Chapter 4

During the first year of our marriage, he was already begging me desperately for a child.

At the time, my career was flourishing. Yet he deliberately undermined it. He forced me to quit and become a housewife so I could focus on getting pregnant.

But after three years of trying, we still had not conceived.

I had been so foolish back then. I had been trapped in his honey-coated lies, living what I thought was love but was really a nightmare.

Then he brought Aileen home. This happened just as I discovered I was pregnant.

The day I returned home with the test results, Aileen cornered me on the staircase. Leaning in with a sneer, she said, “You can’t even have a child. I don’t know how you dare to keep living in this house.

“Do you know why Gerald went through so much trouble to bring me back? That’s because I’m carrying his child.”

My heart lurched, and the medical report slipped from my fingers.

Aileen swiftly grabbed it. Her expression hardened, and without hesitation, she pushed me down the stairs.

Then she crumpled the report and threw it into the garbage.

That night, my lower body was drenched in blood. I crawled to Gerald’s door, begging him to save our baby.

But through the half-open door, I saw a pregnant Aileen inside, being intimate with Gerald.

“Be careful, you’re pregnant now.”

“Do you only care about the baby and not me?”

“Don’t be silly, I’m crazy about you.”

As their intimate murmurs filled the room, I felt an excruciating pain surge through my abdomen. It was as if my unborn child had realized his father did not want him.

Soon after, I passed out. Penny was the one who took my unconscious body to the hospital.

When my thoughts cleared, I noticed the growing contempt in Gerald’s eyes.

“Cut the act! Everyone knows you’re infertile. A miscarriage? Who do you think you’re fooling?”

A doctor’s voice came from the hallway. He said, “Is the family of Ms. Aileen here? She had an allergic reaction to a medication overdose. She’s stable now.”

“What about the baby? How’s the baby?” Gerald asked the doctor urgently.

The doctor shook his head in confusion. “Baby? What baby? Ms. Aileen wasn’t pregnant. There is no baby.”

Gerald was devastated. He clutched the doctor’s hand and asked the same question repeatedly, only to get the same answer every time.

When the doctor ignored him, he turned his fury toward me and grabbed my collar. His eyes burned with malice.

“It was you! You killed my baby! You’re ruthless. How did I never see how vicious you are?”

“An overdose? What drug did you give her?”

I closed my eyes briefly in exasperation, then looked at him with pure disgust.

He was not even pretending anymore.

“I told you, the only one who killed your child was you.”

The doctor could not stand it any longer and pulled Gerald aside.

“Mr. Brown, Ms. Aileen took contraceptive pills herself. This has nothing to do with this young lady.

“And stop hounding her about the baby. She had a miscarriage here last week. Do you realize how painful this is for her?”

Gerald stopped struggling. He froze, staring at the doctor in disbelief.

“What did you say? Who miscarried?”