Someone pushes me off a cliff when I'm eight months pregnant before taking their life on the spot. Meanwhile, blood pools underneath me as I'm rushed to the hospital.

As despair washes over me, I hear Jacob Langley's voice come from outside my hospital ward.

"Are you sure it'll work this time?"

"Yes, Mr. Langley. Mrs. Langley has taken good care of herself during her pregnancy, but the branch pierced her belly. There's no chance of the baby surviving this, and she won't ever be able to conceive again."

"Good. Make sure the culprit's family has been sent away. I won't let anything go wrong before the Adkins agree to adopt Clara."

"Yes, sir. Still… why did you need to push Mrs. Langley off a cliff if you wanted to adopt Ms. Jennings' daughter? Mrs. Langley is kind; I'm sure she would've treated the child well."

Jacob snorts. "What do you know? Why would Selene agree to adopt Clara if she had her own child? She'll only treat Clara as her own once she can't have children and leave everything she has to Clara. I couldn't marry Kaia back then; this is all I can do to make it up to her."

The voices slowly fade away, but they reverberate loud and clear in my mind.

I've spent six years by Jacob's side, yet all I've gotten in return are lies and betrayal. His so-called love for me is nothing but a trick to steal my inheritance for someone else.

Since this is what he wants, I'll make his wish come true.

"It's been so long. Why isn't she awake yet?" Jacob Langley's impatient voice rang out.

"Maybe because Ms. Adkins is overwhelmed by the grief of losing her child, she's unwilling to wake up…" the doctor replied tentatively as he glanced at Jacob's sullen expression.

"Do anything you can to wake her up. Kaia's already urging me to make her sign the papers as soon as possible."

"But Mr. Langley, Ms. Adkins has just suffered a miscarriage. I'm afraid it's quite inappropriate to have her sign the adoption papers right away. Should we delay this for—"

"Enough! I know what Selene is like. Besides, she's best friends with Kaia, so she'll never reject her. Just do as I say!"

Jacob pulled my hand out from under the covers and held it gently. His hand felt as warm and safe as ever, yet a chill ran down my spine.

"Mr. Langley, as your secretary, I don't have the right to judge you. But I've been holding it back for quite some time now.

"Back when you first graduated and joined the company, Ms. Adkin's father didn't look down on your background and instead trained you to be where you are now. He even married his own daughter to you. We thought he had done more than enough for you.

"But now, you're hurting Ms. Adkins for Ms. Jennings' sake. If she finds out about this in the future—"

"Shut up!" Jacob snapped. "Mind your own business."

As I recalled his words earlier, tears trickled down my face and soaked into the pillow.

Even the people around him could tell how well Dad treated him. But he hardly had any gratitude for Dad and even caused me so much pain.

I once thought I was the happiest person in the world—until today. It turned out that I was the biggest fool of all.

The agony I felt made it harder for me to breathe. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out.

"The patient's pulse is weak. Prepare for resuscitation!"

As the surgical light shone down on my face, I felt a cold needle pushing into my arm. My hands, clasped in Jacob's tight grip, slowly fell to the hospital bed.

Just before I lost consciousness completely, I heard him bellow, "You must save her!"

Of course, he didn't want me to die now. I hadn't signed the adoption papers yet, after all.

…

When I woke up again, Jacob's sleeping face was the first thing I saw. He looked exhausted.

For a moment, I thought we had returned to the time when we first graduated from university. I had been hospitalized for acute appendicitis, and the same sight also greeted me the moment I woke up from surgery.

"Selene, you're awake."

Sensing my lingering gaze on him, Jacob blinked his bloodshot eyes open.

"How do you feel? Does it hurt anywhere?" he asked, the concern in his voice genuine. Yet, the warmth in his eyes was long gone. I knew I shouldn't have expected anything from him.

"Jacob, where's our baby?"

Pain crossed his face. "Selene, our baby… is gone. And from now on, you won't be able to have children again."

"I don't believe it," I choked out. "The baby was so healthy. Just the other day, I could still feel the kicks…"

Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. I threw my arms around myself, weeping bitterly.

"Selene, don't be sad," Jacob crooned. "Even if you can't have children anymore, we can always adopt. I'll treat the child as my own."

If I hadn't heard his cruel words earlier, I might have been deceived by his convincing act.

I shook my head defiantly. "It's different…"

After I eventually calmed down, he brought over a food container and said, "Selene, have some. I made this soup myself. You used to love it."

Staring blankly into the distance, I numbly swallowed the soup he fed me.

Just then, his phone chimed with a notification, and he picked it up without hesitation.

Glancing at Jacob's phone's wallpaper, I felt my chest tighten.

It was a maternity photo I had specially taken. He said he'd change it to a family picture of the three of us once the baby was born, but that would never happen now.

…

Later that night, Kaia Jennings strutted into my ward and asked, "Selene, are you feeling better now? How in the world did this happen? That person must've done it on purpose. You're so unfortunate!

"You have to pull yourself together. Don't let this break you. At least you still have Jacob by your side…"

Tears welled up in her eyes as she continued, "Unlike me, who married Hendrik. Now that he's in prison, Clara and I have absolutely no one to rely on."

Her acting was horrible.

Noticing how she struggled to mask her glee beneath her tearful façade, I finally snapped, "Or maybe you were just as dumb as a rock. Otherwise, how else would you have ended up like this?"

Kaia froze, staring at me like I was a stranger.

Her phone suddenly rang. After picking it up, she hurried downstairs, but not before saying, "Jacob asked me to grab something for him."

She had left in such a hurry that she didn't even lock her phone screen.

At the top of her pinned contacts was Jacob—but their conversation was blank. As if remembering something, I clicked on her private social media posts and finally found their secret.

They chatted late into the night and shared pictures of beautiful sceneries and good food from their trips. Jacob had even been supporting Kaia and her daughter after Hendrik Scott went to prison.

I remembered all those nights when I'd wake up and see Jacob awake with his screen still lit, assuming he was busy with work. But it turned out that the man lying beside me every night had been pouring his heart out to another woman.

Pain gripped my heart again. I clutched my chest as if it would make the pain less unbearable.

"Selene, what's wrong! Get the doctor here now!" Jacob yelled, his face paling at the sight of my agony.

Kaia, who was trailing behind him with red-rimmed eyes, also seemed startled.

A lump welled up in my throat. I couldn't speak at all, and shaking my head was the only thing I could manage.

As soon as the nurse helped me lie back down, tears spilled from my eyes again. The dampness of my soaked collar clung to my skin, sending a chill through my heart.

…

Seeing that I looked better the next day, Jacob began tentatively, "Selene, you've always loved kids. I know how much you wanted this baby, but… No, forget it. Maybe the baby was never meant to be ours."

His voice was tinged with regret as he continued, "Let's adopt a child, okay? Let her keep you company, and I'll feel more at ease too."

He held my hand as if offering me strength. I met his gaze and nodded slowly.

"Kaia has been struggling to raise her daughter alone ever since her husband went to prison three years ago," he said. "I thought maybe we could adopt Clara. We've known Kaia since childhood, so she'd feel assured with us raising her daughter."

The joy in his voice was unmistakable as he beamed at me, but my heart only sank deeper.

"Do as you wish." I closed my eyes, unwilling to look at him any longer.

All it took for him to be this happy was agreeing to adopt Kaia's child. He seemed to have forgotten that we had just lost our baby.

After he left, I contacted my assistant, Harper Laird. I had her investigate all the shares Jacob held in Adkins Group and prepare a divorce agreement as soon as possible.

On the day I was officially discharged, Jacob brought Clara Jennings over.

"Clara, this is Ms. Adkins. You can also call her 'Mom'. Remember, don't ever make her upset, okay?" he ushered the child toward me with a smile.

"Mom…" Clara called out hesitantly.

Staring at her innocent face, I felt a sharp jolt of pain through my chest. If not for Jacob, in three years, my child could've called me "Mom" too.

I forced a smile. "I'm not feeling well. I'll head to my room first."

"Jacob, why isn't my mommy here yet…" I heard Clara's voice echo from downstairs the moment I closed the door.

Though Jacob clasped his hand over her mouth right away, it was too late. I was well aware that Kaia was Clara's mother—not me.

…

At night, Jacob held me in his arms and tried to explain.

"Clara didn't mean it. She's just not used to the new environment yet, so don't take it to heart."

"Kids are always more attached to their birth moms. I completely understand," I replied. "Don't worry. I won't mind."

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Selene, I know you've been feeling down lately. Once I'm done with work, I'll take you on a trip to let you unwind."

"Suit yourself," I said, breaking free from his embrace.

Wrapping my arms around myself, I curled up on the other side of the bed.

Jacob had sensed my indifference toward him these past few days. Nevertheless, he lay down beside me and gently pulled me back into his arms.

Our breaths intertwined, yet our hearts remained worlds apart.