Chapter 5
I went to the hospital due to a mild fever and constant vomiting.
I thought it was a leftover issue from my last surgery.
After tests, the doctor gave me a strange, sympathetic look.
He pushed an ultrasound report toward me.
"Ms. Hart, are you sure your recent surgery was an abortion?"
His words exploded in my mind like a thunderclap, leaving me utterly stunned.
I couldn't figure out what he meant.
"Yes, I'm sure," I replied, my voice trembling.
"Is there something wrong?"
The white-haired doctor adjusted his glasses.
He tapped the ultrasound and said, almost incredulously, "According to this, you're pregnantt—with twins.
"The babies are healthy and growing at nineteen weeks."
My mind went totally blank.
Pregnant?
Twins?
Nineteen weeks?
How could that be? I had personally ended their lives.
I remember lying on the freezing operating table.
My body and soul were hollow, consumed by hopelessness.
"Doctor, did you make a mistake?" I asked, my voice trembling with hope.
"Are the reports mixed up or is the machine faulty?"
He shook his head and sighed deeply.
"Miss Hart, we've double-checked—no mistake.
"You are carrying two healthy babies.
"Their heartbeats are strong."
He turned the ultrasound monitor so I could see.
Two faint shadows nestled together on the screen.
I could even make out two little spots of light, beating strongly.
Once.
Twice.
......
That's... their heartbeat.
It's my babies' heartbeat.
Tears instantly blurred my vision.
I reached out, my fingers aching to touch the cold glass.
But my fingertips were shaking uncontrollably.
My children… my children were still here. They hadn't left me after all.
An overwhelming, indescribable joy swept through me.
Then, deeper confusion overwhelmed me.
What the hell was going on?
I was sure I had the surgery.
How were they still alive?
What if… A thought struck me.
I remembered the middle-aged doctor at Riverton hospital who examined me.
She glanced at my report and asked, "Where's the dad? Why didn't he come?"
Her gaze was soft, sympathetic, and sorrowful.
I remembered the way she looked at me before I went under—a glance I had dismissed then, but now understood.
Could it have been her?
Had she secretly saved my children—performed a fake procedure while letting me believe they were gone?
This thought was way too far-fetched, way too insane.
I couldn't think of any other possibility.
I stumbled out of the hospital, feeling hollow and out of sorts.
And I gripped the ultrasound report so hard my knuckles turned white.
The beach wind fiercely whipped my hair.
I walked out onto the sand and sat down.
Staring at the endless sea, I felt my own heart churning with the same intensity—waves crashing, rising, threatening to pull me under.
I had no idea why that unknown doctor took such a bold risk.
Maybe it was her compassion as a doctor.
Maybe it was the sympathy she had for me as a woman herself.
Whatever the reason, she gave me and my babies a second chance.
She was my savior.
I placed my hand on my still-flat belly.
Inside me, two small lives were growing—my flesh and blood, the closest connection I had to this world.
After losing everything, heaven gave me its greatest gift.
I used to think my world was nothing but ruins.
But now, amid the ruins, two of the most beautiful flowers have bloomed.
Julian Crest.
He had no idea.
He would never, ever know.
The children he had asked me to kill were alive and well in this world.
The ones he abandoned, the ones he never wanted.
From now on, they're mine—and mine alone.
I laughed.
I laughed—louder than I had in years, letting the sea wind carry it away.
I laughed until tears streamed down my face—tears of joy, tears of rebirth, tears for the life I had been given back.
I pressed my lips to the ultrasound again and again. "Don't be afraid, my babies.
"From now on, Mommy will do everything she can to protect you.
"Mommy will give you a warm, loving home."
In that moment, all my confusion and pain disappeared.
My life finally meant something again.
For my children, I would be strong. I would make it through.