Chapter 2

The bone-chilling cold, combined with the agonizing pain of labor, turned every passing second into a living hell.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm keeping a close eye on her," Kathleen said into the phone.

The moment I heard Emery's voice through the speaker, a flicker of hope sparked in my desperate heart.

"Emery!" I screamed toward the door. "The baby's coming right now! Tell Kathleen to take me to the hospital!"

By then, I couldn't even control the shrieks tearing from my throat.

Outside, Kathleen hesitated before lowering her voice. "Emery... do you think she's actually in labor? She really sounds like she's dying in there. Should I take her to the ER just in case? I mean, this is your only child. If something happens..."

Emery fell silent for a moment, apparently weighing the decision.

In the end, he relented. "Fine, take her to..."

Before he could finish, a sweet, fragile voice drifted through the speaker.

"Emery, I'm craving pizza. The doctor said I need to keep my strength up for the delivery. Wait, is Priscilla about to give birth too?

"Don't worry about her. Labor doesn't hurt at all. I honestly don't feel a thing. Look at me. I could practically dance right now. I'm sure Priscilla feels the same way."

Of course, she wasn't in pain.

Emery had admitted her to an exclusive private medical center that charged $150,000 a day, complete with a top-tier medical team devoted to her every need.

Swayed by her words, Emery hardened his tone once again.

"What could happen to her? She's far too calculating to let herself get hurt. She's just screaming on purpose. Don't fall for her tricks."

With that, he hung up the phone.

Furious that her brother had chewed her out, Kathleen turned her anger on me instead. She unlocked the small ventilation hatch and shoved her pet snake through the opening.

"This is all your fault!" she hissed. "Stay in there and play with my baby."

A split second later, the slick, icy body of a snake coiled tightly around my neck. I shrieked in terror, but as it tightened its grip around my throat, my screams dissolved into a strangled, desperate gasp for air.

Struggling to breathe, I forced myself to stay calm. Supporting my heavy belly with one hand, I summoned every ounce of courage I had, reached up with the other, and tried to pry the snake off my neck.

But the creature twisted around and sank its fangs deep into my hand. I cried out and jerked my hand back, too terrified to touch it again.

My strength gave out, and I collapsed onto the frozen floor. Silent tears streamed down my face as my abdomen writhed with unbearable pain, as though a meat grinder were tearing my insides apart.

Lying there on the edge of death, I felt the snake loosen its grip around my neck and begin slithering across my trembling body, striking and biting me again and again.

Yet the cold and the agony of labor had numbed me so deeply that I could barely feel anything anymore. As my consciousness faded, I could almost see the Grim Reaper standing before me, beckoning me to follow him.

Just as I was slipping away, Kathleen suddenly stormed back. With a sharp whistle, she called the snake back to her and then slammed her hand against the freezer door.

By then, I didn't even have enough breath left to whisper. Sensing that something was wrong, Kathleen panicked. She unlocked the heavy door and stepped inside.

The room was dim.

She crouched beside me, grabbed me by the hair, and yanked my head back until I was forced to look at her. After examining my face, she snorted contemptuously and slammed my head back against the icy floor.

"Pathetic! Did my sweet baby scare you senseless? Why did you stop? Come on, keep screaming. You finally realized that screaming wasn't going to trick my brother into letting you out, so you shut up, huh? You really are devious to the core. You only do anything when there's something in it for you."

As she stroked the snake, a thin beam of light from the hallway fell across its scales, revealing the blood smeared over them.

Her expression instantly twisted with fury. She raised her foot and kicked me viciously in the abdomen.

"You crazy bitch!" she screamed, cradling the snake as though it were a precious child. "Why did you hurt my baby? Its life is worth a thousand of yours. If anything happens to him, I swear I'll make my brother divorce you.

"Emery has always loved Mavis anyway, so once you're gone, they'll finally be able to be together. And don't even think about taking that baby with you after you give birth."