Chapter 3

I forced my heavy eyelids open, shock and overwhelming relief washing over me.

It was my mother-in-law.

Panic flashed across the rogue doctor's face before my mother-in-law's private security team swarmed the room, instantly tackling and pinning the staff to the floor.

My mother-in-law rushed straight to the table, grasping my trembling hands tightly. "Don't be afraid, darling. Mom's here."

I saw fear in her face. At a signal from her, the guards pulled the bribed staff out of the room. One helped my coworker to her feet and led her out of the way.

"I brought my own surgical team," she said, leaning over me. "They're prepping to take over right now."

"Did they really start without anesthesia? My poor girl."

"Mom is here. I'm staying right beside you. Get the anesthesiologist in here and deliver my daughter's baby right now!"

My mother-in-law had called me "daughter" for as long as I could remember.

She had always sworn to pamper me as her own, and she had never failed to deliver on that promise.

Seeing her standing over me brought an overwhelming sense of safety.

Tears spilled over my lashes, hot and uncontrollable.

She dabbed my cheeks and stepped back while the anesthesiologist took over. The team put up a drape between my face and the incision.

The new surgeon waited until the spinal block had taken effect before resuming the operation. My mother-in-law stayed by my head, holding my hand.

A thin, fragile wail came from beyond the drape. I couldn't see my baby, but hearing her cry was enough to let me breathe again.

Weakly, I whispered that I wanted to hold my daughter.

To my bewilderment, my mother-in-law smiled warmly and stroked my hair.

"Valerie, sweetheart, I know how much you wanted a girl. But you gave birth to a healthy baby boy."

My brow furrowed in utter confusion. If I hadn't already lived through this and raised her for a full year in my past life, I might have actually believed her.

I couldn't fathom how turning back the clock could magically alter the biological sex of my child.

Assuming she was simply disappointed by a granddaughter, I held her gaze and spoke with absolute certainty.

"I gave birth... to a daughter."

"You couldn't even see past the drape, and you're still sure," my mother-in-law said, her warm expression fading. "I was hoping to spare you the details, but perhaps it's better if you know."

Watching her mask slip so drastically sent a jolt of dread through my spine.

"What are you saying?"

Her tone remained soft, but her voice carried a chilling, calculating frost. "Surviving in high society isn't as simple as being pretty, Valerie. You need a son to secure your position and inherit the empire."

"Look at me. It was only because I gave birth to Justin that I solidified my status as the uncontested matriarch of the family. No matter how many mistresses his father keeps on the side, none of them can ever threaten my throne."

"I truly adore you as my daughter-in-law. When has a mother-in-law ever looked out for her son's wife like this? You need to understand the sacrifices I'm making for your future."

Staring at her, my eyes widened in horror, and I shook my head violently.

No.

"I only want... my daughter."

In my past life, my baby had suffered a brutal, undeserved death. I owed her a lifetime of protection; all I wanted was for her to grow up safe and whole.

I didn't care about securing status or inheriting billions. I just wanted my baby girl.

Clutching my stitched abdomen, I grabbed the hem of my mother-in-law's gown, weeping and pleading. "Justin isn't like that. You're his mother, you know him better than anyone."

"He would never look down on a daughter!"

My baby had arrived early; she was so tiny, so fragile. If my mother-in-law cast her out, a child that weak wouldn't survive the night.

Seeing me beg so desperately, a dark resentment twisted my mother-in-law's face. The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them:

"How on earth did I give birth to such a spineless, pathetic daughter?!"

"What?!"

The revelation hit me like a physical blow, knocking the breath straight from my lungs.

Seeing that the secret was out, she abandoned all pretense of restraint.

She leaned down, pinning my shoulders ruthlessly against the operating table, her eyes ablaze with bitter frustration. "You idiot! I've spent decades orchestrating every single move, and this was the final piece!"

"Men talk a big game about loving daughters, but every single one of them wants a male heir to carry the name."

"You can only inherit the family fortune if you produce a son!"

"It's just one useless girl! If she's gone, she's gone! You should learn from me. A little temporary suffering buys an eternity of unimaginable wealth and power!"

She motioned to an orderly, who came in carrying a boy in a blue blanket. Behind him, the nurse who had received my daughter was settling her into a bassinet. I could see both babies now.

"Look. This is your son from now on."

Meeting her ruthless gaze, the full scope of her cruelty dawned on me. A violent tremble racked my entire body.

"What... what are you going to do with my daughter?"

A glint of savagery flickered in her eyes. "If you had stayed ignorant, I would have had her placed somewhere far away. Whether her frail little body survived would have been up to fate."

"I don't go out of my way to kill innocent blood."

"But you just had to be so clever. You just had to know it was a girl. So don't blame me for being heartless."

"A mother only accepts reality when the child is dead. If I let her live, you'll spend every waking hour searching for her behind my back, and that will ruin everything I've built."

With that, she reached into the bassinet, lifting my tiny daughter, her fingers curling around the baby's fragile throat.

A primal scream tore from my throat. "NO! STOP!"

The surgeon had just closed the incision, and my legs were still numb from the spinal block.

Driven by sheer adrenaline, I fought to sit up, only to be shoved violently back onto the table. I sobbed hysterically, begging her to spare my child.

"Don't hurt her! Tell everyone we had twins! I'll play along, I swear I'll do whatever you say!"

My mother-in-law ignored my pleas, her grip tightening visibly.

A weak, strangled whimper escaped my daughter's lips—sounding horrifyingly identical to the day she died under the wheels of the car.

Frantic, I thrashed against the nurses holding me down, clawing forward without regard for my torn stitches, desperate to rip my baby from her hands.

Even with only two guards left in the room, they easily pinned my shattered, bleeding body flat against the cold metal.

As my daughter's tiny cries began to fade into an agonizing silence, a chaotic commotion suddenly erupted from the corridor outside.

"Mr. Hayes! Sir, they're performing surgery! You can't go in there!"

"Stop him! Quick, hold Mr. Hayes back—"