Chapter 2

Megan's hair was yanked, her face twisted in pain.

She shoved my mom away, her hand shaking as she pointed at us.

"You... You!" she shouted.

My expression was icy, and my mom was still pissed off.

Megan looked at us, and then suddenly burst into tears.

She said, "Nicole, you know Jerome is the only son of the Carter family, and the baby in your belly is the only grandchild I'll ever have.

"If you don't give birth to him, our family line will die out!"

I was getting annoyed, so I turned to look out the window, but then a stream of comments flashed before my eyes.

[The plot's a mess. I was about to stop watching, but the Carter family is just way too tragic.]

[Yeah, Jerome loved Nicole so much. Even with Megan always interfering, he still did everything he could to see her. Who would've thought he'd end up like this?]

[The Carter family had to bury their own child. No one can accept this outcome, and Jerome's grandpa Larry even had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night.]

[Three generations, only one son each, and everyone was counting on Jerome to keep the family going. Now that he's gone, the baby Nicole is carrying is the Carter family's only hope.]

[I hope Nicole can come to terms with it and have the baby. After all, the child is innocent. She shouldn't deny the baby a chance at life just because she resents him.]

I was denying the baby a chance at life?

The moment I saw that comment, I suddenly let out a laugh, but my chest tightened with pain.

I said, "Megan, you know perfectly well how this baby came to be.

"If you were the one who got kidnapped, barely managed to escape, and then the kidnapper's family tried to force you to have their bastard, would you really go along with it?"

Megan's expression shifted, her eyes flashing with rejection and disgust at my words.

I gave a weak, bitter smile, my face ghostly pale. "See? If it were you, you'd never agree to it.

"So what gives you the right to make me do something you wouldn't even consider?"

I let my disgust show, not bothering to hide it anymore.

I went on, "Jerome is a criminal. No one wants to be born carrying someone else's shame.

"Instead of bringing this kid into the world just so the two of us can keep hurting each other, it's better to get rid of it now and let it start fresh in another family."

Megan's voice trembled with panic. "You can't abort the baby!

"Nicole, please, I'm begging you. Don't do this, okay?

"If you really can't bear to see the child, I'll take it away and raise it myself as soon as it's born. I swear you'll never have to deal with us again, alright?"

My mom was so mad that she jabbed a finger right in Megan's face and just tore into her.

She shouted, "Your whole Carter family is rotten to the core! Who in their right mind would ever trust a promise from any of you?"

Megan's eyes suddenly lit up, and she cut in without hesitation.

She said, "We can sign a contract. I promise we won't ever interfere in your life again."

My mom glared at her, so furious that she couldn't even find the words to curse her out.

I looked up at Megan. She was always scheming, and Mom was already getting played.

I'd already said I was going to abort the baby, but Megan twisted it in just a few words. Now it was all about how the kid would have nothing to do with me after being born.

I gave a sarcastic laugh, choosing not to expose Megan's little ploy, and just went along with it.

"You say you won't disrupt our lives," I began, "but what happens when the child starts talking and pleading for its mother?

"What if it falls seriously ill and needs an operation while growing up?"

Megan simply stared at me, dumbstruck. Her lips parted, but no sound came out.

I didn't back down. "And what if, the moment it starts school, everyone else in the Carter family suddenly dies off? Tell me, what then?"

My questions were so cutting that it was like I was straight-up jinxing the Carter family to drop dead early.

Megan's temper flared, and she shot me a furious glare.

"Nicole, how could you say something like that? Is that how your family raised you?" she snapped.

I kept my expression icy. "It's just a hypothetical, Mrs. Carter. What, you can't answer that?"

My mom finally caught on, her eyes blazing with fury.

"You brat! My daughter's already said she's not having it, and you're still trying to fool her into going through with this?" she snapped.

Megan shot back, humiliated and furious. "How am I fooling her?"

My mom snatched a piece of fruit off the table and threw it at her, her chest heaving with rage.

She said, "And you still claim you're not trying to fool her?

"You keep saying you'll take the baby away as soon as it's born and even promise it, but how do we know you won't break your word?

"Once the baby's born, there'll be no turning back for my daughter. At that point, you'll just do whatever you want with the child."