"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!”

Both the butler and the bodyguard were stunned. When they heard me admit it, Mya looked relieved.

“I thought you were so powerful here, but it turned out that you were also afraid of Mr. Blackville causing you trouble?”

“That’s right. I’m carrying Mr. Blackville’s child!”

When the butler and the bodyguard gave her zero reaction, Mya lost her patience.

“Let me make it clear. You are working under the Blackville. That means that you’re working under me too!”

“I am your mistress, but you dare to treat me like this?”

“Don’t forget who paid you!”

“As the mother of the Blackville Family’s heir, I ordered you to throw Adeline out immediately!”

“Don’t worry if Mr. Blackville is upset. From now on, I will be Mrs. Blackville. If you listen to me, I will give you a promotion and a raise.”

The butler and the bodyguard, staying professional, pinched their thighs to stop themselves from laughing. Mya looked even more arrogant.

“The baby that I carry will be the heir to the Blackville Family’s business empire. If I’m upset, he’ll be upset too.”

“If my child is upset, the whole Blackville Family’s business empire will be upset too!”

Right after she said this, John’s slightly tired voice came from the doorway.

“Who’s upset?”

Before I could say anything, Mya’s expression changed at once.

She ran into John’s arms, tears falling like pearls from a broken string.

“Mr. Blackville, you’re finally home!”

John glanced at me nervously, as if wanting to explain.

But Mya spoke much faster than he could.

“Mr. Blackville, Mrs. Blackville already knew about us!”

“I know that my status is unequal to yours. I just asked her to forgive me. Although I’m wrong, you and our baby aren’t in the wrong.”

“Mrs. Blackville said that I deserved to die and asked the butler and bodyguards to throw me out. Mr. Blackville, both me and our baby would be dead had you not come at the right time!”

“I’m not scared even if they want me to be dead, but I can’t let our child die!”

John, who was feeling overwhelmed, could only scold the butler.

“What are you making such a fuss about? How could you throw someone out in such weather?”

“Mya was pregnant, so it was easier for her to be more upset. Rather than calming her down, you joined in her fuss. What if something happened?”

It was a very clever statement. He only said something might happen, but didn’t say to whom.

Like what I expected, Mya assumed that John was worried about her. She looked at me with more arrogance, even mouthing for me to die. Clearly, I knew that she wanted to make me lose my patience.

However, reality wasn’t a TV drama. I didn’t feel the need to join her silly game of female rivalry. So, I rose from my seat, came closer to John and slapped him hard.

“I’ve heard directly from Mya that you and your bastard will inherit the Blackville Family’s business empire, huh?”

“Aren’t you supposed to inform me about this?”

“Or do you think that things like this won’t need my consent as the current CEO?”