occupy more physical space. So, we should split the rent 70/30 instead of 50/50. That means your share is $1,400 a month, totaling $16,800 for the year."

"Once you're heavily pregnant, you won't be going to the office. You’ll be home all day, which means utility bills and Wi-Fi usage will spike. Also, I just googled it—pregnant women pee at least three times more daily. That’s an extra 150 gallons of water a month. Adding it all up, that’s an extra $100 a month, or $1,200 a year for you."

...

"I'm only going to split the rent adjustment and the future baby formula costs with you. So, your grand total of expenses is $14,032.10."

"We agreed earlier that my budget for your engagement ring and wedding fund was $10,000. Deducting that from your share, you owe me exactly $4,032.10!"

Carter looked incredibly proud of himself. He bounced his leg, waiting for the Venmo notification to pop up on his phone.

Rage boiled inside me. I stood up, slapped him hard across the face, and walked away.

"Sienna! Sienna!"

Carter chased me out of the hospital and forced his way into the passenger seat of my car. "My mom said if we don't get married, you're the one who loses! Your belly is going to get bigger by the day. Besides, wasn't 50/50 always our rule? We even signed that 50/50 Pregnancy Contract!"

I was about to blow a fuse, but when I heard his last sentence, the anger suddenly vanished. A cruel amusement washed over me.

So, he completely misunderstood the terms of that 50/50 Pregnancy Contract.

"I didn't realize you were such a math genius, Carter."

I slapped his hand off my gear shift. "I'm in no rush to get married. You better not bring this up to me again."

I let out a cold laugh. "Deducting wedding funds for rent space? Only your family could come up with something so pathetic."

After kicking Carter out of my car, I drove straight to the lab. I booted up the computer controlling the prototype microchip, found the master control panel, and clicked [ACTIVATE] without a single second of hesitation.

I couldn't wait to see who would actually be trapped by this baby.