Chapter 1
“This is just the beginning. Harper is vicious and heartless. She owes us, and I’ll make her pay back, one by one.”
At the dinner table, Declan put down his wine glass and smirked.
His eyes burned with a cold fire, as if wanting to devour me.
“You were devoted to Cora, seeing her as a bright moon, yet she ended up like this…”
The man using sign language sighed deeply, looking regretful.
“It’s all Harper’s fault. If she hadn’t schemed to marry me, I wouldn’t even glance at her! She separated me from my love and turned my love into a coma patient. I’ll settle these scores with her slowly!”
Declan glared at me, furious.
Knowing the truth made my skin crawl.
I felt crushed, as if a heavy weight pressed down on me.
Years ago, I loved him deeply, vowing to win him over.
Declan didn’t love me, but I had secretly loved him for a long time.
When he was drugged, I ignored his anger and approached him.
In the dim light, he cursed me, yet pushed me down roughly.
After marriage, I was truly devoted to him. I thought he truly loved me.
But I never expected I could never warm his heart.
…
After saying these things, the men began to use sign language to mock the night they humiliated me.
“That night we got your wife drunk was such a thrill. We went at it several times, trying a hundred different positions, to make her have four kids.”
“When she delivers, you secretly take the baby to us… only then will you get the five million.”
“But aren’t you afraid that if she finds out the truth, she’ll turn against you?”
Declan remained expressionless, his tone light.
“So what if she knows? She loves me to death. No matter how mad she gets, just throw her a bone and she’ll come crawling back.”
In an unnoticed corner, a tear fell.
Relying on my affection, Declan could say such sarcastic things about me.
These past months of pregnancy, I talked to our children every night while caressing my belly.
Even though I experienced morning sickness every night and my belly grew as big as a watermelon, with life-threatening risks, I insisted on keeping these children, not agreeing to the doctor’s advice for an abortion.
After hearing their sign language conversation, I was heartbroken.
Declan blamed me for releasing Phoebe’s nude photos at work, causing her to become a coma patient.
But the person who approved it for me that day was a colleague who had already resigned.
I didn’t know about it, nor did I know he hated me so much for it.
In the middle of the night, I clung to the cold sink, retching, while Declan slept soundly.
When the fetus moved, it felt like my uterus was being punched hard, making my lower back ache.
Thinking about the origin of the child in my belly, the immense shame was overwhelming.
I shakily dialed the doctor’s number and agreed to the doctor’s advice.
Just as I was about to head to the hospital, Declan suddenly woke up.
He stood at the bedroom door, glaring at me sinisterly.
He still reeked of alcohol.
“Going out in the middle of the night?”
He looked down at me, his gaze dangerous and distant behind his glasses.
He had beautiful, alluring eyes.
When he looked down, they appeared gentle and tender.
But now those eyes were filled with disdain for me.
“Such a depraved woman, Harper. Who would’ve thought you’d still want to mess around while pregnant, satisfying others’ peculiar tastes. Does it really feel that good?”
“Truly cheap to the core.”
I looked incredulously at the man who had slept beside me for five years, my eyes reddening.
The affection he once showed for me was completely gone, replaced by indifference.
I didn’t want to get entangled with him, I just wanted to leave quickly.
But he grabbed my hair, slamming my head against the doorframe.
“You depraved woman, you used these tricks to marry me, now who are you trying to seduce?”
Declan pressed my head against the post.
Blood flowed from my forehead, blurring my vision.
Everything went black as I fell hard to the ground.
Before closing my eyes, I saw a flicker of panic on Declan’s face.
In the hospital, even though my consciousness was fuzzy, I could still hear the doctor and Declan’s conversation.
“Mr. Declan, are you sure you want to proceed with the plan to preserve Ms. Harper’s pregnancy? The surgery is very risky; the children might compete for nutrients with the mother, and Ms. Harper might end up paralyzed…”
“Paralyzed or not, the children in her belly are important, they can save Cora’s life.”
The doctor wiped his sweat.
“Last time during the prenatal checkup, I saw her eyes were full of you. Is it really worth it to hurt your wife for another woman?”
Declan, now sober, spoke calmly.
“Cora is the love of my life. She has a bright future, and I have to help her.”
“As for Harper, once she’s awake, I’ll take good care of her…”
Over the years, I had to admit, the young man I secretly loved through my whole youth was actually a complete scoundrel.
I never thought the love I begged for would be my death sentence.
Silent tears fell as I struggled to open my eyes but was sedated with anesthesia.