Chapter 4

Denise lay flat on the ground while clutching her belly hard, looking like she was in extreme pain.

I was smiling, but I quickly changed into a worried expression, "Denise! Why did you get so agitated? You should be careful when you're so heavily pregnant. If anything were to happen to you, I might be the one going to that center your future hubby booked for you."

Her phone continued ringing in my hand as I continued to tease her while pretending to pick up the call. "Denise, your phone won't stop ringing. Maybe I should get him to come over quickly and take you to the hospital…"

Before I could finish my sentence, Denise quickly climbed up from the ground while suppressing her pain to snatch the phone from my hand. "No, it's alright. I'm… I'm fine. My boyfriend is really busy. Let's not disturb him."

When Denise left my house, her face was contorted with a lot of pain, but she still reminded me to make sure I kept the pendant on at all times. I could not help laughing wildly in my heart when I saw that Denise was close to passing out from pain but was still trying her best to pretend she was fine.

Denise looked worse over the next few days. Her belly got bigger and bigger, and it started being covered with dark pig's fur. Despite her condition, Denise insisted on coming over to my house every day. Every time she visited me, she would stare at my belly. "Eliza, do you feel any discomfort?"

I looked at her and unbuttoned my shirt to show her my belly. I had drawn many stretch marks on it in accordance with what I remembered from my past lifetime. I complained to her, "I have no idea what's going on, Denise. I've gotten so many stretch marks, and I feel tired all the time."

Denise looked relieved when she saw the stretch marks on my belly. I smiled and said, "Your belly has gotten quite big, Denise. I heard that when it gets this big, it usually means that you could be pregnant with twins or triplets! Have you gotten an ultrasound from the hospital?"

She covered her belly with her hand as she replied with a smile, "Of course, I have. The doctor said that my baby is very healthy."

Denise continued visiting me every day, and if this went on, she might suspect my pendant was fake. With that in mind, I gave her an excuse the next day to go to my grandmother's house to rest while waiting for my baby to be born.

My grandmother had never liked Denise because she was my stepmother's daughter, while Denise returned the sentiment. That was why I was confident she would not visit me often at my grandmother's house. My baby continued growing healthily under my grandmother's love and care.

Despite Denise staying away physically, she insisted on video calling me every single day. In order to curb any suspicion, I forced myself to pick up her calls. However, I could tell that Denise's condition was deteriorating every day, which never failed to put me in a good mood.

Denise, oh, Denise. She was already suffering so much but still remembered to ensure that I had the pendant. I could not let her down and continued putting on my act. I created a fake medical report and snapped a photo of it to show Denise.

"I'm so scared, Denise. The doctor told me that my baby is abnormally small, but I've been eating and sleeping well all this time.

"Look at my belly. It's covered with stretch marks when it's so small, and the marks are even extending to my neck. Why do the stretch marks look just like the ones on the pendant you gave me?"

Denise looked anxious for a moment before comforting me, "You must be imagining things, Eliza. Stretch marks are genetic. My mom told me about how your mom's belly was covered in stretch marks as well after she gave birth to you. That's why Dad never touched her after giving birth…

"Oh, that's not what I mean, Eliza. Please don't get me wrong. My boyfriend got me an ointment from overseas that works great on stretch marks. I'll deliver it over to you one day soon."

At the mention of Simon, it reminded me that he had stopped contacting me ever since I came to my grandmother's house. He must be staying by Denise's side and taking care of her. I wanted to see what sort of baby could be created by this adulterous pair.

Just when I thought Denise had completely let her guard down, she appeared at my grandmother's house three days later, accompanied by Simon. Simon said, "Eliza, I'm here with Denise to take you home. Your grandma is getting old, and it's not nice of you to impose on her."

Simon was helping Denise out of the car as she was having difficulty with her mobility. She looked just as I did in my past lifetime. Her eyes had sunken in, and she looked skinny as a rack. She even had a scarf around her neck to cover the black stretch marks on her.

Denise stared at my belly the moment she got out of the car. Even though my belly was much smaller than Denise's, it was still considered a normal size. Denise's belly was abnormally huge, causing her major imbalance. She required help even when walking normally.

Her eyes widened as she stared straight at my healthy belly. "Have you been feeling any discomfort recently, Eliza?"

I pretended to look incredulously at them. "I'm feeling fine. Why would you ask such a thing all of a sudden?"

My reply seemed to panic Denise. She opened up the part of my shirt that was covering my belly. "Why have your stretch marks vanished, Denise? That's impossible! Don't you feel any discomfort at all?"

I slapped Denise's hand away. "What do you mean, Denise? Are you hoping I'd be experiencing discomfort?"

That was when my grandmother returned from feeding her pigs. She muttered, "What's wrong with that pregnant sow? Her temper has been flaring lately."

Denise turned to look, and she was stunned when she saw the pendant around the neck of the sow in the pig's pen. Her eyes widened, and she roared furiously, "Eliza Carter! Why is the pendant I gave you around that sow's neck?!"