My husband’s first love had a miscarriage. He insisted that it was my doing and forced me to give my daughter up.

“If it weren’t for you, Becky wouldn’t have a miscarriage! You should let her have your baby! You must pay for her pain of losing her baby!”

I begged for mercy and resisted him. However, he grabbed my hair and kicked my belly even though I had just delivered my baby.

He tied me up and locked me up in the basement for fear that I might run away. But I was dying. He even made a nice excuse.

“You’re petty and jealous. You harmed Becky too. Since you feel no remorse, I’ll punish you and lock you up in the basement to reflect on your mistakes!”

Seven days later, his first love found the baby too noisy and got annoyed by the baby. Suddenly, he thought of me.

“Let her have the baby. And see if she’s behaving herself.”

Little did he know that I was rotting in the basement with maggots eating away at my body.

“Jax, the baby’s been rather noisy lately. I can’t sleep well every night. It’s exhausting.” Pouting, Rebecca Garcia leaned into Jaxon Lawson’s arms and muttered.

“I’m jealous of Ria. She doesn’t have to do a thing after giving birth. I’m the one left with all the tiring work. I couldn’t even keep my baby, but I need to take care of hers instead.”

Rebecca sobbed as she brought up a seemingly sad incident.

Jaxon felt quite sorry for her when he saw her tears.

“Becky, I was being inconsiderate. I’ll take the baby away now. I just wanted to ease the pain of losing your child. I never thought that taking care of a baby would be this troublesome. It’s my fault, and I’m sorry.”

Then, he immediately called his assistant over.

“Arla’s been quiet these past few days. Is she plotting something heinous? It’s just a small punishment. She doesn’t have to cause a scene. Get her here to take care of the baby! She’s been having a great time, with nothing to do lately, and Becky has to suffer for her sake.”

Disgust filled Jaxon’s face at the mention of my name.

“Becky’s taken care of the baby for her, but she’s not grateful. It’s been so many days now. She has yet to say anything nice or ask about the baby. How cruel. Is she trying to drive me mad by ignoring the baby?” his assistant responded.

He was about to leave when Rebecca stopped him.

“Be gentler toward Ria. This isn’t easy on her since she’s just given birth.” Rebecca spoke gently and sensibly. It instantly warmed Jaxon’s heart.

“Becky, I don’t understand your kindness. She harmed you, but you’re still so considerate of her. You’re so naive and harmless. That’s why you didn’t see through her evil schemes.”

Rebecca lowered her head as if she was trying to hide her grievance.

“I was dumb, and I failed to protect my baby. I can’t blame her, and I have no right to. At the end of the day, she’s your wife.”

Heartbroken, Jaxon gently caressed Rebecca’s hands and tried to comfort her. “Becky, I just want the best for you.”

Rebecca’s eyes lit up. “Jax, why are you so nice to me?”

Jaxon tapped her nose lightly and replied dotingly, “It’s because you deserve it.”

I was stunned for a long time while watching this lovey-dovey scene.

The baby’s cries came, and I tried to rush over. But I could not leave, as though my spirit was confined.

I yearned to see her. After carrying her for ten months, I had looked forward to her arrival.

Unexpectedly, I only got to spend five days with her.

Meanwhile, Jaxon hugged Rebecca and softly consoled her, “Don’t be scared, Becky. I’ll get you the best doctor to help you recover. Then, we’ll have our babies. You don’t have to be jealous of others.”

Anger overwhelmed me as I shed bloody tears.

I thought, ‘What about me? What about my baby?’

When I flew out of that basement, I almost screamed in agitation.

I thought I had escaped that abyss of despair.

Sadly, when I turned, I caught a glimpse of my corpse.

My belly was exceptionally swollen and large. My limbs were frighteningly slim, and the bloody stains on my clothes were dark red. There was even a sticky and strange liquid flowing out of my body.

I sat beside that horrible corpse and tried to return to my body many times. After all, my daughter was still waiting for me.

However, my attempts were futile.

All I could do was watch myself being separated from my daughter…

“Jax, what’s taking Ria so long? Is she mad at me? Should I apologize to her?” Rebecca pouted and said coquettishly.

“She’s your wife after all. I can’t compare to her…”

Jaxon seemed to be amused as he feigned anger. “Really? I’ll go to her, then.”

Rebecca immediately started sobbing.

“There, there. I was teasing you. You’re the most important person to me. Arla should consider herself blessed to be with a man like me. She can’t be mad. Plus, she should be the one apologizing to you. If she hadn’t recommended prenatal yoga to you, you wouldn’t have…”

My spirit started trembling when I heard that. I never recommended prenatal yoga to Rebecca.

I had bumped into her after coming home one day. But I never had my guard up around her since she was Jaxon’s childhood friend. Besides, she had been pregnant, just like me.

She praised me for my glowing face and well-maintained figure. “You flatter me. Maybe I exercise a lot, so that’s how I keep my shape,” I responded civilly.

She smiled and said, “You’re lucky, Ria. You have a good husband. He loves you and takes great care of you.”

I was not quick to catch her sarcasm. I even smiled in return and replied, “Yeah, Jax is very good.”

Unexpectedly, she signed up for a prenatal yoga class after that, and Jaxon even paid for it.

However, when an accident happened, they blamed me.

“Becky, you don’t have to be nice to Arla when she comes over later. Just treat her as a nanny and teach that witch a lesson. Otherwise, she’ll feel so great about herself.”

Rebecca feigned ignorance and asked, “Why? I can’t treat her as the nanny.”

Jaxon snorted in disdain. “She should get up and do some chores after lying down for so many days. She didn’t have to take care of the baby or do anything. I’m sure she’s getting weak and lazy.”

Rebecca leaned into his arms gently and spoke softly. “I’m so jealous of her for having such a good husband like you. Meanwhile… I fell in love with the wrong guy. I couldn’t even keep my baby despite returning to the country to rest. Regardless, she’s still your wife. I can’t do this to her even though she harmed me and made me lose my baby. When she’s here, I should be the nanny instead.”

Anger overcame Jaxon, and indignation shone in his eyes. “Stop bringing that up. I get furious when I hear about it. She was pregnant too, so how could she be so cruel? Wasn’t she afraid of karma? You also reminded me of another thing. She didn’t even apologize to you after that. Once she reaches, I’ll make her get down on her knees. Becky, you can’t go easy on her. You need to punish her hard to make her learn from her mistakes!”

Rebecca looked worried. “Jax… you know I can’t do that.”

Jaxon waved and spoke firmly. “I won’t let her off the hook.”

As I listened to them, I found their conversation ridiculous and thought, ‘I died in the end. Isn’t that punishment enough?’

Seven days ago, Rebecca had an unexpected miscarriage and called my husband.

“Jax, can you come over and stay with me? I’m so scared. It hurts so much.”

I had just given birth to the baby, and I was resting at home. After Jaxon received her call, he sounded anxious.

“Becky’s my childhood friend. I can’t leave her alone.”

He left me, and I tried to comfort myself; perhaps he was just being nice.

However, he was gone the entire night before he rushed home in exhaustion.

I was about to ask him why he was away for so long. But he gloomily interrogated me instead, “Did you recommend prenatal yoga to her? She’s weak, so she can’t exercise much. You tried to harm her, didn’t you?”

The sudden accusation stunned me. Before I could figure out what was going on, he tried to leave with my daughter in his arms.

I ignored the painful wound on my belly and hurried to stop him. As we fought over our daughter, he kicked my belly furiously. On top of that, he grabbed my hair and pushed me to the floor.

“You made Becky lose her baby. Obviously, you should give your baby up to comfort her. You need to pay the price for the pain of losing her baby!”

I dragged my dying body and hugged his legs.

Then, I cried and begged, “That’s my baby… I’m begging you! She can’t live without me…”

Yet, he frowned as if something had occurred to him. After that, he put the baby down.

“I’m sure a cunning woman like you will sneak out. You’ll harm Becky because of your jealousy.”

He grabbed my hair and dragged me to the basement. Then, he tied me up with a rope.

“This is your punishment. Reflect on your mistakes here and behave yourself. Stop being a jealous girl. Once you learn from your mistakes and behave yourself, I’ll release you. Don’t worry. Isn’t the nanny at home? She’ll deliver food to you on time.”

I could only wail helplessly since he gagged me. I burst into tears and exhausted myself from resisting and begging for mercy.

In exchange, he slapped me.

“Shut up! Do you want more punishment?”

A sharp pain came from my lower abdomen, as the torn wound was bleeding. I watched him leave in endless despair.

Jaxon forgot that he had fired the nanny three days ago. He wanted me to do everything to build a relationship with my baby. No one was going to give me food.

I would not forget how desperate I felt over the next few days. I prayed for someone to save me the entire time.

Even so, a strong desire to survive gripped me.

The rope made bloody marks on my skin, and wounds that had scabbed over torn open again. I bawled my eyes out while I was on the verge of death.

Eventually, I escaped the abyss that imprisoned me. But my body did not escape, just my spirit…

“What’s taking her so long? Is she a celebrity? Is it that hard to get her here?” Jaxon called his assistant in anger.

“Mr. Lawson… I don’t see Mrs. Lawson in the house. I’ve searched everywhere. But the house smells really bad. The stench seems to be… coming from the basement. It’s locked, so I can’t go in there!”

Hearing that, Jaxon’s face fell. Something seemed to dawn on him all of a sudden, and he sounded terrified.

“Okay, leave it. I’m sure she sneaked out again to drive me mad. Go back to the company. Don’t forget to lock the house!”

After the call ended, he quickly stood up. When Rebecca saw how anxious he was, she muttered, “Did she make a scene? I’m so jealous of her. She can always throw a tantrum, but I can’t. I have to be careful in everything I do…”

Jaxon slowed down and spoke softly. “Becky, don’t say that about yourself. You always have the freedom to be yourself with me. But that woman’s caused me some trouble. I need to head home to handle it. Once I settle the issue, I’ll bring her here to apologize to you. Wait for me, Becky.”

“Hurry, Jax. I’m afraid to be alone.”

I nearly vomited in disgust. Luckily, a spirit had no stomach.

I suppressed my revulsion and lingered around Jaxon. I watched as he gloomily drove back to the place where I had died.

When he opened the door, he could not stop frowning.

An indescribable stench choked him and turned his face red. He walked straight to the basement and staggered when he saw the large lock.

He took a few deep breaths and told himself, “People will be fine even if they don’t eat or drink for a few days. Besides, her belly’s so big. I’m sure she has some nutrition left in her.”

His hand started shaking as he inserted the key into the lock. After he twisted it a couple of times, the lock finally opened.

Jaxon hesitated for a long time at the door before he slowly opened it. The pungent smell grew more intense and almost drove him to tears.

“Arla, what the hell are you doing? Are you trying to ruin my manor?”

Right then, he saw a woman in bed. She was exceptionally bloated, with oddly dark skin.

He took a closer look and saw white worms wriggling around her open abdominal wounds. Blood was also trickling down to the floor. To top it all off, her eyes and mouth were opened to the extreme.

He let out an involuntary cry and went weak in the knees as he collapsed on the floor.