Lahat ng Kabanata ng Hold the Birth Back: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 8

“You worthless woman! Because of you, Sean chewed me out! I’ll make sure you pay for this. Why don’t you play with my dog for a while?”The next second, heavy panting filled the dark room as a massive dog closed in on me. It shoved me down, its paws crushing my chest.Terrified, I screamed, and my baby thrashed inside my belly in panic. When I tried to push the beast away, it sank its teeth into my hand.I collapsed helplessly onto the freezing floor, tears slipping silently down my cheeks as the dog growled, low and threatening, beside my ear. My vision blurred, and I felt death itself reaching for me.Just when I thought it was all over, Grace stormed back in. She yanked the dog off and barked my name, but I was too weak to answer. Panic flickered across her face as she stepped deeper into the pitch-black basement.With no lights, she had to grab a fistful of my hair, jerking my head up just to see my face. Then, she gave a sharp, disdainful grunt and slammed my head back to the

Sean’s eyes widened, his breath coming quick and shallow, like he’d been shot. He staggered back a step but forced himself to stay standing.“Impossible! She was fine when I left,” he barked. “She even had enough energy to mess with Grace’s dog. How could she suddenly be dead? This has to be some stunt to get my attention. Didn’t I tell you not to fall for her tricks?” The secretary shrank under his fury. “Mr. Conner… the body is in the delivery room next door. We did a DNA test… It really is Mrs. Conner.”“You know what happens to people who lie to me!” Still couldn’t believe it, Sean stormed to the adjacent delivery room.Under the bright surgical lights, a body lay on the floor, half covered by a white sheet. He saw the gaunt, filthy cheek and the familiar face aligned with the image in his memory. He walked toward it, trembling, unwilling to accept what he saw.“Zoe,” he roared, “if this is a lie, I swear I’ll make you pay!”However, when he carefully lifted the body, the co

When I first heard the news, I thought he’d gone mad. However, I didn’t take it seriously. There was an ocean between us. There was no way he’d find me that easily. Hence, I thought nothing of it and buried myself in learning how to run the family business.I picked it up fast. In less than a month, I could handle investments on my own. Rows of green and red lines danced across three or four monitors, and almost every stock movement fit my forecasts.That day, I had just finished a board meeting when someone burst into the conference room. It was Sean.My breath hitched. Old, buried pain hit me again the moment I saw him, but I waved the others out and told them to leave.His eyes were bloodshot. He stared at me like I’d done something unforgivable. Then, he lunged forward, grabbed my wrist so hard it hurt, and yelled hoarsely, “Zoe, why did you fake your death? Do you know you nearly scared me half to death? I always believed you wouldn’t die so easily. You’re strong. You love l

His voice trembled so badly he kept apologizing, utterly undignified.“I'm sorry… I swear I had no ill intent. I just wanted to take her home. I miss her so much. I can’t live without her. I'm sorry, Mr. Salvador… I didn’t know she was from the Salvador family,” he stammered, panic setting in. “No– That’s not what I mean. I mean, no matter where Zoe came from, I love her.”In that moment, Sean was nothing but a scrabbling, submissive mutt at my feet; the arrogance he once had had been crushed.Dad still couldn’t let it go. He kicked Sean hard.“Take Zoe home? So you can torment her until she’s half-dead again? Do you think bankrupting your company is the end? Dream on. You’ll get my revenge. I’ll make you taste my daughter’s pain.”I patted Dad’s shoulder, trying to calm him so he wouldn’t hurt himself.Sean’s eyes were swollen and red. He crawled to my feet and begged, “Zoe, I wanted to take you away because I wanted to live a happy life with you! I was blinded by Quinn before,