Chapter 1
When I was eight months pregnant, William Ward, my baby’s father, threw a divorce party for his first love.
He even asked me to personally build a 16- layer champagne tower for the event.
When the party started, Lilah Holloway ‘accidentally‘ knocked the tower over, cutting her finger in the mess.
“William, where did you even hire the idiots who built this?! They’re dumb as pigs!”
While William shot me a cold look, Lilah smiled like a devil and said, “Oh. Well, honestly, Emberly, you do kind of look like a pig.”
My hands shook with rage as I slapped her, demanding she apologize.
But William stood up and shoved me to the
floor.
85% 18:35
1/6
Chapter 1
“She didn’t even know it was you. Why are you losing your temper?!” he hissed. “Is she wrong? Your belly’s huge like a damn balloon!”
That rainy night, he made me kneel at the door to “reflect on my actions” while he laughed with his friends inside.
“Women have to be taught like this if you want them to behave,” he explained.
But this time, I didn’t do what he wanted.
I stood up, hailed a cab, and went straight to the hospital to terminate the pregnancy.
Eight months? So what? If I didn’t want this baby, I wasn’t going to have it!
The on–call doctor looked me up and down, then at my paperwork, frowning. “Does your husband agree to this?”
“I don’t have a husband,” I corrected.
But he clearly didn’t believe me. His eyes
85% 18:35
2/6
Chapter 1
lingered on my thin clothes, and I realized
I’d been kicked out of the party without
even a coat. It was late autumn–no sane person would be walking around like this.
The doctor must’ve assumed I just had a fight with my husband.
In the end, though, I insisted, and the doctor agreed.
But the procedure couldn’t be done. immediately; I’d have to wait three days.
Before I left, he even still tried to persuade me. “Ma’am, you should talk it over with your family. Don’t act impulsively.”
I just gave a bitter smile in return.
I’d seen this doctor a few times before, but he didn’t know William was my husband.
William rarely accompanied me to my prenatal checkups. The one time, he held my hand as we walked to the clinic–only to drop it the moment we ran into someone he knew.
85% 18:35
3/6
Chapter 1
Like I was something to be ashamed of.
When the doctor asked who I was, William just casually said, “A friend.”
I took a cab, and when it stopped at the villa, I saw the front door wide open.
The party was over, leaving behind a mess.
William sat in the middle of the living room, smoke curling around him, his face. dark and unreadable.
“I felt sorry for you since you’re pregnant, so I was going to let you in,” he began. “But you had the nerve to go out and have fun? Great!”
So he actually remembered I was pregnant.
But I didn’t bother arguing with him. I just wanted a hot shower.
That’s when he stood up. “Where’d you go?”
I brushed him off. “I wasn’t feeling well, so I went to the hospital.”
His expression softened immediately, and
85%%% 18:35
4/6
Chapter 1
he reached out to touch my belly.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Look at you, you’re not even wearing a coat…”
Before he could finish, a woman’s voice rang out.
“Hey, William, smell my body wash–isn’t it sweet?”
Lilah emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel, her cleavage on display.
She saw me and gasped, pretending to be surprised. “Oh! Emberly! I thought you had plans and weren’t coming back tonight.”
She smiled apologetically and leaned closer to William. “Well, now that she’s back, maybe I should leave?”
William frowned slightly. “It’s too late. It’s not safe. You can stay the night. Emberly
won’t mind.”
He always decided I didn’t mind.
But this time, I really didn’t anymore.
>85%
89% 18.35
5/6
6:35
83
Chapter 1
I casually agreed, and it made him feel satisfied. Then, I headed to the bedroom to
shower.
When I stepped in, there it was–a piece of lingerie lying on the bed.
White lingerie against black sheets- blindingly obvious.
With a blank expression, I picked it up and tossed it to William.
He froze for a moment before handing it to
Lilah.