Chapter 1

My best friend Sophie Lane and I got pregnant around the same time, and our due dates were just a few days apart.

The day after I checked into the maternity ward, Sophie moved into the bed right next to mine.

But she was pregnant out of wedlock, and I'd never even met her boyfriend.

I felt sorry for her being all alone, so I had my husband Charles Bennett accompany her to every prenatal checkup.

Then one day, I forgot my test results and went back to the ward to get them.

But when I got there, I saw Sophie snuggled up in Charles's arms.

Sophie said, "I'm due any day now. When are you finally going to divorce Emily?"

*****

My nails dug so deep into my palms that they broke the skin, leaving my hands a bloody mess.

I stood frozen in the doorway, watching the two people who meant the world to me, holding each other so close, like nothing could come between them.

Bit by bit, my heart sank and shattered into pieces.

"Can you really stand to see our son born as an illegitimate child?" Sophie pressed.

Charles tried to comfort her. "Right now, you just need to focus on having our son safely.

"We'll deal with everything else after the baby comes."

He added, sounding uneasy, "We can't let Emily find out. She struggled so much to get pregnant this time. Even if it's a girl, she's still my flesh and blood."

"Emily's my best friend, I couldn't possibly..." Sophie said.

She leaned her head on Charles's shoulder, her gaze locking onto mine.

A cruel, sinister smile played on her lips.

She added coldly, "hurt her."

There was no pain worse than being betrayed by the people one loved most.

I clenched my jaw so hard I could taste blood, forcing it down as I bit back the urge to storm in and call them out.

As I opened the door, I deliberately made some noise.

Charles immediately pushed Sophie away, and when he saw me, panic and guilt were written all over his face.

"Emily, when did you get here?" he asked.

I kept my face neutral. "Just now. The ultrasound clinic downstairs is packed. I'm carrying so much weight now, and my back gets sore if I sit too long. Could you go wait in line for me?"

Charles thought I hadn't noticed anything, so he let out a sigh of relief and came over with a smile, reaching out to help me.

But as soon as he tried to touch me, a sick feeling hit me and I dodged his hand.

Charles looked at me, puzzled, but didn't think much of it.

Once he was gone, I raised my hand and slapped Sophie hard across the face.

"When did this start?" I demanded.

Sophie just laughed. "Not that long ago. Charles is the nostalgic type, not easy to win over. It happened when you were freaking out, trying everything and still couldn't get pregnant.

"With me, it only took one time."

I felt utterly disgusted. "Sophie, I treated you like my own sister. Is this really how you repay me?"

Sophie just smirked. "Emily, only the one who isn't loved is the mistress. If you really see me as your sister, why not just hand your husband over to me?"

I never realized someone could be this shameless.

I spat, "You're shameless, Sophie!"

Just as I was about to shake off Sophie's hand, she suddenly cried out.

Before I could even react, she stumbled backward and hit the ground hard, letting out a piercing scream.

"Emily, why did you push me? My stomach, it hurts so much!" she wailed.

Charles's panicked voice rang out from the hallway. "Sophie!"

I was already stumbling from Sophie's shove when Charles burst in, pushing me out of the way in his panic.

Thrown off balance, I slammed my lower back right into the sharp corner of the table.

The pain was so intense, I couldn't even make a sound.

But then I felt a sudden rush of warmth beneath me, and it hit me my water had broken.

I clutched my stomach in agony, barely able to get the words out. "Charles, my water broke..."

Charles was just about to turn around when Sophie clung to him, sobbing. "Charles, my stomach hurts so bad. I think the baby's coming!

"Don't blame Emily. She didn't mean to push me, it was just an accident. I don't blame her."

Charles, in a panic, scooped Sophie up in his arms. As he passed me, he shot me a cold, icy look from above.

"Emily, how could you be so heartless? She's pregnant! How could you do something so cruel?" he barked.

Charles kept calling me heartless, never even noticing that my water had broken and blood was spreading across my clothes, staining everything red.

He was already frantically rushing out, cradling Sophie in his arms and shouting for a doctor.

"But I'm pregnant too. The baby inside me is yours too..." I managed to choke out.

I blacked out, and a nurse making her rounds found me. She shouted, "Her water broke and she's hemorrhaging!"

"Breathe out, breathe in, push!" the nurse urged.

With my water breaking early and all the trauma and stress, the delivery was extremely difficult.

I was in so much pain I thought I might die, but I still clung to that last shred of hope, staring at the doorway.

Because back when I finally managed to get pregnant after so much struggle, Charles was absolutely ecstatic.

He picked me up and spun me around, grinning like a kid, saying he was finally going to be a dad.

He went all out, buying tons of baby gear and even getting a camcorder ready.

He said I'd had it rough carrying this baby, so he wanted to be right there with me for the birth, record the whole thing, and someday show our child just how tough it was for their mom.

But when the day finally came, my husband was nowhere to be seen.