"What are those?" I shook my head wildly. "I won't take them. Are you trying to kill my child?"

"Medication to delay labor. It will reduce the contractions."

"No. It will suffocate the baby!"

Dr. Lane said nothing.

"Dr. Lane, your wife is due soon too, isn't she? If she were lying here right now, would you feed her this?"

Then I turned to Parker through the pain.

"If anything happens to me or the baby, you are the main culprit. Graham will never let you go."

Dr. Lane and Parker exchanged a look. They were just about to agree to send me to the hospital when Parker's phone rang.

It was Graham.

Parker answered respectfully, and all hesitation disappeared from his face.

"Madam, you heard him," he said helplessly. "Mr. Whitmore said we must wait for him. It is not that I won't help you. I truly cannot."

He gave Mrs. Ward a look.

Two maids immediately pressed down on my shoulders. One forced my mouth open while Mrs. Ward shoved the pills in. I tried to vomit them out, but they slid down my throat.

Tears slipped silently down my face. I stared at the ceiling and suddenly laughed until my tears flowed even harder.

"Fine. Remember this day. If my child dies, I will come back as a ghost and drag every one of you to hell."

"Madam is emotionally unstable," Parker said with a frown. "Give her a sedative so she doesn't hurt herself or the baby. Mrs. Ward, watch her."

The long needle pierced my arm.

I stopped struggling.

So this was what I was worth to Graham. His first love mattered more than his own child.

To protect her baby, he was willing to leave mine on the edge of death.

The more despair I felt, the more I regretted marrying him even when everyone had warned me not to.

I had believed that if I loved him enough, if I was good enough, he would eventually see me.

There were moments when I thought he loved me.

Now I understood.

When someone does not love you, they simply do not love you.

Not even carrying his child could earn half a measure of tenderness.

I stroked the curve of my belly. Blood and amniotic fluid had already soaked the bed.

I slowly closed my eyes as fresh tears wet my face.

"Graham Whitmore, if anything happens to this baby, I will never let you go."

Perhaps the medication worked. The contractions dulled slightly.

But the bleeding did not stop. I lay on the bed, weak and cold, while blood continued to flow beneath me.

Through the haze, I suddenly heard Mrs. Ward say Graham's name.

Hope flared in my chest.

Had he finally softened? Was he finally sending me to the hospital?

I used the last of my strength to shout toward Mrs. Ward's phone.

"Graham, tell them to take me to the hospital. The baby really won't make it!"

Mrs. Ward had put the call on speaker.

But the voice that came through was not Graham's.

It was Natalie Vale's, soft and smug.

"Stella, you have to hold on. Graham is still here with me. He can't come to you right now."

She paused, then instructed Mrs. Ward in that same delicate voice.

"Mrs. Ward, make sure you take good care of her. Make her listen to Graham."

"Natalie, put Graham on the phone…"

Before I could finish, someone clamped a hand over my mouth. I could only make muffled sounds.

Mrs. Ward smiled ingratiatingly at the phone.

"Don't worry, Miss Vale. We already gave her the delaying medicine. We will follow Mr. Whitmore's instructions exactly."

"Good," Natalie said, full of satisfaction. "If she still hurts later, I know a method that can stop the pain and keep her going until Graham returns."

"What method?" Mrs. Ward asked quickly.

I held my breath and stared at the phone, terrified of what she would say.

Natalie's voice turned cruel.

"Hang her upside down first. Feet up, head down. After five minutes, the baby will slowly move back in. Then find a rope and tie it tightly below her stomach. That should buy more time.

"If that still does not work…"

She deliberately raised her voice.

"Then sew her shut. In short, use whatever method you need to make her wait until Graham gets back."

I shook my head desperately, but only muffled cries came out.

Mrs. Ward froze. Her face went white.

"Miss Vale, that doesn't seem right. Something could happen…"

"How could it?" Natalie sounded contemptuous. "Where I come from, people do this when they want a child born at an auspicious time. Babies are resilient."

She paused for two seconds, then continued.

"Graham is right beside me. This is his meaning. He asked me to call and tell you. He said it was time to correct Stella's jealous temper.

"He also said you must protect my child at all costs. If any of you get soft and something happens to me, Graham will not forgive you."

Ignoring the blood and the renewed pain, I broke free from one maid and screamed.

"No! Graham would never do this to me or our child! She is lying! She is evil! Mrs. Ward, don't listen to her!"

But the next second, two maids shoved me back down onto the bed. Tears streamed down my face as I looked at Mrs. Ward and begged.

"Mrs. Ward, you are a mother too. Can you really do this to my child?"

Mrs. Ward trembled violently. Cold sweat ran down her temples. Even the hand holding the phone shook.

Natalie pressed harder.

"Graham said he will divorce her soon. Think carefully about which side matters more."

The call ended.

For a long moment, there was silence.

Then Mrs. Ward spoke.

"Let Madam go."

My heart leapt. I thought mercy had finally won. I weakly reached toward her.

"Mrs. Ward, please. Hospital. If we wait any longer, it will be too late."

But she turned away from my gaze and ordered the maids.

"Bring some rope."

"Mrs. Ward, what are you doing? You can't!"

She acted as if she had not heard me. Two maids pinned me to the bed again.

The rope cut into my wrists and ankles, leaving bloody marks. Every movement felt as if my skin were being torn open.

"Madam, this is for your own good. Endure it."

Then Mrs. Ward ordered, "Bring in the metal frame."

"For my own good?" I cried until I could barely breathe. "Then stop believing Natalie's lies. Graham may be cruel, but he would never do this to me. He swore he would never hurt me."

No one answered.

The frame was carried into the bedroom.

They dragged me toward it by the arms.

The floor left a long trail of blood behind me.

The baby seemed to sense danger and began kicking wildly inside me. Another contraction crashed through me, so painful I could barely breathe.

Then they hung me upside down from the metal frame.

My head roared. The baby slammed against my abdomen. Black spots burst across my vision.

Tears ran upward into my hair.

"Graham, come back and look at me. Are you really this cruel?"

"Graham, I can't hold on. The baby really will…"

In my fading consciousness, I thought I saw Graham walking toward me with the same gentle smile he once had. He kissed my forehead and promised softly.

"Stella, I will protect you and our son. Don't cry.

"For you, I can give up anything, even my life."

I reached for him, trembling.

But I could not catch him.

The pain from the rope digging into my lower abdomen yanked me back to consciousness.

A moment later, the maids roughly pulled me off the frame. My back slammed into the floor so hard it felt as if my bones had shattered.

The rope around my stomach sank deeper into my flesh and made the contractions worse. The more I curled up, the tighter it bit, as if it would crush my organs.

Then a tearing pressure came from below. My hand shook as I reached toward Mrs. Ward.

"Please. I really am giving birth…"

A young maid named Mia had just entered the room. She covered her mouth and screamed.

"Mrs. Ward, the baby—the baby's head is out! Send her to the hospital!"

Mrs. Ward's face turned deathly pale, but she only spun in circles, panicked and useless.

I stared at her, weak from pain.

"I'm begging you. Any later and the baby will die."

Mrs. Ward suddenly lifted her hand, her eyes cold.

"Bring a needle and thread. We'll sew her closed first."

"No!" Mia rushed to the bed and spread her arms in front of me. "Madam and the baby will die. If you want to sew anyone, step over me first."

"Do you dare disobey Mr. Whitmore's orders?" Mrs. Ward shouted.

"There's blood everywhere!" Mia was crying. "Mrs. Ward, how can you be so heartless?"

"If we anger Mr. Whitmore and Miss Vale, we may not even keep our lives.

"Tie her up. Don't let her interfere."

Two maids rushed forward and dragged Mia toward the metal frame. Tape sealed her mouth. Her eyes went red as she struggled desperately. The frame was knocked over and crashed hard into her back.

She curled on the floor, convulsing violently, and then stopped moving.

Through the agony below, I screamed with red eyes.

"Let her go! You monsters! I hope every one of you dies badly!"

The next second, tape sealed my mouth too.

Mrs. Ward took the needle and thread, lifted my skirt, and drove the long needle into the flesh below.

The pain spread through my whole body like a knife carving into me alive.

I shook my head desperately. Tears and cold sweat poured down my face.

The maids held my hands and feet down so tightly I could not move at all.

"Madam, this is cosmetic thread. It won't leave a scar," Mrs. Ward said expressionlessly, still forcing the needle through me.

"No anesthesia is for your own good. Childbirth hurts worse than this. Endure it. When Mr. Whitmore returns, we'll send you to the hospital."

I looked at those inhuman faces and finally closed my eyes.

I stopped fighting.

Then the door was kicked open.

"What are you doing? Stop!"