Chapter 1

"Take this card, Nora. There's enough money in it for you. The PIN is the last six digits of this card. Abort the baby immediately. I don't want that child to be born!" Adam placed the card on the table.

Seeing Adam's behaviour, not wanting the child she was carrying, Nora's tears fell profusely. She stared at Adam in disbelief. After calming herself for a moment, she asked, "What do you mean, Adam? Are you telling me to abort this child? Are you out of your mind? This is your child, your own flesh and blood. How can you be so heartless as to tell me to abort this pregnancy!" Nora's eyes were glistening, as if her tears were about to spill over.

Adam stared blankly at the overweight woman in front of him and smiled cynically. "Do you really need to ask what all this means, Nora? Aren't you tired of being so innocent and naive? Can't you see yourself? Don't you have a mirror in your room? Do I need to send you one?" Adam clicked his tongue. He rolled his eyes lazily.

“You!” Nora pointed her index finger at Adam, her voice trembling. “You... Haven’t you loved me all this time?” Nora wiped her cheeks, her tears falling uncontrollably. She never imagined that the man she had loved all this time would insult her like this.

Hadn't Adam never once complained about her body? About her obesity? Why did she now see disgust in his eyes?

"Love you? All this time?" Adam chuckled. "Have you really believed all this time that I love you?" Adam snorted in annoyance.

Nora clenched her fists. Her gaze was so sharp it seemed capable of tearing Adam’s entire body apart, revealing the hidden parts of the man.

"If you don't love me, then why have you been close to me all this time, Adam?" Nora's voice rose, she got up from her seat and immediately grabbed Adam's collar.

"What does all this mean? Giving me little attention, asking me out on dates, romantic dinners. What does it all mean, Adam?" Nora's voice rose. Her chest rose and fell with the explosion of anger inside her.

Adam shook off Nora's hand and smoothed his slightly rumpled collar. "Do you need further explanation, Nora? Have you taken all my actions to heart? I've only been flirting with you. There's no other reason. Don't blame me. Blame yourself for not knowing your place. Can't you see the huge gap between us? I am the sole heir to the Crestwood Group. Meanwhile, you? You are just an orphan who grew up in an orphanage! In terms of family background and beauty, you are completely unworthy of me!" He gave Nora a cynical smile.

Adam immediately got up from his seat and was about to leave the restaurant's private room. However, Nora's hand quickly grabbed his arm. "You can't leave! You have to take responsibility. I don't want to abort this child. He's your own flesh and blood. How can you do this?" Nora clutched Adam's arm tightly, refusing to let go.

Adam's face turned cold. He pushed Nora's grip away. "Let go of me!" He took a tissue from the table and wiped his hand, which Nora had just touched, then threw the tissue on the floor.

Without a word, he walked away and closed the door without looking back. All the way, he muttered that Nora was really naive to think he was in love with her.

"Adam... Adam, don't go! Adam!" Nora sobbed and could only cry. She covered her face and sobbed. Several times she hit her bulging stomach.

Thirty minutes passed in an instant. After calming herself for a moment, Nora got up from the floor and saw the pregnancy test on the table along with the ultrasound results from a few days ago. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Her heart was truly aching. She never thought that all this time she had only been used as a toy by Adam, the bastard who had destroyed her life.

Nora sat back down on the chair for half an hour. She really didn't know what else to do. Everything was completely ruined now. She never thought Adam would be so cruel as to ask her to terminate the pregnancy. All this time, she had completely misunderstood him.

Nora laughed softly. "Yes, I'm really stupid. All this time, I was blinded by love. From the moment he approached me, I should have known that he never loved me. What did he see in me? He was right, I really am a person who doesn't know herself."

Nora wiped her eyes and stroked her bulging stomach. Because of her obese body, no one would realise that she was now pregnant.

"All right, dear. We can face this world together. We don't need him!" Nora finally wiped her cheeks and began to smile. Her hand caressed her bulging belly.

Nora took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. All this time, Nora had been raised in an orphanage. However, her late grandparents had left her a large piece of farmland in a remote village far from the capital.

"This card..." Nora took the card and put it in her bag, planning to return it the next day.

As soon as she left the private room, Nora went to the nearest bathroom to pee and fix her makeup. She was sure that her eyes were red and swollen from crying.

Just as she was about to leave the toilet, she heard a group of girls talking. From their voices, she recognised them all. The three girls were her schoolmates. The three of them often bullied her at school, especially when Adam paid her a little attention. This made all the girls at school hate her. How could they not, when the most popular boy in school was approaching a fat girl with acne? She wondered what spell Nora had cast on him to make a boy as popular as Adam fall for her.

"Hey, did you guys know that Adam won a bet? He's treating his whole class to dinner at a famous restaurant this Saturday night. That restaurant in the south of the city! Oh, I'm so jealous!" A brown-haired girl was applying lipstick to her lips. "I really want to go!"

"Won a bet? What bet, Stella?" asked another girl who was washing her hands.

"You two don't know?" Stella—the girl who had just applied lipstick—turned to her two friends with an incredulous tone.

Serena and Lily shook their heads in unison.

"Gosh, where have you two been all this time?" Stella clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction.

"Come on, Stella. Just tell us what's really going on. What kind of bet? Adam is usually quiet, he never makes a fuss about treating his friends to an expensive restaurant." Lily looked at Stella more intently.

Hearing Adam's name mentioned, Nora immediately pricked up her ears. She was curious about Adam's bet.

Stella looked at her two friends alternately. "It's a secret, okay. I know this because my cousin is Adam's close friend!"

Serena and Lily moved closer. Their curiosity could no longer be contained.

"What is it, Stella? Hurry up and tell us!" Lily was impatient. She moved closer to Stella.

"That's right, don't keep us in suspense!" said Serena.

"Listen carefully, okay?" Stella took a breath and exhaled slowly.

"Adam won the bet because he could get close to and have a relationship with the dugong!"

"The dugong?" Serena covered her mouth, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"So, he got close to the dugong because of a bet?" Lily asked again and then laughed. "I knew he couldn't possibly fall in love with Nora, the dugong girl!"

Nora could only clench her fists. Yes, she was indeed called a dugong by her school friends.

Nora's tears fell again. "So all this time, I was just a bet!" Her fingers clenched tighter. The love in her heart seemed to evaporate into thin air.