Chapter 1

Joanna Lawson's POV

The metal chains that had kept me bound for the last five years were finally undone, but my feet felt like they were weighed down by lead blocks.

I was still clutching the last letter that my husband, Cole Foster, had sent me. He had told me that he could finally pick me up from the mental hospital.

At that moment, the letter felt like it was burning against my skin.

Cole helplessly shook his head and said, "The letter was just part of the reality show. Natalie was the one who came up with the idea. She wanted to test whether you could survive on love alone. Looks like it was quite effective."

I had been electrocuted countless times, to the point that I didn't have a single patch of skin that was unscathed. I had swallowed thousands of antidepressant pills in the dark and sunless ward that I had been trapped in.

The child I had been carrying had been deformed due to a medical experiment and was stillborn.

The only thing that had kept me going was Cole's letter. However, it had turned out to be nothing more than a prop for the reality show.

Tears streamed down my face as I pressed a hand against my stomach.

"How could you be so heartless? How could you end this child's life?"

Cole's eyes were devoid of remorse when we made eye contact. On the contrary, his gaze was filled with pride at Natalie Jackman's actions.

"That new medication was the first ad that Natalie shot. Of course, no expecting mother was willing to participate in the experiment, so I had no choice but to sacrifice a child to help Natalie fulfill her dreams.

"You don't have to be too upset, though. At the very least, you contributed to the medical industry."

My heart felt like it was being stabbed as I listened to his flippant words. I looked around before crawling toward him, abandoning the last shred of my dignity.

I looked up and asked, "Where's Andy? Why didn't he come with you to pick me up?"

Cole recoiled backward as if something filthy had touched him. However, it was his words that plunged me into an abyss of despair.

"Andy's not your child anymore."

He didn't give me any time to react as he pulled out his ringing phone.

My son's young and tender voice echoed from the receiver.

"Are you really my mother?" Andy Foster asked. "But I don't want a mentally ill mother. I want a big-shot director like Ms. Jackman to be my mother. Can you just die?"

My jaw went slack with shock when I heard Andy's words. I couldn't believe that he would be so cruel when I had missed him so terribly.

After Andy impatiently ended the call, Cole explained, "This is also part of the reality show. To make things more exciting, I gave Andy to Natalie, letting him treat her as his mother so we could film your reaction."

The reporters snapped countless photos, recording my anguished expression.

I had developed postpartum depression after giving birth to Andy, crying my heart out when I was sent to the mental hospital. I had been worried that Andy would be upset that I was gone and that Cole would miss me.

I had thought that I could finally escape the nightmare that I had been trapped in for the last five years after reuniting with my family. But it turned out that all my hopes and dreams had been nothing more than a joke.