Chapter 1
My fists clenched, my eyes burning red, my whole body shaking with pure rage. The sounds from the room continued, sweet whispers turning into fervent kisses.
“Liam, my love, I remember everything you’ve done for me. You’ve worked so hard. Let me show you my gratitude.”
“Stop, darling, you’re pregnant.”
The tenderness Liam showed her, a tenderness he had never shown me, made my entire body ache, numb with pain. For eight years, he’d often held me, comforting me about our lost children, making me feel eternally guilty. He had suggested, with feigned anguish, that Chloe help us have a child. I couldn’t bear to see him suffer, so I agreed.
I never, never imagined that the twelve children in my womb had been murdered by his own hands, all so he could be with Chloe.
I turned and walked away, immediately sending the video I’d just recorded to his mother, Mrs. Davies. Mrs. Davies arrived quickly. The sounds from the room hadn’t stopped. As she listened, her face turned a terrifying shade of dark. I wanted to stop her, but she kicked the door open, ignoring everything else.
Liam and Chloe gasped in shock, scrambling to pull the covers over their naked bodies.
“Mom? What are you doing here?”
Mrs. Davies landed a resounding slap across Liam’s face. The sickeningly sweet scent of their betrayal still hung in the air. I stopped at the doorway, mortified. Mrs. Davies’ shoulders heaved with fury. She pulled out her phone and played the video I’d sent her.
“You animal! Those were your own flesh and blood! How could you do such a thing?”
Liam finally realized what was happening, his face contorting with anger. He glared at me, his eyes burning with hatred, his jaw clenched tight. “You disgust me, Avery! How dare you tattle on me?”
My heart turned to ice. I just stared at him, utterly heartbroken. He seemed to realize there was no point in pretending anymore. He gently stroked Chloe’s belly, then tossed a vasectomy report onto the bed.
“Mom, you want a grandchild, right? The baby in Chloe’s belly will be the only child I’ll ever have. I’ve had a vasectomy. I can’t have any other children.”
Mrs. Davies looked utterly shattered, her face drained of color. She swayed, almost collapsing, but I managed to catch her just in time. The report clearly stated that Liam’s vasectomy was permanent, with no possibility of reversal. Chloe, tears welling in her eyes, nestled gratefully into Liam’s embrace. She met Mrs. Davies’ gaze, her expression defiant.
“Auntie, you forced me away once. But now, I’m carrying the only Davies heir. Do you really want to send me away again, and let your family line die out?”
Mrs. Davies’ face flushed with anger, then slowly softened. She looked at me, a flicker of guilt in her eyes. “Avery, this is the Davies family’s only child. Be the bigger person, darling. Don’t fight them on this. The Davies family has wronged you, I know, but I promise you, the Lady Davies title will always be yours.”
My face went deathly pale. I instantly understood her true intention. She wanted me to swallow my pain, to endure it until the baby was born.
Before I could even respond, Liam’s voice cut in, full of resentment. “Mom, I don’t understand why you’re so against Chloe and me being together. Is it just her family background? Avery is nothing but a down-on-her-luck heiress herself. If I stayed with her, imagine how many people in this city would mock me for marrying into a bankrupt family?”
He looked at me with utter contempt, the disgust in his eyes a sharp stab to my heart. He gritted his teeth. “Avery, even if you pretend to be the bigger person, I will never love you.”