###Chapter 1

"Ms. Lancaster, due to the severe physical trauma you suffered, the chances of you becoming pregnant in the future are extremely small."

That medical verdict once made me feel that life was worse than death. Yet in the twenty-fifth year of my marriage, I unexpectedly became pregnant at an advanced age.

My husband, Cedric Larkin, wept with joy upon hearing the news. He even set aside a business deal worth hundreds of millions, insisting on accompanying me to a mountainside villa for a quiet recovery.

But on our second day there, my phone suddenly vibrated repeatedly. One notification was a synced update from his sports watch.

[The heart rate you are monitoring has reached 189 beats per minute!]

A second alert immediately followed it.

[Warning! Loss of vital signs detected!]

My vision went black and I felt as if my heart were being violently torn apart.

No, absolutely not! God couldn't take him from me at the happiest moment of my life!

I frantically searched his usual morning running route until I reached the spot where the vital signs had vanished. There, I found the shattered fitness watch.

Still, my husband was nowhere to be seen.

As I trembled picking up the watch, muffled yet familiar panting and whispers emerged from the nearby bushes. My feet were instantly frozen to the spot.

"Didn't that incident ruin her uterus years ago? How can she still be pregnant?"

It was Sandra Lancaster's voice, my adopted sister.

"Who knows? Back then, I clearly instructed them to give her the harshest lesson, to make sure the woman who forced you away would never be able to become a mother. She's already fifty, but she still got pregnant!"

The other was Cedric, the husband I had loved for twenty-five years.

In that moment, my blood felt as if it were flowing backward and the bloody stench of a nightmare from years ago came rushing back.

I collapsed to my knees, unable to stop myself from gagging as my tears fell into the dirt.

How ridiculous.

So the love I had believed in for half my life was nothing more than a meticulously planned scam. In addition, the man I loved most had not only betrayed me long ago, but was also the mastermind who personally pushed me into hell.

I heard Cedric say sweetly, "Now that you're back, I'll make sure she leaves quietly."

There's no need for that, Cedric. This time, I'll grant both of your wishes myself.

***

Hiding behind a large tree, I pulled out my phone with shaking hands and dialed a certain man's number.

It rang only twice before a low, slightly mocking voice came through the receiver. "Who is this? Oh, my dear sister-in-law, what brings you to call me?"

It was Frank Larkin, Cedric's half-brother.

Frank should have been the rightful heir to the Larkin family, but many years ago, Cedric's mother—who was a mistress—used dirty tricks to drive him and his mother out of the house. Not long after, his mother died of depression.

Aside from me, Frank hated Cedric most in this world.

Barely able to breathe, my tears mingled with sobs as the words burst out. "I want to destroy that man, Cedric Larkin! Frank, you're my only hope."

The mockery on the other end vanished instantly. After a moment of silence, the man's voice deepened. "Calm down. Tell me what happened."

Suppressing my trembling, I recounted everything I'd just overheard in broken sentences.

"That sounds just like him," Frank murmured after a brief pause.

Then he suddenly let out a low laugh, tinged with coldness and amusement. "Joining forces for revenge? Interesting. But I think nothing's more satisfying than taking the woman he loves."

He paused, emphasizing every word. "I can help you, but the condition is that you must marry me."

My eyes widened in shock. But as the memories of those heart-wrenching schemes flashed through my mind, the agony scorched away my remaining hesitation.

So, I heard my own hoarse voice. "Okay. Give me ten days to handle the divorce."

"Then, I will come to pick you up in ten days," he replied.

The call ended, but the sickly, intimate sounds from the bushes continued.

Sandra asked flirtatiously, "Then how do you plan to deal with her?"

Cedric's tone was so calm it froze my blood. "In five days, I will be hosting a party for the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. That night, we'll bring back all those people from back then. History will repeat itself. Everyone will know she's a slut and no one will know whose 'wild man' fathered the child in her belly."

My teeth clenched so hard they pierced my lip, stifling my scream.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any more cruel, Cedric's ragged breathing paused. He seemed to remember something, telling the woman in his arms with a tone of delight. "Oh, right. The latest assessment report from the hospital is out. Macie's physical condition is currently the most ideal surrogate carrier we can find."

Sandra cried tears of joy. "Really? So, we can finally have our own child?"

After that, they began calmly discussing how to get rid of the life growing inside me, implant their embryo into my womb and then tell me it was the fruit of my love with Cedric.

Their tone was as casual as deciding the flavor of a cup of coffee.

My heart felt like it was being clenched by an icy hand. I clutched my belly tightly with both hands, backing away step by step.

Even if he had never loved me, we had shared twenty-five years of days and nights together. How could he treat our unborn child and me this way?

"Once the child is born, I will divorce her," Cedric said indifferently.

Sandra seemed to hesitate, cautiously whispering in his ear, "But can you bear to? After all, it's the flesh and blood you two finally managed to conceive. Given my sister's age, she might never be able to conceive again."

Cedric let out a scoff. "It's nothing more than a fertilized egg she obtained by sheer luck."

###Chapter 2

My heart pounded wildly in my chest, as if it would explode at any moment.

In my desperate quest to conceive a child, I had swallowed countless hormone pills over the years. As a result, my once slender figure became bloated and misshapen and my skin lost its natural glow.

More painfully, I found myself lying on cold operating tables time and time again for procedures like fallopian tube recanalization and uterine adhesion release. Each excruciating pain from the instruments churning inside me pushed me to the brink of unconsciousness.

When I emerged from the surgery, drenched in cold sweat and pale-faced, Cedric would always hold me tightly in his arms immediately.

"It's all those bastards' fault, making you suffer like this!" His voice choked with sobs, full of heartache. "I wish I could cut them into a thousand pieces, but they've already vanished without a trace."

At the time, I felt blessed to have such a gentle husband, believing he was the only light shining into my dark life. But now, I finally realize that the child I am risking my life for is nothing more than a "fertilized egg" to him.

A chill ran down my spine as I listened to him confidently tell Sandra. "Your brother, William, will also support us. After all, when Macie returned to the Lancasters, she used despicable means to drive you away out of jealousy. Although you're just an adopted daughter, you're the only family he truly loves."

The irony was that twenty-five years ago, when the Larkin Enterprise was facing a crisis, Sandra took half of my parents' inheritance and abandoned Cedric without a second thought.

And on that same night, Cedric received a video.

In the footage, Sandra, dressed in tattered clothes, knelt on the ground. That woman sobbed as she begged, "Macie, please don't do this to me! I've already left Cedric. Isn't that enough? Please, they're going to kill me!"

By the end of the video, she was assaulted by several men.

Back then, I desperately tried to explain that I had nothing to do with it and Cedric just gently stroked my hair as he said, "Macie, how could I not believe you?"

Still, just a few days later, I was dragged into a dark alley after working late.

Humiliating videos of me were spread all over the internet and everyone mocked me as "damaged goods."

Despite the scandal, Cedric knelt by my hospital bed with a ten-carat diamond ring to propose, using his "devotion" to protect my "reputation."

When the doctor declared it would be difficult for me to conceive, he wiped away my tears. He hired the world's best specialists, promising, "Macie, we will have our own baby."

During my long nights of insomnia, he stayed by my side, repeatedly vowing to love me for a lifetime.

The whole world believed Cedric cherished me above all else. I never doubted it either—until I realized he'd orchestrated this entire charade himself.

It was all a lie.

For twenty-five years, I have lived as a joke perfectly directed by him. I wonder what he felt as he watched me, his pawn, struggle and act foolishly from the front row.

I staggered away, fled in my car at full speed back home and the moment I stepped through the door, I vomited a mouthful of blood.

Lying face-down on the icy floor tiles, my face smeared with blood and tears. I felt despair nearly tear me apart, but for the sake of my child, I had to stand up.

Throughout these years, I was the one who helped Cedric through every crisis. Half of the Larkin Enterprise's success was built on my hard work.

On our tenth anniversary, he had insisted on gifting me 25% of the shares. Although I declined at the time, he told me he would keep that contract for me forever.

I entered Sandra's birthday as the code and sure enough, the safe clicked open.

Reaching inside, the first thing I touched was a box of condoms of a brand I'd never used, with only a few left. Looking further down, I found his insurance policy, where the beneficiary had already been changed.

Sandra Lancaster's name pierced my heart once again.

I wiped my face and hesitated no longer as I signed my name on the share transfer agreement. Fortunately, Cedric was so certain I would never touch this "gift" that the signatures and company seal were already complete.

After calling my lawyer and having him draft the divorce agreement, I sent him a photo of the share transfer contract.

His reply came quickly. [The agreement is authentic and valid. It can take effect immediately.]

A cold smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. "Very well, but I need you to wait a few days before making it public."

Just then, familiar footsteps sounded behind me as Cedric walked in, his brow furrowed. "Make it public? What are you planning to make public?"

###Chapter 3

I quickly smoothed my expression and turned around with a gentle look. "I wanted to tell everyone the good news about my pregnancy as soon as possible."

Cedric's brow remained furrowed, his tone carrying his usual commanding presence. "Why didn't you stay at the villa? Why did you come back alone?"

The strong scent of perfume coming from him churned my stomach, but I steadied my breathing and said softly, "The baby was kicking quite hard and I felt a bit unwell, so I came back first."

Only then did Cedric give a slight nod and casually toss his coat into my arms. "Alright. We'll have your mother come stay then."

I paused for a moment at the mention of her. My adoptive mother was a woman who, for as long as I could remember, had never given me a single warm look.

I once thought she was simply cold by nature, until my parents passed away and she took me back to the Lancasters to acknowledge my relatives. It was then that I saw her true self: how she doted on Sandra, tending to her every little hurt with tears and attentive care, serving tea and water with meticulous devotion.

That was when I knew it wasn't that she lacked love. She simply wasn't willing to spare even a shred of it for me.

And what about my "brother," William Lancaster?

The way he welcomed me "home" was by stuffing me into a dark servant's room. There was no joy of reunion in his eyes, only undisguised disgust and contempt.

"I've spent twenty-five years with Sandra. She is my only sister," he told me. "Blood relations? They mean nothing."

Even the family servants dared to mock me to my face, sneering, "She doesn't even know table manners. She's such a peasant. Look at Miss Sandra, that is true noble grace."

When Sandra and my adoptive mother eventually left after embezzling half of my parents' inheritance, the accusations against me came like an overwhelming tide. "You wicked woman! You drove Sandra away! You won't get a single penny of the Lancasters' wealth! You even kicked out the mother who raised you. You're utterly heartless!"

At that time, only Cedric stood by my side. He insisted on honoring the marriage agreement made by our parents, holding my hand and saying, "You are the true bloodline of the Lancaster family. My wife can only be you."

But last year, after Sandra had squandered the money, she officially returned. It was only now that I understood that not only did I never have a family, but even my marriage was an illusion.

As I hung up Cedric's coat, he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. His breath was so tender it made me shudder. "Darling, I want to announce our good news to the whole world on our twenty-fifth anniversary. I've prepared the grandest party for you and the baby."

Instantly, the cold, calculated words I had overheard in the bushes flashed through my mind. I suppressed the chill in my heart and forced a smile.

I reached for the divorce papers on the bedside table, flipped to the signature page and handed them to him. "Honey, I want to renovate the house, so I need you to sign for the payment."

Just as he took the pen, his phone rang.

Sandra's trembling voice came through. "Cedric, the rain is so heavy and it's so dark. I'm so scared, what should I do?"

"Don't move," he said urgently. "Send me your location. I'll be there right away!"

Cedric hurriedly signed his name on the agreement, tossed the pen aside and rushed out. From afar, he threw back a single sentence. "Sandra's place is leaking. She'll stay at our house for a few days."

He didn't even bother to ask my opinion, as if I weren't the lady of the house here.

As I've grown older, my sleep has become restless. In the middle of the night, while I was drifting in a daze, I heard a faint rustling in the hallway.

Had Cedric returned?

Immediately after, muffled gasps and whispers drifted through the crack in the door.

"Tomorrow, I'll remove her from her position at the company and give it to you. As long as I say it's for her to have a peaceful pregnancy, she'll do it obediently."

The silhouettes of two figures pressed together were cast onto the floor. The woman's voice was soft and tearful. "But I can't bear a child for you myself. The thought of having to rely on her makes my heart ache so much."

She even guided my husband's hand to press against her breast.

It was her own years of recklessness and multiple abortions that had ruined her health. Yet Cedric immediately comforted her gently, dialed a call on the spot and bought a star in her name. He even made a generous donation to the observatory, with their names engraved side by side.

Outside the door, the woman's moans became more melodic. I could only bury my face in my pillow, letting my tears quietly soak through the cloth.

Once upon a time, Cedric had done the same things for me.

On my twenty-fifth birthday, when he learned that my adoptive mother had never celebrated it, he made it up to me with twenty-five gifts, from the longevity lock of my first year to a luxury yacht for my twenty-fifth.

That man said he wanted to make up for all the warmth I had missed.

I still remember him kissing my cheek on that yacht deck, his eyes so sincere I felt I could drown in them. He whispered, "Macie, from now on, I will be your harbor. I want to give you the happiest home."

I believed him. I offered up half my life and a heart full of passion, only to find that at fifty years old, it was all nothing more than a fleeting illusion.