Zareena’s POV

My twins were coming, but I swallowed pill after pill to hold them inside me—just one more night.

Hour after hour of contractions wracked my body, but I refused to push—until the billionaire CEO Sullivan Stryder proudly announced on live TV that his tenth mistress had given him a child.

“Shannah Gillick’s son will carry forward my family’s legacy!”

Only then did I let the labor take over and bring into the world the two sons my husband would never father.

In my past life, Sullivan was almost infertile.

Desperate for an heir, he turned ten women into mistresses and made childbirth a race for one big prize—the first son born would win the entire family fortune.

I still remember what he promised me.

“Be the first to give birth, and I’ll discard the rest. Your child will inherit everything.”

He made me feel special, and I believed him.

When I learned I was carrying twins, I was sure we’d won.

But when the contractions began, when I needed Sullivan most… he showed up not with flowers but with fury.

I screamed. I begged. But he still forced the doctor to do the unthinkable.

“Put those damn babies back in. Stitch her up!”

Paralyzed by sedation and grief, I lay there unable to save the babies who stopped kicking inside me…

As if that wasn’t enough, Sullivan dragged my limping traumatized body to a grave still wet with dirt and forced me to kneel like a sinner.

He forced my head down until my forehead split open, and my blood mingled with soil.

“I just wanted her child to be the heir!” he snapped, towering over me like a god passing judgment. “Shannah’s been through hell. If her baby inherits, no one will ever look down on her again. But you—you couldn’t stand that, could you?”

“She died giving birth to my heir! They died—both of them!” he shouted, shaking with rage. “And now, I swear, you’re going to pay for that!”

And just like that, he beat me to death right beside the grave of the mistress he loved like his wife.

The next thing I knew… I was breathing again, lying in that same hospital bed, right before the man I married would kill his own children and their mother.

But this time, I wouldn’t let that happen; I’d give Sullivan and Shannah the fairytale they wanted.

——

I grabbed the phone and called the doctor. “Give me another dose of that labor inhibitor! I need more right now!”

His face went pale. “Ma’am, you can’t keep delaying! It’s dangerous—you have to deliver. Your life is at risk!”

I bit down on my screams and braced myself to argue—but before I could say it again, Sullivan’s men stormed in.

One grabbed my arms. Another took my legs. They lifted me like a rag doll and dragged me from the hospital bed.

Behind us, the doctor frantically shouted, “Her vitals are dropping! If you take her away now, she could bleed out! That’s three lives at risk!”

But they didn’t give a damn. Not a bit. They hauled me straight to the press conference hall like some kind of animal.

All of Sullivan’s mistresses were already there—some with swollen bellies, some barely showing.

Then, without warning, his men injected us with fast-acting labor-inducing drugs.

The room descended into chaos. Agony echoed off the walls. The air filled with the sharp, metallic stench of blood. Women cried out, clutching their bellies, collapsing one by one.

“Even if she has his heir, it’s not like we’d ever replace her!” one woman wailed. “So why do our babies have to die?! Oh god—it hurts! Someone help!”

I fought. I bit, kicked, clawed—tried to knock the syringe from their grip. But they overpowered me…

The contractions I’d held off came crashing in like a tidal wave. Blood poured down my thighs. I screamed until my throat ripped open.

That cry ripped through the room, and the mistresses broke even more—panicked, confused, their voices clashing over one another.

“Wait, they injected her, too? But she’s about to give birth!”

“If she’s not in labor yet, then who gave birth to the heir?”

“Who wants all of us dead?!”

I collapsed onto the floor, my body shaking, my vision spinning. Using my remaining strength, I gritted my teeth and pleaded to the guards at the door.

“Call a doctor! We’re going to die here!”

And just then, the doors swung open.

Shannah walked in, dressed in a flowing white gown, her arm looped sweetly through Sullivan’s. She looked radiant—rosy cheeks, glowing skin, not a hint of exhaustion. She didn’t look like she’d given birth. Not even close.

Sullivan stopped in his tracks, taking in the carnage—blood smeared across the floor, women writhing in pain, the whole room engulfed in horror.

But Shannah just wrinkled her nose and gasped. “Oh my god… Did all these women miscarry?” she asked, eyes wide. “Who would do something so cruel? Why not let the poor babies be born?”

The words had barely left her mouth when Sullivan turned on me. His murderous eyes locked on me.

“You bitch!” he roared.

His boot slammed into my stomach before I could even move.

“You drugged them while I was gone?! You were so jealous you’d rather kill their babies?!”

I couldn’t even lift my head from the pain. But through the haze of pain, I turned my head—just enough to see Shannah’s smug, satisfied smile behind him.

My fingers curled into fists, my nails digging into the blood-slick floor.

“I… didn’t. It wasn’t… me. It was her—”

“And you’ve got the nerve to deny it?!” he thundered. “This isn’t the first time you’ve gone after someone out of jealousy, Zareena. But this time—this time, I swear you’ll pay for this!”

Zareena’s POV

“Each of you!” Sullivan turned to the other women on the floor. “Give her a slap! After that, I’ll send you all to the best hospital and postpartum center.”

His men didn’t hesitate. They dragged me to the center of the hall and shoved me to my knees, completely ignoring the blood that was pouring heavily from between my legs.

One by one, the other women stepped forward, their eyes red with tears.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am,” they whispered, right before slapping me across the face.

One after another, slap after slap landed on my face, until my ears were ringing, my vision blurred, and I couldn’t hear out of one ear anymore.

Finally, when everyone had taken their turn and been escorted out, Sullivan walked over, cradling the baby the nanny had handed him. Shannah stood by his side, holding his arm like the perfect little wife.

He stopped in front of me and looked down. His eyes swept over the blood smeared on my skin, the streaks running down my face.

For a brief second, something flickered in his eyes—hesitation, maybe even guilt—but it vanished just as fast. He lifted his chin, his tone icy.

“Don’t blame me for letting them hit you. I had to teach you a lesson so you’d finally understand—if you let jealousy consume you, if you try to hurt people again, this is the price you’ll pay.”

He paused, then sneered. “That way, you’ll stop dreaming about taking Shannah’s place as the mother of my heir.”

I froze. My whole body went cold. Slowly, I lifted my head to look at him.

‘So I’m not the only one who’s reborn…’

No wonder he had believed her right away—before she’d even finished speaking.

No wonder he said this “wasn’t the first time” I’d done something like this.

Because in our last life… he’d wronged me just like this. He’d sentenced me to death for Shannah’s sake.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

But he didn’t care. His voice stayed hard. “Playing the victim won’t work anymore, Zareena. Even if you gave birth first, it wouldn’t matter.”

He scoffed. “I already had the doctor give Shannah labor-inducing medication. She’s definitely delivering before you. Whoever gives birth first—that’s the real heir. Your kid? It’s worthless.”

I gave a bitter, broken laugh and gritted my teeth. One hand pressed against my belly, the other between my legs trying to stop the bleeding.

My voice came out low and shaky.

“I already took labor inhibitors… I delayed my labor on purpose. I stepped aside for your perfect little family. So why? Why won’t you even let me give birth to my baby? Why drug me? Why try to kill my children?”

He stiffened. His brows furrowed in confusion.

“That’s nonsense. Your due date was last night. I already asked the doctor. You should’ve given birth already.”

Cold sweat broke across my skin as the pain spiked. Gasping, I grabbed his hand and pulled it toward my still-high belly.

“Look—look at me! I haven’t given birth!”

But he didn’t even glance down. Instead, he yanked his hand away like I’d burned him and gave me a disgusted look.

“Cut the act. If you want people to believe you didn’t try to hurt Shannah, then tomorrow at the press conference, admit you couldn’t conceive. Admit it was you who begged Shannah to carry the child for you.”

“Then hand over all your shares, all your assets, to her and her baby. From now on, you’ll serve them—and serve them well.”

He leaned in, his words colder than ever.

“And if you so much as try anything—if you touch even a single hair on her head—then I won’t just take care of you and that bastard in your belly. Your father, rotting in that VIP hospital room? Don’t count on him making it through.”

I stared at him, eyes wide in disbelief. My voice cracked as I screamed, raw and furious.

“Sullivan! You bastard! My dad’s in a coma—because of you! He saved your life, and now you’re threatening mine with his?!”

He let out an impatient sigh. “As long as you behave and take care of Shannah during her recovery, I won’t lay a hand on him.”

With that, he turned to Shannah, wrapped an arm around her, and walked off without looking back.

“Shannah,” he said softly, “thank you for giving me an heir. I’m going to reward you well.”

Blood was soaking through my clothes, spreading across the marble floor. I sobbed as I turned to his men still posted around the hall, begging them through gritted teeth.

“Please… take me to the hospital. My babies… please save them…”

Just then, Terese, my mother-in-law, rushed in. Her eyes swept across the bloodstained floor, then landed on me—drenched in amniotic fluid and reeking of blood. Her face turned ghost-white at the sight.

“What are you all waiting for?!” she screamed. “Get her to the hospital now! If anything happens to my grandchildren, I swear, I won’t let any of you off the hook!”

Finally, they rushed me to the hospital.

But once we got there… No doctor showed up.

Terese’s fury erupted. She stormed through the hospital halls, demanding to know what happened to the medical team that had been assigned to me.

Zareena’s POV

The nurses looked troubled, clearly caught in a bind.

“Ma’am,” one of them said cautiously, “all the doctors in the city have been called to Edison by Sir Sullivan. Ma’am Shannah pricked her finger during a blood draw, and Sir Sullivan got worried something might happen… so he had every doctor stand by, just in case.”

She hesitated, then added softly, “Right now… there are no doctors available in Paterson. Not a single one.”

Terese’s face went pale with fury. She started calling her son again and again, her voice shaking with rage.

“This is madness! His wife is in labor, bleeding out, and he calls every doctor in the city away just to fuss over his mistress? Does he even care if his wife dies?!”

By the tenth call, Sullivan finally picked up, his voice cold and laced with impatience.

“What do you want, Mom? Don’t tell me she’s stirring up more drama and dragging you in to back her up.”

But Terese wasn’t having it. She shouted into the phone, her voice cracking with urgency.

“Your wife’s barely conscious from blood loss! The baby’s already in distress—it’s not getting enough oxygen! And you—you took all the doctors! Are you trying to kill them?”

There was a pause. Then came his low, sarcastic laugh.

“Oh please. Did she tell you to call me? She already gave birth yesterday. Now she’s pretending she’s still in labor? What a joke.”

He clicked his tongue and said dismissively, “Look, I’m busy. I’m taking newborn photos with Shannah and our son. Zareena wants a doctor? Fine, I’ll send someone.”

Terese hung up, gripping my hand tightly with her cold, trembling fingers.

“Don’t be scared, honey. The doctor will be here soon,” she promised, though her voice was full of fear.

I held my swollen belly with both hands, feeling the life inside me slowly grow weaker.

Tears blurred my vision. My whole body was trembling.

And at that moment, the past came rushing back.

In my previous life, this was exactly how my babies had died—sewn shut inside me by Sullivan’s order, suffocated before they even had a chance to breathe.

Fighting through the pain, I reached out and grabbed Terese’s hand. My voice was weak, but I forced the words out anyway.

“Mom, three years ago, when my dad fell into a coma trying to save Sullivan… you promised to treat me like your own daughter. You said… if he ever treated me badly, you’d help me leave him.”

Tears welled up again as I continued, “I’m begging you. Please… help me divorce him. I swear, I won’t get in the way of the woman he loves, or her child being his heir. Mom, I just… I just want my babies to be born safely.”

Her eyes brimmed with tears as she nodded repeatedly.

“Yes, I remember… At first, I just wanted to repay your father’s kindness. I only planned to make you my goddaughter. But it was Sullivan—he’s the one who pursued you. He confessed, he proposed, he said he loved you so much…”

She choked on her own words and shook her head. “How did it end up like this? It’s all that bitch’s fault! If she hadn’t shown up out of nowhere, none of this would’ve happened!”

I let out a bitter laugh, my heart breaking.

‘Yeah. How did we go from childhood sweethearts to this?’

He was the one who, at his coming-of-age celebration, blushed and told me he’d love me forever.

He swore, if he ever betrayed me, he’d suffer a thousand cuts and die a painful death.

And now?

He was doing exactly that to me—slashing me apart, piece by piece, for another woman.

“Please… Mom,” I whispered, every syllable scraped from the bottom of my throat.

Hearing the desperation in my voice, she finally nodded, firm with resolve.

“Alright, honey, alright. When you two got married, I made him sign a divorce agreement. I had it drawn up just in case this day ever came.”

She stood abruptly.

“I’ll go get it right now and push it through immediately. First thing tomorrow, I’ll make an official announcement. You’ll be my only heir.”

Her voice hardened.

“And as for that ungrateful son of mine… I won’t acknowledge him anymore!”

She turned and left in a hurry to take care of everything.

I lay there alone, curled on the hospital bed as the waves of pain crashed through me, harder and sharper each time. I couldn’t stop screaming.

Poppy, the assistant Terese had left behind, was pacing nervously, glancing at the door again and again, probably praying the doctor Sullivan promised would show up soon.

Finally, someone did arrive.

But it wasn’t a doctor.

It was a fucking delivery guy!

He stepped into the room, only to freeze at the sight of the blood soaking through the sheets. His face went pale. Hesitantly, he held out a plastic bag.

Something tumbled out—a sanitary pad and a Band-Aid.

“M-Ma’am… s-sir Sullivan said,” the guy stammered, “it’s just… It’s just postpartum bleeding. N-Nothing fatal. He said… clean yourself up… and stop using stuff like this to gross him out.”