"D-Doctor, are you sure you're not mistaken?"

Eleanor's voice trembled despite her effort to steady it. She stared at the man in the white coat in front of her as darkness swam at the edges of her vision.

"How is that possible? I…"

In her previous life, this child didn't exist.

The doctor didn't seem surprised by her reaction. He simply slid the ultrasound report toward her and said evenly, "Ms. Sutton, you're six weeks pregnant. There's no mistake. It's written clearly in the report."

He paused, glanced at her pale face, and softened his tone slightly, though his words remained cruel.

"You're showing severe signs of threatened miscarriage. I've prescribed medication to stabilize the pregnancy, and you'll need strict bed rest. If you don't manage to keep this baby, given your physical condition, it may be very difficult for you to conceive again in the future."

Eleanor's gaze slowly dropped to her still-flat belly, and her hand moved there on its own.

A tiny life was growing inside her.

This sudden, unexpected variable sent waves crashing through the calm she'd maintained since her rebirth, stirring her heart into turmoil for the first time.

When she walked out of the hospital, the blazing summer sun stung her eyes.

She instinctively pulled out her phone and opened her chat with Harrison, only to find it empty.

During the days she'd been hospitalized, he'd been just as he'd been in her previous life. He hadn't given her a single call or message.

Should she tell him that they had a child?

The thought barely formed before she crushed it herself, her heart aching with that familiar, dull pain that felt like it had been ground down again and again.

What would telling him change? He already had a child now.

If anything, he might even think she was lying to compete for his attention.

She didn't dare gamble, and she didn't want to.

…

The moment Eleanor stepped through the front door, the broken moans of a woman and a man's heavy breathing drifted down from the second floor, obscene and piercing to the ears.

She paused mid-motion while changing her shoes, her expression calm and unsurprised.

Step by step, she walked upstairs. The sounds grew clearer until she stopped in front of the nursery door.

Through the narrow crack, Winona's dress was bunched around her legs as she sagged bonelessly in Harrison's arms. The flush on her face hadn't faded, and the corners of her eyes were still damp.

Beneath them was the little bed Eleanor had personally chosen for their future child.

Her stomach churned violently, and she nearly retched.

"Harry, I really love this room," Winona said in a hoarse, post-intimacy voice. "Let's use it for our baby later, okay? But the moon lamp is too sharp. Can we replace it?"

"Sure," Harrison replied, sounding mildly helpless but indulgent all the same. "Those were just thrown together before. If you don't like them, I'll have someone come replace everything tomorrow."

Thrown together?

Eleanor's mind instantly flashed back to the sight of Harrison carrying that moon lamp home, eyes bright with excitement like a child eager to show off a toy.

"Look, honey. Our baby will never have to be afraid of the dark," he had said.

While she was lost in that memory, Harrison's gaze fell on Winona's abdomen, his eyes filled with a tenderness Eleanor had never once seen directed at her.

"Winona, don't worry. I'll give our baby the very best this world has to offer."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Winona suddenly lifted her head. Her gaze slipped precisely past Harrison's shoulder and met Eleanor's cold eyes through the crack in the door.

A flicker of triumph crossed Winona's lips before she buried herself back in Harrison's arms, her voice turning tearful and vulnerable.

"Harry, you'll always treat me this well, right? I'm so scared. I heard Eleanor's health has always been poor, and the doctor said it'd be hard for her to have children. If… I mean, if someday she did get pregnant, would you stop loving our baby?"

Harrison patted her back gently, completely unaware of Eleanor standing outside the door, assuming Winona's reaction was just pregnancy-induced anxiety.

"You're overthinking it," he coaxed. "This is my first child. Everything I have in the future will belong to him."

His voice was impossibly gentle, yet every word cut into Eleanor like a blade.

"Even if Eleanor really did have my child, I'd love them just the same. Don't worry."

"Really?" Winona nuzzled closer, her voice filled with satisfaction and delight. "Harry, you're the best."

Outside the door, Eleanor let out a silent scoff.

Love them the same, huh? How generous.

She lowered her gaze to the ultrasound report in her hand, her fingers whitening from the force of her grip.

She would never allow her baby to be tainted by even a trace of this place, and she would never let her child grow up in an environment this pretentious and revolting.

Eleanor calmly pulled out her phone, opened the nursery's surveillance feed, recorded the obscenities, and saved it.

"Mr. Wilbur? It's me, Eleanor. I need you to draft a divorce agreement for me."

After ending the call with her attorney, Bryan Wilbur, Eleanor turned around and saw Harrison walking out of the nursery.

When he noticed her, it was as though he'd only just remembered her existence.

A flicker of discomfort crossed his face before he spoke casually, "Eleanor, I need your help in finding an expert interior designer."

She didn't move and simply looked at him in silence.

His gaze swept over her briefly before drifting away as he continued, "I realized a lot of things in the nursery aren't appropriate for a baby. It's better to have a professional redesign it."

Eleanor watched him with indifference and said nothing.

Was it really inappropriate, or did Winona just not like it?

It seemed Harrison wasn't even going to pretend anymore.

She returned to the guest room, took out the gifts he'd given her over the years, the ones she'd once cherished and displayed so carefully, and tossed them one by one into the fireplace.

Since she'd already decided to leave, there was no reason for any of these things to exist anymore. Furthermore, the thought of leaving them behind for Winona only made her feel sick.

The flames engulfed the music box she'd received on Valentine's Day, quickly devouring the delicate ballerina perched on top.

"No!"

Eleanor felt a shove from behind.

Winona rushed over in a thin nightgown, ignoring the flames as she reached into the fireplace. "Eleanor, why are you burning my things?"

Eleanor froze.

Her things?

"Eleanor, how could you be so cruel?" Winona cried, tears streaming down her face as she looked up at her.

"These are all I have left to remember him by. Why won't you even leave me this much? You already have Harry. In the future, you'll also be… the mother of my baby…"

Before she could finish, Harrison's tall figure appeared in the doorway.

He took in the mess on the floor, and the crying Winona, and his face darkened instantly. "Eleanor, what did you do?"

Eleanor stared at him without saying a word.

To Harrison, her silence was an admission of guilt.

The warmth in his eyes vanished, replaced by utter disappointment.

Eleanor suddenly laughed, the sound light and airy, yet sharp enough to sting.

She turned and went upstairs. Moments later, she returned and dumped an identical jewelry box, as well as all the unburned "gifts" in it, at Winona's feet.

"They're yours, huh? Do you like them? You can have them all then."

Harrison's heart lurched.

He stared at Eleanor's smiling eyes, which held no warmth at all, and a powerful sense of unease seized him. He instinctively reached out, wanting to grab her hand and say something.

"Harry…" Winona tugged weakly at his sleeve, looking at him pitifully. "It's fine. I'm content with just being able to live here. Even if Eleanor burns everything, it doesn't matter…"

"How could it not matter?" Harrison replied immediately. "Forget it. If they're burned, they're burned. I'll buy you new ones."

His thoughts derailed. Seeing Winona's pale face, he ultimately chose to support her instead.

After everything they'd been through, Eleanor wouldn't leave him.

The door closed, and silence returned.

Eleanor's phone chimed with a message from Harrison. "Eleanor, wait for me to return. We'll talk then. Just put up with it a little longer for my sake, okay?"

For several days after, Harrison didn't return.

That afternoon, Eleanor was in a video call with the head of the War Correspondents Alliance.

"Sue, we've received your request to delay your start date," the man said gently. "We completely understand and agree that you can return after giving birth. A child is a gift from God, after all."

"Thank you," Eleanor replied, a rare warmth touching her expression.

Just then, the bedroom door was kicked open.

Harrison stormed in with Winona and slammed a phone down onto the table in front of Eleanor.

"Eleanor!" His eyes were bloodshot, resembling those of a furious beast. "Why can't you just put up with her? Why did you get people to target her like this?"

Eleanor lowered her gaze and picked up the phone.

The screen was flooded with videos and photos.

Some depicted Winona in disheveled clothes after being "kidnapped", some were screenshots of hate comments calling her a shameless mistress, while others were photos of her lying in a hospital bed with thick bandages wrapped around her wrists after she attempted to take her own life.

Eleanor studied the phone's contents carefully, her expression unchanged. After a long moment, she set it down gently.

"I didn't do any of that," she said evenly.

"Then who was it, if not you?" Harrison snapped, refusing to believe her. "Besides you, who would have the motive to target her like this? Who else would use such vicious methods?"

Winona's quiet sobbing beside him only fueled his anger further.

A sudden wave of exhaustion crashed over Eleanor. Even defending herself felt unnecessary now.

She looked calmly at the man she'd once loved and watched him glare at her for another woman.

A faint, almost imperceptible, smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "What now?"

"You're going online right now and posting a statement to tell everyone this was all a misunderstanding and clear Winona's name," Harrison said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Eleanor laughed in disbelief, as though she'd just heard the biggest joke of the century.

"Harrison, are you out of your mind?" she said slowly and clearly. "I didn't do it. Why should I bother to clarify things for her?"

"Harry…"

Winona's timid voice cut in at just the right moment.

She stood behind him in a plain hospital gown, her face devoid of color.

When she saw Eleanor, her body recoiled instinctively before she forced herself to step forward, swaying as though she might collapse at any second. "Eleanor, please stop arguing. This is all my fault… I'll leave after the baby's born. Don't argue with Harry because of me."

The chill around Harrison vanished instantly. He caught Winona as she wavered and spoke gently, "Don't say things like that. I'll take you back to rest."

He turned to Eleanor. "Think it over carefully and apologize to Winona. Otherwise, you won't like the consequences."

Without another glance, he left with the sobbing Winona in his arms.

The mansion fell into dead silence.

Eleanor stood there for a long time before bending down and sweeping the shattered phone into the trash with a blank expression.

It felt like clearing away something utterly insignificant.

…

Three days later, it was Eleanor's scheduled prenatal checkup.

Eleanor changed into loose clothing and drove out on her own. The car had barely left the neighborhood when an out-of-control truck slammed into her vehicle from the side.

The world spun violently.

In the instant before she lost consciousness, her hands moved instinctively to shield her abdomen.

…

When she woke again, she was in a dusty, abandoned warehouse. Several thugs surrounded her, their gazes full of ill intent.

"You're awake? Tough luck that you survived."

Eleanor tried to run, but one of them grabbed her hair and slapped her hard across the face.

"Where do you think you're going?" the leader scoffed. "Mrs. Luther, don't waste your energy."

Blows rained down on her as she struggled desperately, only to be met with even more brutal violence.

A sharp pain tore through her abdomen. Eleanor's face went white as she curled up on the ground, clutching her stomach with everything she had.

"Please… Don't hit my stomach…"

Her voice shook as she begged. "Please… I can give you all the money you want…"

The leader paused, crouched in front of her, and patted her face with malicious amusement. "Oh? There's something valuable in there, too? Too bad. Someone else paid more than you."

He leaned close and whispered, "Mrs. Luther, next time, remember not to offend the wrong people."

Eleanor's pupils shrank.

Was it Winona, or was it…

Before she could finish the thought, she was hauled up and thrown down a staircase.

Her body tumbled over the cold concrete steps, her bones feeling as though they were shattering piece by piece as agony consumed her.

In the final moments before everything went black, she faintly heard the leader making an impatient phone call.

"Mr. Luther, everything's been handled. She's been dealt with. Don't worry. We made sure she learned her lesson, and we made sure Ms. Birch got her revenge."