Chapter 1
After divorcing my ex-husband, I dated four boyfriends in a row.
But every time we got close to the wedding, they would call it off.
The moment we were about to exchange rings, their faces would twist with disgust, and they would point at me and curse me out.
“I must have been blind to fall for you! I’m not marrying you!”
The people around me would also look at me with disdain and tell me to stop clinging to them.
“How dare you beg them to stay? You’re shameless!”
“If I’d known you were this disgusting, I wouldn’t have come.”
I couldn’t make sense of it no matter how hard I tried, and I begged them to tell me why.
Then, at my fifth wedding, I heard my daughter Ford’s inner voice.
[Even though I’m the bride’s daughter, I still can’t bear to do this.]
[If my stepdad finds out that my mom spent last night in a hotel room with nine men while still wearing her wedding dress, this wedding will definitely be ruined.]
I stood on the stage, looking at my eight-year-old daughter, Ford.
The officiant was reading the vows.
“Groom Wilson, do you take Shakira as your wife…”
“Bride Shakira, do you take Wilson as your husband…”
Sure enough, her inner voice rang out again.
[Even though I’m the bride’s daughter, I still can’t bear to do this.]
[If my stepdad finds out that my mom spent last night in a hotel room with nine men while still wearing her wedding dress, this wedding will definitely be ruined.]
The guests below exploded at once.
“What? Nine men?”
“Oh my God, what does that mean?”
“A child wouldn’t lie, this…”
My future mother-in-law Bella’s face turned livid. She shot to her feet and pointed at me as she roared, “You filthy bitch! I knew you were rushing to get married because you’d been messing around outside!”
She rushed onto the stage and raised her hand to slap me.
But this time, I didn’t cry, and I didn’t panic.
I calmly grabbed her wrist. “Wait.”
My voice was very steady, so steady it even surprised me.
“What did you hear?”
Bella froze for a moment. “What your daughter just said. Are you still trying to deny it?”
I turned to look at the guests below the stage. “Did everyone hear that?”
“We heard it!”
“That kid said her mom spent the night with nine men!”
“Disgusting!”
I nodded, then looked at Ford.
She was looking at me with a completely innocent face, as if she knew nothing.
But I knew she knew her inner voice could be heard by other people.
She had been using that to ruin every one of my weddings.
“Ford.” I crouched down and looked into her eyes. “What did you just say?”
Ford blinked. “Mom, I didn’t say anything.”
“Then why is everyone saying they heard you?”
Ford pretended to be scared.
“I don’t know, Mom. I really didn’t say anything.”
The guests below started talking.
“Was that the child’s inner thoughts?”
“Little kids don’t lie.”
“Shakira is way too much!”
Bella rushed up again. “You’re still acting! Wilson cannot marry a woman like you!”
[The baby in her belly isn’t Wilson’s at all. It’s a bastard she had with another man.]
The entire room instantly went silent, and everyone stared at me in shock.
Bella’s face changed again. “What? The child isn’t even my son’s?”
“Are you trying to make my son raise another man’s kid like a fool?”
Wilson’s hand froze in midair, and the ring almost slipped to the floor.
“Shakira, what is going on?”
“What Ford said…”
“No!” I hurried to explain. “The child is Wilson’s!”
But the whispers below had already started.
“The child’s inner voice doesn’t lie.”
“She said she saw it, so it must be true.”
“This woman is terrifying. She’d actually do something like that.”
Bella rushed over and tried to drag me to the hospital.
“Come on! We’re doing a paternity test right now!”
“If the child isn’t Wilson’s, this wedding absolutely cannot happen!”
Wilson was also confused. “Shakira, let’s go to the hospital and check.”
I looked at him, tears in my eyes. “Wilson, you don’t believe me?”
Wilson hesitated. “I… I just want to confirm it.”
“Do you need me to prove it with my death before you’ll believe me?”
Everyone’s expressions changed.
Right then, Ford started again.
[Mom was still on the phone with that man yesterday, saying she’d show him the child after it was born.]
[She also said she’d hide it from Wilson for the rest of her life. I heard it clearly.]
The crowd below got even angrier.
“That’s too much!”
“How can a woman like that get married!”
“Wilson, run!”
I was backed into a corner, trembling all over.
“I didn’t!” I shouted. “The child is Wilson’s!”
“I can go do a paternity test right now!”