Chapter 1

After my boyfriend visited the trade porcelain exhibition, he called off our engagement right then and there and married my best friend.

As for the reason, it was because someone forced me into a trade porcelain vase, broke my arms and legs, and turned me into the most jaw-dropping exhibit in the whole show.

While everyone was shouting and throwing insults, Ethan Blackwood, the most renowned trade porcelain artist, kicked everyone out that very night.

Then he assembled an elite medical team, all just for me.

Afterwards, we got married, had a kid, and life was pretty great.

But then, I caught them talking by accident.

"Dad, Olivia said you hired those guys to hurt Mom back then, just so she could get into the Steele family, right?" Caleb asked, his voice trembling.

Ethan nodded.

"Dad, if you cared so much about Olivia, then why did you have me with Mom?" Caleb pressed.

Ethan replied, "I never slept with her. You were conceived in a lab, with injections and test tubes."

My heart felt like it was being torn apart.

Back then, Ethan always claimed he was an artist, obsessed with keeping his muse untouched, so he wouldn't even lay a finger on me.

Turns out, it was never about art. He just didn't love me.

With tears in my eyes, I made an overseas call.

I was done with my husband and son. I didn't want either of them anymore.

"Olivia's been getting pushed to have a baby lately, but she's terrified of the pain. Just let Amelia be her surrogate. It's not like anyone else would ever want her anyway," Ethan said coldly.

Caleb clapped and laughed. "Mom's already tainted. Just seeing her makes me want to puke. But Dad, you really treat Olivia like she's the queen."

Ethan chuckled. "Olivia lost her parents when she was a kid and ended up living with us. I swore I'd always look out for her. I promised I'd make ninety-nine of her wishes come true."

Hearing that, I couldn't help but cover my mouth, unable to hold back my sobs.

My crying made Ethan and Caleb turn around inside.

"Amelia, what brings you here?" Ethan hurried over, pulled me into a hug, and took the chicken soup I'd brought for them. "You've been working so hard. Take it easy for the next few days, alright?"

Caleb rushed over and hugged me too. "Mom, you're the best."

The concern in their eyes didn't seem fake at all.

But then, Ethan grabbed my hand and said, "I heard cooking fumes aren't good for pregnancy. Why don't you just be Olivia's surrogate in a few days? You've already had a kid, so it's not a big deal.

"Olivia's your best friend, and she grew up in our family as a foster child. She's had a tough life, while you've always had it easy. Taking a little pain for her shouldn't be a big deal for you."

Caleb chimed in, "Yeah, Olivia loves looking pretty. Mom, you've already got scars on your stomach, so what's a couple more stretch marks?"

How many times did Olivia claim she was anemic, and Ethan and Caleb would shove me onto the operating table, taking 2,000cc of my blood, even though she didn't even need it in the end?

Even when Olivia said she wanted to marry my boyfriend, Ethan was willing to destroy my name in front of everyone at the exhibition, stuffing me into a trade porcelain vase, all just to make one of Olivia's petty dreams come true.

I forced myself to keep my voice steady. "That's impossible, Ethan. You have no idea how brutal it is to be a surrogate, or what it takes to have a test-tube baby."

Before I could even finish, Ethan clamped his hand around my throat, cutting off my air in an instant.

"Mom, you're the worst!" Caleb rammed into me too, and my head crashed against the wall, throbbing with pain.

I just stood there, stunned, facing Ethan's accusing glare.

But it wasn't always like this. Back when Ethan was after me, he was all fire and devotion.

He was the one who sat by my sickbed, feeding me medicine one spoonful at a time.

He was the one who took me to the south, holding my hand as we wandered through those old kilns.

He held up a piece of trade porcelain, but then he smiled at me and said, "Porcelain may be beautiful, but it can't hold a candle to you."

But now, he came clean. It was all just a sham.

He was the one who wrecked my life, the one who always pretended he was too pure for intimacy, never once laying a finger on me.

Yet he'd lose himself staring at Olivia's photos, pleasuring himself to them over and over.

I stared at the chicken soup I'd spent all night making, now sitting on the floor, while Ethan and Caleb chatted away with Olivia on the phone. Their playful banter was like nails on a chalkboard to me.

Since that was how it was, I was done with my husband and son.

With tears streaming down my face, I dialed an overseas number.

"Does that promise you made back then still mean anything? Will you take me away?" I whispered.

On the other end was Ethan's uncle, the man in charge of the Blackwood family's fortune.

That night, drifting in and out of sleep, I heard Ethan come home.

"Olivia has had her eye on your emerald necklace for ages. Just give it to her. I'll get you a new one," he said flatly.

Before I could react, a sharp pain shot through my neck as Olivia yanked the emerald necklace right off me.