Chapter 1

As I neared my due date, my husband suddenly knelt down beside my hospital bed:

"Evelyn, I've told you three lies. I need to come clean."

Cold sweat poured down my face from the pain, and I gripped the sheets tightly:

"Wait until after I give birth!"

But he continued regardless:

"I'm sorry. When we did IVF, I switched your eggs with my first love's. She has a heart condition and pregnancy would be too risky for her, so I had to borrow your womb."

The pain was so intense I couldn't speak.

He stared at me, completely indifferent to the possibility that I might have an emotional breakdown or even die from complications.

Then he begged with fake sincerity:

"For the sake of our three years of marriage, you'll risk your life to deliver this baby, right?"

Meeting his calculating, triumphant gaze.

I laughed:

"That's it?"

My relaxed response stunned Nathan Cooper.

He clearly hadn't expected me to remain so calm after learning the child in my belly was the bastard of his mistress.

He froze for a few seconds, then quickly put on a pained expression.

"Evelyn, I know you must be devastated right now. But the baby's about to be born. You wouldn't have the heart to end a little life, would you?"

A cold smile tugged at my lips.

"Nathan Cooper, why did you choose this exact moment to tell me?"

I watched his face gradually pale, my voice growing icier.

"Because you know very well that inducing labor now would be a life-threatening risk for both me and the baby."

"That's why you dare to tell me the truth so brazenly."

"This isn't a confession. You're threatening me!"

Nathan's thoughts exposed, panic flashed in his eyes.

But more than that, he was furious with embarrassment.

"Evelyn Hart, how can you be so cold-blooded and selfish? Giving birth is giving birth, regardless of whose child it is!"

"I'm giving you a chance to experience motherhood!"

"Not only are you ungrateful, but you're nitpicking about everything. This is completely unreasonable!"

Fury turned to laughter. I gathered all my strength and slapped him across the face.

Nathan's face whipped to the side, five bright red fingerprints appearing on his cheek.

The sudden emotional surge caused sharp, stabbing pain in my abdomen. Cold sweat instantly soaked through my back.

I pressed the call button at the bedside through gritted teeth.

"Get Diana Monroe here now. She's my attending physician!"

Diana Monroe was the head obstetrician.

She was also the impoverished student I'd sponsored for ten years. Even my parents treated her like a daughter.

"My stomach hurts so much. Diana, give me an epidural..." The pain made it nearly impossible to form complete sentences.

Diana rushed in wearing her white coat.

But her gaze immediately landed on Nathan's swollen cheek, and her expression turned cold:

"Evelyn, you shouldn't have hit him!"

The pain made my vision darken. I almost thought I was hallucinating.

"He already confessed everything to you, what more do you want? All you ever do is focus on the company. You've never fulfilled your responsibilities as a wife."

She got more worked up as she continued.

"Evelyn, you've had everything since birth. Now you won't even help a poor woman with a heart condition fulfill her dream of becoming a mother? Are you really that unwilling? When did you become such a selfish, heartless woman?"

"Now Nathan has gone through so much trouble to let you experience the joy of motherhood, and you respond with such jealousy."

I watched her defend Nathan and suddenly understood.

"So, the Hart family sponsored you for ten years. This is how you repay me? By being a mistress and stealing my husband?"