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.”

Zareena’s POV

Poppy’s hands trembled as she shoved a bag into my arms, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

“Ma’am, I’ll transfer you to Hackensack right now,” she choked out. “Please—you have to hang on!”

But the pain was relentless. It tore through me like fire, ripping screams from my throat. My body was giving out. I could barely hear her anymore. Everything spun. Then—blackness.

When I came to, it was a jolt of agony.

A bucket of freezing water crashed down on me, soaking me to the bone. I gasped, coughing violently as I shivered on the icy floor, too weak to even sit up.

And then I saw him.

Sullivan stood over me, his arms crossed, his face twisted in a look of pure disgust like I was some shit under his shoes.

“You’re awake? Then stop faking it,” he snapped. “You knew damn well I’m making the official heir announcement with Shannah tomorrow, and you still made a scene, running off to another city to get “treated.” What—trying to frame Shannah like she hurt you?”

Behind him stood Shannah, cradling her newborn, her face streaked with tears. Her voice broke as she looked at me, eyes trembling.

“Zareena… I know you hate me. If you want to take it out on someone, take it out on me. Why drag his mother into this? Why take my baby?”

She started sobbing harder.

“Before your assistant was dragged away, she was still shouting that Terese was going back to handle the paperwork to adopt my child… saying I’m not fit to be the heir’s mother…”

Her words hit like daggers. I wanted to scream that it wasn’t true—that I hadn’t done any of it—but my throat was scorched raw. I opened my mouth. Nothing. Only air.

Still, I shook my head and tried.

“I… didn’t…” I rasped, barely audible. “Please… just take me to a hospital… the babies… I can’t… hold on…”

“You’re lying again!” Sullivan snapped, clearly fed up. His brow furrowed. “My mom rushed out of the hospital and brought the lawyers to work overnight—don’t think I don’t know it was your idea. You think if you steal her baby, it’ll make you the official mother of the heir?”

He let out a cold, hollow laugh.

“You already gave birth yesterday, didn’t you? And now you’re here pretending you’re still in labor, half-dead? Trying to guilt me into pitying you?” He sneered. “Save it.”

My whole body ached. Every muscle screamed. Between my legs, I could feel the crusted blood clinging to my skin. The smell—iron, sweat, death—hung heavy around me.

Shannah gagged, covering her mouth, her eyes welling up again.

“Zareena… you know I can’t take the smell of blood after giving birth… Why won’t you clean yourself up?” Her voice cracked, soft and fragile. “Are you trying to make me pass out?”

She collapsed into Sullivan’s chest like a wilting flower, delicate and pale.

“Look at you!” Sullivan spat. “You’re a mess—filthy, disgusting, reeking. You’re a damn embarrassment!”

He raised a hand, and without hesitation, his men returned—this time with more buckets.

Ice water slammed against my skin, again and again, until I was numb, shivering so hard my bones felt like they’d snap. My lips turned blue. My body went limp. Still, they kept going—until Sullivan finally waved them off.

Meanwhile, Shannah sobbed harder in his arms. Her voice trembled with hysteria.

“Please, Zareena… I’m begging you. Don’t take my baby. If you’re really going to… then I’ll just jump out the window and die!”

She broke free from his arms and ran toward the window, looking ready to leap. Sullivan caught her, pulling her into his arms protectively.

Then he turned on me, eyes burning with rage.

I had barely enough strength to grab the hem of his pants, desperate—pleading.

But he kicked my hand away like it was nothing.

He crouched beside me, his voice low and deadly.

“You really think getting my mother involved is enough to keep your seat as the heir’s mother? I’ve already sent people to lock up the family villa. It’s over, Zareena. Whatever plan you had with my mother—it ends now.”

His next words sent ice through my blood.

“And you—how many times have I warned you not to mess with Shannah or her baby? But you never listen. Fine. You leave me no choice.”

He turned to his men, his tone flat, like he was just ordering dinner.

“She pushed Shannah to the brink. Almost made her jump. Time to make her pay. Go. Pull out her father’s oxygen tube. Then toss him off the roof.”

“No!” My scream tore from the depths of my soul. “Sullivan! That’s my dad! He saved your life!”

“So what?” he hissed. “He saved me just so he could sell you to me. So his daughter could marry into wealth. So his grandson would be my heir. He cashed in that favor for money.”

He stood, looking down like I was already buried.

“Well, he got what he wanted. I married you. I even let you carry my child.”

He paused, his face like stone.

“But you couldn’t even keep the first one alive. And that’s on you. I’ve repaid my debt. I don’t owe either of you a goddamn thing anymore!”