Chapter 3

"Of course, I'm serious." Derek stroked my hair, his eyes brimming with a tenderness that seemed to drip with honey. "I've already lined up a buyer. Once the company is sold, we'll have endless money to live the life we've always wanted."

He paused, his hand gently covering my lower belly, his voice filled with a vision of the future.

"By then, our baby will be born, and the three of us will go watch the sunset on the beaches of Santorini, soak in hot springs in the Swiss Alps, making up for everything we missed."

The future he painted was so beautiful, every scene a dream I'd once cherished.

But now, coming from his lips, it sounded like a carefully spun web leading straight to hell.

My heart screamed, it wept, yet my face had to maintain the facade of happiness.

"Honey..." I choked, burying my face in his chest, hot tears soaking his shirt.

Half of it was an act; the other half, genuine heartbreak.

Derek gently patted my back, as if comforting a wronged child.

"There, there. You're about to be a mom, acting like a little girl."

The more tender he was, the more the hatred churned within me.

Back home, he thoughtfully drew a bath for me and brought me a cup of warm milk.

"Sweetheart, get some rest. Tomorrow I'll have Mom come over to take care of you. Her special herbal tonic is the best for pregnancy."

Herbal tonic...

My heart sank.

I remembered that from my fourth month of pregnancy, my mother-in-law, Mrs. Miller, had, without fail, personally brought this special herbal tonic every single day, urging me to drink it while it was warm.

She claimed it was a secret recipe she'd obtained from a renowned herbalist, after pulling countless strings, and was the best for the baby in my belly.

I'd always believed it was her way of expressing a grandmother's anticipation for her unborn grandchild.

But now, thinking back, could there be a darker plot hidden behind it?

"Fine," I said, suppressing the turmoil in my heart, and gave him a compliant smile. "Thank Mom for me."

He smiled contentedly, leaned down, and kissed my forehead goodnight.

"Good girl, sleep tight."

I lay in bed, listening to the sound of running water from the bathroom, feeling like I was submerged in ice water, utterly devoid of warmth.

I pulled out my phone and opened the home surveillance app.

I needed evidence, undeniable proof that would nail them to the pillar of shame!

But, I scrolled through months of cloud recordings and found nothing useful.

Derek and Maya were incredibly cunning; they never showed any intimacy at home.

And Mrs. Miller's daily tonic, I'd always drunk every drop. In the surveillance footage, she always appeared as a kind and affectionate mother-in-law.

Could I be overthinking this?

No.

My woman's intuition told me that tonic was definitely suspicious!

But where was the proof? Without it, everything was just my speculation.

I tossed and turned restlessly until the bathroom water stopped.

Derek walked out, wrapped in a towel, drying his hair. Seeing me still awake, he frowned.

"What's wrong? Still uncomfortable?"

"No... just having trouble settling in." I mumbled a random excuse.

He didn't press further, walking straight to the bed, pulling back the covers, and lying down.

His familiar masculine scent enveloped me, but I only felt waves of nausea.

I lay with my back to him, my body stiff as a board.

In the darkness, he suddenly pulled me into an embrace from behind, his warm breath on the back of my neck.

"Sweetheart," his voice was a husky, seductive whisper, "we... it's been a while."

His hand began to roam over my body, becoming bolder.

Every hair on my body instantly stood on end, a chill of revulsion shooting from my tailbone to the top of my head.

My first instinct was to push him away.

"No... don't... the doctor said it's not safe during late pregnancy," I stammered.

His movements paused, then he let out an ambiguous chuckle.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. It won't harm the baby."

His hand, with an undeniable force, slipped beneath my nightgown.

My mind went blank with a deafening roar.

I struggled desperately, but my strength was nothing compared to his.

In despair, my hand fumbled frantically on the nightstand, just wanting to find something to defend myself with.

Suddenly, I felt my phone.

A wild thought instantly flashed through my mind.

I stopped struggling, my body slowly going limp, letting out a suppressed sob.

Derek mistook my submission for consent, his actions growing bolder and more aggressive.

I closed my eyes, letting tears of humiliation stream down my face, while my other hand, hidden beneath the covers, clutched my phone tightly, my fingers rapidly manipulating the screen.

I opened Maya's familiar livestream app.

Then, with every ounce of strength I had, I turned the phone's volume to maximum.

The next second, Maya's sweetly seductive, yet now piercingly shrill voice, echoed through the entire bedroom.

"Thank you, darling. You're the best to me!"