1 At eight months pregnant, I was pushed from the second floor. The bleeding wouldn't stop. Liam acted like a madman, rushing me to the hospital and calling in top specialists for the surgery. Thankfully, the baby was saved. When I woke up, neither my baby nor Liam was anywhere to be seen. I struggled to get out of bed, limping out of the room to find them. But outside the morgue, I overheard a conversation between Liam and the doctor. "Mr. Sterling, the baby was clearly still breathing! Why did you suffocate him? That's your own flesh and blood!" "Better to die early and be reincarnated. He never should have been born in the first place." "Chloe just gave birth to my son yesterday. I promised her that our child will be the sole heir to the Sterling family. I absolutely will not allow anyone else to compete with him for the inheritance." It turned out that my happy family was nothing but a delusion I maintained all by myself. The marriage I was so proud of was nothing more than a freezing hell. Since that was the case, all I had to do was leave. ... The doctor looked hesitant: "But you plan to use Chloe's child to deceive your wife. What if she finds out?" "Newborns all look the same. She won't notice. I'll bring him over in a minute." "Clean up the body. And give me that new drug your hospital has—the one that causes permanent sterilization in women. I'm going to feed it to Nora." The doctor was horrified, speaking urgently: "Mr. Sterling, to bring Chloe's child into your home, you've already killed your wife's baby. Why do you also have to sterilize her? Isn't that too cruel?" The chill from the morgue seeped into the hallway, but Liam's words were even more chilling: "I promised Chloe that our child would never suffer the slightest grievance in his life. He will never have any siblings competing for his father's favor. Even though she's married to someone else now, I have to give her peace of mind." The doctor looked sympathetic: "Mr. Sterling, I must remind you, that drug was only recently developed. It hasn't even entered clinical trials, and the side effects are severe. Do you really have the heart to do this?" Liam paused for a moment, then sighed: "I have no choice. Nora will be waking up soon. If we perform a hysterectomy now, she'll definitely get suspicious." "She'll just have to endure the side effects. I'll compensate her well in the future, but I absolutely cannot allow Nora to ever have the possibility of getting pregnant again." As soon as he finished speaking, Liam's phone rang. He put it on speaker, and a man's excited voice echoed through the morgue: "Mr. Sterling, I received the five million. Don't worry, I'm leaving the city right now. The Mrs. will never find out that you ordered me to push her down the stairs, hehe." Footsteps approached from inside the room. Ignoring the pain in my leg, I stumbled and scrambled back to my hospital room. Thinking of my baby's tiny body lying in the morgue, I clutched my chest tightly. Tears fell onto my bandaged leg. So, being pushed down the stairs at the mall wasn't an accident. It was my loving husband, clearing obstacles for the woman he loved and their child. My baby hadn't been saved. He had been suffocated to death by his own father. In Liam's eyes, my son and I were nothing but stumbling blocks. "Nora, you're awake?" Liam walked in holding a baby, sitting down by the bed with a bright smile. "Look at our baby. Doesn't he look exactly like us?" "Wife, thank you for giving me such an adorable son. I promise I'll be a good father." I looked at the baby sleeping peacefully in his arms, a sharp pain piercing my heart. Liam was wrong. No mother could ever misidentify her own child. The baby's brow and eyes resembled Liam's, but the nose and chin were practically copied and pasted from Chloe's face. This was their child. And my baby was nothing but a cold corpse right now. "Nora, does your leg still hurt? Here, take some painkillers." The concern and gentleness in his eyes were the same as always, but it was all just a facade to paralyze me. I looked at the pills in his hand, remembering the conversation I had just overheard. "Liam, the pills are too bitter. Can I take them later?" You've already killed one of my children. Can't you at least leave me the right to be a mother? Liam hesitated for only a second before smiling and stroking my hair: "You're a mother now, why are you acting like a child? You've suffered so much giving birth, and your leg is hurting. My heart aches so much I won't be able to sleep all night. Nora, just take pity on your husband, okay? I still have to be a good dad to our baby." "I added honey to the water, it's very sweet. Come on, let me feed you." No, that's not my baby. That's yours and Chloe's! Liam held the pills to my lips, leaving me no room to refuse again. My blood ran cold. I closed my eyes and swallowed the pills dry, refusing the honey water. I didn't want his hypocritical sweetness! The drug took effect quickly. My lower abdomen felt like it was burning with hellfire, as if someone were carving me open with a knife. Blood began to seep from between my legs. "Nora, what's wrong?!" Liam called for the doctor. I passed out from the excruciating pain. In my hazy consciousness, I heard the doctor say: "Mr. Sterling, your wife's entire uterus has been corroded away. She will never be able to have children again." Liam let out a long sigh of relief. When I opened my eyes again, his eyes were red, and he looked at me with profound heartbreak: "Nora, the doctor said you suffered a sudden, massive postpartum hemorrhage. You'll never be able to have children again." "Don't be sad. Thank God we already have Andy. When he grows up, he'll definitely be a dutiful son to you." Andy? He had already picked a name for Chloe's child this fast? Liam refused to let the nurses wipe me down. Ignoring his usual germaphobia, he personally fetched warm water and cleaned the blood off my body. He told me his mother wanted to see her eldest grandson, so she had already taken the baby home. By the time he finished, it was late at night. I looked at his slightly exhausted face and forced a weak smile: "I'm fine. You've had a long day, get some rest." Liam kissed my forehead: "Okay. Wake me if you need anything. Tomorrow I'll take you to pick up Andy, and our family of three will live happily ever after." After he fell asleep, I quietly picked up his phone. To show his "loyalty" to me, Liam never kept a passcode on his phone. But I had never known that he had set up a dual operating system. And the password to switch systems... was Chloe's birthday. 2 As the system switched, the wallpaper changed to a college photo of him and Chloe. There was only one person in his WeChat contacts: Chloe. When I opened the chat, a photo of Chloe holding the baby pierced my eyes. "Liam, look how handsome our baby is. He's going to grow up to be just as handsome as you." That baby was identical to the one Liam had brought to me earlier tonight. The further I scrolled up, the colder my heart became. During the eight months of my pregnancy, Liam was constantly "away on business trips." The days he actually spent with me could be counted on two hands. I didn't want to interfere with his work, so I silently endured the miseries of morning sickness and traveled back and forth to the hospital for checkups alone. Only now did I realize that his so-called "business trips" were nothing more than excuses to accompany Chloe through her pregnancy. Tens of thousands of photos documented everything from Chloe's pregnancy to her delivery. Liam personally cooked nutritious meals for her every day, walked with her, shopped with her, and even cupped his hands to catch her vomit when she had morning sickness. He never left her side during any of her prenatal checkups. His deep, affectionate gaze looked at her as if she were a priceless treasure. I had begged Liam many times to help me pick a name for our baby. He would always take a long time to reply: "Nora, a name is just a label. Pick whatever you want. I'm busy. We'll talk about it after he's born." Yet, the moment Chloe got pregnant, Liam had already brainstormed hundreds of names for her baby. "Chloe, how about we name our baby Felix? It means a bright future." "Or maybe Arthur? Intelligent and destined for greatness." "Never mind. Let's just call him Andy. I don't need him to be extraordinary. I just want him to be safe, healthy, and live a long life." After every checkup, he would buy Chloe a gift—either extravagant jewelry or a limited-edition sports car. "Our Chloe safely passed another checkup. We have to celebrate." He even bought her a European castle to celebrate a smooth delivery. And all I ever got was a single sentence: "Nora, you've worked hard. I have a meeting." It turns out the difference between being loved and unloved is that glaringly obvious. Heartbroken, I put his phone down and bought a plane ticket out of the country for three days later. I got back into bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. Filled with absolute desolation, I didn't sleep a wink all night. The next day, Liam, just like always, had his assistant buy a nutritious meal specifically for me. In the past, I was always touched by his thoughtfulness, believing he cared about my diet even when he wasn't around. But remembering the photos of him wearing an apron, bustling around the kitchen for Chloe, I finally understood that this was just a perfunctory gesture. Money is worthless when there's no genuine heart behind it. Seeing that I hadn't taken a single bite, Liam looked a bit pained: "Nora, why aren't you eating? Does it taste bad?" "It's nothing. I just miss the baby." Liam smiled: "Oh, so you miss Andy. I miss him too. I didn't understand it before, but now that I'm a dad, I realize I don't want to be apart from him for even a second. Our Andy really is the cutest baby in the world." "Mom is absolutely thrilled to have her eldest grandson. She's celebrating at the main estate right now. We'll go pick Andy up in a bit." I didn't say anything. I had already decided to leave anyway; he could do whatever he wanted. When we arrived at the main estate, the first thing I saw was my mother-in-law and Chloe holding Andy, playing with him. Chloe was dressed head-to-toe in limited-edition haute couture, glowing with vitality, showing absolutely no signs of postpartum fatigue. My mother-in-law was doting on the baby while simultaneously feeding Chloe bird's nest soup. Truly top-tier treatment. Seeing me, Chloe spoke to my mother-in-law with feigned innocence: "Auntie, please don't be so good to me. People will think I'm your daughter-in-law. Nora might get jealous. She's weak right now, you should give this bird's nest to her." My mother-in-law followed her gaze and looked at me. Seeing that I was still wearing the blood-stained clothes from the day of my accident, she looked disgusted: "Is my son starving you or something? Wearing such unlucky clothes... are you intentionally trying to embarrass our family? Look at Chloe! She also just had a baby, and she's doing so much better than you. You're just overly dramatic." "You couldn't just sit still. Running around while heavily pregnant—it's a wonder you didn't fall to your death. And you have the nerve to play the victim here? Thank goodness my precious grandson is fine, otherwise I'd make Liam divorce you immediately." "You knew you were breastfeeding, yet you carelessly took medication! If Chloe hadn't been here to help nurse him, my grandson would have starved to death because of you, you bad omen! I'm announcing right now that I'm taking Chloe as my goddaughter. From now on, just like Liam, she will call me Mom." I knew my mother-in-law never liked me. She thought I wasn't good enough for Liam, that I was far inferior to Chloe—his beautiful, sweet-talking childhood sweetheart who always knew how to make her happy. It wasn't until Chloe married someone abroad and I got pregnant that she finally, reluctantly, accepted me as her daughter-in-law for the sake of the child. But whenever we met, her sarcastic remarks and mocking tone were never far behind. In the past, Liam would always defend me. Not to mention, the day we went to the mall, he was the one who insisted I go, saying he wanted to buy gifts for our unborn baby. But now, his eyes were glued to Chloe, filled with unconcealed tenderness. Holding Andy, Chloe walked over to him, playfully hooking her arm through his: "Liam, did you hear that? Auntie just took me in as her goddaughter. My dear big brother, did you prepare a welcome gift for your little sister?" Liam pinched her cheek with a mix of indulgence and helpless affection: "You little troublemaker. You're not allowed to call me brother." He said that, but immediately ordered his staff to bring in 92 limited-edition, luxury mink coats, fully accessorized with matching jewelry. "I know you love fashion, but you're still recovering from childbirth. You can't catch a chill. Winter lasts for three months, exactly 92 days. A different coat for every day." 3 Chloe happily kissed Liam on the cheek, acting like a coquettish young girl. "Wow! Some of these are unreleased designs for the next three years, and they're all limited editions! You actually managed to get them in advance! Liam, you really do spoil me." "But you're giving me all these gifts... won't Nora be angry?" Compared to these glamorous, incredibly expensive mink coats, my blood-stained clothes made me look even more like a pathetic clown. Liam froze, seemingly just remembering that I was still standing there. He said awkwardly: "Nora, it's not what you think. Chloe is used to living abroad. You know, their etiquette is a bit more open there." "And about these clothes... I heard she also just had a baby, and her husband isn't around. We did grow up together, after all. I just wanted to..." Before he could finish, Andy suddenly started crying. Chloe gasped in surprise: "Oh no, is Andy hungry again? Mommy will take you upstairs right now to feed you." She then turned to me, offering a falsely apologetic look: "Nora, please don't misunderstand! I'm just so used to soothing my own baby. Plus, every time I say it like this, Andy gets so happy." She turned to walk upstairs with the baby, but suddenly swayed, falling into Liam's arms, her voice weak: "Liam, I feel a little dizzy..." Liam immediately pushed me aside, anxiously catching Chloe, his face full of panic: "What's wrong? It must be postpartum weakness. I told you to stay and rest at the recovery center! Come on, I'll carry you upstairs." My right leg was still heavily bandaged. Shoved by him, I collapsed onto the floor, a sharp, piercing pain shooting up my leg. But Liam didn't even glance at me. In front of everyone, he scooped Chloe up in a princess carry and rushed upstairs, taking Andy with them. Everyone looked at me with mockery, their voices dripping with disdain and disgust: "No wonder Liam spoils Chloe so much. Not only is she beautiful, but she's so kindhearted. Willing to nurse someone else's baby. Not like this useless piece of trash. Not only is she shabby and unpresentable, but she can't even handle a little leg pain! She actually took medication while breastfeeding. Selfish bitch." "Does someone like this even deserve to be a mother? I think Chloe acts more like Andy's mom, and she loves him more, too. Andy even looks a bit like Chloe. The baby probably finds Nora embarrassing too and doesn't want to look like her. Chloe and Liam are such a perfect match. It's a real shame they didn't get married." Instead of defending me, my mother-in-law looked at me with even more disgust and scolded: "Why are you still crawling on the floor like a dog?! If you want to beg for food, get out and beg on the streets! Our family doesn't feed pathetic, useless women like you." "You don't care about your own son, and you can't keep your husband's heart. I heard you can never have children again? My son marrying a wife like you is the biggest misfortune of eight lifetimes! Get out of my sight! Every time I look at you, it takes ten years off my life." Humiliation flooded my heart. Thinking of the divorce agreement already saved on my phone, I said nothing. I struggled to my feet and limped upstairs toward the study. I put the printed divorce agreement into my bag and went to the guest room to find Liam. But they weren't in the guest room. There was only the maternity nurse, holding a well-fed Andy, resting. I was confused, until I heard ambiguous, unmistakable sounds coming from what used to be Liam's and my master bedroom. The door wasn't fully closed. Chloe was straddling Liam, her blouse completely open, her voice seductive: "Liam, I have too much milk. Andy eats so little, I'm so engorged." "I feel so uncomfortable... help me suck it out, please~" Liam hesitated: "Chloe, don't do this. You just gave birth two days ago; your body can't handle it. You already took such a huge risk hiding this from your husband to have my baby, I can't hurt you anymore..." Chloe pressed his head down: "Silly Liam, I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of? Having your child was my own choice. He's always away on business; he has no idea. Come on... don't you want to taste what it's like to fight a bloody battle?" Unable to hold back any longer, Liam opened his mouth and latched on. The sounds coming from inside grew increasingly obscene. My stomach churned with nausea. Unable to watch another second, I fled the estate like I was escaping a nightmare. It wasn't until I breathed the fresh air outside that the suffocating feeling slightly lifted, but the tears wouldn't stop falling. Liam, you knew I was right downstairs! How could you do something like that?! In OUR bedroom?! I sat despondently by the front door. I don't know how much time passed when suddenly, a foul-smelling liquid was dumped over my head. Chloe suddenly appeared, smiling provocatively: "Nora, how does my son's urine taste? Did Liam look good totally captivated by my body?" She had done it on purpose. She wanted me to see. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Look at you now. Your son is dead, you're crippled in one leg... If I were you, I would have killed myself a long time ago. What's the point of living?" "So what if you married Liam and got pregnant? In the end, didn't he still suffocate your son to death to clear the path for me and my baby? And he even made sure you could never have another one." "I even have a video of the exact moment your son died. Want to see how his little face turned from red to purple? It's spectacular." I stared dead at her phone screen, watching my baby slowly suffocate to death. My entire body trembled uncontrollably. How could she talk about murdering a child so callously?! I raised my hand high, ready to strike her, but Chloe suddenly pulled out a dagger and slashed her own chest hard. Blood soaked through her shirt. The dagger clattered to the floor, and she let out a piercing scream. The next second, someone shoved me violently to the ground. Liam gathered Chloe into his arms, turning to roar at me: "Nora, have you lost your fucking mind?!" 4 Before I could even speak, Chloe started sobbing pitifully: "Liam, I was worried Nora would be upset that I was nursing Andy. I came out to explain things to her, but she accused me of trying to steal her baby! She said she was going to cut my breasts off so I could never nurse a baby again!" "Waaah, I just felt so bad seeing Andy go hungry! I just love the baby! How could she do this to me?!" Liam looked at me, his face dark as a thundercloud: "It was your own clumsy fault you fell down the stairs and broke your leg! That's why everything is a mess! Why are you taking it out on Chloe?!" "You're an unfit mother! You took medication, so you can't breastfeed! Chloe is trying to help you out of the goodness of her heart, what gives you the right to attack her?! If you don't love your child, does that mean no one else is allowed to love him either?! Apologize to Chloe immediately!" I'm an unfit mother? I don't love my child? Tears streamed down my face. I roared at him furiously: "I'm a bad mother?! What about you?! Do you have the guts to tell me exactly why I fell down those stairs?! Where is my real child?! And what exactly were those pills I took?!" Liam frowned: "Andy is sleeping perfectly fine in the nursery! And those pills were for your leg pain! You know all this!" "As for falling down the stairs, obviously you were careless! With so many people around, why would someone specifically push you? You're useless, and you have the nerve to hurt Chloe?! You're a mother yourself, how could you have the heart to hurt another mother?! Apologize to Chloe right now!" Right. With so many people around, why was I the only one who got pushed? Looking at his self-righteous, arrogant face, I suddenly burst out laughing. This was my husband. A complete, unredeemable liar. A murderer! I picked up the dagger from the floor and, using every ounce of strength I had, slashed my own chest over a dozen times, until blood soaked through my entire shirt. Liam was absolutely shocked: "Nora, what are you doing?! Stop it right now!" I dropped the dagger and looked at him calmly: "Liam, you're right. I shouldn't hurt another mother. So I am atoning to your true love. Is this sincere enough for you?" With that, I turned and walked away. Watching the trail of blood beneath my feet and my stumbling figure, Liam tried to come help me, but Chloe threw her arms around his neck. "Liam, it hurts so much. Can you take me to the hospital? We can't let our Andy go hungry." After a moment of internal struggle, Liam finally picked Chloe up and walked in the opposite direction. A few hours later, Liam called: "Nora, did you treat your wounds? Don't worry, I had them use an ointment on Chloe that won't affect her nursing. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that today." "But the doctor said the medication you took makes it unsafe for you to breastfeed. Chloe has plenty of milk, and formula isn't nutritious enough. Andy still needs her help. I'm taking care of her as a way of showing gratitude. Don't overthink it." I replied flatly: "I'm fine. Take good care of her. Don't let the baby go hungry." "I knew my wife was the most understanding. I've already spoken to my mom; she won't bully you anymore." "You gave the Sterling family a son; you are our greatest hero. The day after tomorrow, I'm throwing a celebration party for you to make up for today. Wait for me." The local news broadcasted all night about how the CEO of the Sterling Group, enraged on behalf of his beloved, chartered helicopters overnight to fly in dozens of top national specialists just to treat a minor scratch. I pulled out some iodine and blood-clotting powder and simply bandaged my own wounds. The next day, Liam still hadn't returned. I packed all my belongings and donated them to charity. The marriage certificate I had once cherished so deeply was torn into tiny pieces and thrown into the trash. At noon on the third day, Liam sent me a WeChat message: "Nora, I'm done with work. I'm heading to the hotel to check on the venue setup. I'll have my assistant pick you up this afternoon." In reality, he was holding Chloe's hand, carrying Andy, and sweeping through all the major luxury jewelry boutiques in the mall. Basking in the envious gazes and blessings of all the sales associates. "Mr. Sterling is so devoted to his wife and child! My sales targets for the next twenty years have just been met! This family of three is absolutely gorgeous." "But I heard Mr. Sterling booked the cheapest banquet package at the hotel today. Apparently, it's a celebration for his wife having a baby." "You must be mistaken! With how much Mr. Sterling spoils his wife, would he book something that cheap? Did you see the necklace Mrs. Sterling is wearing? Mr. Sterling bought it for her this morning. It costs enough to buy ten of those hotels." And I watched all of this from the floor above, having just finished buying a suitcase. I didn't reply to his message. I hired a local courier to deliver the divorce agreement and a few documents to the banquet venue later. After doing that, I put on my sunglasses and headed straight to the airport. A few hours later, Liam finally finished his shopping spree with Chloe and Andy and arrived at the hotel. But he was informed that I hadn't shown up yet. Liam checked the time. It had been an hour since we were supposed to meet. He found it strange; I was never late for dates with him. Just as he was about to call me, his assistant ran over in a panic, holding a stack of documents: "Mr. Sterling, bad news! The Madam is gone! Someone just dropped these off!"
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