The night my father died. I grabbed some food and headed downstairs to bring it to my husband, who was keeping watch at the funeral home tonight. But at the service, I walked in on two bodies tightly intertwined. The moment Ethan saw me, after a brief flash of surprise, he pulled the woman closer with obvious reluctance to let go, pressing her head against his chest. "Sophia, you're five months pregnant. Why aren't you resting?" "Be good. Go back upstairs. I'll explain later." Despite his attempts to hide her face, I recognized her immediately. The woman in his arms was Lorelei Hart, my father's former mistress. She was only seven years older than me. He didn't want me to see her face. He was afraid I'd make a scene, stress the baby, and end up dead on a cold operating table like my mother. But what he didn't know was this: when someone's heart turns cold enough, they don't make scenes. **1** "Ugh, stop pressing me like that. I can't breathe~" Lorelei twisted out of his embrace, playfully hitting his chest with a coy pout. "What are you worried about? It's not like Sophia hasn't seen this before." "She didn't make a fuss when she was a kid. Now that she's grown up, she definitely won't." Yeah. I'd seen this scene before. Except back then, the man tangled up with her was my father. And the photo hanging in the memorial hall? That was my mother, who died from complications during labor after discovering Dad's affair. Ethan knew all of this. Every detail. Seeing that I truly showed no major emotional reaction, Ethan hesitantly released Lorelei's hand. Lorelei skipped over and grabbed my hand. "Don't blame Ethan. You've been pregnant for months now, and he's been so pent up, the poor thing." Her cheeks flushed pink as she thought of something. "Besides... we fell in love at first sight. The chemistry was so intense we just couldn't help ourselves." Nausea rose in my throat. I yanked my hand away and turned to Ethan with an accusing stare. He gazed at Lorelei with tender eyes. No explanation came. His silence confirmed everything Lorelei had said. Love at first sight. Love at first goddamn sight! My clenched fists trembled uncontrollably. Before I could say the word "divorce," a sharp, twisting pain tore through my belly. I slumped against the wall and slid to the floor. Ethan rushed over in a panic, pulling me into his arms, his voice shaking. "Sophia, what's wrong? Don't scare me." Lorelei crouched down, pushing him aside to hold me instead, her eyes full of concern. "Leave this to me. Call 911! And grab the hospital bag—I think she's going into labor." Ethan frantically pulled out his phone and stumbled away. The moment his back disappeared from view, Lorelei's gentle, caring expression vanished. Her face twisted into something cruel as she leaned close to my ear. "You look just like your mom did back then. Like mother, like daughter." "Think you'll end up dead like her too? Killed by anger, just like she was?" "If I can reunite your whole family of three, wouldn't that make me practically a saint?" I stared at her coldly, forcing out a single word through the pain. "Get. Lost." She covered her mouth, laughing, triumph written all over her face. "You don't know this yet, but your dad? I killed him too. That day at the hospital, we did it right in front of him." "Come to think of it, I basically avenged your mother for you. You could at least be nicer to me." I struggled to control my body, to get away from her. "Revenge? You don't deserve to say that word." She reached out, brushing away the hair plastered to my face with cold sweat, laughing softly. "They say judge people by their actions, not their hearts. So tell me—didn't I make your dad experience exactly what your mom went through?" "Your mom just couldn't handle it back then. If she'd lived till now, she'd probably thank me." My dad got what he deserved! But she had no right to talk about my mother. No right to claim my mother would thank her! "Lorelei Hart, you're delusional!" Looking at her smug expression, I couldn't take it anymore. I raised my hand to slap her. But the searing pain in my belly left me with no strength. Then, the next second, a loud slap rang out. Lorelei's face instantly swelled red. "Sophia, I was trying to help you! Why did you hit me?" She clutched her face, tears welling in her eyes, looking at me pitifully. "Sophia! What are you doing?" Ethan dropped the hospital bag and rushed to her, pulling her into his arms with both concern and anger. "She was trying to help you. How could you hit her?" **2** Cold sweat poured down my face from the pain in my belly. I didn't even have the strength to speak. Seeing my condition, a flicker of sympathy crossed Ethan's eyes. He held Lorelei, gently stroking her in comfort, while saying to me in a soft voice: "Hang in there. The ambulance is almost here." He helped Lorelei sit down nearby to rest, then just stood there watching me suffer on the floor, waiting for the ambulance. The moment the paramedics arrived, he rushed over in two or three steps, frantically pulling the doctor toward Lorelei. "Doctor, check her face! It looks serious!" The doctor glanced at Lorelei sitting in the chair, then at me on the floor. He brushed off Ethan's hand and came toward me. "She's fine. Let's see to the pregnant woman first." Ethan grabbed the doctor's sleeve desperately, blocking his path to me. "How can she be fine? Her face is so swollen!" Seeing my ashen face, the doctor had no choice but to call a nurse to check on Lorelei. Even as they loaded me into the ambulance, Ethan never looked at me once. When I woke up again, I was in the hospital. Ethan sat by the bed, stirring a bowl of soup he'd brought for me. Our eyes met. He reached out to help me sit up. "Don't worry. The baby's fine." I dodged his hand and turned away, refusing to look at him. "Since you and her are in love at first sight, I'll make it easy for you both." Ethan withdrew his hand with a sigh. "Sophia, yes, I slept with her. But I'm not a heartless bastard." "I married you. We have a child together. How could I just abandon you?" "Besides, I'm all you have left now. I won't divorce you." A knock came at the door. Lorelei walked in carrying a fruit basket, draping her hand over Ethan's shoulder. "I'll take it from here. Your assistant is outside—says it's urgent." Ethan grasped Lorelei's hand, looking at her still slightly reddened face with heartache. "I'm sorry you have to deal with this." After Ethan left, Lorelei sat by the bed and started peeling an apple. "You're lucky to be alive." "I was hoping once you died, I'd get your inheritance too." A flash of resentment crossed her eyes. "That old bastard screwed me over one last time before he died. I was barely twenty when I hooked up with him, and he left you ninety-nine percent of everything." Watching her resentment, I found it almost laughable. "If he developed feelings based on how long you were together, he never would've cheated on my mother with you in the first place." And my mother never would've discovered Dad's affair and gone into premature labor. I never wanted anything to do with him again. But when his people found me and made that offer, saying half of it had belonged to my mother anyway, I agreed to meet him. Lorelei bit into the apple and suddenly laughed. "You're right. But it doesn't matter now. I've latched onto another meal ticket, haven't I?" "You and your mom have the same taste in men. Both so easy to make fall in love with me." She leaned down, raising her eyebrows in mock gratitude. "Thanks for that." As she spoke, she forcefully grabbed my hand and pressed it against her lower abdomen. "I've got good news for you. I'm pregnant too." "Should my baby call your mom Grandma? Or Mom?" I yanked my hand away forcefully, disgusted. "Your baby has no right to have anything to do with my mother!" She clutched her belly, suddenly showing an expression of pain. "Sophia, what did you do?!" Ethan rushed into the room, grabbing me by the collar. "I didn't do any—" Before I could finish, Lorelei cut me off. She crouched on the floor, grabbing his pant leg with a pained expression. "Ethan, it's okay. She's just upset that we're having a wedding. I don't blame her." "After all, the island wedding was what she always wanted most." "It's just... my belly..." She suddenly collapsed on the floor. **3** "Lorelei!" Ethan panicked, scooping her up and rushing toward the door. At the doorway, he turned back with cold eyes. "Sophia, I won't divorce you, but what you did yesterday and today crossed the line." "I was planning to bring you to the wedding, but now I don't think that's necessary." "I'll continue handling your father's funeral arrangements. Just stay in the hospital and behave." After he left, security guards quickly appeared outside my hospital room. They confiscated my phone, and someone followed me everywhere, even when I went downstairs. I thought he just didn't want me following them to ruin his wedding with Lorelei. But I was wrong. Three days later, on the wedding day, they locked my door early in the morning, preventing me from leaving. Then two people came in carrying a tablet streaming the wedding live, and positioned it in my hospital room. The wedding setup in the video was exactly what I'd always dreamed of. I found it absurd, but I didn't feel sad. Until after their grand wedding ceremony ended, Ethan publicly announced he was going to bury my father in my mother's grave! "Mr. Blackwell is such a good man, thinking of everything!" "I know, right? How many sons-in-law would consider something like this?" ... Watching the crowd's enthusiastic praise in the video, and Lorelei's deliberately provocative look toward the camera, I trembled with rage and lunged for the phone like a madwoman. But they grabbed me, pinned me to the bed, and I couldn't move. A day after the wedding ended, Ethan called specifically to ask, his voice dripping with superiority. "Are you satisfied with my arrangements?" On the screen, he stood on the balcony of an island villa, wearing a white suit, his posture upright and utterly cold. He knew how much I resented my father. He absolutely did this on purpose! I screamed in fury. "Ethan Blackwell! If you actually do this, I'll kill you!" Ethan raised his wine glass and swirled it, his voice merciless. "Sophia, you should've known when to quit. Do you understand that concept?" A familiar female voice came from nearby, giggling. "You're so ungrateful. Your mom and dad haven't seen each other in years. Now they can finally be reunited. Shouldn't you be happy for them?" She draped herself over Ethan's arm, leaning on his shoulder. "Forget it, honey. Let's ignore her. She's killing the mood." Ethan glanced carelessly at the camera, stroking her head gently. "Mm." The call ended abruptly. Massive rage clogged my chest. I felt like I was going to explode. After taking two deep breaths, a thread of rationality briefly returned, and I suddenly felt something was terribly wrong. "The baby!" I frantically touched my belly. "My baby isn't moving! She's not moving!" Tears poured uncontrollably down my face. I sobbed, screaming at the guards: "Get a doctor! Get a doctor now!" The whole group panicked and scattered. In the chaos, one of the guards quietly approached from behind and whispered. "Don't worry. Everything's arranged."After being pushed into the operating room, the doctor my people had arranged asked me again. "Miss, your baby is quite far along. Are you sure you want to induce labor?" I struggled to control my trembling hands and touched my belly, nodding. "Yes. I'm sure." I'm sorry, baby. This time, Mommy has to choose herself. Mommy doesn't want to be tied to your father who doesn't love you, and Mommy doesn't want you growing up in a loveless environment. If you can forgive Mommy, come find her again in the next life. During the surgery, Ethan called me countless times, but no one answered. He frowned, scrolling through his phone, growing increasingly irritated. Threatening to bury my father with my mother was my breaking point. I shouldn't be this calm. After another call went to voicemail, he laughed coldly. So... she's trying to manipulate me with this tactic? He tossed the phone aside and picked up company documents to review, but couldn't concentrate. Something felt unsettled in his chest, restless. Even during company meetings, he kept spacing out, his mind uncontrollably conjuring the look in my eyes that day. It felt like more than just hatred. "Ethan? Ethan?" Lorelei came over with freshly made soup, tapping his shoulder lightly before sitting beside him, reaching to massage his temples. "Have you been working too hard lately?" Ethan raised his hand, blocking hers, sounding tired. "Any news from there?" Lorelei froze, quickly realizing he meant news about me at the hospital. Her nails dug into her palm as she swallowed her anger and spoke softly. "What news would there be? Same as before. She's still making a fuss, refusing to agree." She turned and tugged at Ethan's sleeve, shaking it playfully. "Come on, don't keep talking about her when you're with me. I'll tell you if there's any news." "Will you take me to that restaurant later? The food there is amazing!" Ethan took her hand, gently caressing it. "Alright. Once I finish work, we'll go." Hearing this, Lorelei smiled and held the soup out to him. "You won't be done for a while. Eat something first." Looking at the greasy chicken soup, Ethan took a perfunctory sip. "Not bad." Then he made an excuse about another meeting and sent Lorelei away. A few hours later, the surgery ended. I was wheeled out of the operating room. Lorelei happened to be holding Ethan's arm, about to leave for dinner. Ethan had just gotten into the car with a smile when he received a message. **[Mr. Blackwell, something's wrong. Mrs. Blackwell was so stressed that the baby stopped moving. She's already gone in for induced labor.]**
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