After getting drunk with my best friend, Lyla Smith, at the bar, I end up sleeping with my fiance, Silas Clarke, whom I've only met for a few times.

Not only that, but I only discover that I'm pregnant with his child two months later.

Just when I'm debating whether or not I should tell Silas the truth, Lyla, who has been my friend since we were kids, keep advising me.

"You never liked Mr. Clarke anyway, Elara. You might as well use this opportunity to screw this engagement over.

"Since you and Logan like each other, he won't mind the fact that you're pregnant with Mr. Clarke's child. He'll definitely treat you and the child well.

"When the time comes, you won't have to marry the man you don't like. Plus, you'll marry Logan, the man you love! Isn't this a dream come true?"

Just as I'm about to agree to that suggestion, I feel a kick coming from my belly, which has yet to develop a baby bump.

Next, a baby's voice echoes in my mind.

"Mom, don't trust that mean woman! You'll get abused by that Logan jerk in the future, not to mention you'll be forced to sell your body because of the decision you'll make today!

"Dad has already found out that you're the woman from that night! He's on the way here right now!"

Upon hearing my unborn baby's thoughts, I tremble violently immediately.

Although I don't have any feelings for Silas, I can still try to nurture a relationship with him.

On the other hand, I only get to live once, so I can't ruin it no matter what!

"Elara, are you really willing to marry someone you don't love?

"Logan has had a crush on you for ages. Even if you marry him with a baby, he definitely won't mind. You might as well just come clean."

Lyla Smith gripped my hand. Her face was full of earnest concern as she tried to persuade me. Silas Clarke was my fiance, someone I'd barely met a few times.

Logan Smith, on the other hand, was my boyfriend, the one I'd been dating behind my family's back.

Over the years, I'd brought up canceling the engagement more than once. However, every single time, Dad would scold me, frustrated beyond belief.

"The Clarke family isn't someone we can afford to offend! Mr. Clarke taking an interest in you is the luckiest thing that'll ever happen to you. Can you please stop causing trouble?"

So, when Lyla made her suggestion, I was immediately tempted. However, in the next second, a sharp pain shot through my abdomen, and that baby's voice rang out from nowhere.

"Mom, use your brain! This friend of yours is a total snake. She and Logan are scheming to get you away from the Jackman family so she can take your place and marry Dad!

"After you ran away with Logan, Grandpa was so terrified of Dad's reaction that he claimed Lyla as his daughter and let her become Mrs. Clarke in your place. She's been enjoying the life that should've been yours!

"You treat her like your best friend, but she's using you as a stepping stone!"

Hearing the voice from my belly, I instinctively looked at Lyla. Only then did I notice that her face was filled with barely concealed eagerness.

Sensing her true intentions, I changed my approach.

"But I've been used to having you serve me since we were little. If Logan and I elope, would you be willing to keep staying with me? We're so close. You wouldn't refuse, right?"

The word "serve" seemed to strike a nerve. Lyla's eyes darkened. She wasn't my friend in the traditional sense. She was the maid Dad had me pick out from an orphanage when I was young.

As she'd grown up alongside me, Dad had even made an exception and allowed her to attend school with me. After spending so many years together, I'd stopped thinking of her as a maid and started seeing her as my best friend.

My first meeting with Logan had only happened because she'd set it up. Now, though, it seemed Lyla wasn't as innocent as I'd thought.

Lyla froze, caught off guard. She stammered, "Of all things, you're thinking about this? How can material things compare to the love Logan gives you?

"Elara, when did you become so materialistic? Whatever. Logan's waiting at the back gate. I'll just let him tell you himself!"

Watching Lyla rush out in a hurry, I pulled out my phone and opened a contact I'd never dialed before. Sensing my hesitation, the baby's voice rang out again.

"Mom, you can't waver now! Press it! Give Dad a chance!

"Please… I don't want to be carved out alive again!"

Hearing "carved out alive", my hand trembled, and I dialed Silas' number.

The instant the call connected, I blurted out, "You have half an hour. Get to my house!"

After I hung up, the baby in my belly started celebrating as if it had just won the lottery. "Yes! Dad's coming! We're saved!

"You got totally duped by Lyla before, Mom, but at least your brain decided to work today."

I listened to my unborn child roasting me, completely speechless. However, as I looked down at my still-flat stomach, questions flooded my mind.

If I could hear the baby's thoughts, could it hear mine too?

I placed both hands on my abdomen and tentatively thought, "Baby?"

"M... Mom!" After a moment of shock, the baby responded with pure joy.

"Mom, you can actually hear me! This is amazing! At least dying once wasn't for nothing!"

I froze. Then, suddenly, the baby kicked my belly.

A flood of memory fragments surged into my mind. One memory showed the horrifying abuse I'd endured after leaving the Jackman family with Logan.

In it, I was eight months pregnant, lying in ragged clothes among piles of garbage. Logan, who'd once sworn he'd treat me well, now stood over me. He grabbed my hair and yanked my head up, pressing a knife against my swollen belly.

"I've been generous in letting this bastard live under my nose for six months. Now, it's time for the little bastard to repay me."

In the memory, I begged him, "Please spare my baby. I'm begging you... You can hit me, yell at me, whatever you want. Just please spare the child."

Logan slapped me across the face in response.

"Elara Jackman, you still think you're the Jackman family's precious daughter? What gives you the right to tell me what to do?

"Someone's coughing up twenty grand for that baby’s life! Twenty grand! Only a fool would turn that down!"

For 20 thousand dollars, Logan had sliced open my belly with his knife. He carved out my baby while it was still alive and killed it with a single stab.

I'd bled out shortly after, dying filled with rage and grief. The memory made me want to scream.

The baby told me that after its death, it had somehow returned to my womb and gained consciousness. That was why it could communicate with me now.

Thinking about what would happen if I left with Logan, I clenched my fists until my knuckles turned white. If Lyla and Logan wanted to destroy me, I'd make sure they got exactly what they deserved.

I used the room's intercom to call the villa's security. "I just saw someone lurking around the back gate. Go check it out."

Within minutes, chaos erupted in the living room downstairs. Then, I heard Lyla's voice crying out.

"Ma'am, I swear I'm innocent! I didn't let any strangers in. Logan's not a thief. He's Ms. Elara's friend! If you don't believe me, just ask her!"

"Ask me what?" I descended the stairs and stared coldly at Logan, who was pinned to the ground by security guards.

"I do know him, but when did I invite him here?

"Lyla, I know Logan's your college classmate, but you can't be this irresponsible. Don't forget that you're just a maid in this house."

My words hit Lyla like a slap to the face. She flushed with humiliation instantly.

Logan, who was still pinned to the ground, hadn't picked up on my changed attitude. He kept trying desperately to get my attention.

"Elara, tell them to let me go! I came here to surprise you!"

His eyes sparkled as he looked at me, but all I felt was revulsion.

The memories flooding my mind didn't just show Logan carving out my baby and killing me. They also revealed how he'd turned violent after we left together. He had constantly beat and berated me.

Things got worse after Dad claimed Lyla as his daughter and married her off to the Clarkes. Once the Jackmans abandoned me, I became worthless to Logan.

That monster had sold me, over and over, to anyone willing to pay. Even as my pregnancy progressed and my belly grew, those perverts never stopped.

The baby sensed my fear and spoke to me, "Don't be scared, Mom. Dad will be here soon, and you're safe in the Jackman residence right now!"

Mom noticed my distress too. She snapped at the guards when she saw how I was looking at Logan.

"What are you standing around for? Get him out of here and make sure he regrets stepping foot on this property!"

Following her orders, the guards hauled Logan to his feet. When they started getting rough, Logan panicked and shouted at me.

"Elara, what's wrong with you? I came to take you away! Tell them to stop!

"Stop! Please stop..."

Logan curled up with his arms protecting his head, screaming as the guards pummeled him.

Lyla lost it when she saw Logan get beaten up. She forgot Mom was even there and shouted at me.

"Elara, what the hell are you doing? That's Logan! How can you treat him like this?"

The sharp crack of a slap cut her off. Mom glared at Lyla with cold, sharp eyes.

"Lyla, who gave you permission to speak to my daughter that way? Elara's been good to you, but have you actually forgotten your place?"

The baby cheered at Mom's fierceness. "Go Grandma! In my past life, if it wasn't for that witch Lyla, Grandma wouldn't have died so young!"

I pressed for details, and the baby told me everything. After I left with Logan, Mom never stopped searching for me. Lyla had deliberately let it slip that I'd gone to another state.

Mom rushed there overnight to find me, only to arrive just as several men were forcing themselves on me. The shock of seeing her beloved daughter destroyed like that triggered a massive heart attack. She died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

The knowledge tore me apart.

Lyla clutched her swollen cheek. Though she didn't dare say anything, I caught the flash of hatred in her eyes.

"Mrs. Jackman, I'm not lying! Ela... Ms. Elara invited Logan here. The two of them are actually..."

Before Lyla could expose my relationship with Logan, Mom impatiently had the guards silence her.

"I won't tolerate this disrespect in my own home. You two are going to serve as an example to everyone here. This is what happens when you overstep."

The guards forced both of them to kneel in the villa's courtyard. Just as Mom prepared to make an example of them, Dad burst through the door in a rush.

"Honey, what's going on?"