Chapter 1
My body trembled uncontrollably. One month before my due date, I stood outside the examination room, watching as my husband, Jayceon Henry, and my ex fiancé, Felix Scott, argued in the hospital hallway.
“Felix, what right do you have to stop me from seeing Arielle?” Jayceon demanded, glaring at my ex-fiancé.
Arielle is my stepsister and the women who married Felix Scott, my ex fiancé.
“Don’t forget,” Jayceon roared, “it was Arielle’s heart condition that forced me to arrange the hit that led to Ezra’s mother’s death, allowing her heart to be secretly transplanted into Arielle to save her life.”
“And then I sacrificed my own happiness, marrying Ezra, so that you and Arielle could be together without any obstacles!”
A sharp pain pierced my chest as I listened to my husband, in a fit of rage, admit that he had orchestrated my mother’s death for the sake of my rival, Arielle.
It felt like an eternity before I wiped away my tears, turned away, and stumbled back to the maternity ward.
“Doctor, I want to terminate the pregnancy.”
When I emerged from the operating room, my face was pale, blood staining my clothes, agony ripping through my body.
I left the hospital and went to a gift shop, where I bought a large box and placed my baby’s remains inside.
That night, Jayceon, oblivious to the change in my demeanor, tenderly caressed my belly. “Ezra, just a month left before the baby arrives! I’ve got a surprise for you both. You’ll love it.”
I forced a faint smile, my eyes swollen from unshed tears.
“Really? What a coincidence. I have a gift for you, too.”
....
After pursuing Felix Scott, my fiancé for seven years, he still preferred my stepsister. To pressure me into breaking off the engagement, he circulated manipulated photos of me throughout the town.
On that very day, my mother, consumed with anger, was in a car accident and ended up in the hospital.
In my moment of despair, my childhood friend Jayceon Henry hurried to my side, quickly arranging for my mom's medical care and staying by her bedside, sleepless for nights on end.
Yet, a week later, my mother passed away.
After her funeral, Jayceon presented a diamond ring and proposed to me, promising to protect me in my mother’s place for the rest of my life. Touched, I accepted.
Three years on, everyone says he spoils me with unmatched devotion. We lived in happiness, expecting a child any day now. Until today, when I walked out of a prenatal check-up only to find Jayceon, my husband, and my former fiancé, Felix Scott, fighting in the hospital hallway.
“Felix, what right do you have to stop me from seeing Arielle?”
“Don’t forget, Arielle’s heart condition led me to arrange the hit that resulted in Ezra's mom’s death, allowing the heart to be secretly transplanted to Arielle to save her life.”
“Later, I even gave up my own happiness, marrying Ezra, entirely clearing the path for you and Arielle!”
With those words, he swung another punch at Felix.
Felix stumbled back a few steps, but he wouldn’t back down. “Jayceon, you're really quite the hopeless romantic. I give up on your antics, but Arielle is my wife now. She’s sick, and I’m here to take care of her. Why are you butting in?”
The two were at each other’s throats, oblivious to my presence just a short distance away, frozen in shock.
I couldn’t wrap my mind around this revelation, the truth unfolding like a cascading nightmare.
Flashbacks flickered in my mind, moments I desperately tried to piece together. How had I missed the signs of my husband's secret devotion to Arielle?
Maybe it was always there—every year on Arielle’s birthday, no matter how busy, Jayceon would take me to her party and carefully select her gifts.
He was more anxious than anyone when she felt unwell, dropping everything to rush her to the hospital.
He preferred my long hair and Victorian-style dresses, a style I adopted to please him, forgetting it was Arielle’s signature look.
I never doubted his deep affection for me, assuming these incidents were just an extension of his overwhelming love, extending to my stepsister as well.
But in the end, I realized I was utterly naive!
My mother’s car accident was planned by him!
Those sleepless nights by her bedside were just him waiting to present her heart to his beloved Arielle!
His heartfelt proposal was a facade to keep me from hindering Arielle’s happiness!
We grew up together, shared a bed for three years, and I was even carrying his child.
He had become my rock, only to shatter it, and the most absurd part was not knowing when he fell for Arielle.
A searing pain split my heart as icy despair seeped through my veins, leaving me shivering uncontrollably.
Such a person was unworthy of being my child’s father.
After what felt like an eternity, I wiped my tears away, turned, and stumbled back to the maternity ward.
“Doctor, I want to terminate the pregnancy.”
The doctor was shocked—after all, my baby was nearly full-term, ready to enter the world.
She tried persuading me for a long time, but seeing my determination, she could only arrange the procedure.
Emerging from the operating room, my face was pale, blood seeping, agony racking my body.
The doctor suggested a hospital stay for observation, but I gritted my teeth and discharged myself.
Leaving the hospital, I went to a gift shop, bought a large box, and placed the remains of my baby inside.
Then, I bought a fake belly to put under my clothes.
Late at night, Jayceon returned home, drunk as usual.
As always, he embraced me, peppering my forehead with kisses.
“Ezra, I love you. I really, truly love you…”
He murmured, bending down to listen to our supposed child’s heartbeat.
Whether it was his drunken haze or his indifference, he didn’t notice the silence within.
I pushed him away gently, asking softly, “Did something happen today? Why did you drink so much?”
His cheeks flushed, and his eyes were unfocused. “Because I’m happy…”
Happy? I laughed bitterly, knowing it was sadness.
Sadness that Arielle was now someone else’s wife, and he couldn’t even see her when she was ill.
Jayceon didn’t notice my unusual demeanor, tenderly caressing my belly. “Ezra, isn’t it just a month before the baby is due? I have a surprise for you and the little one. You’ll both love it.”
I forced a pale smile, my eyes red with unshed tears.
“Really? What a coincidence, I have a gift for you too.”
With that, I handed him the box containing the remains of our child.