That day was a typhoon with a heavy rainstorm. Yet, my cook, Mya Wendell, arrogantly threw fifteen dollars at me.

"Stop lazing around all day. Go buy me a baking soda! I want them!"

I couldn’t help but feel stunned by her attitude. I held back my anger and reminded her not to forget who she was. However, she became even bolder.

"Didn’t you know that a mother’s status is determined by her child? I’m pregnant with your husband’s child!"

"My baby will be the heir to the Blackville Family’s business empire. So, why don’t you try to make me happy now?"

I became mad, pointing at the door as I told her to get out. My cook immediately threw herself into my husband’s arms, crying and twisting the truth. My husband’s heart ached for her. He seemingly forgot that I was his wife. Instead, he joined the cook in scolding me for being ridiculous.

Looking at the smug cook and my husband, who had forgotten his place as nothing but a son-in-law, I couldn’t help but laugh.

"So, you cheated on me. Fine then."

"But you even think of letting your illegitimate child inherit my fortune? You’ve gone truly mad!"

——

I had just taken my vitamin to keep my pregnancy-and was sitting comfortably on the sofa while I was reading a book. However, Mya didn’t even bother to knock on the door. She rushed in, tossing fifteen dollars to me.

She said sternly, "Stop lying here without doing something all day long!"

"Get your ass up and buy me a baking soda. I’m making chicken wings and need baking soda today!"

I stared at Mya and felt shocked before I directed my gaze at the heavy typhoon outside the window. For a while, I even had no idea which one was the cook and which one was the mistress, Mya or me.

Ever since I became pregnant, my tastes had grown more selective. It was Mya’s food that only attracted my taste buds. Thanks to this, she became more arrogant and behaved less like a cook would behave.

Nevertheless, this was the first time she had ordered me to buy groceries like that. I restrained my anger, though my tone was firm.

"First of all, I’m heavy with a baby and would rather focus on keeping my pregnancy safe. Even if I weren’t, you shouldn’t ask me to do things like buying groceries."

"And with a typhoon outside, it’s unsafe to go out. Besides, chicken wings coated with baking soda aren’t healthy. I can’t eat them while pregnant."

"Just go to the kitchen and look around. There should be something else you can cook instead."

I thought Mya would sense my irritation and leave. However, she rolled her eyes without hesitation.

"I didn’t make these chicken wings for you!"

"Mr. Blackville told me today of how much he missed his mother’s baking soda-coated chicken wings in his childhood, so I decided to make them."

"You’re a lazy woman! It’s fine if you can’t cook, but now I’m asking you to buy Mr. Blackville a baking soda so that I can make him a dish he likes, but you become upset."

"Get your ass off now! I’m giving you a chance to mend your relationship with Mr. Blackville!"

"It’s just a light rain. Your body is too big to be blown away by the wind!"

No matter how patient I was, I couldn’t hold my patience anymore.

"Mya, you’d better know your place. Are you the cook, or am I? Is this your home or mine?"

"Since you’ve really helped us for the past two years, I can overlook today’s matter. But if you-"

Before I could finish, Mya snorted, cutting me off.

"Don’t think you’re the queen mother just because you’re pregnant!"

"Your family is mine. Don’t forget, this is the Blackville Family, Mr. Blackville’s family. You’re just Mr. Blackville’s liability. You’re not much higher than me!"

"I just told you to buy groceries when the rainstorm hits to help you exercise. Do you know that this is about the survival of the fittest?"

"Only the strong were worthy to bear Mr. Blackville's child!"

"If you’re not strong, why would you force yourself to keep the baby alive like this? Even if you survived until the birth, it would not be any good. Besides, you will have no idea about how long you could live!"

"So you’d better buy me a baking soda now! That way, you could make Mr. Blackville happy and make him feel less disgusted with you. Besides, you can find out if your flappy belly could withstand the test of birth!"

***

Mya’s sharp tongue attacked me like a machine gun.

I had no idea what happened to her, but I knew that anger wasn’t good for my health. Especially since I was already feeling a slight cramp in my lower abdomen. So, I made a gesture at the door and said in a trembling voice, "You are fired now! Get the hell out of my place!"

Even after I mentioned ‘fired’, Mya was not scared. Instead, she just removed her apron and tossed it on the floorand sat on my sofa.

"Well then, go ahead and fire me!"

"But if you wanted me to leave, you need to ask the baby in my belly if he’s okay with this!"

I ended up in a daze. What did Mya say about the baby in her belly? Could that mean something?

Before I could think of something, Mya told me bluntly, "To be honest with you, I’m also carrying Mr. Blackville's child!"

My thoughts were scrambling.

"You and John … since when have you been with each other?"

Mya let out a smirk.

"Don’t get upset. Both Mr. Blackville and I were truly in love. I just met Mr. Blackville a little later than you did."

"If I had met him before you, you would not have had any chance at all!"

As Mya talked, she caressed her belly proudly.

"Sadly, love has no first-come, first-served rule. My baby is just half a month younger than your soon-to-be short-lived baby!"

"But my baby will be different than yours. Since I’m a strong woman, I’m carrying a strong and healthy son!"

Eventually, I found out why Mya had changed drastically in recent times. I was under the assumption that she was confident that I was unable to live without her, so she took herself too seriously. It turned out it was not I who could not live without her, but John.

I held my book really tightly.

"That explains why you told me to go out during the typhoon."

"Yeah!"

Mya arrogantly said, "I was telling myself that if you just did what I told you, the best thing would be you falling and miscarrying the baby. If it ended up with two dead, that would be perfect for me!"

"Actually, I already hated you from the first day I became your cook in the Blackville Family. You’re just a privileged woman who married into a wealthy family, but you acted like some royalty and were being picky with what you eat."

"You’d act up once dinner is served! I hated people like you the most!"

"So even if you died right now, I won’t feel bad at all. Besides, you have already lived well for years."

Mya kept talking. However, I refused to listen to any of it.

But I did not want to listen. Although my stomach hurt, my heart hurt even more. After all, both John and I had been friends with each other for almost twenty years, dated for ten and ended up marrying for three.

Even if we were not childhood sweethearts, our relationship had always been very stable. Indeed, John was good-looking. Before we started dating, young girls often asked for his social media handles, but he would always refuse outright.

"Sorry, I’m already seeing someone else."

Once we began seeing each other, John gave me a strong sense of a secure relationship. He would never set up a password on his phone, never call someone without my knowledge and always respond to everything I asked for.

Especially after we got married, we were together almost 24 hours a day. Everyone praised us that we were so close, as if we were conjoined twins, saying this was what true love was supposed to be.

In the past, I would have thought that John would still be my special one even if every man in the world cheated.

Unfortunately, reality had a way to slap me in my face.

After calming down and thinking it over, I started to realize that both he and Mya had indeed been a little too close.

I was an anorexic. That made me to be very picky about my food. However, Mya’s cooking happened to match my taste perfectly.

Thanks to this, whenever Mya made me, John would say, “Babe, people who are good at something will always have tempers. Don’t get mad. I’ll try talking to her and make sure that she knows who she really is here!”

From then on, Mya’s behavior changed a lot. She acted more politely towards me. Thanks to her food plan, my condition became much better.

Then, I successfully got pregnant. When I got pregnant, John was overjoyed. To make me eat more, he spent his days in the kitchen instead of the office.

Thinking of this now, I felt it was laughable. Before, I thought he was in the kitchen for me. Now, I understood that he had only been using kindness to hide his affair.

When Mya saw how my face turned pale and not speaking, she looked even more pleased.

“Now, you’re feeling afraid, huh? Didn’t you just tell me to get out and fire me?”

“If the short-lived baby in your belly dies, the one in mine will be Mr. Blackville’s first child. Since he truly loves me, he’ll treat the child well!”

“Even if your child is born, it obviously won’t make any difference!”

“The baby will take after the one who raises it. Since I’m very capable, my son will definitely be as capable as I am. But you’re useless, you're getting pregnant is just wasting space!”

“My son will be the one to inherit the Blackville Family’s business empire!”

“So you still think of firing me? Isn’t that laughable? I will soon be Mrs. Blackville due to the baby I’m carrying!”

When I heard her, I shook my head.

Mya was wrong. Even though John’s last name was Blackville, he was not actually part of the Blackville Family. He had only been a poor student whom I supported. Nevertheless, I had been touched by his kindness and determination, so I fell in love with him and ended up marrying him.

Still, I was not surprised that Mya was wrong. John spent more time at the company than I did. He even looked more like the Blackville Corporation’s CEO than I did.

When she saw me shake my head, Mya rolled her eyes.

“So, what’s with the pretension?”

“You’d better walk here, kneel, apologize and get me my baking soda right now!”

“If you and your short-lived baby survive, I’ll let you stay here for a while since you were nice to me in the past.”

“If not, I’ll ask Mr. Blackville to kick you out!”

I did not waste time arguing with Mya.

Since I had more important things to do, I coldly told her, “Since you like typhoons so much, why don’t you go out and feel it yourself?”

Then, I shouted twice, calling the butler and the bodyguard over.

Directing my finger at Mya, I ordered them, “Throw her out!”

When the bodyguard and butler came closer, Mya quickly covered her belly and screamed, “How dare you!”

“Do you know who I am? How dare you touch me?”

When the two did not react, she glared at me in confusion.

“Adeline, have you thought about the consequences of doing this to me? Aren’t you and your short-lived child afraid of dying?”

The butler and the bodyguard looked at each other, then at me with doubt in their eyes.

I did not hide anything.

“That’s right!”

“I forgot to tell you that Mya is carrying John’s child. Be careful when you throw her out!”