Chapter 1

During my third trimester, my baby was diagnosed with severe hydrocephalus.

My entire family pressured me.

"Nora, if you give birth to this child, he'll have cerebral palsy. He'll be in pain for the rest of his life."

I couldn't bear to let go, but with them constantly whispering in my ear, I finally agreed to the abortion.

That night, my brother Jack suddenly sent a message in our family Snapchat group.

"How did it go? Is the abortion done?"

My husband, Ethan Carter, replied:

"I performed the surgery myself. There won't be any complications."

My dad, Thomas: "Thank God. Now Vivian can finally focus on her own pregnancy in peace."

My mom, Helen: "It's all thanks to the fake medical reports Ethan forged. Nora still thinks her baby had severe hydrocephalus."

Right after that, their foster daughter, Vivian Vance, chimed in:

"Delete those messages, quickly! You sent them to the wrong group! Nora is in this chat. She'll see them when she wakes up."

The next second, all the messages were deleted.

What they didn't know was that I had woken up long ago. And I had already screenshotted everything.

When I sent those screenshots back into the chat, the group went dead silent.

After a long while, Mom sent me a private message.

"It's true that Vivian is carrying Ethan's baby, but she never wanted to hurt you."

"They were together before you and Ethan even got married. They only kept it a secret to protect your feelings."

"You've been Ethan's wife for so many years. You should be satisfied with what you got."

I stared at her words, the incision on my abdomen burning with agonizing pain.

The people I thought were my family were actually the murderers of my child.

As the anesthesia wore off, sharp waves of pain rippled through my lower abdomen.

I gritted my teeth and dragged myself into the elevator.

The VIP suites of this private hospital were all on the top floor.

Ethan had used all his connections to secure a spot here.

He had told me, "Vivian's due date is earlier than yours. Let her use the suite first. I'll figure something out when it's your turn."

I had agreed.

But I never expected that he would never even give me the chance to use it.

As I passed the nurse's station, a few nurses were gossiping.

"Mr. Carter is so incredibly sweet to his wife. He got her the VIP suite and a private medical team."

"I heard he even hired a personal chef. She's getting organic meals, bird's nest, and collagen soups every single day."

"She just gave birth yesterday, and he already booked physical therapists, estheticians, and pelvic floor specialists. He even hired a top-tier therapist just to make sure she doesn't get postpartum depression."

I stood there, my blood turning to ice.

We were both pregnant, yet Ethan had never cooked a single meal for me.

When my morning sickness was at its worst, he couldn't even spare five minutes to boil some pasta for me.

When my back ached so badly that I couldn't sleep, I asked if he knew any good prenatal masseuses.

He didn't even look up from packing Vivian's hospital bag.

"Why waste money on that? Every pregnant woman goes through this. Just deal with it."

He said it so easily.

But when it came to Vivian, he never made her "deal" with anything.

I clenched my fists, forcing down the rage and grief.

The door to the VIP room was slightly ajar.

Vivian was lying in bed, a soft, blissful smile on her face.

My parents and my brother, Jack, were gathered around her.

Ethan was gently cradling a newborn baby.

When I was undergoing my abortion, they all claimed they were too busy to come.

But now, they were all here. Every single one of them.

It wasn't that they didn't have time.

Their time just didn't belong to me.

Standing outside the door, watching their picture-perfect family moment, I felt like a total stranger for the first time in my life.

When they finally noticed me, everyone froze.

Ethan set the baby down and quickly walked over to me.

"Nora, don't start a scene. Vivian just gave birth and she's very weak. Let's talk about this at home."

I was weak too, but I couldn't wait. I needed the truth right now.

"Is that baby yours?"

I screamed, my voice cracking.

I thought he would make excuses or try to dodge the question.

Instead, he looked me dead in the eye and said calmly:

"Yes, it's mine. On the night of our engagement party, you left early. Vivian was heartbroken over a breakup and came to talk to me. We drank too much and crossed the line. That was when I realized she had been secretly in love with me for years."

My ears started ringing.

On the night of our engagement, Ethan's mother had called saying she was in a car accident.

I had rushed over to help without a second thought.

After resolving everything, I called Ethan to let him know she was safe.

His voice had sounded raspy over the phone.

I asked him what was wrong, and he said he just caught a cold.

Thinking back to it now, a wave of intense nausea hit me.

While I was running around trying to take care of our family, he was busy betraying me in our bed.

I clenched my fists.

"So you two slept behind my back, and you even killed my baby just so hers could have a perfect, happy family?"

An impatient frown crossed his face.

"You can blame me all you want, but leave Vivian out of this. You only lost a baby. Vivian was so consumed with guilt over your miscarriage that she couldn't sleep all night. What more do you want?"

He said it with such righteous indignation.

As if I was the unreasonable one.

But he knew my uterine lining was dangerously thin. My chances of conceiving were already near zero.

I didn't just lose a baby.

I had lost my only chance of ever becoming a mother.