When I was eight months pregnant, someone slipped me an abortion drug. Blood pooled around me. Sebastian drove through countless red lights, tears streaming down his face as he rushed me to the hospital. He found the top obstetrician, desperate to save my life. On the operating table, I woke up early and heard him talking to my brother: “Didn’t we agree it was just an abortion? Why did you remove her uterus too? Sebastian, what gives you the right to take away her ability to be a mother?” Sebastian’s usually gentle voice turned cold as ice: “Letting that child live for eight months was already my greatest mercy. The position of the Quinn family heir can only belong to my child with Mia. This is what she owes Mia, and she has to pay it back.” It turned out my perfect marriage was just my wishful thinking. Sebastian had loved my fake heiress sister all along. Fine then. I’ll make your wishes come true. After a long silence, Sebastian’s cold voice slowly rang out: “Mia’s child can be raised by her. What more could she want?” My brother sighed: “I’m afraid you’ll regret this someday, Sebastian. I can see you actually have feelings for Nora.” “If it weren’t for her, Mia wouldn’t have insisted on breaking off our engagement to go abroad.” Sebastian’s tone was flat. “I owe Mia too much. I can never repay it in this lifetime.” My brother’s voice filled with anger: “Then you should have gone after Mia! Why hurt Nora?” The atmosphere between them froze. I lay on the hospital bed silently crying, not daring to make a sound. “Why isn’t she awake yet?” I felt Sebastian gently brush my forehead. I slowly opened my eyes and met his instantly tender gaze. All this time I’d been deceived by Sebastian’s gentle, affectionate face, thinking he loved me as much as I loved him. I never imagined he would be the real executioner! He was the one who put a powerful abortion drug in my food, deliberately causing me to hemorrhage, then paid top dollar for the chief physician at the Quinn family hospital. What a vicious heart! For his illegitimate child, Sebastian personally killed our baby. At this thought, my whole body trembled. It pulled at my abdominal wound, turning my face white with pain, though it was nothing compared to my heartache.
My emotional turmoil couldn’t escape Sebastian. He held me tightly, his tone gentle and pitying. “Nora, even though we lost our baby, don’t worry. I’ll always be by your side. Believe me, sometimes loss is a kind of gain.” He tenderly kissed my eyelids. “However sad you are, I’m ten thousand times sadder.” I clenched my fists, blinking hard to hide my unstoppable hatred from him. “How sad are you?” Sebastian looked down at me, his eyes swollen like walnuts from crying for so long. “Incomparably sad. The moment the child died, my whole world went dark. Thank God you’re still here, otherwise I really couldn’t go on living.” What an actor. No wonder I never discovered all these years that he’d always loved Mia. When I first got pregnant, Sebastian posted several messages on social media, ecstatic about becoming a father! Later when my appetite was poor during pregnancy, he specifically learned to cook for me, personally preparing every meal. Who could have predicted this was all his long-game setup for that illegitimate child! Sebastian went downstairs to get food from the cafeteria, leaving his backup phone behind. His password wasn’t my birthday. I unlocked it with Mia’s birthday instead, and chat logs hit me like a ton of bricks. “Sebastian, what we’re doing isn’t fair to her.” During my eighth month, Sebastian constantly traveled between home and abroad, barely spending any days with me. I felt sorry for him, so I only shared good news during prenatal checkups and morning sickness, trying not to worry him. Now I learned he spent those days abroad accompanying Mia through her prenatal visits, checkups, and delivery. The endless chat logs showed his every moment with Mia. He never missed a single important pregnancy milestone. Sebastian rubbed pregnancy oil on her, massaged her swollen feet, even personally helped her with intimate needs. Scrolling further up, they’d argued about custody, until Mia finally agreed to let me raise the child while she pursued her career abroad. I closed my eyes. I remembered when our switched identities were revealed, Mia smiled at me with seeming relief: “I never blamed you for taking Mom and Dad. I long for a wider world. Don’t worry, I won’t compete with you for Sebastian either.” She went abroad to become a light chaser. Mom and Dad resented me for her departure. They barely showed up at my wedding. And Sebastian killed my child for Mia’s sake, just to pave the way for her child. I really envied her. Everyone loved her, not me… If that’s how it was, I should leave too. Heart dead as ash, I put down the phone and sent my mentor a message, agreeing to return in a month to accompany him gathering herbs in the mountains. “I don’t trust hospital food, so I cooked something myself. See if you like it?” Sebastian fed me spoonful by spoonful. My tears dropped heavily into the bowl. He gently wiped away my tears, teasing: “Little kitten, crying from gratitude already!” I lowered my eyes without responding. It wasn’t gratitude. It was sorrow. I only received this treatment because Mia repeatedly demanded it. I was just borrowing her light. Seeing me like this, Sebastian hugged me with concern: “Nora, are you thinking about the baby again?” His mention broke me completely. My tears flooded out. Sebastian panicked, then had a flash of inspiration: “I’ve got it! I heard your sister also had a baby abroad. She’s always on the move—why not bring her child back for us to raise as our own? We can tell everyone you gave birth. That way both sets of parents are satisfied, and you won’t face gossip.” I looked up at him in a daze. If I didn’t already know what Sebastian had done behind my back, I might actually believe he was thinking of me. But I’d already decided to leave and let them have what they wanted: “That works. Everyone wins.”
Sebastian looked delighted, hugging me with a vow-like promise: “I’ll treat you well for the rest of my life, Nora. When the child grows up, we’ll travel everywhere. You’ve always wanted to go back and see where you grew up, right?” He rambled on about a beautiful future, not knowing this perfect new life would never begin, because I was leaving. Sebastian was extremely eager. Within two or three days, he brought Mia and the baby back home and threw a celebration. “I figured at least Mom and Dad should know, and you probably miss them too.” Sebastian watched me carefully, afraid I’d be angry. At the Nora villa, Nora’s parents, Susan and David, fussed over little Asher, their faces full of joy. Mia sat beside them, still like a little girl. Susan cooed over the baby while stroking Mia tenderly: “Mia suffered so much abroad. Don’t worry, this child belongs to the Nora!” I felt my eyes stinging but kept smiling as I stepped forward to greet them. Susan and David’s attitude immediately turned ice cold. “Why the gloomy face? Trying to upset us? Look at Mia—she’s so much more considerate than you. I don’t know what you were thinking, eating random things so close to your due date. Now the baby’s gone, and in the end Mia has to clean up your mess. You knew the Quinn family would be here today, yet you wear all this drab gray to spite us? You never bring honor to this family. We shouldn’t have brought you back—it’s kept Mia away all these years, getting bullied abroad.” I knew my parents looked down on me. They thought I couldn’t bring them glory, that I wasn’t worthy of being the Nora heiress. Unfortunately, Mia—the daughter who made them so proud—wasn’t their biological child. Only after Mia went abroad and the Quinn family insisted on me did they reluctantly accept reality, becoming even more dissatisfied with me. At the wedding, David didn’t walk me down the aisle. Susan sat in her seat with a sour expression. Sebastian used to defend me, but now his eyes were glued to Mia, full of tender affection. He’d completely forgotten that my baby died because he slipped abortion drugs into the food, exploiting my trust. Mia walked over holding the baby, smiling sincerely: “Look at little Asher. Isn’t he adorable?” He really was adorable. His eyes looked just like Mia’s, his lips and chin carved from the same mold as Sebastian. My fingertips brushed the child’s cheek, overwhelming hatred rising in my eyes. But why should he live well and enjoy a wealthy, beautiful life when my baby was poisoned to death without ever seeing this world! “Asher?” My mouth tasted bitter as I forced a smile: “It really is a nice name.” Noticing something wrong with the baby, my hand slid toward his neck. Before I could do anything, Mia screamed: “What are you trying to do to my child?” The next second, Sebastian violently shoved me to the ground, roaring at me: “Nora, what are you trying to do to Asher? Just because your own baby died, you want to harm your sister’s child? Are you even human?” I sat sprawled on the floor, my palms scraped raw against the ground, the pain tearing through me. But Sebastian didn’t even glance at me. He and Mia each held the crying child, like a real family of three. Susan and David glared at me angrily, jumping to conclusions without asking questions: “Nora, look at yourself. What about you compares to Mia? You’re so petty and dark-hearted, you won’t even spare such a small child. You’re an animal! What are you still doing on the floor? Get out of here. Don’t ruin our mood. You’ve completely spoiled the day.” The Quinn family elders who’d just arrived asked what happened, their eyes filled with disappointment: “We don’t blame you for accidentally losing the baby. Even though you can’t have children anymore, the Quinn family never planned to divorce you. But why would you go after a tiny infant? Whether you agree or not, Mia’s child must be our family heir. That’s unchangeable fact. Go home and reflect on yourself.” In that moment I wanted to say nothing, but ultimately considering the child’s life was innocent, I said softly: “Babies can choke on jewelry.” Mia opened the baby’s collar and found red marks. Her face immediately filled with shame. Sebastian told me not to take it personally. “Mia was just worried about the baby. She wasn’t targeting you.” Susan said impatiently: “If there was really a problem, why didn’t you say so earlier? Making yourself the victim for what? Your own child died, and Mia kindly lets you raise her baby. You should thank her!” Everyone stood on Mia’s side, condemning me for her sake. My vision blurred with tears. Without a word, I went upstairs and fed the printed divorce papers into the shredder. No more divorce. They didn’t love me or trust me. So forget it. I would completely disappear from their lives. I didn’t want them anymore.
I sat in the guest room for a long time, listening to the laughter and joy downstairs until I fell into a drowsy sleep. When I woke again, the villa was quiet. My stomach hurt terribly. I went downstairs to find food. The servant said disdainfully there was nothing left. If I wanted to eat, I should make it myself. The ingredients were in the basement. But at the basement door, I saw Mia sitting astride Sebastian, her voice coquettish: “Sebastian, what if she finds out? She’ll be so hurt.” “Mmm… it’s so hard, Sebastian…” Sebastian’s lips curved wickedly: “Mia, you clearly love this. Why do you always refuse me? Don’t worry, she won’t know. I also promised not to trap you with marriage, but you have to satisfy me…” Mia wrapped her hands around Sebastian’s head, pushing her hips forward. “Sebastian, just this once. After this I’ll go abroad and never disturb your happiness with her again. We’ll just be childhood friends, nothing more.” Sebastian said nothing more. Obscene sounds drifted to my ears on the wind, making me nauseous and unsteady. I stumbled away from there. Only after escaping that suffocating place did I barely come back to myself, tears falling heavily to the ground. I sat helplessly confused on the curb. The next second, Mia’s soft, anxious voice sounded. “I’m sorry about today.” “Which part? ” I looked into her guilty, evasive eyes. “Just… misunderstanding that you wanted to hurt Asher. I’m a first-time mother, I overreacted about the baby’s safety. I wasn’t targeting you. Also, I promised Sebastian I’d let you raise the baby. I definitely won’t appear in the future to affect your relationship. From now on, Asher is your biological child.” Mia’s eyes reddened as she choked up: “Don’t worry, I’ll go abroad after Asher’s celebration and never come back. I’m leaving Mom, Dad, Asher, and Sebastian in your care.” This appearance of deep affection forced to retreat overlapped with the year she went abroad. My chest ached unbearably. How could she so innocently, so matter-of-factly steal Susan, David, and Sebastian’s love, yet seem so sincere?! I grabbed Mia’s collar. Before I could voice my accusation, someone kicked me hard. The stones on the ground pierced my wound, new injuries on top of old. The pain turned my vision black. Mia cried out. She tried to help me up but was pulled into Sebastian’s arms instead. “Nora, if you have a problem, take it out on me!” Mia explained softly: “Sebastian, it’s not like that. Nora didn’t…” “I saw everything and you’re still covering for her. Since the day she came back, she’s never had good intentions toward you.” Sebastian’s face darkened as he looked at me: “You killed your own baby, yet you dare target Mia. Nora, you really never change!” I never change? I killed my own baby? I tore open my clothing at the uterus, roaring angrily: “I killed my own baby? I ate the food YOU cooked for me, then I hemorrhaged! How did my baby die? Why can I never conceive again?!” Sebastian showed no guilt: “I cook for you and somehow that’s my fault? Who knows what you ate before? Your uterus was removed because your body couldn’t handle it. You have the nerve to question me? You almost became a mother yourself. How can you bear to hurt another mother willing to let you raise her child? Apologize to Mia right now!” Ha ha ha! What righteous indignation! My baby was murdered and I’m supposed to be grateful! “Thank you both.” I suddenly bowed, then turned and walked away. Sebastian’s heart lurched with panic, feeling like he was losing something. But he shook his head. She was just upset. Once Mia left, he’d coax Nora and she’d definitely forgive him. A few days later was my and Mia’s birthday. Sebastian spent lavishly on drones and fireworks for Mia that went on all night, trending topic after trending topic. The Nora also rented out an entire resort hotel for Mia’s grand celebration party. I packed up all my belongings and distributed them to nearby homeless people. The next day, they seemed to finally remember my birthday was yesterday. My brother guiltily expressed a cake to me. Sebastian had his secretary deliver a necklace as a gift. I squatted by the trash can and slowly burned all our wedding photos and marriage certificate, the ashes scattering in the wind. Early on the third day, Sebastian called me: “Nora, I forgive you for what happened before. Today is Asher’s celebration. Dress nicely. I’ll have my secretary pick you up at noon.” I agreed with a smile, as if truly without hard feelings. After hanging up, I changed into the old clothes I’d worn when I was first found, heading straight for the hotel. I never showed up at Asher’s celebration. Sebastian’s expression darkened. Nora was throwing tantrums at a time like this, becoming more and more unreasonable. He forcibly suppressed his growing unease. He coldly ordered people to find me. When Susan and David heard, their faces also darkened: “Outrageous! I’ve been saying we should have let Mia marry into the Quinn family instead.” Elizabeth Quinn, Sebastian’s mother, frowned slightly but said nothing. Just then, someone rushed in panicking: “Something terrible happened, Mr. Quinn! Your wife jumped off the building!!”
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