Chapter 1

At eight months pregnant, the doctor told me I had toxoplasmosis.

He said the fetus had most likely been severely affected, and that continuing the pregnancy carried an extremely high risk. My parents, my brother, and my husband, Don Daniel Hayes, head of the Hayes family, all urged me to terminate.

I couldn't bear it.

This was the child I had waited years to conceive. For this baby, I had swallowed countless pills, endured countless exams, and survived countless disappointments. But in the end, I still climbed onto that operating table and let them induce the delivery.

The procedure was performed personally by Daniel's private physician, a doctor who served not only the Hayes family but also handled the kind of things that couldn't leave a paper trail.

I was at the pharmacy picking up my medication when my phone buzzed.

A message in the Hayes inner-circle encrypted group chat.

My brother Mark asked: "How'd it go? Is the kid taken care of?"

A second later, Daniel replied: "It's done. My doctor handled it personally."

My father, George, sent a laughing emoji: "Perfect. Lily can finally recover in peace. No more worrying about Emma's baby being born and stealing Daniel's attention."

My mother, Mary, followed with a string of celebration emojis: "Thank God Daniel had that test report forged. Emma still thinks she actually had toxoplasmosis."

I stood at the pharmacy window, my fingers going cold one by one.

The people who had just been in my hospital room telling me "don't be too sad" had known the truth from the very beginning.

The group chat went silent for a moment.

Then Lily Reed sent a message: "Delete those messages. Emma's in this group too."

The next second, I was kicked out of the chat.

By the time I was added back, every message had been wiped clean.

Mark quickly sent: "Emma, don't get the wrong idea. Those messages were sent to the wrong chat by accident."

I posted my screenshots into the group.

The entire chat went dead silent.

After a long time, my mother sent a string of voice messages.

"Lily is pregnant with Daniel's child, yes, but she never meant to hurt you."

"They were already together before you and Daniel got married. They kept it from you because they were afraid you couldn't handle it. They were trying to protect you."

"You've been Don Hayes's wife for all these years. You should be grateful for what you had."

I listened to every word and said nothing. I just smiled.

I smiled until the tears fell.

They had killed my child, then told me it was for my own protection.

It turns out that people who don't love you really will treat you like a fool.

The anesthesia was wearing off, and my lower abdomen cramped in waves. I braced myself against the wall and walked into the elevator, pressing the button for the top floor.

The best maternity suites in this private hospital were all on the top floor. The hospital was one of the Hayes family's money-laundering operations. Daniel's word carried more weight here than the chief of medicine's.

Daniel had once told me: "Lily's due date is earlier than yours. Let her have the suite first. When it's your turn, I'll arrange everything."

Back then, I believed him.

I thought he would at least give me and our child a chance.

As I passed the nurses' station, a few nurses were chatting in low voices.

"Don Hayes really spares no expense for his wife. Top-floor suite, a dedicated care team, and he even hired the best postpartum recovery specialist."

"I heard he brought in a private chef too. Meals prepared daily according to the nutritionist's menu."

"She just delivered yesterday, and the physical therapist, the psychologist, and the aesthetician all showed up right away. They're terrified she won't recover well."

I stood frozen, my whole body going cold.

So in this hospital that Daniel controlled, Lily had already become the "Mrs. Hayes" they all referred to.

We were both pregnant, yet Daniel had never once cooked a meal for me. During my worst bouts of morning sickness, all I wanted was for him to make me a simple bowl of soup. He said he didn't have time.

My back ached so badly I couldn't sleep through the night. I asked if he could arrange a physical therapist. He was hunched over, packing Lily's hospital bag, and didn't even look up.

"Why waste money on that? Every pregnant woman goes through this. Just tough it out."

He said it so casually.

But when it came to Lily, he never made her tough out anything.

I swallowed the nausea and the pain and walked to the door of the suite.

The door was slightly ajar.

Lily was lying in bed, pale-faced, but smiling with a look of tender contentment. My father, my mother, and Mark were all gathered around her. Daniel was holding the newborn, murmuring softly, his expression so gentle I had never seen anything like it.

When I was having my procedure, every single one of them said they were too busy.

Now, not a single one was missing.

It wasn't that they didn't have time. It was that their time had never belonged to me.

I stood in the doorway, watching them huddle together like a real family. And in that moment, for the first time, I understood with perfect clarity: I was the outsider.

Daniel spotted me first.

His expression shifted. He set the baby back in the crib and strode toward me.

"Emma, don't make a scene. Lily just gave birth. She's very weak. Whatever this is, we'll talk about it at home."

My body was weak too.

But I couldn't wait. I needed the truth right now.

I stared at him. "The baby she had. Is it yours?"

I expected him to deny it, to dodge, to spin another lie.

But he just looked me in the eye and said, calmly: "Yes."

"The night of our engagement party, you left early for an emergency. Lily had just gone through a breakup and came to me to talk. We drank too much and did something we shouldn't have. That's when I found out she'd been in love with me for years."

My ears filled with a high-pitched ringing.

The night of our engagement party, Daniel's mother had been in a car accident. I rushed over immediately to handle everything. When it was all over, I called Daniel to let him know she was okay.

On the other end of the line, his voice was hoarse. I asked what was wrong. He said he'd just caught a cold.

Thinking about it now, my stomach lurched.

So while I had been running around taking care of our future, he had been busy betraying me.

I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms.

"So you two were together behind my back, and to make sure her child would have its father's undivided love, you tricked me into giving up my own baby?"

A flicker of impatience crossed Daniel's face.

"If you want to blame someone, blame me. Don't talk about Lily like that."

He looked at me, his tone utterly self-righteous.

"All you lost was a child. But she spent the entire night racked with guilt over it. What more do you want?"