Chapter 1

"Scarlett Lambert has clung to you for five long years. Do you really think she'll agree to a divorce?" Daniel Brooks asked, clearly amused.

Weston Gibson sneered. "That's why I had her uterus removed during the surgery. She'll never have children again. What reason would she have to stay married to me now?"

Daniel replied, "You really thought of everything. But aren't you afraid she'll find out and lose it? She carried another woman's baby and had her uterus removed, after all. She could cause a huge scene once she learns the truth."

A cruel smile curled across Weston's face.

"Then, on the day she's discharged, we'll have a few men waiting for her. If I can make it look like she came home pregnant with another man's baby, no one can blame me for leaving her."

"Damn, that's ruthless. Count me in. No reason to let some outsider have all the fun."

Daniel's crude joke was met with their laughter.

Every word pierced my heart.

Weston's private doctor had told me I had a condition that made it difficult for me to conceive. After five rounds of IVF, I finally became pregnant. By then, the repeated IVF treatments had already taken a heavy toll on my body.

Ever since I became pregnant, Weston had forbidden me from going to the hospital, claiming that radiation from medical equipment could harm the baby.

Then, when I was eight months pregnant and thought I was finally nearing the day I'd meet my baby, the doctor suddenly told me I had a tumor.

Weston acted heartbroken and took me to every hospital in Creston for a second opinion. They all gave me the same diagnosis.

I went into surgery believing I had failed Weston and that was simply my fate.

Now I understand the truth.

He only wanted to use my body to have the child. He never cared whether I survived, as long as I couldn't cling to him afterward.

Cold sweat soaked through my sheets.

I forced myself to stay calm and managed to call my older sister, Stephanie Lambert, who worked as a nanny.

I asked her to apply for the nanny position with the Gibson family and take the baby, William, away.

She immediately understood what had happened, but she still needed to hear me confirm my decision.

"This baby isn't biologically yours. Are you certain you want to take him?"

I insisted, "I carried him to term. He's my child."

If Weston wanted nothing but William, then I would give him exactly that.

"Then we'll meet in three days."

Before I could hang up, I heard a bright, girlish laugh outside the door.

I quickly ended the call.

The door swung open.

Whitley Leach walked in wearing a revealing dress beneath an oversized jacket. She was carrying a newborn swaddled in a soft blanket.

"Scarlett, I brought the baby over to say hi. Mr. Gibson said you were holding onto the baby's gold bangle, so he sent me to get it. He was worried I'd be cold after giving birth, so he made me wear his jacket. I hope that's okay with you."

Without waiting for my answer, Whitley dumped everything from my bag onto the bed and quickly found the gold bangle.

She slipped it onto her wrist, looking satisfied.

William was left carelessly beside the bed.

William peeked out from beneath the blanket and smiled at me, reaching for me. The moment I realized this was the child I had carried and suffered for, tears spilled down my cheeks.

I didn't care that Whitley had taken the family heirloom. All I wanted was to hold my baby.

But before I could reach for my child, Weston took William and placed him into Whitley's arms.

"She's always been generous. She won't care about giving it to you."

Weston stood there in a thin shirt, his clothes rumpled and his appearance disheveled. There was no mistaking where he'd just been or who he'd been with.

He glanced at me warily before bending down to tuck my blanket around me.

"Sweetheart, the doctor needs to change your dressing. You just had surgery, so you're still weak. You need to get plenty of rest, okay?"

The doctor pulled the curtain shut and began tending to my surgical wound.

All I could see were their silhouettes through the curtain.

Then I heard them kissing.

I stared at their shadows, my entire body trembling with pain.

In the middle of it all, the baby slipped from Whitley's arms and fell to the floor.

His cries pierced the room.

My mind went blank.

I desperately tried to get out of the bed, but the doctor forced me back down.

At that moment, something inside me broke.