Chapter 1

The lunch delivery had just arrived downstairs when Jacqueline Fletcher, pregnant, smiled at me and said, "Ellie, my food's here too. Do me a favor and grab it for me? Thanks!"

I was about to say yes when my phone rang.

The voice on the other end sounded a lot like mine.

"Don't touch that delivery! I'm you, three years from now. The baby in Jacqueline's belly is already dead, and she's about to use it to pin everything on you!"

Something dropped in my chest.

Jacqueline really hadn't looked well lately, and she'd taken two sick days.

I opened my mouth to refuse, and a row of live comments floated past my eyes.

【Whatever you do, don't refuse! If you refuse, Jacqueline will collapse on the way to get the delivery, and she'll lose the baby!】

【You'll end up torn apart online, so depressed you kill yourself, and your parents will drop dead from the shock!】

I froze in place. The two warnings said opposite things.

Which one was I supposed to trust?

Just then, Jacqueline pressed me. "Ellie? Why haven't you gone yet?"

1

Jacqueline stood beside me in a loose maternity dress, looking gentle and harmless.

Everyone in an office instinctively goes easy on a pregnant woman.

The coworkers around the desks turned to look at me one after another, scolding.

"Ellie, you can't be that cold, can you? It's such a small favor."

"Right, Jacqueline's pregnant. Moving around is hard for her. It's just going downstairs for a delivery. Takes two seconds."

"What's wrong with young people these days, so petty, no sense of common courtesy at all."

The chorus of voices pressed down until my scalp went tight.

Jacqueline cradled her belly, all understanding. "It's fine, Ellie. If it's a hassle for you, really, don't worry about it. My belly's just heavy and I honestly can't walk much, or I wouldn't have bothered you."

The more sweet and pitiful she played it, the more everyone else would decide I was heartless.

I smiled bitterly to myself.

On any normal day, forget grabbing one delivery, I'd have carried things up for her a dozen times without a second thought.

But today was a little different.

The live comments floated by again.

【Go down now! Let everyone see you grab her delivery for her!】

I clenched my back teeth.

"Oh, sure thing, Jacqueline." I nodded, but my mind was racing.

Both sides were warning me, which meant there was a trap waiting whether I refused or agreed.

So what if I chose neither?

I pulled out my phone and messaged the driver on that delivery order. 【Hey, could you bring my order and the other one up to the office together? Recipient's name is Jacqueline, phone ends in 8823. I'll send you an extra hundred for the trouble. That work?】

He replied with some silly OK sticker.

Reading it, I quietly let out a breath.

I looked up and explained to Jacqueline, "Jacqueline, I just checked. The driver says he'll bring it straight up, so I don't need to go down."

Jacqueline's smile stiffened.

The hand on her lower back shifted position. "That's great. But I really can't manage right now, so when the food gets here, could I trouble you to bring mine over to my desk? Okay?"

I nodded lightly. "Sure, Jacqueline. No problem."

Not two minutes later, the elevator doors opened and the driver stepped out with two neatly packed orders.

I went to meet him, and he held both out to me.

I reached out and took only my own, then told him carefully, "Hey, could you do me a favor and hand hers directly to her? She's pregnant, it's hard for her to carry it. I'll send you another fifty for the trouble."

I didn't touch it. It never passed through my hands.

Every possibility, cut off.