Chapter 1
“Mr. Hayes, your children with Ms. Blackwood are perfectly healthy. However, as they are triplets, there’s a risk of premature birth for the surrogate. Please be prepared.”
I thought I’d simply overheard someone else’s private conversation. I was about to slip away quietly.
But then, his familiar yet chillingly unfamiliar voice echoed from the room.
“As long as the babies are fine. She’s not important.”
My heart clenched. My steps froze at the doorway.
“Oh, Jaxson,” Sera’s voice was a soft, helpless sob. “It’s all my fault for having a weak body, for not being able to carry a pregnancy. Otherwise, I’d truly want to bear your child myself.”
“But isn’t this unfair to Harper? After all, she aborted your child just to…”
A sharp, derisive laugh cut her off. “She had it coming!”
Jaxson’s voice was so cold it sent a shiver down my spine.
“If she hadn’t secretly messed with the condoms, how would she have gotten pregnant in the first place? But even if she tried to trick me, I’d never have let her keep that baby!”
His voice softened, directed at Sera. “Sera, besides the title of Mrs. Hayes, my fortune and my children are only for you!”
“Besides, you’re so fragile, so delicate. You deserve to be pampered. Dangerous things like carrying a child? Of course, she should handle that.”
It felt like someone had violently smashed my chest. A silent, excruciating pain spread through me, and cold sweat drenched my back.
Jaxson’s voice continued.
“You’re just too kind, always thinking of her. Truth is, I haven’t wanted her for a long time… But since she insists on being Mrs. Hayes, then she’ll pay the price!”
“Once she gives birth, I’ll just find some excuse, say she’s tainted, and never touch her again!”
“Sera, relax. I belong only to you!”
I stood outside the door, my body stiff, my heart a stone thrown into the deep ocean. I was suffocating, unable to make a sound.
My prenatal check-up was supposed to be this weekend, but these past few days, I’d been plagued by a gnawing unease.
I was terrified something might go wrong with the babies inside me, jeopardizing the ransom. That’s why I’d rushed to the fertility clinic today.
But I never imagined I’d walk into this.
No wonder!
No wonder when I told Jaxson I was pregnant, he only stayed silent. And within days, he claimed his investments had failed, that he owed a massive debt.
For months, I’d lived in constant fear because of him, plagued by sleepless nights.
I even aborted my own child and risked my life with this high-risk surrogacy, all just to get him back safe and sound.
Turns out, this entire charade, from beginning to end, was a calculated scheme against me!
My fingers trembled, my legs felt like jelly, my breath came in ragged gasps.
Tears, hot and unstoppable, flooded my eyes.
I fought back the rising nausea, forcing myself to turn around. My steps faltered as I stumbled out of the clinic.
With every step, the crack in my heart widened.
I pulled out my phone, my fingers so cold they barely gripped it.
Scrolling to a message buried deep in my inbox, I slowly typed a reply.
“Damian, I’m in. I’ll do what we talked about.”
“Please help me arrange the surgery again. This weekend.”