Chapter 1

Seven years into my marriage with billionaire Julian Thorne, I was still not pregnant.

Every month, I calculated my ovulation period down to the minute, strictly scheduling our sex life.

I regularly took folic acid, prenatal vitamins, and expensive fertility supplements.

I even endured multiple painful hormone injections to stimulate ovulation.

But all my efforts were in vain.

Finally, Julian's mother, Victoria, showed up at my house with a curvy, voluptuous woman in tow.

"Since you can't carry a child, stop dragging my son down. Starting today, Chloe here will do your job and give him an heir."

That night, listening to Julian and Chloe groaning and panting in the guest room next door, I finally broke.

I couldn't take it anymore. I demanded a divorce.

When my father, Richard Vance, found out about the divorce, he flew into a raging fury.

"How did I raise such a useless, unprofitable daughter?!"

"Just because you're barren doesn't mean you can stop your husband from having kids with another woman! How can you be so selfish?"

Soon after, my father sold me off to a notorious mafia boss to secure his next business deal.

I thought my life was completely over.

I had no idea this was just the beginning of my true happiness.

That man, rumor had it, was old, ugly, and a cold-blooded monster who ruled the city's underground.

But during our very first meeting, when I saw his face, I froze.

Although he was thirteen years older than me, he was incredibly handsome.

He possessed the kind of calm, quiet charm that only came with maturity.

Wearing a crisp black shirt, he leaned against the bedroom doorway, glanced at me, and tossed a black card onto the nightstand.

"This is my secondary card. I'll transfer money into it every month. Just make sure you keep track of every expense."

"I have a son and a daughter. They both go to a private academy."

"Just treat them as your own."

He paused, as if it pained him to say the next words, but he forced them out anyway.

"After all, you can't have your own."

"Consider them your retirement plan."

With that, he turned and left without looking back.

I gripped the black card tightly as tears welled up in my eyes again.

"You can't have your own." I had been hearing those soul-crushing words for seven long years.

I never expected that after finally escaping the fiery hell of the Thorne family, I would still be humiliated for the exact same reason.

That night, he didn't return until two in the morning.

He didn't waste any time. He took a quick shower and got straight into bed.

It was a night of silent, intense passion. I bit down on the pillow, enduring it until dawn.

When I woke up the next morning, he was already gone.

Looking at the faint bruises on my body, I broke down and sobbed again.

I had just slipped into my robe when Martha, the nanny, came in holding the hands of two children.

She introduced them warmly, saying they were Mr. Sterling's twins.

The two children looked at me timidly, trying their best to hide behind Martha.

I looked back at them with a blank, indifferent expression.

After all, during those seven years with the Thornes, every time a guest brought their kids over, Victoria would drag me into the living room.

"You useless thing. Touch the baby's feet, maybe some of that fertility will rub off on you. How long have you been married? You can't even produce a single egg."

"A backyard hen is more useful than you."

Every single time, her words cut through my heart like a serrated knife.

What made it worse was the high-society wives surrounding her, laughing and whispering. I felt like I was stripped naked and paraded for their amusement.

And the absolute worst part was after the guests left.

Victoria would have the maids drag me to her room.

They would pin me down and force-feed me experimental fertility liquids and disgusting herbal concoctions.

I threw up every single time.

My lips were cut and bruised from the maids forcing my mouth open.

But when I dragged my exhausted body back to our bedroom, Julian would only look at me with sheer disgust.

"Did you pick a fight with my mother again? Can't you just swallow your pride and obey her?"

"She's only doing this for your own good. She just wants us to have a baby."

So, countless times in the dead of night, I would wake up in a cold sweat, crying silently in the dark.

Why did a woman's entire worth have to be tied to childbearing?

For a long time, I hated the very concept of children.

Seeing my cold attitude, Martha said a few more polite words about the twins and led them out.

I didn't bother to stop them.

Instead, I locked myself in the bedroom every day, either reading books or scrolling through Snapchat and TikTok.

Dominic, my new husband, never interfered with my life.

He left before dawn and only came back after I was already in bed.

He performed his marital duties every night like clockwork, then went to sleep.

Even though we had been married for six months, I didn't even know his full name.

The only difference was that as the months passed, the nights became less painful.

Sometimes, I even found myself instinctively responding to his touch.