Chapter 2

I pressed my body tight against the wall and followed them out, like a ghost.

Their voices came from the entryway again.

In the dead silence, they were especially clear and cruel.

"Actually, I'm not entirely sure it's my child," Adrian's voice was low and cold. "That night, to ensure conception, my brother Jared came too. I'd given her some drugs, she was groggy... I couldn't tell who went in after."

My world exploded into whiteness.

That night—our anniversary night?

I remembered the yacht rocking badly that night. After a few drinks, I felt terribly dizzy.

But Adrian was unusually aggressive. Though I tried to respond, I'd passed out before we'd finished.

I'd always thought it was the strong alcohol intensifying my seasickness.

It turned out I'd been drugged.

And those hands roaming over my body, that blurred figure...

I'd thought it was my beloved husband. It might have been that recently released robber, full of prison rage?!

"What if it is yours, Adrian? Would you still be willing to use it to save our child?" Selena's question cut to the point, her tone even carrying a hint of mockery.

"So what if it is?" Adrian's voice suddenly turned vicious. "Bloodline doesn't matter. I said I'd save Leo, and I will."

He spoke with such certainty, yet something in the air felt insubstantial.

My mother-in-law's words broke the awkwardness and sent me plummeting to rock bottom.

"In that case, let's just go all the way—accuse her of infidelity, create some accidents to get her into the hospital, we'll bribe the doctors to do the surgery. One smooth operation."

Selena clapped her hands, unable to hide her delight. "Then use that as grounds for divorce and make her leave with nothing! Perfect!"

My breathing hitched.

After five years together, my mother-in-law and my husband were now like strangers.

They weren't just after my child's life—they wanted to utterly destroy my reputation and my life.

Using the filthiest accusations to cast me into an inescapable abyss.

The sound of a light kiss made my whole body shudder.

"Playing the devoted husband until then—how cruel of you," Selena whispered.

The thought that the lips kissing her had once kissed me made my stomach roil uncontrollably.

"After she's put you through all of this."

What had I put him through?

Silent screams burned in my throat.

Loving him? Building a life with him?

"Four years ago, when I decided to be with you, I decided I'd protect you both for life," Adrian answered. "This is the only way."

Four years ago...

I remembered that blizzard night.

Adrian was away "on business" with her.

His mother suddenly collapsed from arrhythmia.

I carried her on my back, step by step through knee-deep snow.

Cold and fear cut into my lungs like knives. I made it to the emergency room on sheer willpower.

I'd tried calling him, but couldn't reach him at all.

Now I knew that night, he'd been entwined with his secretary in a warm hotel room.

For two days and nights straight, I'd stayed by the hospital bed without eating or drinking, earning my mother-in-law's current robust health.

And they were planning how to push me into the abyss.

Adrian's phone notification cut through my memories.

His voice carried genuine fear.

"It's Leo... the doctor says his condition has worsened."

In that instant, his tone was full of anxiety and despair, like a real father.

"We're coming, baby," Selena choked out. "Mommy and Daddy are coming right now."

Hurried footsteps faded away, locking me and a house full of lies in complete silence.

I looked down, my hand gently covering my lower abdomen.

A life was quietly taking root there, silently waiting to be used by them.

Adrian would never know why I'd insisted on not having children.

That reason—he'd never asked, and would never know.

But now, it didn't matter anymore.

Time was running out.

I pulled out my phone and dialed that number.