On the day I'm set to go into labor, I plead to my husband, Timothy Langford, to take me to the hospital when I'm two centimeters dilated. However, a pissed-looking Timothy orders his men to lock me up in a sauna room that's heated to 356 degrees Fahrenheit.

This is all because my estimated labor date is one day earlier than my widowed sister-in-law, Natalie Thornton. Since Timothy is bent on making Natalie's baby the oldest grandson of the Langford family, he instructs his men to inject me with 100 labor-suppressant injections.

No matter how much I beg Timothy to spare our baby, he remains unmoved.

Having received 99 injections, I feel a world of pain crashing down on me, seeing as I'm already suffering from contractions to begin with. But Timothy is the one who injects the final labor-suppressant injection into my huge pregnancy bump.

As he gazes at my agonized and writhing form, he says coldly, "It's already difficult for Natalie to survive in this world after losing my older brother. As her brother-in-law, I'm merely fulfilling her wish to become a mother.

"Still, you refuse to spare her. It's not enough for you to force her to survive overseas on her own; you even plan on receiving labor-induction injections just to give birth to your baby on an earlier date!

"It seems that I've spoiled you far too much for you to have the guts to pull this stunt off! The doctor already told me that once I've given you the labor-suppressant injections and leave you somewhere extremely hot, it can stop you from giving birth. You're only allowed to give birth once Natalie is out of labor."

At that moment, I've completely given up on life.

The moment Timothy witnesses Natalie's baby being born, his eyes are filled with tears of happiness. He sets off firework after firework to celebrate the grand birth.

Later on, as Timothy gazes at Natalie's newborn, he finally remembers me and our unborn baby. When he's about to order his men to take me to the hospital, he receives a phone call from his assistant.

"The hospital has called to inform you to take Mrs. Langford's body away."

100 labor-suppressant injections were stabbed viciously into my body. Already suffering from contractions, I could no longer tell if I was in the mortal realm or hell itself.

A wave of heat hit my face, jolting me back to consciousness.

Just before the sauna door closed, I crawled toward my husband, Timothy Langford, and grabbed the hem of his pants, trying to stir some paternal love for our child in him.

"I really never did anything to harm the baby in Natalie's belly. Please believe me…"

Every day after work, Timothy would come home and rub my belly for prenatal bonding. He would share interesting stories from his day with our unborn child. I couldn't believe he would hurt his own flesh and blood.

The contractions grew more regular and intense. I felt wave after wave of pressure, like I desperately needed to push. The doctor had told me that when this happened, it meant the baby was also trying hard to come out.

I was going into labor!

But Timothy acted as if he couldn't hear me at all. He said mercilessly, "This is what you owe Natalie! She finally managed to get pregnant. This child is her emotional anchor. You had no right to harm her baby!

"The specialist said high heat would only suppress your labor. You'll just be in pain for a while, but you'll be fine."

Through the monitor, I could see that I was already dilated four centimeters. I begged desperately, "Timothy, I'm really about to give birth! Please, just take me to the hospital. I promise our child won't take away the position of eldest grandson from Natalie's baby."

Timothy hesitated, about to relent, when his assistant, James Carter, burst through the door. The private jet he had arranged to escort Natalie Thornton, his sister-in-law, had arrived.

"She's four centimeters dilated. Quickly, sew her birth canal shut with a needle! We absolutely cannot let her give birth before Natalie!"

At Timothy's command, several masked medical staff in white coats rushed forward and pinned me down with rough hands. They didn't even give me anesthesia as they brutally sewed me shut.

The needle pierced deep into my flesh. Combined with the excruciating pain of contractions, it nearly made me pass out.

Seeing Natalie's pale face, Timothy looked as though his heart were bleeding. And when she threw herself into his arms with tears streaming down her face, his heart broke completely.

Natalie sobbed in a choked voice, "Tim, I was so scared. I thought I'd never see you again."

Timothy immediately comforted the woman in his arms in a gentle voice. "Natalie, I'm sorry you were frightened. I promise you, after the child is born, everything in the Langford family will belong to him. He will be the true eldest grandson of the family!"

Right in front of me, the two of them stood intimately close, so close that they might as well have been lovers.

Years ago, when Timothy's older brother, Caleb Langford, died in an accident, Timothy voluntarily offered to carry on both family lines. He planned to get his widowed sister-in-law pregnant too, claiming it would be a way to leave descendants for his late brother.

Even though I firmly opposed it, he scolded me. "It's just one child! Natalie lost her husband, and life in the Langford family isn't easy for her. How can you be so selfish?"

Looking back now, it was nothing more than an excuse for the two of them to carry on their illicit affair.

Just then, Timothy's phone rang. It was his grandmother, Janet Gale, calling.

"Tim, Susan is giving birth today, right? You must stay by her side at all times. Nothing can go wrong!"

Timothy brushed her off with a casual response and hung up.

Natalie nestled in Timothy's arms, looking pitiful. "Tim, today is Susan's due date, isn't it? You should go check on her child. Grandma values the baby in her belly so much. You can't let anything happen to that child…"

But Timothy pulled Natalie into his embrace, completely unconcerned. "Why would I need to be with her? The person who needs me most right now is you, not her."

Yet when he heard my anguished cries, his brow furrowed slightly. It seemed he thought my screams didn't sound fake after all. He even briefly doubted the credibility of what the specialist had told him, but that thought passed in a flash.

At that moment, when Timothy wasn't paying attention, Natalie lifted her foot and stomped on my blood-soaked pregnant belly and the area they had just sewn shut. I couldn't help but scream in agony.

Hearing the commotion, Timothy turned back curiously. In that critical instant, Natalie tore the pendant from her neck and threw it to the ground, shattering it. Then she knelt before me, crying pitifully.

"Susan, I only came over because I saw you were in pain and wanted to comfort you. How could you smash the pendant Timothy gave me?"

Timothy's eyes filled with heartache. He immediately consoled her. "It's alright. It's just a pendant. I'll go get you a hundred more next time!"

Then he turned and shouted at me furiously, "Natalie was kind enough to check on you, and this is how you repay her? By destroying the gift I gave her? If I'd known you were this petty and jealous, I never would have married you!"

I looked at Timothy as he raged at me while defending Natalie. For a moment, I couldn't even tell whose husband he was supposed to be.

We'd shared a bed for three years. Why would he believe another woman's one-sided story over mine?

I felt something inside me break.

"You should be thanking Natalie that you even got to marry me. If you didn't look somewhat like her, do you think I would have married you?"

My face went deathly pale.

When I first married Timothy, everyone in the city's elite circles said he was madly in love with me. He built quite a reputation as a devoted husband.

I thought I was the princess deeply loved by her prince in a fairy tale. I imagined countless times what our happy family of three would look like after the baby was born.

But today, I finally understood. In Timothy's heart, I was nothing more than someone else's replacement. The person he loved had always been Natalie.

He just suffered in silence because she married Caleb first and had suppressed his feelings all this time. All the physical agony I felt couldn't match the devastation of those words.

"Tim, my stomach hurts so much. Can you take me somewhere to rest?"

Natalie, nestled in Timothy's arms, suddenly clutched her belly with a pained expression. Timothy's face filled with panic.

He immediately swept Natalie into his arms and left the sauna room. As I lay on the floor, barely clinging to life, all hope drained from me. After seeing Timothy's true nature, I completely lost the will to survive.

The sauna's temperature kept climbing, practically roasting me alive. Suddenly, the baby kicked hard from inside my belly, making me jolt.

The baby. I still had my baby.

If Timothy hadn't dragged me away from the hospital delivery room, our child would have been born by now. Neither my baby nor I had done anything wrong. My child shouldn't have to suffer like this!

I cradled my pregnant belly with both hands and endured the burning floor as I crawled toward the door. With blood-soaked hands, I pounded on it.

"Help! My baby's about to be born! Please, I'm begging you, help me get to the hospital…"

Every time my hand hit the scalding metal door, it made a sizzling sound and smoke rose from my skin. My hands became raw and mangled before someone finally responded from outside in an irritated voice.

"Quit making noise! Mr. Langford already took Ms. Thornton upstairs to rest. If you disturb them, he'll kill you!

"He had your birth canal sewn shut and locked you in the sauna to stop you from giving birth. Stop trying to make your son the family's eldest grandson!"

I truly understood what it meant to be kicked while one was down. Timothy had discarded me like trash, and now even his household staff felt free to trample on me.

I knew these people feared Timothy, but they feared his grandfather and the Langford family patriarch, Oliver Langford, even more.

"Grandpa and Grandma care deeply about the baby I'm carrying. I don't matter, but if anything happens to this child and you just stand by watching both of us die, you won't escape responsibility!"

The maid, Paula Jensen, turned pale. She knew Grandpa valued my baby. If something went wrong, she really couldn't bear that responsibility.

But she didn't dare let me out on her own either. She immediately went upstairs to report.

"Mr. Langford, Mrs. Langford says she's so hot in the sauna that she's going into labor. Should I take her to the hospital now?"

Timothy was in the bedroom with Natalie. The mention of me clearly irritated him.

"That sauna only goes up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit."

Perhaps worried about an accident, he reconsidered and started to say, "Go check the sauna temperature—"

But Natalie cut him off before he could finish.

"Tim, my skin is sensitive. I can only handle 104 degrees maximum. You set that sauna temperature specifically for me. How could it possibly be higher?"

Timothy stopped mid-sentence. His face darkened as he said coldly, "That woman is just using the baby to play victim. If I don't teach her a lesson, she'll never learn! Ignore her!"

He then pushed Paula out and shut the door. Paula returned downstairs after being turned away. She walked to the sauna room and cursed at me through the crack in the door before leaving.

My white clothes were already soaked through with blood. No matter how much I begged for help, no one paid attention.

The sauna was so hot that it felt like I might burn alive there. Blood from my belly flowed steadily out through the crack under the door.

Looking at the blood pooling beneath me, I knew the baby was gone. Finally, my body gave out completely, and I collapsed into endless darkness.

Several hours later, a maid passed by and jumped at the sight of blood everywhere. She was about to go upstairs to report again when Timothy's annoyed voice drifted down.

"Go tell Susan I'm giving her one chance to admit she was wrong. As long as she kneels and apologizes to Natalie and takes care of her properly through the rest of the pregnancy, I'll send her to the hospital after Natalie gives birth."

The maid pointed at the blood seeping under the door, her voice shaking. "Mr. Langford, your wife… I think something's really wrong. She hasn't made a sound for half an hour. We knocked and called out, but she won't respond."

Timothy froze for a moment, but quickly recovered his composure.

"What are you panicking about? I know her better than anyone. She's just pretending. She realized using the baby to manipulate me won't work anymore. Now she's playing dead. If I don't let her suffer enough to remember this lesson, she'll keep disrespecting Natalie."

The maid's legs went weak, her face deathly pale. "But I heard her say that she's bleeding and lost the baby…"

Natalie, cradled in Timothy's arms, pretended to be fragile. "Susan is really something. She knows how badly I want a child. I spent three years with Caleb taking endless herbal remedies to get pregnant and never could. Now I've finally conceived with you, and she's cursing her own baby like this!"

Watching Natalie cry in his arms, Timothy hated me even more. "Seems the punishment isn't enough yet. She still dares to mock Natalie by using the baby! She thinks she can fool me with the baby, does she?"

His voice dripped with fury. "Tell her if she uses the baby as an excuse one more time, I'll make sure that child never sees the light of day!"

The maids exchanged uneasy glances but didn't dare speak.

"Are you deaf? Go tell her!" Timothy snapped.

"Sir, you should really go check the sauna yourself."

The maids barely dared to breathe, their voices trembling.

Timothy's expression turned tense, but he quickly laughed mockingly. "More theatrics? A shameless woman like her will do anything for sympathy!"

Timothy was this confident because whenever he was upset in the past, I always apologized first. I'd lost all self-respect, quietly cleaning up after him and Natalie finished their affairs.

"Sir, the sauna temperature seems to have malfunctioned. It's reached 356 degrees Fahrenheit now! The temperature was too high. Mrs. Langford couldn't withstand it. There's only blood left…"

After hesitating, one of the maids finally revealed the truth that both the baby and I were dead.

"What?" Timothy jumped to his feet.

"She's too stubborn to die that easily."

His face darkened like a storm cloud. "How could the temperature I programmed malfunction? What did she bribe you with to lie to me like this?"

Timothy kicked a chair aside in frustration, his teeth clenched. "Get out of my way! I'm going to see what tricks she's trying to pull now!"

But when he kicked the sauna door open, everyone recoiled from the wave of scorching heat that rushed out.