My husband was praised by my friends as the perfect husband in the world.

Everyone said he loved me to death and practically put me on a pedestal.

Then came my prenatal checkup.

My older cousin, Catherina Bow, called him with a farewell message before attempting suicide.

Without hesitation, he abandoned me and rushed off in panic. I was six months pregnant at that time.

My mother expected me to be the bigger person and “lend” my husband to Catherina, who was depressed.

My brother snapped at me, "The only reason you’re still in this house is because Catherina spoke up for you. Whatever she wants, you should give it to her!"

I found it absurd. I was supposed to be their family.

She was nothing but a cuckoo in my nest.

When I finally decided to walk away from all of them, they regretted their actions.

At Unity Hospital, I screamed hysterically, “Callum, if you walk out that door, we’re over!”

He froze mid-step. He rushed back, wrapped me in his arms, and kissed my forehead.

I instinctively grabbed his hand and was unwilling to let him go.

He gently pushed my hand away and murmured, “Babe, don’t overthink it. I’ll go check on her and come right back.”

Then, he turned and broke into a run.

He left me standing alone with tears streaming down my face.

It was disgusting and absolutely abhorrent.

How dare he call me “Babe” and then sprint off to another woman without hesitation?

‘Callum, we are over. This time, I would not forgive you,’ I thought.

My mother, Martha, had come looking for Callum. She grabbed my hand and pleaded, “Mira, please understand. Catherina has severe depression. She’s very ill. Let Callum comfort her, alright? I’m begging you as your mother!”

I was heartbroken. It felt as if a knife had been plunged into my heart.

My own mother was asking me to be the bigger person and “lend” my husband to another woman.

Before I could compose myself, another person burst through the door.

It was my older brother, Gale.

The first thing he did was to scold me.

“Mira, can’t you be more generous? Callum is just keeping Catherina company. Why are you being so dramatic?

“Besides, the only reason you’re still in this house is because Catherina spoke up for you. Whatever she wants, you should give it to her!”

I staggered back and glanced at Martha. She averted her eyes and refused to meet my gaze.

After lecturing me, they hurriedly left.

A WhatsApp notification sounded. On my screen was a message from Catherina.

[Mira, how does it feel to be abandoned again? You never should’ve come back. You belong in the pigsty in Millford.

[I told you before, this family is mine. Everything here belongs to me, including Callum. Whenever I want them, they’ll choose me over you.

[If I were a pathetic loser like you, I’d just die. What’s the point of living like this?]

I felt nothing but numbness reading her words.

Ever since I was little, I had always lost whenever I went up against Catherina.

After I returned home, Catherina had sent me these taunting messages many times.

I showed her cruel texts to my parents and hoped they would finally see Catherina for who she really was.

But they looked at me in disgust.

“Mira, don’t use such shallow tricks against Catherina. You disgust us!”

“You disgust us…”

How could parents say that to their own child?

Later, I found out Catherina had prepared her defense.

She told our parents I had been forging fake rumors about classmates and begged them to “talk sense into me.”

So, trust could indeed be unconditional, just never for me.

When did the real nightmare begin?

When I was little, our family went on a trip. The tour bus got into an accident.

Martha instinctively shielded Gale, while my father, George, held Catherina.

They clung to their favorite children and comforted them, but never noticed me behind them. A trafficker clamped his hand over my mouth and dragged me away.

I cried desperately and struggled with all my might, but I was no match for an adult.

In my heart, I screamed, “Mom… Dad… please! Just turn around! Look at me! Your daughter is being taken away! Please… just one glance!”

Even when the drugs knocked me unconscious, I never saw them turn back.

Upon returning home, the sight of the empty rooms made me realize that Callum had gone to the hospital to tend to Catherina.

I pushed open the nursery door and stared blankly at the pastel pink interior.

A delicate pink crib loomed in the space. It was adorned with toys: a pink rattle drum and a strawberry-shaped plushie.

The wardrobe was fully stocked with frilly pink dresses from the size of a newborn to a three-year-old kid.

When I first learned of my pregnancy, I was momentarily stunned and unprepared for motherhood.

Callum, however, was over the moon.

One midnight, when I woke up to use the bathroom, I noticed he was missing. I found him sitting at his computer in the study.

The monitor’s glow softened his sharp features as he researched how to care for a pregnant wife. He had filled an entire page with handwritten notes.

Only then did it hit me that I was going to be a mother.

Honestly, all my excitement for this child came from Callum.

Because I carried my beloved husband’s child, I grew to love the baby inside me as I learned to love what he loved.

As my belly grew more noticeable, my love for the little one deepened.

Callum was obsessed with buying baby supplies from every major department store.

He persistently insisted on buying exclusively feminine infant products.

I laughed and teased him, “How can you be so sure it’s a girl? What if it’s a boy?”

Callum wore a proud, coy expression as he pressed his face to my round belly. His eyes shone with happiness.

“You wouldn’t understand. This is a father-daughter bond. I just know you’re carrying our little princess.”

Suddenly, footsteps behind me snapped me out of my thoughts.

I turned to see Callum returning home.

He looked exhausted as he approached and helped me to the couch.

“Babe, you’re pregnant. You shouldn’t stand for so long. Your legs will swell up.”

When I was silent, he continued, “Babe, please don’t be mad. It was an emergency. I’m so sorry for leaving you alone at the hospital. It won’t happen again.”

He sounded sincere. I would have thought he meant every word.

But this was not the first time he had made that promise. Whenever Catherina had “an accident,” she always came first.

As he reached to massage my calves, I caught a whiff of a sweet perfume on him. It was the rose scent Catherina adored.

A wave of nausea hit me, and I vomited.

Callum looked flustered as he handed me the trash bin. “What’s wrong? Is it morning sickness?”

After recovering slightly, I answered tiredly, “Not morning sickness. I just feel sick to my stomach.”

“What did you say?” He had not caught my words.

“I said it’s not morning sickness. Your cologne is making me sick.”

He looked hurt.

“Babe, I—”

I cut him off. “Let’s get divorced.”

He froze momentarily before quickly embracing me. He then said in a trembling voice, “Babe, you can’t say that like it’s nothing! It’s hurtful. We’re going to have a child together. How could we get divorced? We’re supposed to grow old together.”

I pushed him away and stared at him.

“Callum, didn’t I say earlier that if you walk out that door, we’re through? Did you not hear me?”

He felt anxious. “It’s not what you think...”

I shoved him away. I did not want to hear his excuses anymore.

Ever since Catherina had returned, he always chose her over me when something came up.

I walked into the bedroom and locked the door behind me.

Tears streamed down my face as I ignored Callum’s frantic knocking.

The baby in my womb seemed to sense my distress and grew restless. I stroked my belly comfortingly.

“I’m sorry, little one. Because of me, you’ll have to grow up without a father.

“I don’t want you to experience what I did. I don’t want you to be abandoned by your father again and again and watch him run to someone else.”

At night, I dreamed again of those years of terror. I woke up from the nightmare drenched in cold sweat.

The memories of that living hell flooded back and made me cry.

The traffickers had sold me to a destitute village, where an old man purchased me to serve his mentally disabled son, John, and marry him when I grew up.

From that day onward, I woke before dawn daily to work, which ranged from washing mountains of filthy clothes, feeding pigs, toiling in fields, and spoon-feeding John.

They even bought an iron chain to tie me to him.

After each day’s work, I became his shadow. I was forced to endure the bullying he suffered from village children.

For every bruise found on his body, they repaid me with twice the beating.

Every night, I curled up to sleep beneath John’s bed.

After six months of sharing meals and living space with him, a strange bond formed between us.

I tricked him into unlocking my chains and tried to escape, only to be recaptured at the village outskirts.

They beat me so badly that they broke two canes across my back.

My body was drenched in blood, and my leg was fractured.

They only treated my injuries to keep me mobile enough to protect their son.

They chained me in the pigsty without food for three days as punishment for escaping.

I was starved to the brink of madness.

I stared at the pig slop with desperate hunger, but my shackles kept me in the farthest corner. I could not even reach the trough.

Three days later, John’s brother, Jack, brought me a bowl of spoiled food.

The rancid meal had green mold. Its texture was sticky and stringy.

It reeked of sour decay.

I gagged.

Even after days of starvation, my stomach revolted at the stench.

Jack stomped my face into the tub of rotten food.

He sneered and said, “If you won’t eat this, you’ll have to starve for another three days!”

I did not want to starve. I wanted to live.

Even if it meant losing all my pride…

I held my breath and swallowed the rotten food little by little.

He turned and scampered off in excitement.

“Hahaha! I won the bet! John’s wife gobbled up what the dog wouldn’t even touch!”

After he left, I threw up all the spoiled food.

From that day on, I developed severe stomach problems.

After meeting Callum, he learned about my stomach condition and began waking up early to make me soothing oatmeal, which he delivered to my door.

My friends all marveled at how I had found the perfect boyfriend who adored me entirely.

I had no idea about his history with Catherina. Had I known, I would never have gotten involved with him in the first place.

I had already endured the nightmare of her stealing my parents and my brother. The thought of anyone close to me having even the slightest tie to Catherina was unbearable.

Five months into my pregnancy, when Catherina returned from abroad, I discovered they had been in love with each other in the past.

The day Catherina returned, I saw Callum truly flustered for the first time. He smoked on the balcony all night.

This was the same man who had quit smoking for months for the sake of our baby.

Perhaps I should have known that with Catherina back, I never stood a chance.

When I woke in the morning, I found Callum bustling about in the kitchen after his sleepless night.

Seeing me, he eagerly served me a bowl of oatmeal.

“Babe, have some of this savory oatmeal I made for you. It’s good for your stomach.”

My heart warmed momentarily.

But then my gaze turned cold when I spotted the insulated lunch bag in his hand.

His face faltered as he quickly hid it behind his back.

“Babe, don’t misunderstand. Mom said Catherina has no appetite and asked me to make some oatmeal for her, too.”

I gave him a bleak smile.

“Callum, while cooking this oatmeal, were you thinking of your pregnant wife or your depressed ex-girlfriend who keeps threatening you with suicide?”