Chapter 4

The person speaking was my rival, Chris.

He had been jealous of my beautiful and wealthy girlfriend for a long time.

Esther's call just now must have been Chris telling on me.

I immediately called Esther back to explain everything.

"Esther, I swear to God I haven't done anything to betray you."

"That woman is absolutely making things up. I've never even met her. How could her children possibly be mine?"

Just like in my previous life, I used these words to calm Esther down first.

But for some reason, I started to feel a vague unease again.

Why, despite my best efforts to avoid contact with Padilla, was she still clinging to me like this?

And why was she so sure that the children in her belly were mine?

In the company WhatsApp group, I directly posted a statement warning Padilla that if she kept spreading rumors, I would sue her.

Soon after leaving the company group, I lay in bed, my mind a mess.

Just then, my phone received a picture from an unknown number.

I opened it, and it was a photo of me and a woman.

In the dim light, I zoomed in on the woman's face—it was Padilla.

In the photo, she was clinging to my arm, and we looked intimate,

And I was looking at her with a doting expression, clearly a couple deeply in love.

Then, the date in the upper left corner of the photo caught my eye: 1995.

How was that possible? In 1995, I hadn't even been born yet!

And when did I ever take such an intimate photo with Padilla?

Just then, there was a frantic knocking at the door. My heart pounded as I slowly crept to the peephole.

Through the peephole, I saw the person outside was Padilla.

She called out to me, her face flushed with shyness, "Giovanni, I'm off work! Open the door!"

I froze, my entire body stiff.

What was with that photo? And how did Padilla know where I lived?

But because I was stunned, the knocking at the door grew more frantic, and Padilla's voice became more urgent.

The force of the knocking was so great that I felt like Padilla was going to smash the door down.

The neighbor across the hall opened their door, muttering angrily, "Are you trying to wake the dead in the middle of the night?"

Padilla turned her head, looking annoyed. "I'm knocking on my husband's door, what's it to you?"

The neighbor rubbed their eyes. "Your husband? You mean across the hall?"

Padilla touched her belly, a proud expression on her face. "Mhm, my husband's children are in here, and they'll be born soon."

My neighbor had seen me bring Esther home before.

If I let Padilla keep spouting nonsense, these terrible rumors would spread throughout the whole building by tomorrow.

Unable to bear it any longer, I directly called 911.

By the time the police arrived at my door, Padilla had already attracted quite a few neighbors.

I opened the door, and she looked at me with delight.

"Giovanni, you finally opened the door!"

Beside me, a police officer showed his badge and asked, "You're the one who called, right?"

"Yes, this person has been knocking on my door in the middle of the night, and spreading rumors that I'm her husband, but I don't even know her."

Padilla turned her body slightly away from the officer, as if deliberately hiding her face.

"Ma'am, please come down to the station with us."

But Padilla twisted her head away even further.

"I'm not going! I haven't murdered anyone or set anything on fire, what right do you have to question me?"

Her belly was terrifyingly large, making even the police officer frown.

"She's heavily pregnant, making baseless claims that I'm her husband right outside my house, and saying the children in her belly are mine."

"If these words get out, my girlfriend will definitely break up with me."

The officer nodded, but hesitated to lay hands on Padilla due to her pregnant status.

"Ma'am, please cooperate and come with us."

As the officers pressed closer, Padilla suddenly clutched her belly and ran.