Chapter 1

"Elara, are you really willing to marry someone you don't love?

"Logan has had a crush on you for ages. Even if you marry him with a baby, he definitely won't mind. You might as well just come clean."

Lyla Smith gripped my hand. Her face was full of earnest concern as she tried to persuade me. Silas Clarke was my fiance, someone I'd barely met a few times.

Logan Smith, on the other hand, was my boyfriend, the one I'd been dating behind my family's back.

Over the years, I'd brought up canceling the engagement more than once. However, every single time, Dad would scold me, frustrated beyond belief.

"The Clarke family isn't someone we can afford to offend! Mr. Clarke taking an interest in you is the luckiest thing that'll ever happen to you. Can you please stop causing trouble?"

So, when Lyla made her suggestion, I was immediately tempted. However, in the next second, a sharp pain shot through my abdomen, and that baby's voice rang out from nowhere.

"Mom, use your brain! This friend of yours is a total snake. She and Logan are scheming to get you away from the Jackman family so she can take your place and marry Dad!

"After you ran away with Logan, Grandpa was so terrified of Dad's reaction that he claimed Lyla as his daughter and let her become Mrs. Clarke in your place. She's been enjoying the life that should've been yours!

"You treat her like your best friend, but she's using you as a stepping stone!"

Hearing the voice from my belly, I instinctively looked at Lyla. Only then did I notice that her face was filled with barely concealed eagerness.

Sensing her true intentions, I changed my approach.

"But I've been used to having you serve me since we were little. If Logan and I elope, would you be willing to keep staying with me? We're so close. You wouldn't refuse, right?"

The word "serve" seemed to strike a nerve. Lyla's eyes darkened. She wasn't my friend in the traditional sense. She was the maid Dad had me pick out from an orphanage when I was young.

As she'd grown up alongside me, Dad had even made an exception and allowed her to attend school with me. After spending so many years together, I'd stopped thinking of her as a maid and started seeing her as my best friend.

My first meeting with Logan had only happened because she'd set it up. Now, though, it seemed Lyla wasn't as innocent as I'd thought.

Lyla froze, caught off guard. She stammered, "Of all things, you're thinking about this? How can material things compare to the love Logan gives you?

"Elara, when did you become so materialistic? Whatever. Logan's waiting at the back gate. I'll just let him tell you himself!"

Watching Lyla rush out in a hurry, I pulled out my phone and opened a contact I'd never dialed before. Sensing my hesitation, the baby's voice rang out again.

"Mom, you can't waver now! Press it! Give Dad a chance!

"Please… I don't want to be carved out alive again!"

Hearing "carved out alive", my hand trembled, and I dialed Silas' number.

The instant the call connected, I blurted out, "You have half an hour. Get to my house!"