Chapter 1

"Abby, you know I've always hated kids. But my husband is barely coming home anymore. I can't lose him! If I do, this life I've worked so hard for will be gone! I need a baby right now to secure my place in the family.

"Abby, please, have a baby for me. It won't hurt you at all. I'm just borrowing your womb for a few months. We're best friends. You wouldn't just stand by and watch my life fall apart, would you?"

As I looked into the pleading eyes of my best friend, Sabrina Reeves, my mind suddenly went into a daze. An agonizing pain flared in my lower abdomen.

Looking at the ugly reality behind her face, I fought to keep my rage from boiling over.

In my previous life, Sabrina came to me with this same sob story, claiming a baby was the only way to save her failing marriage.

But she loathed children. She couldn't stand them. Even if it were her own child, she couldn't guarantee she'd feel even a shred of affection for them.

Fully aware of her true feelings, I had told her to just follow her heart and that there was no reason to let a marriage tie her down.

But she was tuned out. She just started reciting her pre-planned script.

"Abby, I can't give up this lifestyle. But I have you! You love kids. If you just give me a child, it will save my marriage. Isn't that a win-win?"

At that time, I honestly wondered if Sabrina had lost her mind.

Noticing my silence, she continued to stare at me. "You won't have to worry about a thing. Just let them put the embryo in you for a few months, then pop it out. It won't cost you a dime, and you get a son, too. It's like a retirement plan for you and a solution for me. Isn't it perfect?"

I was speechless with fury.

As a successful professional in a major city, I could have any man I wanted. I could marry and have children on my own terms.

I wasn't infertile anyway. Why on earth would I want her charity embryo?

I didn't even know if it was clean!

Fuming, I tore the mask off her conspiracy right then and there.

Yet, remembering our years of friendship, I tried one last time to talk Sabrina out of it since it was illegal in our country.

That struck a nerve. She immediately flipped, calling our friendship fake and saying I simply couldn't stand to see her happy.

Sabrina claimed she was only offering me this golden opportunity because she didn't want me to die alone.

"You're just ungrateful," she spat, then cut ties with me on the spot.

She warned me that when she finally got her baby, I shouldn't bother coming around.

I scoffed. As if I needed her in my life.

After that, Sabrina started trying for a baby.

I thought maybe she'd finally settled down. But no, she began posting all kinds of posts on social media to remind me that I had lost her.

Her "trying for a baby" was just an excuse. She was still out there partying and living it up.

Eventually, her husband, Harold Wynn, stopped playing pretenses altogether. He showed up with his mistress and illegitimate son, telling her to move out.

When Sabrina begged him to stay, all he said was, "You're so useless. You can't have a baby on your own, and you couldn't even get your best friend to help."

Because of that, Sabrina blamed everything on me.

"If you had agreed to my suggestion, would I be getting trampled by the mistress and kicked out of my own house? It's all your fault! You bitch! I'm going to make you pay just like I did!"

While I was coming home and unlocking the door, she snuck up behind me and knocked me out.

When I came to, Sabrina was there, slicing open my stomach. "A uterus that doesn't want kids is useless anyway."

At the thought of this, I forced down the surge of hatred within me and quickly smoothed out my expression.

"Am I that kind of person in your eyes? Of course I'll help you. In fact, I'd be more than happy to help you save your marriage."

I paused, watching her smile widen, then added, "But I can't have kids."

Sabrina's face fell instantly.

I smirked inside.

This was just the beginning, and she couldn't hold it together already?

This time around, I was going to watch her lose everything. She would pay for all the pain I had suffered!