The first time I felt the baby kick, I was so overwhelmed with joy that I recorded a five-second video and sent it to my husband, Carter Vance. But his childhood best friend, Hailey, who suffered from severe tokophobia (the fear of pregnancy), accidentally saw it. That night, driven by extreme panic, she attempted suicide by slitting her wrists. Furious, Carter walked into my mother’s hospital room and pulled her oxygen mask off for five seconds. "I warned you! Why did you send me a video like that?!" "You like recording fetal movements, do you?" "I'll give you something to record!" For five seconds, my mother’s face turned ashen, the EKG monitor nearly flatlining. Tears streaming down my face, I dropped to my knees, begging and promising over and over that I would never send another video. Carter coldly rejected my pleas. He forced me to wear a 24-hour fetal movement monitor. "From now on, for every second your baby moves, I will have someone pull your mother’s oxygen mask for the exact same amount of time." "Until Hailey wakes up from her coma!" For an entire month, I walked on eggshells, desperately trying to keep my baby still. But you can't stop a baby from moving. After watching my mother’s oxygen mask ripped off for the sixth time, my tears ran completely dry. I didn't try to stop Carter anymore. I just pulled out my phone and booked an abortion. If he wanted the fetal movements to stop completely, terminating the pregnancy was the only way, wasn't it? Beep... Beep-beep-beep...! In the hospital room, my mother’s oxygen mask was removed for the sixth time. This time, for exactly seventeen seconds. Watching the heartbeat monitor slowly flatline, my mind went completely blank with terror. "Enough!" "Carter, time is up!" "The baby only moved for seventeen seconds last night!" Sobbing uncontrollably, I scrambled forward to put my mother's mask back on. But Carter’s eyes were like ice. "It was twenty-five seconds." "Chloe, you secretly took the monitor off for eight seconds last night." Delivering the words with chilling indifference, Carter tapped his index finger against his Rolex. Tap. Tap. Until an agonizing eight seconds had passed. He finally signaled his men to let me go. "Chloe, I do not want to see you sneaking that monitor off again." "This is your final warning." My ears were ringing. With trembling fingers, I strapped the oxygen mask back over my mother’s face. My eyes were glued to the EKG monitor. One second... Five seconds... The heartbeat rhythm slowly normalized. My legs gave out, and I slumped against the wall to keep from collapsing. Over the last month, I had tried countless ways to stop the baby from kicking. But it still happened six times. And my mother’s oxygen mask had been removed exactly six times. Every time I put it back on her, I was terrified I had lost her forever. My heart had been shredded and stitched back together over and over again. I was physically and mentally shattered. This time it was twenty-five seconds. What about next time? My head buzzing, I opened my phone and looked at a forum post I had made days ago. [How can I stop my baby from moving in the womb?] A random user had left a mocking reply. [You want to be pregnant but you don't want the baby to kick?] [Then why are you even having a baby?] [Just abort it. Then it'll never move again!] They were right. If I just aborted the baby, the kicking would stop forever. Resting my hand gently on my swollen belly, in a daze, I saw the Carter from the day we found out I was pregnant. He had held my stomach, his eyes shining like stars, asking me over and over again to confirm it. "Chloe, am I really going to be a dad?" "I'm actually going to be a dad?!" That day, he bought dozens of parenting books and followed countless maternal health accounts online. He even created a group chat called [Chloe's Pregnancy Journey]. He pinned that group chat to the very top of his phone, above all his crucial corporate threads. Every time I sent an update about the baby, he replied instantly. Chapter 2 Time and time again, I slowly let go of my anxieties about being pregnant. Until his childhood best friend, Hailey, returned from abroad. When she saw my slightly swollen belly, she started trembling violently, collapsing into a panic attack. Without a word, Carter ripped his jacket off and threw it directly over my stomach. "Cover it up!" That "cover-up" lasted for three months. Whenever Hailey was around, I was forced to hide in corners where she couldn't see me. I confronted him. I screamed at him. The response I got was always the same. "She has severe tokophobia. Why are you picking fights with her?" "Her condition is a lifelong illness. Your pregnancy is only a few months. Just deal with it." The words died in my throat. The pain and grievance spun around me like a spiderweb, suffocating me tighter every day. "Chloe. Did you hear what I said?" Carter’s freezing voice snapped me back to reality. I pulled out my phone and finalized the appointment for the abortion. "Carter. The baby won't move anymore." "What did you say?" He frowned, looking down at me as I lowered my phone. "If you're done throwing your fit, go home." "I need to assist the doctor with Hailey’s therapy." Without another word, Carter turned on his heel and strode away. I dragged my feet, walking alone to the obstetrics department for the surgery. Two hours later, the procedure was over. I have a natural resistance to anesthesia. The nurse escorted me to the recovery room, still wincing. "Ms. Vance, if the pain becomes unbearable, please take the painkillers immediately." "Otherwise, you risk going into pain-induced shock." The nurse handed me a cup of warm water and left. Fighting through the agonizing cramps, I managed to force the pills down. Before the pain even began to subside, my phone suddenly buzzed. [Hey Chloe, wanna see how Carter is 'treating' Hailey?] It was an anonymous text. I frowned and was about to lock my screen. Suddenly, one of Carter’s frat brothers flooded my phone with dozens of photos and videos. Blindingly explicit, intimate photos filled my screen. My entire body went rigid. [Chloe, Carter’s 'therapy' is basically just one step away from them sleeping together!] [The doctor said this is the fastest way to wake Hailey from her coma.] [Don't blame Carter. You brought this on yourself!] My mind went completely blank. It felt like a jagged saw was violently ripping through my abdomen. My fingers trembled, my eyes burning as I scrolled through the endless stream of media. Carter was helping the doctor with Hailey’s "therapy." I always knew he was. But I never imagined it would be this utterly sickening. My finger paused on one specific photo. Carter was leaning down, tenderly kissing Hailey’s neck. My vision went black. When it finally cleared, three words popped into my head. [Chloe's Pregnancy Journey] That group chat had been pinned to the top of my messages for months. But Carter had unpinned his a long time ago. The chat he had created with such excitement was now buried under a mountain of corporate threads. His new pinned chat was [Hailey's Therapy Updates]. I pulled out my phone, snapped a picture of my abortion discharge papers, and sent it directly into the pregnancy group chat. As expected, dead silence. I unpinned the chat, stood up, and walked out of the recovery room. When I got home, Carter wasn't there. I lay in our bed and slept the deepest, most peaceful sleep I’d had in months. I didn't have to worry about the baby kicking anymore. I didn't have to worry about accidentally triggering the monitor. The next day, Carter returned with his bodyguards. His expression was as cold as ever. "Chloe, it's time to review yesterday's fetal movement logs." He didn't waste a single word. He simply gestured for the doctor to step forward. Chapter 3 The fetal movement monitor was removed from my chest, and the doctor began downloading the data. I looked at Carter’s icy face and finally spoke. "Carter, what exactly does this 'therapy' you're doing for Hailey entail?" "What kind of treatment absolutely requires you, a married man, to perform it on her alone?" My throat was raw and dry. I waited quietly for his answer. Carter frowned, opening his mouth to speak. Suddenly, the doctor gasped in shock. "Mr. Sterling! Your wife's baby moved nine times yesterday?!" Nine times? I froze. I had the abortion first thing yesterday morning. How could there be fetal movement? "The data has to be wrong..." I started to say anxiously. Before I could finish, Carter’s brow furrowed tightly. "Chloe, you broke the rules, and now you have to accept the punishment!" "We agreed. For every second the baby moves, your mother's oxygen gets pulled for a second." "Nine times. Totaling two minutes and twenty-three seconds." "Do you want it pulled all at once, or in intervals?" He was as cold and unfeeling as a block of ice. I stared at him in utter disbelief. His phone suddenly rang. "Carter! Hailey's condition just tanked! You need to get to the hospital right now!" The moment the voice on the other end spoke, Carter’s expression darkened, his voice laced with fury. "Make sure my wife completes her punishment. Record it and send me the video!" With that, he turned and marched toward the door. The shock hadn't even faded from my eyes. I panicked, grabbing his arm to explain. "Carter, our baby is already ab—" "Chloe, stop making excuses!" "The way you're acting right now genuinely disgusts me!" The words died in my throat, cut off by the intense revulsion and disappointment burning in his eyes. My brain buzzed with static for several seconds. My fingers twitched uncontrollably. It felt like I was drowning in the deep ocean, water flooding my nose and mouth. I couldn't breathe. Outside the mansion, the roar of his sports car speeding away echoed. My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the floor. "Ma'am, it's time to go to the hospital!" The bodyguard’s emotionless voice sounded. They practically dragged me to the hospital. Standing in the hospital room once again, my eyes were numb with despair. The person lying in that bed should have been me. When the car crash happened, in that split second, my mother used every ounce of her strength to shield me. Covered in blood, her final words before she lost consciousness were: "Thank God my Chloe is safe..." Carter used to hold me, swearing over and over again that he would spare no expense to save her. And now, it had only been a year... Tears spilled onto the floor. With shaking hands, I pulled out my phone and texted Carter. [I am begging you, please don't pull my mom's oxygen mask again.] [Carter, it's all my fault. I never should have sent you that video.] [You can punish me however you want...] [I'm begging you. She's all I have left...] I sent dozens of texts. Every single one sank like a stone in the ocean. I stared at the screen, refreshing it over and over. Carter never replied. "Ma'am, we're starting." The bodyguard held up his phone to record, while his other hand reached to pull off my mother's oxygen mask. I lunged forward to stop him. But I was brutally pinned to the ground by the other guards. Once. Twice. ... Seven times. My mother's oxygen mask was removed a total of seven times. Each interval was longer than the last. My tears ran dry. My throat was bleeding from screaming so hard. Two minutes and twenty-three seconds. It was finally over. The guards let me go. I scrambled forward in a panic and strapped the oxygen mask back onto my mother's face. My eyes were locked onto the EKG monitor. One second. Three seconds. Ten seconds. The EKG line remained perfectly, terrifyingly flat. Chapter 4 "Doctor!" "Save my mom!" "Please, I'm begging you, save my mom..." The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. I clung to the doctor's arm in sheer terror, begging. They shocked my mother with the defibrillator again and again. The EKG line remained completely flat. "Ma'am, we did everything we could..." "I'm so sorry for your loss." The doctor's words buzzed in my ears like a swarm of hornets. I stared blankly at my mother's face, completely paralyzed. Suddenly, vibrant fireworks exploded in the sky outside the window. BANG! POP-POP-POP! The fireworks lit up the night sky in quick succession. I looked up and saw massive, glowing letters spelling out a message. [CELEBRATING HAILEY'S AWAKENING!] Hailey was awake? My frozen thoughts slowly began to turn. I pulled out my phone. Five minutes ago, Hailey had posted a new update on her Instagram. [A month in a coma, but so incredibly grateful someone never left my side!] The attached photo showed Carter on one knee, gently putting a pair of socks on her feet. The tender, loving look in his eyes was so foreign it made me dizzy. So, his gentleness hadn't disappeared. He just gave it all to Hailey. So, Hailey had already woken up. He just deliberately ignored my texts begging for my mother's life. The last remaining string in my mind completely snapped. I put my phone away and walked, step by slow step, to Hailey's hospital room. "Carter, thank you so much for everything this month." "I heard that to help me wake up, you even did that 'special therapy'..." Hailey's shy, coquettish voice drifted through the door. My hand froze on the doorknob. "Don't worry, I'm not bringing it up to force you to take responsibility for me." "I'm just afraid that my being here will cause misunderstandings with Chloe." "Now that I'm awake, I'm planning to move back to the States..." Just as Hailey's tearful, disappointed act finished, Carter suddenly interrupted her. "Why do you have to leave?" "Chloe's baby is due in five months." "As soon as this baby is born, I'm getting a vasectomy." Through the crack in the door, I heard Carter making a solemn, deliberate promise. This was the man who once swore he wanted to have two kids with me, a boy and a girl. And now, for Hailey's sake, he was going to sterilize himself. A twisted, ugly smile pulled at the corners of my mouth. I shoved the door wide open. "Carter, you don't need a vasectomy." "Because our baby is already abor—" Before I could finish the sentence, Carter shot up from his chair. He grabbed his dirty jacket off the table and violently threw it directly at my stomach. "Chloe!" "Are you trying to give Hailey another panic attack by flaunting your pregnant belly?!" "Cover it up right now!" My body went completely rigid. I stopped walking for a few seconds. Then, stepping right over the jacket on the floor, I walked closer. "Chloe!" "I said cover your stomach right now!" "This is your final warning!" Standing protectively in front of Hailey, Carter’s eyes were terrifyingly cold. Seeing that I didn't stop, his brow furrowed in deep annoyance. His eyes were filled with exhaustion and profound disappointment. "Chloe, please stop being so utterly irrational." "Hailey and I are completely platonic." "Our bond isn't the filthy, romantic garbage you have in your head!" Delivering his icy verdict, Carter pulled out his phone, ready to call his security guards. I spoke, my voice shredded and raw. "Carter. I want a divorce." "A divorce?!" "Chloe, say that again!" His jaw locked tight, and Carter froze in absolute shock. "You are the one who fucked up, and you have the audacity to ask ME for a divorce?!" He practically roared the words. His emotions spiraling out of control, Carter took large, aggressive strides until he was standing right in front of me.
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