Chapter 1

I was born with a curse: a barren womb.

For three years, I endured the grueling cycle of IVF. Finally, on the twelfth attempt, my prayers were answered.

I was pregnant.

Elated, I rushed to share the news with Walter Dickerson. But as I approached the door to the private room, my feet stopped moving.

Inside, he was laughing with his friends.

"Damn, Walter. Swapping the eggs? That's ruthless, even for you." One of his buddies guffawed. "If your wife finds out she went through hell just to carry another woman's child, she'll snap, won't she?"

Walter didn't answer. The silence stretched, thick and deliberate, before his deep, indifferent voice drifted through the crack in the door.

"If she hadn't used underhanded tricks to force Charlotte out back then, Charlotte wouldn't have left me. Jessica should feel honored to carry a child made from my and Charlotte's DNA."

The blood drained from my face.

Cold seeped into my bones, spreading through my chest like ice water.

The husband I loved with every fiber of my being saw me as nothing more than an incubator for *The One That Got Away*.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking. Numbly, I pulled out my phone. I scheduled an abortion. Booked a one-way plane ticket for three days later.

If he wanted the past so badly, I would give it to him.

I would disappear.

1.

"Since you want a child so badly, why not just let Charlotte have one?" someone asked.

At the mention of Charlotte Matthews, Walter's voice softened. A rare tenderness crept into his tone—one I had never heard directed at me. "Charlotte's health is fragile. How could I let her suffer through childbirth? Once the baby is born, I'll compensate Jessica properly."

His voice dropped, turning sharp and commanding. "Not a word of this reaches Jessica. If she finds out, don't blame me for what happens next."

An invisible vise crushed my chest. Air wouldn't come.

*Compensate?*

His casual dismissal wiped away years of my suffering. I was allergic to the fertility medication; every injection left my skin burning and itching for days. Yet, every time I saw the hope in his eyes, I gritted my teeth and endured it.

I thought we were building a family.

I didn't realize I was just a pawn in his twisted game of love with another woman.

Tears blurred my vision, streaming down my face unchecked.

Inside, the cruelty continued.

"Jessica brought this on herself. Who told her to cling to Walter so shamelessly? If she hadn't meddled, Charlotte and Walter would have reconciled years ago."

"Some people have thick skin. She doesn't even look in the mirror to see if she's worthy. Ugly women always try the hardest. Our bro and Charlotte are the perfect match."

They took turns tearing me apart, mocking my dignity. And through it all, Walter—my husband—didn't offer a single word of defense.

It was as if he agreed.

Yet only last night, tangled in the sheets, he had whispered in my ear that he loved only me.

"Alright, knock it off. She's been with Walter for years, after all..."

A coquettish, silvery laugh rang out. Charlotte Matthews had been in there the whole time. She sounded like she was defending me, but her tone dripped with condescension.

To them, I was a joke.

I retreated to the hallway. Wiped my face. Steadied my breathing. Then I dialed Walter's number.

He answered on the first ring. "Baby, are you back from the hospital? What are the results?"

Warm. Concerned.

If I hadn't just heard the truth, I would have been played for a fool until the bitter end.

"...It failed again," I lied, my voice hollow.

Walter paused. I could practically hear him forcing a smile. "It's okay. We'll keep trying. Next time, for sure."

"I don't want to do it anymore." I whispered, testing him one last time. "It hurts too much."

"Jessica." He sighed, his tone shifting from coaxing to that familiar, unyielding hardness. "Wife, didn't you say you love me? I just want a child of our own. Can't you do this for me? Just endure it a little longer, okay?"

Silence stretched between us.

The last shard of hope in my heart shattered into dust.

"Okay," I rasped.

I hung up.

Through the door, I heard him scoff. "Useless. Failed again."