Chapter 1

"Pain..." I clenched the bedpost so tightly that my nails nearly pierced the wooden grain. Each contraction felt like a blunt knife sawing back and forth along my spine. Bead-sized sweat rolled down my cheeks, soaking through my silk nightgown, and my vision blurred into darkness. Noah Smith stood by the bed in a white coat reeking of disinfectant. His fingertips brushed my lower back with unnatural gentleness. "Just hold on a little longer. My sister-in-law is having a C-section today, and all the obstetrics directors are upstairs." I gasped for breath, my voice broken and frail. "My due date is today... please, call an ambulance." My mind was consumed by the fear and despair of childbirth. But the man who was supposed to protect me now felt like a stranger. Suddenly, he clamped down on my wrist with astonishing force. Rain lashed the floor-to-ceiling windows of the villa outside, casting his pupils in a cold light that seemed to freeze me. "After losing her husband, my sister-in-law only has this child left. The heir of The Smith Family must be her flesh and blood. You still have your family to fall back on—why compete with an orphaned widow?" I stared at him in disbelief, the pain and shock nearly suffocating me. So this was how he saw me and our child? Before I could protest, he dragged me out of the room. The marble stairs scraped my ankles, burning hot as blood trickled down. In the -10°C wine cellar, cold air hit me like a blade, mixed with condensation from the wine bottles. My teeth chattered as I curled into a corner of the rack, contractions twisting my insides like a blade. I counted my breaths, praying to survive this endless torture. My phone vibrated in my pocket. I fumbled for it like a lifeline, only to see a message from Clara: Noah booked the top-floor VIP delivery room for me, even imported epidurals. What about you? Tears blurred my vision, my fingers turning purple with cold. I had just started typing when the cellar door slammed open. Noah’s sister, Willow Smith, strode in with a Persian cat in her arms. Her leather boot crushed the blood pooling beneath me. "Stop playing the victim. My brother already said Sister-in-law is the only one that matters." She looked down at me with disdain. "A child from a woman like you is nothing but a bastard, even if it’s born." I desperately clutched her pant leg as amniotic fluid mixed with blood ran down my thighs. "Please... call a doctor..." "Bastards are so impatient to be born," she sneered, kicking my hand away. The cat’s claws brushed my swollen belly, as if mocking my helplessness. "Know why my brother married you? I have a video of you kneeling at the school gate begging him the night The Williams Family went bankrupt." As the iron door clanged shut, I heard her on the phone outside. "Brother, she actually looks like she’s giving birth..." "What? Sister-in-law says her contractions feel like ant bites?" "She must be faking! I’ll stay here and make sure she doesn’t steal Sister-in-law’s spotlight." In the darkness, I endured the pain alone. So I had always been a joke to them. The love I thought I had was just a carefully crafted lie. I refused to accept this. I had to protect my child, even if it cost me my life...