My child-free husband went back to his hometown for a funeral, and after he returned, he suddenly wanted me to have a baby.

He was one of the best obgyns in the state, so he handled my IVF procedure himself.

After more than 160 hormone shots, we finally heard the baby’s rhythmic heartbeats for the first time, which made my usually calm husband tear up.

Soon, he tightened every part of my routine, from a strict diet to my schedule, and once my belly started showing, he barely let me get out of bed.

I thought he was just being overly protective.

But then, right by my ear, I heard a nasty little boy’s voice.

[Which player starts their mission inside the womb? And she’s not even my mom!]

[Just four more months. My dad will make sure she dies on the operating table so he can keep only his son.]

[After that, he’ll bring my real mom back, and my mission will be complete!]

I canceled my afternoon checkup immediately as soon as I heard this.

Did the system forget to tell him that he wasn’t the only player in this world?

"Doctor! I don't want this baby. Please schedule the surgery right now!"

I squeezed my way to the front, shouting in my head, "System! What's going on with the player inside my belly? Can we get rid of him?"

But my mission had ended long ago, and the system remained silent.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my stomach, and I heard a kid's voice screaming inside me.

[What the heck?! This woman's trying to abort me?!]

[Idiot! I have the system's Pregnancy Shield—if she tries to get rid of me, she'll die first!]

[She better not ruin my chance to become the top-ranked baby in the Ultimate Family Mission!]

Ultimate Family Mission?

It was a mission made for underage players, where you were judged on how well you could build a perfect family.

So he wanted to kill me… just so Ethan Kingsley and his real mom could be together again?

A mix of anger and helplessness washed over me.

I glared at the number display, waiting for my turn when a sudden pain shot through my wrist… I hadn't even realized Ethan was standing right behind me.

His face was dark, his jaw clenched. He gripped my wrist so tightly it felt like he wanted to crush it. "Claire," he growled, "What are you doing on the OB floor?"

People around started turning to look. My heart dropped. I never told anyone I was coming here to terminate the pregnancy. So how did he find out?

I remained silent.

Ethan's voice exploded with anger. "You're trying to end the pregnancy? Do you even know how much this baby means to me?!

"How could you do this to me?" His voice cracked at the end, as if he might cry.

Strangers started whispering and looking at me judgmentally. A pregnant woman nearby muttered to her friend, "What a good husband she has, and she still wants an abortion? Some people really don't know how lucky they are."

Except this wasn't my baby.

I forced my head down, my mind racing for an excuse. "Ethan, I had a dream that something was wrong with the baby… I just got scared."

Ethan was stunned for a moment. He sighed and pulled me into his arms. "Claire, I'm the best obgyn in the state. What are you afraid of?

"If you run around like this again, I'll lock you in our room. You won't get to go anywhere."

My whole body flinched.

It sounded like a joke, but it didn't feel like one…not when I had no friends or family in this world. If he really locked me up… no one would ever know!

He knelt down and gently kissed my growing belly. "Since we're already here, let's go for a checkup."

The cold gel on my belly made me shiver. The baby's heartbeat thumped so loud, filling the whole ultrasound room. Ethan's face softened the second he heard it. But to me, that sound felt like a countdown to my own death.

I fought the urge to push him away, clenching my fists so hard that my nails dug deep into my palm.

He took me straight home after confirming the baby was fine. When we got home, a woman stepped toward us and looked at Ethan fondly.

Ethan smiled at her.

"Claire, this is Vanessa," he said, turning to me. "I went through a lot to hire her. She's very experienced. Since I'm busy with work, she can take better care of you and the baby."

Vanessa Quinn gave me a slow, mocking once-over. "Oh, so this is Ms. Everly? No wonder Mr. Kingsley's so taken with you," she said jealously. I frowned, but Ethan just replied with a helpless smile.

And right then, after being quiet for a moment, the voice in my belly exploded with excitement.

[Dad brought my real mom home so fast! Of course she's jealous. Haha!]

[If he didn't think my mom was dead, he would've never let me grow inside this woman!]

[Fine though… she suffers through the pregnancy, and my real mom gets the reward!]

A memory from two months ago hit me the moment I saw Vanessa's face.

Severe pregnancy sickness had woken me in the middle of the night. Ethan wasn't beside me. He sat on the sofa with his back turned, holding a black-and-white ultrasound image of a fetal heartbeat. I was about to call out to him, but then I heard his muffled sobs.

"You didn't want me to marry… so you punished me by ending your life?

"You're so cruel… I was wrong. Please… come back to me."

Ethan's shoulders trembled with pain. He had just returned from a funeral in his hometown not long ago, and no matter how many times I asked, he refused to say a word.

I had no intention of competing with a dead woman, so I quietly returned to the bedroom.

But now, thinking back… that was Vanessa in the photo. Someone who was supposed to be dead was standing right here, alive. Vanessa had faked her death. The funeral was nothing but a ploy to torment Ethan.

My heart sank.

Meanwhile, the baby inside me cheered. [Yes! My real mom is here, she's gonna feed me so much good stuff!]

[Gain one pound, unlock Smart Brain. Two pounds, Strong Limbs!]

[When I grow big enough, I'll kick this sacrificial lamb to death. Perfect!]

I clenched my teeth in fury, but then I remembered something. Every time I completed a mission, the system rewarded me with tons of items. Back then, I thought life would finally be smooth and happy, so I never even checked the storage.

Looking at this mess now… that was a huge mistake.

I immediately equipped myself with the Heartband and used it on Vanessa. It was a device that would let you feel what someone else was feeling. Vanessa looked fragile and weak, and I was pretty sure she couldn't even lift a grocery bag. There was no way she could be a good nanny.

At dinner, she brought in a bowl of oily soup. I took one look at it and nearly threw up… it was placenta soup. No one knew where Vanessa got the placenta, but she actually cooked it for me.

Seeing the disgust on my face, Vanessa scoffed and slammed the bowl down.

"Mr. Kingsley, it wasn't easy for my aunt to send this over. A pregnant mom wouldn't let me down, right? My aunt had eight kids by the age of fifty. This soup is great for both mom and baby!"

Ethan frowned and said coldly, "Claire, Vanessa made this for you. It's very nutritious."

Obviously, it was nutritious for his precious son, not for me.

But if I refused outright, who knew what they'd do next?

So I forced myself to play along. I took the bowl, held my breath, and gulped it down. The nasty smell churned my stomach.

Then I heard the excited voice of the baby inside me again.

[Haha! Great! I'm so close to completing my mission!]

I swallowed it all, then rushed to the bathroom to force myself to vomit. My nose was running, tears streaming down my face, but I couldn't help laughing.

Suddenly, the voice inside my belly panicked. [What's wrong with her? Why is she throwing up?! System, don't deduct my points! How am I supposed to be born healthy?!]

Outside, Vanessa suddenly began gagging as well because I had equipped the Heartband, making her feel everything I felt.

I saw Ethan gently pull her into his arms, comforting her softly. "What's wrong? Are you tired? It's all my fault…"

That gentle voice stabbed straight into my heart. I washed my face and stared at my pale reflection in the mirror.

'Claire Everly, get a grip! Surviving matters more than whether a man loves you or not. Your mission is clear. Get rid of this filthy couple and the bastard child growing inside you!'

From that day on, I made it my mission to go against whatever that fetus player wanted.

He threw tantrums on purpose, trying to exhaust me so badly that I wouldn't have any energy left to watch that filthy couple sneaking around. But of course every time I was in pain, his real mother Vanessa would feel the same too.

Of course, since I was the pregnant one, I would use every excuse to make Vanessa serve me. She started looking worse each day, like she had aged ten years overnight.

The voice in my belly screamed in frustration. [Damn it! You deducted my happiness points again. What am I supposed to do for the next checkup?]

[How dare she boss my mom around?! This woman is really wicked! Mommy, I feel so bad for you.]

That wasn't all.

I bought exercise equipment to keep myself fit and a tiny camera to track my fitness progress. After working out, my body had grown visibly healthier. The fat I had gained from being force-fed finally started to disappear, and even my terrifyingly huge belly shrank a little.

The baby's voice started to sound weak. [System, if she doesn't gain weight, how am I supposed to get nutrients? I'm so tiny now.]

[If this continues… what if I'm born missing arms or legs? ]

Hearing his complaints made me feel relieved. As long as he couldn't become a giant baby, I still had a chance to live.

As days passed, the ultrasound showed the fetus getting even smaller. Vanessa stormed off to complain to Ethan.

She glared at me in outrage, "Mr. Kingsley, she refuses to eat and keeps moving around. This is terrible for the baby."

Ethan shot me a dark, cold look.

At the hospital, he was always gentle but this time… even with his patients still watching, he lost control and grabbed me by the wrist. "Claire, stop being difficult. This baby must be born healthy!"

Ethan and Vanessa did not just send me home, they escorted me back like I was a prisoner. The front door was locked and the passcode had been changed.

I had nowhere to go!

Ethan got his hands on some kind of medication and injected me with it every day. Soon, I could barely move and was left lying helpless in bed. Vanessa fed me her so-called 'nutritious' meals one spoonful at a time, and my body just kept getting heavier. My back felt like it was going to snap from the weight. I had no strength left to fight the fetus's noisy demands in my head anymore.

Every second was torture.

Maybe because Ethan and Vanessa had realized I couldn't escape anymore, they stopped pretending and cheating right under my nose.

Vanessa sat on Ethan's lap, teasing him sweetly, "If you hadn't married her, I'd be the one having your child."

"All because my naughty beloved decided to fake her death, just to get a rise out of me." Ethan pinched her cheek.

"I know better than anyone how painful a pregnancy will be. I will never let you suffer like this." She smiled, sliding her fingers under his belt. "If I hadn't faked my death…would you ever have realized how you truly feel about me?

"You only learned to cherish me after I was gone. Such a bad boy." Their playful laughter faded and turned into heavy breaths.

They started making out right there, too desperate to even bother hiding it from me!

I shut my eyes. Their moans cut into my ears like knives while the metallic taste of that so-called 'nutritious' blood filled my mouth.

The demon inside my belly was practically bouncing with joy.

[Daddy and Mommy are amazing! My happiness value is skyrocketing. Oh no, I'm too young for this… guess I shouldn't watch!]

They were making love in the place I once called home…

The hospital was Ethan's territory, and he had made himself look like the perfect loving husband there. If I told the truth, they would say I was the crazy one, so I had no chance to fight back.

At worst, I would kill myself and die with the fetus inside. It would feel better than sacrificing myself for their happiness as they wouldn't get their baby.

Just when I felt hopeless, I heard a familiar buzzing sound. [Host survival at 1%. Request for assistance?]