Chapter 1

~Eliza~

“B-baby, what are you doing here?” my husband asked breathlessly as he scrambled to pull up his trousers.

I had picked out those trousers for him this morning before he left for work.

The smile died on my trembling lips as I watched my sister slowly roll down her skintight skirt. She smirked at me.

I had just entered the office to share the most wonderful news, only to be faced with… this.

“Oh, look who finally decided to join the rest of us outside,” my darling stepsister, Isabella, snarked.

I stumbled back into the doorway as my legs lost the ability to keep me upright. I grabbed the doorframe before I faceplanted onto the gleaming tiles of what used to be my office.

“Shut up!” Daniel, my loving husband of four years, hissed at Isabella as he slowly approached me.

“D-Daniel, w-what is going on h-here?” My voice was hoarse and faint as my heart tripped in my chest.

“Oh, please! What do you think?” Isabella huffed, coming to stand beside my husband. “We were obviously fucking.”

She leaned against Daniel’s shoulder and pressed a kiss on his neck. He didn’t pull away.

Oh, God.

My breath shuddered out of me at the confirmation of what I already saw with my eyes. The ground seemed to shift under me. I dug my hands into the frame as I tried to steady myself.

My stepsister and my husband? This had to be a nightmare. It couldn’t, shouldn’t be real. Right?

“D-Daniel, s-she’s lying, right?”

My husband sighed, rolled his eyes, and shrugged. “You have eyes, Eliza.”

“And you know what? This is as good a time as any,” he continued and snaked an arm around Isabella’s slender waist.

My wide eyes tracked the movement as shock and disbelief wound through me. What on earth was going on?

I blinked several times. But nothing changed. Daniel kept holding Isabella as she grinned at me.

“In case you still haven’t figured it out, Isabella and I are in love,” he announced proudly, and she tittered wildly.

***

I jerked upright with a choked gasp.

I blinked, adjusting to the light streaming in from the windows. As my gaze moved around the room, I froze.

This was not my home. The ceiling above me was too high and the colour of the walls was unfamiliar. The soft blue gown on my body was also not mine.

Where am I? What—

The memories slammed into my mind, hard and punishing.

I had gone to surprise my husband. I caught him cheating with my sister, then passed out on the street after he had ordered his goons to throw me out of my company.

Pain streaked through my chest and I gasped softly, tears gathering in my eyes. I blinked again and suddenly, a young woman in a white coat was beside me.

Licking my lips, I forced myself to speak through the lump in my throat. “Wha…”

Regret briefly flashed across her face as she shook her head. “I’m sorry. We couldn’t save your baby.”

At first, I could only stare at her uncomprehendingly for several seconds. 

Couldn’t save…

Then it suddenly became impossible to draw enough air into my lungs. My mind spiralled as the meaning of what she said finally sank in.

Her eyes widened as she whispered, “Oh, you didn’t know? I’m so sorry.”

This was too much. I groaned quietly, covering my aching chest with my palm.

Just when I started to think I could be happy again. Just when I thought life was willing to give me another chance, it was so cruelly snatched from me.

It took a moment to realise the anguished cry that echoed in the room was coming from me.

This was my fault. I shouldn’t have left home. I should have just waited for Daniel to come home like a good wife.

I should have…

The rest of my thoughts turned into a mess of aching, heaving tears.

Vaguely, I felt the woman rub my back. But I was in too much pain to stop. I couldn’t keep the tears from rushing down my cheeks any more than I could close the hole torn into my heart.

Even though it was still too early, there was a gaping emptiness in the place where my baby was supposed to be. And now, I felt truly alone in this world.

After all, what did I have to show for the five years of marriage to Daniel Monroe? Nothing except for two failed attempts at being a mother.

I whimpered and curled my arms around my body. This baby had been my only hope of fixing this distance between Daniel and me.

I tried not to blame him for it. Of course, no one wished to spend the rest of their lives tied to a woman who had so many issues.

But then, I started seeing the same signs from my first pregnancy. I had been too scared to tell Daniel because I didn’t want to get his hopes up.

How foolish I was. I thought, with a slight, tearful hiccup.

While I had been thinking about him, worried that I was dragging him down, he had been sleeping with Isabella. Of all people, my own sister.

And now, I lost the one thing I thought I could hold onto.

So foolish!

The door opened and closed, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t bring myself to think of anything else aside from how I had failed… again.

The whole thing kept replaying in my head. The emptiness grew, deep and wide until I felt like it would swallow me.

Slowly, the sadness shifted, still present, but now becoming covered by anger. No, it was rage that curled inside me, settling in the space where my baby should have been.

While I had my own fault, Daniel was the devil. If he hadn’t betrayed me so heartlessly, I would still have my baby. I would still have my half-perfect life.

I clenched my hands and gritted my teeth as my body vibrated.

I hate him. I hate her. And for what they have done, I will make them pay dearly. I will avenge my baby. I swore darkly, the tears turning to hot blobs on my skin.

Exhaling slowly, I sat up with chilling calm as a thought took hold in my mind. Suddenly, it became important to go home.

I needed to get Daniel’s things out of that house before he got there. I wasn’t sure I would not commit murder if I laid eyes on him or Isabella.

I swung my legs to the floor and bit down hard on my lips to hold back a wince. Pain shot through my stomach, a reminder of what I had lost.

Gritting my teeth, I started to push myself to my feet when the door opened again.

“If you could please help me with my clothes, I’ll be out of here in no time,” I said, my voice shaky as I tried to fight off a wave of dizziness.

“And where do you think you’re going?” a male voice demanded curtly.

The voice was deep, gravelly, and familiar, way too familiar.

My head snapped up towards the door, and I nearly swallowed my tongue. My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as I gaped at the face of the last person I expected to see.

Instinctively, I shuffled backwards. My heart slammed wildly against my ribcage as my fingers grasped the edge of the bed.

“What are you doing here?”