Chapter 1

"Mrs. Goodwin, it looks like your IVF attempt is successful this round. Both you and the baby are very healthy," Frank Lowe, the fertility doctor, said.

Veronica Sherman sat in the fertility specialist's clinic, holding the ultrasound report in her hand, a small smile finally breaking through her tense features.

"That's great! At least the two IVF attempts weren't a waste after all," she said.

She remembered the first time the IVF had failed. Not wanting her husband, Henry Goodwin, to be disappointed, she went behind his back and underwent a second IVF attempt. Fortunately, the second attempt was a success.

When Veronica was about to get up, she suddenly recalled something and said, "By the way, Dr. Lowe, please don't tell my husband about the first failed IVF attempt. I don't want him to get upset over something that has already happened in the past."

Veronica remembered the last time she had been diagnosed with bilateral fallopian tube blockage. The news had been a huge blow to her. Yet, Henry held her hand tightly and said, "Don't be afraid. With modern medical technology, we can still try for a baby through IVF.

"I'll be with you every step of the way."

Even the doctors had praised him for being so thoughtful and loving.

So, Veronica didn't dwell on what she had gone through during her IVF treatment. As long as she could successfully give birth to the twins in her belly, keep her marriage to Henry afloat, and start building their own little family, she thought that everything would be worth it.

After leaving the hospital, Veronica considered heading straight to Goodwin Group to tell Henry the good news.

It was probably lunchtime by the time she arrived, since there was hardly anyone there.

The door to the CEO's office was ajar. Veronica was just about to knock when she suddenly heard a familiar voice inside the room, speaking to Henry in a tone that sounded like bantering.

"Damn, Henry! You're so brilliant and heartless! You actually managed to get Veronica to carry Daphne's baby for you! Won't she make a huge fuss when she finds out that the baby she's carrying is actually your and Daphne's baby instead?"

Veronica's hand immediately froze mid-air.

The voice belonged to Henry's childhood friend, Mason Hummer.

She wondered if she had misheard.

Henry's nonchalant voice drifted into her ears next. "Make a huge fuss? Who does she think she is to make a fuss?

"If she hadn't been the one to force Daphne away last time, Daphne would never have broken up with me and gone overseas! Veronica owes both Daphne and me for everything we lost!

"Also, she should be grateful and honored to give birth to my and Daphne's baby."

Veronica felt like she'd just been struck by a thunderbolt. Her face was deathly pale, and her entire body was frozen in shock.

Then, she gingerly stroked her stomach, still unable to believe what she had just heard with her own ears.

Mason then said, "But she suffered so much over the past six months—"

Henry's voice turned even colder than before. "Daphne is frail, and she cannot withstand any pain at all. I will not allow her to suffer through pregnancy. Also…" He then lowered his voice and continued, "Hasn't Veronica been wanting to give birth to my children? Daphne's babies are still mine."

"You're pretty ruthless, Henry," Mason said.

Henry scoffed. "Don't say that I'm heartless. Once Veronica has given birth, I'll still compensate her with a sum of money."

"But what if—"

Henry knew what Mason was about to say, and he glared at the latter at once. "No 'what ifs'! Veronica will never find out about this! I refuse to let anything happen to Daphne's babies!"

Veronica couldn't remember how she'd managed to leave the office after that.

She arrived at the stairs and couldn't stop her body from trembling all over. She would have fallen all the way down if she hadn't held on to the railings.

She never thought that the babies she had spent months trying to conceive would turn out to belong to someone else—Henry and Daphne Moore, his first love! She had simply been used as a tool to bear their children, nothing more than a surrogate.

She found it all ridiculous. It was simply too ridiculous for her to accept it.

Even Henry's company and concern had been nothing but an act the whole time. Everything was fake!

However, a sudden thought struck her mind.

Veronica recalled that her first IVF attempt had been a failure. The baby she was now carrying was from her second attempt.

In other words, whose baby was she carrying? Was it her own child, or did it belong to someone else?

"No… I need to go back to the hospital and find out the truth!"

Veronica wiped the tears from her face and hurriedly set out for the hospital again, determined.

When she arrived at the hospital, Veronica headed straight to Frank's office, since he was the specialist in charge of her IVF treatment.

His office wasn't locked. She pushed the door open and walked right in. However, she accidentally walked in on Frank telling his nurse off.

The nurse, Brenda Gordon, couldn't stop crying, tears streaming down her face. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably as she weakly kept defending herself.

"Dr. Lowe, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to make that mistake! It was my first time at the sperm bank, and I misread the serial numbers…"

Frank immediately turned around when he heard the door open. The moment he caught sight of Veronica, his anger gave way to a terrible fluster.

Brenda didn't dare to continue crying anymore either. She just tugged at a corner of her dress and lowered her head even further.

Veronica's voice dripped with ice as she said, "Dr. Lowe, I don't have time to hear you scolding your subordinate. I just want to know whom the embryo in my womb belongs to."

Frank's face turned as white as a sheet. His voice trembled as he said, "D-Did you just find out, Mrs. Goodwin? We… We made a mistake!"

He pointed at Brenda and began speaking in a voice that obviously made it seem like he was trying to shove all the responsibility onto her. "She was the one who made the mistake! She's new here, and she accidentally grabbed the sperm from a different donor at the sperm bank two months ago!

"I… I only learned about it just now. But it's too late now…"

The wrong donor?

Veronica was stunned.

While speaking, Frank glanced at Veronica's abdomen and spilled the beans before she could think of what question to ask him next.

"The sperm donor of the embryo in you now didn't come from Mr. Goodwin."

Veronica felt her heart stop beating in her chest.

"What do you mean by that? What about the egg?" she asked. Then she began threatening him. "If you choose to hide anything from me, I won't hesitate to sue you and the entire hospital until you're all bankrupt—and I mean it!"

Frank said, "Wait, Mrs. Goodwin! I'll tell you everything! I swear! It's just… The sperm used for your current embryo doesn't belong to Mr. Goodwin."

He then handed her a document and said, "The sperm came from Mr. Cade Johnson, of Johnson Corp.

"Mr. Johnson nearly lost his life in a car accident two years ago. He is the only male heir of his family, so they decided to store and freeze his semen at our hospital to preserve their family's bloodline.

"In the end, his family never came back to retrieve the semen, even after Mr. Johnson made a full recovery.

"Your first IVF attempt failed because Mr. Goodwin's sperm were of low quality, and the egg he provided was also problematic. So, we harvested your own eggs for the second attempt. You were aware of it, I'm sure.

"So, the embryo currently in your body was created using the fresh egg we just harvested from you. However, while fertilizing the egg, the nurse accidentally took the wrong sample from the sperm bank.

"In other words, the babies you're carrying are yours, but they don't belong to your husband…"

Veronica felt a chill run down her spine. Blood immediately drained from her face.

She felt as if she had just been through a whirlwind of emotions in the past few hours.

Just a while ago, she thought that she had found out that she was only a surrogate for Henry and his mistress. But now she was being told that since the embryo belonging to Henry and Daphne had somehow failed, and she had undergone IVF a second time behind Henry's back, she was now pregnant with babies that belonged to her and another stranger!

She didn't know what the hell was going on. Was this some kind of joke that the gods were playing on her?

Veronica placed a hand on her barely visible tummy as Henry's face surfaced in her mind. She could see him hugging and comforting her, saying, "Don't be afraid. I'm here with you."

However, she could also hear him saying coldly, "She should be grateful and honored to give birth to my and Daphne's baby."

She saw both versions of him overlap, and she suddenly felt a wave of nausea hit her.

If the first IVF embryo, made from Henry's sperm and Daphne's egg, hadn't failed, she would still be carrying their baby!

She found it utterly disgusting.

Veronica didn't cry anymore. She just wiped away the tears on her face as her eyes turned cold and icy.

Frank and Brenda remained as quiet as mice.

Veronica walked up to Frank and said, "Dr. Lowe, aside from the three of us, there will not be a fourth person who learns about this incident today."

"But Mrs. Goodwin, we—" Frank wanted to retort, but her glare immediately silenced him.

"For now, I won't be pressing charges against both of you for your mistakes. However, if any news of this leaks out, three things will happen to you.

"First, I will sue this hospital until it goes bankrupt. Second, I will have your medical license revoked, Dr. Lowe. You will never work in the medical field again.

"Third, your nurse made a huge mistake at work and tried to hide it from the people involved. I believe that those are enough to make her bear all legal responsibilities and be sent to prison for a couple of years."

Frank got such a huge fright that his knees immediately turned to jelly. Meanwhile, Brenda looked like she was about to cry again.

"Mrs. Goodwin! We promise that we will never tell another soul!"

Frank also hurriedly agreed with Brenda, pleading with Veronica to have mercy on them.

Veronica didn't look at them again.

At the very least, the babies she was carrying belonged to her. That was one thing to be grateful for.

She couldn't accept it if the babies belonged to Henry and Daphne.

She wasn't pregnant with the byproduct of another couple's love. Instead, she was pregnant with her own children.

As for the Johnsons, she was sure that nobody would learn about it as long as she kept this secret from them.

Veronica took a huge breath and walked out of Frank's office.

She decided that she needed a divorce. She had to divorce Henry.

She didn't want to spend another minute in the Goodwin household anymore if she could help it. They were simply nasty to her.

She also didn't want to see Henry again. Just the mere sight of him made her feel like throwing up.

As for the babies in her womb, she was determined to give birth to them and raise them on her own. From that day on, she would be living only for herself and her children.

Veronica dragged her exhausted self home. The motion-sensor light turned on at once, illuminating the house with its vast, empty halls and spaces.

She used to think of this home as her sanctuary. But now, it felt like nothing more than a cage that Henry had kept her in.

She didn't want to stay there another minute. She hurried into her room and began packing up her things.

However, when she opened her wardrobe, she realized that she actually owned very few belongings.

Back then, when she was still the Sherman family heiress, the Goodwins had initiated a marriage alliance between the families to strengthen their business collaboration further. They had regarded her as the best candidate for marrying Henry at that time.

They had disapproved of Daphne, Henry's first love, because of her average family background. In the end, Daphne accepted money from the Goodwins, broke up with Henry, and left for overseas.

Yet, Henry had known nothing about it. He thought Veronica had done something to force Daphne out of the country, ensuring he would have to go along with his family's plans and take her as his wife.

However, news about Veronica being a fake heiress soon broke out just mere months into their marriage.

The Shermans spent every waking moment fawning over their real daughter, Janice Sherman, whom they had just reunited with, completely abandoning Veronica as if she were nothing more than a pawn.

The Goodwins also began treating her completely differently from before. Without the Shermans' support, Veronica lost her value in their marriage alliance.

So, her identity as the Shermans' "fake heiress" became a huge thorn in the Goodwins' eyes. Her mother-in-law, Lily Rivers, often spoke to her sarcastically, hoping Veronica would bring up divorce and give up being Henry's wife. That way, they could find someone else to replace her.

Veronica shut her eyes and messily stuffed a few items of clothing into her suitcase. She had only just zipped it up when she suddenly received a phone call from Lily.

"Veronica Sherman! Have you forgotten what day it is today? Get your ass here, right now! Don't you dare think I'd let you get away with it if you mess things up again!"

Then, Lily slammed the phone down on her.

Veronica was furious. She had completely forgotten that it was the one day each week she was expected back at the Goodwin residence.

Ever since Lily learned that Veronica was no longer the Sherman family heiress, she began personally attacking her by complaining that Veronica, a piece of garbage dumped by the Shermans, wouldn't stop clinging to her precious son.

Yet, Veronica was already married to Henry, and the latter refused to divorce her immediately.

So, that was why Lily kept attacking Veronica left and right.

She had completely forgotten how much trouble she had gone through to ensure that Veronica would become her daughter-in-law when the Goodwins sought a marriage alliance with the Shermans.

However, because of the changes that happened afterward, the Goodwins were now desperate to get rid of Veronica and make her vanish from the face of the earth.

Everyone thought that, except for Esther Brooks, Henry's sickly old grandmother.

Esther would always return to the Goodwin residence from her nursing home once a week, and the person she liked the most was Veronica.

Veronica ultimately decided to go over to the Goodwin residence after recalling how much Esther cared about her.

However, as soon as Veronica stepped foot inside the house, Lily suddenly threw something at her head.

"So, you finally decided to show up? Why don't you just jump off a cliff instead? You're nothing but a loser!"

Veronica swiftly ducked and avoided the object Lily had thrown at her. It was an apple, and it rolled around on the floor.

When Lily saw that Veronica actually dared to duck, she immediately stormed up to her and raised her hand in the air, ready to deliver a tight slap.

Veronica immediately grabbed Lily's wrist.

"That's enough!"