Nine months pregnant, my body was a ticking time bomb, the baby ready to arrive at any moment.

But my husband, Emil von Adelson, the heir to an old-money European family, locked me away. He confined me to a high-tech, soundproof safe room in the manor and had doctors inject me with labor-suppressing drugs.

I screamed in agony, but he coldly told me to endure it.

Because his older brother Frederick's widow, Penelope, was expected to give birth at the same time.

Family tradition dictated that the first-born boy of this generation would inherit absolute control of the family’s empire.

"That inheritance belongs to Penelope's child," he said, his voice softening. "Since Frederick died, she's all alone. You have me, Aurora. You have all my love. I just need to see her through this. Once she delivers safely, it will be your turn."

The torment of the drugs was relentless, leaving me in excruciating pain. I begged him to take me to a hospital.

He gripped my chin, forcing me to meet his icy gaze.

"Stop acting. I know you're fine. You're just trying to steal the inheritance."

"You'll stop at nothing to get ahead of Penelope, will you?"

Cold dread washed over me. A shudder wracked my body as I whispered, my voice ragged with desperation.

"The baby is coming... I don't care about the inheritance. I only care about you—about our child being born safely!"

He sneered. "If you were truly so innocent, if you had a shred of love for me, you wouldn't have forced Penelope to sign that agreement, to give up her child's inheritance rights."

"Don't worry, I'll be back for you after she gives birth. After all, you're carrying my flesh and blood."

He spent the entire night outside Penelope's delivery room.

It wasn't until he saw the baby in her arms that he remembered me.

He finally sent his Chief Operating Officer, Grant, to release me. But when Grant finally called, his voice was trembling.

"Sir... Mrs. von Adelson... and the child... they're both... gone."

In that moment, Emil von Adelson broke.

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1

The heavy steel door boomed shut, catching my wrist. Bone snapped with a sickening crack, and agony shot through my entire body.

A new wave of agony, eclipsing the torment of the drugs, ripped through me. A piercing scream tore from my throat.

But Emil's thoughts were with Penelope. He was deaf to my pain.

Suddenly, a warm gush of fluid ran down my legs. My water had broken.

A cold, primal terror seized me.

My only light was the faint, ghostly glow from the emergency exit sign above the door.

I forced myself to stay calm, pounding on the door and screaming for help.

But this was Emil's private safe room, isolated and completely soundproof. I was trapped in near-total darkness, with no windows to the outside world.

No one could hear my weakening cries.

The baby inside me kicked violently, as if trying to break free from this cold prison.

I was drenched in a slick mixture of sweat and, I feared, blood.

The drugs suppressing my labor were draining my strength, pulling the life from me with every passing second.

With the last of my strength, I let out a final, desperate scream.

Finally, I heard the electronic whir of the lock disengaging from the outside.

"Please, help me!" I shrieked, my voice raw and hoarse. "I'm locked in the safe room! I'm going into labor!"

I repeated it over and over, thinking my savior had arrived.

But the voice that answered was laced with cruel amusement.

"Well, well, Aurora," she cooed. "Look at the pathetic state you're in. Emil should have put you in your place long ago."

It was Emil's sister, Isolde.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to keep my voice steady. "Isolde, please, let me out. The baby is coming. I can't hold on."

Isolde shoved the door open and glared down at me, her face a mask of pure contempt.

For a fleeting moment, I thought she would help.

The next second, her foot slammed viciously into my ribs. The blow knocked the air from my lungs, and stars exploded behind my eyes.

Her voice was sharp as a razor's edge.

"Let you out? So you can upstage Penelope's delivery?"

"Stay put, Aurora. Emil sent me to watch you."

"You don't deserve to be Emil's wife. He sent me to make sure you stay put and think about what you've done. He has enough stress with Penelope's delivery without you adding to it."

"Penelope's child will be the heir to this family. Your little tricks won't change that."

Another violent contraction ripped a scream from me.

Through a flood of tears, I gasped, "My child won't be involved in the family business. I'll give up everything! Just give Emil a message. Let me go. I'll disappear from this family and never look back. I swear it."

My screams only seemed to enrage her further.

She scowled. "Who's the performance for, you slut? All this screaming... it's pathetic."

Then she picked up her phone and called Emil.

The twin agonies of the drugs and impending labor were tearing my soul apart.

"No problem, Emil, don't worry. I'll keep an eye on her," she answered.

A flicker of hope ignited in me when I heard Emil's name. He must care. He must care about our child.

I screamed with all my might, "Emil! The baby's coming! It's happening now! Please, let Isolde take me to a hospital! Now!"

I cried out, my voice weak and trembling uncontrollably.

Isolde hesitated. I heard her whisper into the phone, "Emil, I... I think this might be real. The way she's screaming... I don't think she's faking it."

"Maybe I should take her to the hospital. This is your only child, after all. If something happened..."

Emil paused for a few seconds, seeming to consider it.

Then his tone softened. "Alright, then take her to..."

Just then, a delicate voice murmured from his end of the line.

"Emil, darling, I'm thirsty. Could you get me some champagne? The doctor said I need to relax so I'll have the strength to deliver our little prince."

"Oh, is Aurora in labor? It's fine, darling. It doesn't hurt at all. Honestly, I feel like I could run a marathon. Aurora is a strong woman. She'll be fine."

Of course it didn't hurt for her.

The family's entire medical team and resources had been moved to her lavish, top-of-the-line private delivery suite.

She was being treated like a queen.

Penelope's few words changed everything. Changed Emil's mind.

His voice turned to ice.

"What could possibly happen? She's acting. She's trying to trick you into letting her out. Don't fall for it. Trusting her will only make you look like a fool."

The phone clicked shut.

Stung by Emil's rebuke, Isolde took her anger out on me.

She pulled a syringe from a medical kit and stepped toward me.

"You want to be quiet?" she hissed. "Fine. I'll make you quiet for good."

Isolde held the syringe, filled with an unknown liquid, in front of my face.

The needle glinted in the dim light.

"No!"

Before I could form the word, the needle plunged deep into my arm, sending a searing pain through my flesh.

The powerful sedative flooded my veins. My heart began to pound, heavy and erratic.

I forced myself to remain calm, cupping my belly protectively with one hand while desperately pressing on the injection site with the other.

But the drug's side effects made it hard to breathe, and dark blood began to well up from the puncture wound.

I curled into a ball, shivering, afraid to even move.

"It's just a sedative, it'll quiet you down."

Isolde muttered, as if trying to convince herself.

But when she saw the dark blood oozing from my arm, panic flickered in her eyes. She hadn't expected such a violent reaction to a simple sedative.

My vision began to blur.

My uterus felt like it was being ripped apart by a thousand tiny blades.

The skin around the puncture wound on my arm had turned a sickening shade of purple-black, and blood was still seeping out.

I could feel my life draining away, piece by piece.

Isolde didn't leave. Her alarm twisted into a frenzied rage.

"You bitch! What's wrong with you?!"

Her boot slammed into my abdomen.

The force of the kick nearly made me black out again.

"Why are you reacting like this!" she shrieked. "You crazy woman!"

"You made me use too much! You're more trouble than you and that spawn of yours are worth!"

The room was dark. She grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back so she could glare into my eyes.

"Why won't you just pass out! You disgusting slut!"

She screamed at me. "You must be terrified."

Another kick. Each movement was like a sledgehammer, crashing down on me and my unborn child.

All I could do was curl up and protect my stomach, too weak to fight back.

"Why aren't you screaming now? Keep up the act!"

"Please...don't kick the baby..."

"The baby?" Isolde sneered. "Don't use the child as a shield. It won't make you worthy of the von Adelson name."

She grabbed her phone with one hand and pulled a small spray bottle from her bag with the other.

"Maybe this will help you reflect on your place in this family, Aurora," she said, her voice filled with contempt. "A little something... to quiet you down."

She stormed out, but not before spraying a strange, cloying mist into the room from a small canister.

The thick fumes sent my body into violent convulsions, adding a new layer of torment on top of the drugs already coursing through me.

Adrift in a haze of pain, I heard it: the faint cries of my unborn child.

A tiny voice echoed in my mind.

"Mommy... Mommy, save me..."

It was my baby's voice.

In my hallucination, I saw a small figure reaching for me.

"Mommy, I'm scared... It hurts..."

"Baby, Mommy's here..."

I reached out with a trembling hand, trying to embrace him.

But my arms closed on empty air every time.

I was supposed to welcome my baby today, to hold him tight in my arms.

He was just a breath away.

Why was fate so cruel to me and my child?

A final, shattering sob escaped me, and tears I no longer had the strength to hold back streamed down my face.

Despair, sharp as a dagger, pierced my heart.

I gently caressed my belly. "My dear baby, Mommy is so sorry..."

"If there is a next life, I hope you are born into a loving family, where your parents love each other deeply."

My breathing grew faint, my consciousness thick and syrupy.

Suddenly, the door clicked open, and blinding light flooded the room.

The family doctor, Dr. Finch, gasped at the sight of me lying in a pool of blood. "My God... what happened to you?"

Even as a doctor, his first instinct was not to save me.

"I'm...Emil's wife," I said hoarsely.

With great effort, I raised my hand to show him the custom bracelet on my wrist.

The engraved initials were caked with blood, but the letters representing Emil and me were still faintly visible.

He recognized the bracelet and started to step forward, but then froze.

He paused, then cautiously dialed Emil's number.

"Sir, I've found Mrs. von Adelson in the safe room. She's in critical condition, heavy blood loss, and it looks like a drug reaction..."

Emil's reply was filled with disbelief. "A drug reaction?"

"Impossible. She's not bleeding, Doctor."

"It's a normal drug reaction. Isolde already called me, said she just quieted her down."

His tone became cold and dismissive. "She's perfectly healthy. This is just another one of her desperate ploys for the inheritance. Leave her. I'll deal with this mess myself."

The doctor tried to explain further, but Emil had already hung up.

He gave me a sympathetic look, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

Just when I thought he was about to abandon me, he turned back.

It seemed his last shred of conscience had won out over his fear.

"There are two lives at stake here... I'm a doctor. I can't just watch you die," he said, his voice firming. "My own wife is pregnant. I can't imagine her going through this alone. So I have to help you."

Finally, he lifted me from the pool of blood and headed for the manor's medical wing.

I let out a deep sigh of relief. My baby was saved.

But when we reached the medical wing, we both stared in shock.

The room was empty.

All the medical equipment, the drugs, even the emergency beds, were gone.

"The equipment?" the doctor mumbled. "Where did it all go?"

The answer was so painfully obvious.

Emil had moved every single piece of it to the private hospital where Penelope was.

The very things that were supposed to save me and my child.

The doctor's face was ashen. He knew I was on the brink of death and had to get me to a proper hospital.

He frantically dialed Emil's private number.

"Sir, this is an emergency! Mrs. von Adelson is having a severe drug reaction, and she needs immediate medical attention! She's dying!"

Emil's voice was laced with annoyance and fury.

"Aurora, you've really outdone yourself. First, you get out, and now you've even got the family doctor wrapped around your finger."

"Let me be clear, I'm not falling for whatever game you're playing! I know you too well. You're perfectly fine, so stop trying to trick me."

"I told you, I won't abandon my own son. But you have to wait until Penelope has delivered. Why is that so hard for you to understand?"

"I'll admit, I underestimated you. I suggest you start behaving. You know what happens when you defy me."

The call ended.

The doctor stared at his phone, then back at me, barely breathing.

He gritted his teeth and made a decision.

"It's a long shot, but I'm taking you to the private hospital."

I never imagined he would take me to the same hospital where Penelope was.

Through the glass doors, I saw a brightly lit world of bustling staff and rows of state-of-the-art medical equipment.

The things that were supposed to save my life.

The doctor pleaded with the staff, explaining the situation to the head nurse.

But she just shook her head coldly.

"Mr. von Adelson's orders are clear. All hospital resources are reserved for Mrs. von Adelson's sister-in-law, Penelope. No one is to use them without his express authorization."

"But she's dying!"

"That is not our problem."

Because of Emil's orders, I couldn't get so much as a single painkiller.

Just then, a tall figure appeared in the doorway.

It was Emil's Chief Operating Officer, Grant.

He stopped dead, the color draining from his face as he took in the sight of me, drenched in blood.

He rushed to Emil's side.

"Sir, there's a woman outside, covered in blood."

"She... if I'm not mistaken, she looks exactly like Mrs. von Adelson."