Chapter 1

When contractions blurred my vision and pain washed over me again and again, I woke up in a dim, freezing basement storage room.

The door slammed with a bang. If my foot hadn’t pulled back fast enough, my ankle would’ve been crushed. However, maybe I had moved too suddenly because all at once, I felt a hot rush of fluid between my legs. Immediately, I realized my water had broken.

Panic knotted my chest. I forced myself to calm down and tried to call for help, but I searched my body, and there was no phone. Sean had taken it away to make sure I couldn’t contact anyone.

The baby kicked wildly inside me. I was shaking from the cold and sweating from the pain. I strained my voice and called out for help, clinging to the smallest scrap of hope.

Finally, I heard footsteps outside.

“Please, somebody help me!” I screamed. “I’m locked in a basement! I’m about to give birth!” I kept shouting, thinking someone would come.

Instead, a triumphant voice answered, “Zoe, how does it feel to lie in a basement in the middle of winter? To me, Sean should’ve done this ages ago to teach you a lesson.”

It was Grace Conner, Sean’s sister.

I forced myself to breathe and tried to keep my voice steady. “Grace, please take me out. The baby’s coming. It’s going to be too late!”

Grace kicked the basement door hard and glared down at me.

“Let you out? In your dreams. You can’t stop Quinn from going into labor, huh? You must be panicking. I’m here on Sean’s orders. I won’t allow you to pull any stunts. He’s so busy with work; he doesn’t need your drama. Can’t you stop making trouble for others?” she sneered. “Quinn’s child will be the Conners’ heir, and nothing you do will change that.”

Another brutal contraction forced a groan from me. Between sobs, I said, “I don’t want the inheritance. I never wanted my child to be heir. I only want the baby to live. If Sean will just let me go to the hospital, I’ll do anything!”

My groans seemed to irritate Grace, who frowned and hissed, “You tramp! Are you making those noises to seduce someone? Gross. Keep it up, and I’ll shut your mouth for you.”

Then, she made a call to Sean.

The pain kept coming in waves. I bit my lower lip so hard I barely dared to breathe.

Grace said into the phone, “Yes, Sean, don’t worry. I’m watching her. There’s no way I’ll let her act up.”

When I heard Sean’s voice faintly through the line, a fragile thread of hope sparked in me. I screamed until my throat hurt, “Sean! The baby’s coming! Tell Grace to take me to the hospital. Please, I can’t hold on!”

I didn’t even have the strength to sit. I simply collapsed weakly to the floor.

Grace hesitated, then whispered into the phone, “Sean, I think she’s actually about to go into labor. She doesn’t look like she’s faking. Why don’t I take her to the hospital first? After all, she’s carrying your only child. If something happened–”

Sean paused for a few seconds, as if weighing it over.

Then, his voice softened. “Fine. Take her to–”

A sweet voice cut in over the other end of the call. “Sean, I’m hungry. I want a little cake. The doctor said I need strength for childbirth, so I need to eat. Oh, Zoe, you’re about to go into labor, too? Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt at all. I could get up and dance right now. You’ll be fine.”

Quinn, of course, felt no pain. Sean had put her in a deluxe suite that cost thirty thousand dollars a day, where the nurses would swarm and give her a massage at the first whimper.

When he heard her, he snorted coldly and told Grace, “What could go wrong? Zoe is too scheming to let herself suffer. She’s just trying to trick you into letting her out. Don’t be so gullible.”

With that, he hung up.

Flushed from being scolded, Grace untied the dog chained by the door and let it inside.