Chapter 1
Five months pregnant, Lena Miller attended her prenatal checkup alone for the very first time.
Jason Clayton had been at her side for every previous visit—but not today.
The results, thankfully, were perfect.
Looking down, she typed out a text to him: Our baby is safe and sound.
The moment her finger lifted from “send”, she glanced up—and there was Jason, striding hurriedly down the corridor.
"Jason!" she called out.
But he didn't seem to hear.
He marched straight toward the inpatient department.
Lena followed him instinctively.
Outside the premium VIP ward, the door was slightly ajar.
She froze, peering through the gap to see Jason lean down and press a gentle kiss to the forehead of the woman in the bed.
At that moment, her heart seemed to stop beating.
A friend beside him chuckled.
"Jason, every time there's word she might wake up, you drop everything and rush over. You've been with Lena so long—can't you let Lisa go?"
Jason's voice was cold and casual.
"You know as well as I do. If she didn't look like Lisa, I never would've chased her."
Lena's body trembled violently.
She clung to the wall to keep from collapsing.
Lisa Miller... her half-sister.
The woman who'd bullied her relentlessly as a child, led the taunts and abuse, and ultimately driven her mother to death.
Back then, their father had abandoned his first wife and Lisa to marry Lena's mother for her family's power and influence.
Once he'd secured his position, he'd turned a blind eye as Lisa and her mother tormented Lena's mother until she died—then cast Lena aside to fend for herself in the countryside.
It wasn't until Lisa fell into a coma after a car accident that Lena was finally brought back home.
And Jason?
He was the first person to show her kindness when she returned to this unfamiliar city.
He'd been the first to stand up for her when everyone mocked her as "a country bumpkin trying to play princess."
He'd rented out an entire jewelry boutique, lit sky lanterns one by one in her honor, and showered her with priceless treasures.
When she'd mentioned wanting to help others, he'd founded a charity foundation in her name.
She'd rejected him repeatedly, fearing his pursuit was just a rich playboy's fleeting game.
Until that car accident.
He'd thrown himself over her, shielding her from harm.
She'd emerged unscathed, but Jason had lain unconscious for days.
When he'd finally opened his eyes, she'd mustered the courage to ask, "I kept refusing you... why did you save me?"
Jason had just smiled at her.
"Lena, I just want to be good to the person I like. I don't expect you to be with me—but don't push me away, okay?"
That's when she'd finally caved and agreed to marry him.
This man, who'd been so sincere, who'd even risked his life for her... was just another fool chasing after Lisa.
Inside the ward, his friend teased again.
"You really went all out to get her. That car accident you staged—too realistic, wasn't it?"
Jason chuckled softly.
"It was worth it."
"If Lisa never wakes up, at least I'll have a face similar to hers to comfort me every day."
"The sisters look so alike—maybe the baby will be just as cute and beautiful as Lisa, too."
His friend asked, "But if Lisa does wake up..."
Lena's hands clenched into fists as she heard the icy, unhesitating voice from inside the ward.
"Naturally, the baby will go to Lisa. She's afraid of pain—she doesn't want to give birth."
"As for Lena... she has no one to rely on. Once I marry Lisa, I'll keep her as a mistress somewhere... as compensation."
Lena couldn't listen anymore.
The only salvation she'd ever had was a lie.
She was nothing but a substitute for Jason's nostalgia.
She'd thought their baby was the fruit of their love—but it was just a backup plan for Lisa, who was too cowardly to bear children.
She stepped back slowly, tears streaming silently down her face, and left the hospital.
The harsh sunlight poured down on her, but she felt no warmth at all.
Right now, there was only one person she wanted to see.
The cemetery was cold and quiet.
She knelt before her mother's tombstone, dirt staining her dress.
A sharp clap of thunder cracked the sky, and a downpour erupted.
Rain mist blurred the photo on the tombstone, but her mother's gentle smile still shone through.
She knelt stubbornly, wiping the rain from the stone over and over, desperate to see her mother's face clearly.
But no matter how hard she wiped, it stayed blurred.
Until a sudden umbrella shielded her from the rain.
Jason knelt down beside her, his voice urgent.
"Running around while pregnant? In this downpour—why didn't you take shelter!"
But when he saw her pale, vacant face, his words trailed off, and his tone softened.
"I'm sorry, Lena. I shouldn't have snapped at you."
"Our Lena just misses her mom, doesn't she? Don't cry—you still have me."
He helped her up carefully, holding the umbrella firmly over her while his left shoulder quickly soaked through.
Lena stared blankly at his drenched shoulder, about to speak—when his phone rang.
He stepped aside to answer it.
In the next second, his voice turned abruptly tense as he switched to fluent French. "She's awake? Alright, I'll be right there."
He pressed the umbrella into her hand.
"Something came up at the company. Go home alone—be good."
Without sparing her another glance, he turned and rushed into the rain, disappearing quickly into the distance.
Lena stood there, and suddenly, she laughed.
He'd been so brazen in front of her—assuming she didn't understand French.
But he didn't know.
To be worthy of him, she'd studied tirelessly late into the nights.
She was no longer that ignorant country girl from years ago.
She'd understood every word.
And she knew exactly who he was rushing to see—Lisa, who'd woken up.
The rain poured harder.
She walked down the slippery mountain path alone, stumbling several times, but instinctively protecting her belly each time.
But why bother?
This baby had never been meant to exist.
Lena returned home soaked through. In the bedroom, the framed photos of them together, the mementos of happy times—all now seemed to mock her.
But, without a flicker of emotion, she took her phone:
First, she scheduled an abortion for three days later.
Second, she typed her reply to the overseas university. "I accept."