After Sienna quit, our boss dumped all her projects on me. I was drowning in deadlines when the office suddenly erupted.

"Sienna, you look like a whole different person today!"

I glanced up and saw Sienna sweep in, carrying designer shopping bags in both hands. Chin tipped high, she patted her stomach. "Please! My son is about to inherit a country!"

People stared at her like she had lost her mind. Not long ago, she'd sneer at anyone who got engaged or pregnant, preaching that marriage was a trap and babies were a waste of capital. Now, a few days later, she was claiming she was pregnant.

When she mentioned she had already sold her house, a few coworkers warned her.

"Be careful, Sienna. No one with real status is donating to a sperm bank. Don't get scammed."

She rolled her eyes. "Do you think I'm Aria? That idiot went for IVF without even knowing who the father would be! I'd rather be dead than be as dumb as her!"

Then, she walked over and slapped a stack of invitations onto my desk. "Five days from now, my husband will come to pick me up. Come and see what real wealth looks like!"

With that, she tossed her hair and strutted out.

We were all busy to begin with, and her drama rubbed everyone raw.

"Aria, isn't Sienna your friend? Is she delusional, imagining she has a billionaire husband?

"Anyone donating sperm isn't exactly rolling in it. But now, she's feeling superior for having a mixed-race baby?"

"She sold her house and blew the money on luxury brands. Let's see how she pays for her baby after this! She roasted me for trying to conceive, remember?"

The act that Sienna put on rubbed people the wrong way. They all told me to cut ties with someone that unhinged.

Not long after, Sienna dropped a location pin in the company group chat. It was a five-star hotel.

"This Saturday, my husband is hosting a dinner here. Don't miss it. It's your rare chance to mingle with high society!"

No one expected her to actually pull it off.

The five-star hotel was well known for its sky-high prices. Even a bottle of water could cost three figures.

Sienna's social feed turned into a brag reel, with every post tagging me. It was shot after shot of her dripping in couture and beaming like a cat that got the cream.

I let out a quiet snort. She could go ahead and laugh. It wouldn't be long now.

On Saturday, my coworkers dragged me to the hotel. "There's no way Sienna got so lucky to impregnate herself with the sperm of a billionaire donor. After the way she trashed you, we're not missing this train wreck!"

Right at the entrance was a photo of Sienna with a foreign man.

Just then, Sienna spotted me. She lifted her chin, clutched Andre's arm, and strutted over. "Well, if it isn't my broke bestie. I thought you wouldn't show! Since you don't have my eye for the right donor, you must be dying of jealousy!"

She really did think she had a good eye for these things. But she was as blind as a bat, not noticing there was no warmth in Andre's eyes.

I smiled faintly. "Jealous? Not even close. I'm happy for you!"

Sienna proudly introduced her husband, Prince Andre of Valoria.

"Andre says that the minute our baby is born, he'll be named heir. You still have time to get on my good side. Otherwise, with just one order from me, your company could go under. Aria, you'd be out of a job too."

Everyone sensed something was off, but Sienna was lost in her princess fantasy.

Our colleague, Paula, tugged me aside while Sienna preened for the others.

"Since when does a real prince donate to a sperm bank? And Valoria has strict ranks. They won't crown a foreign woman, let alone promise her kid the throne."

Andre's generosity, though, was hard to argue with. Sienna complained that her jewelry felt too light. Within half an hour, a couture designer arrived to take her measurements and design a custom set on the spot.

The envy in the room made Sienna look smugger than ever.

In my previous life, Andre treated me the same way. When I felt the slightest hint of morning sickness, he would panic and have the best doctors in the world rush over. Even then, I had the same doubt Paula did.

I had never met Andre before the pregnancy. Why would he be so devoted to me just because I was carrying his child? Why did the entire royal family handle me like I was made of glass?

I was nobody special. Apart from carrying his child, there was no reason to put me on a pedestal. So, I kept my guard up and eventually found out the secret.

Meanwhile, Sienna had already swallowed the bait.

A couple of coworkers tried to warn her, but she snapped at them, "You're just jealous! I'm pretty, independent, and smart. Of course, Andre fell in love with me at first sight."

Andre chimed in with a heartfelt declaration of love to Sienna in his heavy accent. He gently rubbed Sienna's stomach. For a split second, I saw a wild look in his eyes that no one else seemed to notice.

Sienna noticed me watching Andre and snapped. She rushed over, shoved me to the floor, and hurled a heel that struck my forehead. "Aria, have you no shame? Stop staring at my husband!"

Before she could hit me again, Andre stopped her, his expression grim. "You're pregnant. Don't make a scene! If you lose the child, I'll kill you!"

Everyone could see that Andre cared more about the baby than about Sienna.

However, Sienna saw it differently. "See? He loves me so much that he said if I lost the baby, he'd kill me! That's how seriously he takes our child!"

When she said that, disgust flashed clearly in Andre's eyes. While he held Sienna, my coworkers hurried to help me up from the floor. They wanted to lash out at Sienna, but who dared scold someone who was about to marry a prince?

I waved them off. "Forget it. Don't mind her."

I finished the sentence in my head. In nine months, she'd be praying for death.

Sienna thought I was scared of her and strutted around, full of pride. All through dinner, she took shots at me, every remark a jab meant to put me in my place.

The very next day, she posted a photo of a private jet, with her location tagged in Valoria.

Even if our boss hadn't planned to fire Sienna this time around, it didn't matter. Our company soon got hammered by a rival. We looked into it and, sure enough, Sienna was the one behind it. Within weeks, the company folded, and we were all out of work.

My colleagues cursed her while sending out their résumés.

However, Sienna wasn't done. As petty as ever, she got me blacklisted across the entire industry.

Then, my phone lit up with her messages.

"Aria, who told you to egg our coworkers on? Don't think I don't know. They're calling me crazy because you stirred the pot!

"My baby is due in two months. I'm about to become the most prestigious woman in the world. Come to Valoria and lick my boots, and maybe I'll let you be a maid in my palace."

I actually laughed and texted back. "Doesn't it seem odd who they really care about? Is it you or the baby? You're just a vessel, nothing more. What's there to be so proud of?"

She blew up and called me, her voice so shrill it could have cracked glass.

"Shut up! Andre cares about me and our child. Not just anyone can carry his baby! If you've got the nerve, come to Valoria when I'm in labor. I'll show you how everyone adores me! Then, you'll see how ridiculous you are!"

After days of hitting dead ends in my job search, I was already sitting on a powder keg. Fine. I'd use the money I had saved for a future baby to take a trip and see how this would really end.

"Deal," I said. "See you soon."

Two months later, I landed in Valoria.

Sienna sent a butler to pick me up. She was screaming in the delivery room when I arrived. Andre's focus was fixed entirely on the baby. He told the doctors to push induction drugs that were rough on her body.

His breathing quickened, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "Hurry," he said. "Get the baby out!"

The royals who supposedly doted on Sienna crowded the hallway, urging the doctors to do a C-section right away and get the baby out. No one spared a thought for Sienna. Every mind in that corridor was fixed on the baby.

At last, the baby's cry rang out. Sienna nearly lost consciousness.

Andre strode into the room without giving the pale Sienna on the bed a single glance. The royals cheered in the hallway, but not one of them went in to check on Sienna.

It was exactly the cold shoulder I had lived through in my previous life.

Then, the doctor said something to Andre.

Summoning the last shred of strength she had, Sienna screamed from the bed, "What? How can you do that to my baby?"