Chapter 2

Seeing that each of my three betrotheds had a cup in front of them, I drained mine first in one gulp.

A flicker of panic crossed Jennifer's face. She tried to stop the three men, but before she could say anything, they had already finished their wine.

Quinn even praised her after drinking. "Jennifer may not be an expert at brewing, but this plum wine is rich and mellow. It's absolutely divine."

Remembering how foolishly I had swallowed this drugged wine in my previous life, I clutched my stomach and let my face drain of color, feigning the unbearable pain I had once truly felt.

Jennifer was the first to notice my distress. "Fiona, is something wrong with the wine I made? Did it hurt you?"

Before she could finish, the three men rushed over and shielded her protectively.

Liam's cold eyes fixed on me. "Fiona, don't you dare frame Jennifer. All three of us drank that wine. Why aren't we sick?"

Of course, he felt nothing. This drug only harmed a woman's womb.

Quinn pointed at me accusingly. "You're just putting on an act to win our affection. I thought you'd turned over a new leaf by agreeing to drink Jennifer's wine, but you were just setting her up all along."

I clutched my abdomen with furrowed brows and forced out the words. "I'm not... I really am in pain."

Jennifer seized the moment. "Something's wrong with Fiona. Someone fetch the physician, quickly."

I felt a flash of triumph. After all, I had made my pain look convincing precisely to get Jennifer to say those words.

In my past life, she had bribed the physician to claim I had miscarried from sleeping around. It had damaged my body and left me unable to conceive.

This time, I paid the physician far more to speak on my command.

The physician arrived in a rush, checked my pulse, and slowly announced, "Ms. Fiona consumed too much crab, which has affected her bodily constitution. I fear she will be unable to bear children in the future. But fortunately, her overall health is unharmed."

The moment those words left his mouth, all three of my betrotheds went pale. I covered my face and wept.

Jennifer's expression twisted. After all, she had bribed the physician to spread rumors that I had been sleeping around. How had it suddenly become about eating too much crab?

The maidservant who was supposed to give false testimony was nowhere to be found.

After crying for some time, I spoke weakly to my three betrotheds. "I can no longer have children. I cannot let our engagement stand in the way of your happiness. Please seek other matches."

All three stared at me in shock.

They never expected me to be the one to end it. In the past, I had clung tightly to them, never allowing them even the thought of betraying me.

Grayson frowned. "We're not the kind of heartless people who would abandon you just because you can't have children."

The other two wore complicated expressions but echoed their refusal to break the engagement.

I knew they were dying to be rid of me, but if they dissolved our engagement the moment they learned I was barren, word would spread. Their reputation as ungrateful, heartless cads would follow them throughout the entire city.

They cared about their reputations above all else. They would never allow that to happen.

In the end, I weakly shook my head and used dizziness and exhaustion as an excuse to send them away.

That night, I claimed my health required rest and recuperation. Jennifer wasted no time seducing my three fiancés into her bed.

Less than a month later, the three men who had sworn they were not heartless came crawling back to break off our engagement.

Grayson spoke with false sincerity. "Fiona, it's not that I'm cruel enough to abandon you. It's just that I lost both my parents when I was young. I must have a child to carry on my family name."

Quinn chimed in, "Fiona, we'll do everything in our power to repay the debt we owe you. But we need heirs. We can't afford to be selfish about this."

Liam's words carried a veiled threat beneath the courtesy. "Fiona, you're a good woman. I'm sure you understand our predicament and won't make this difficult for us."

Looking at their fake, hypocritical faces, I felt nothing but disgust. I wanted nothing more than to slap each of them and vent my rage.