Chapter 1

It was 2:00 am in the dead of the night. There wasn't a single car to be seen on the road.

I walked along the road, shivering and huddling to myself as my lower abdomen stung with excruciating pain. Cold sweat was dripping down my forehead.

I thought about the scene I'd just witnessed earlier and couldn't stop my tears from rolling down.

I had planned to surprise Colton Skye today by showing up at the airport unannounced to greet him. I wanted to tell him that I was already two months pregnant.

We had been married to each other for ten years. His family never liked me because I couldn't give Colton a child, and they often told everyone that I was infertile. They kept blaming me for wasting Colton's best years of his life.

I was under a lot of pressure. I had told Colton about it, wanting him to understand what I was going through, but he just seemed vexed as he replied that he hated kids and didn't want to be a father.

However, the night before he had to leave for a business trip, Colton had been unexpectedly kind and gentle toward me. He promised me a better future together. He even suddenly brought up the topic of having kids and discussed it with me.

I thought that he had changed his mind then. However, the more I thought about it, the more sure I was that he had simply been rehearsing for his reunion with Darlene Williams.

By the time I got back home, dawn was starting to break.

Colton heard the noise and came out from the bedroom.

He saw me shivering hard and frowned. Then, he grabbed a random coat from the couch and threw it over my head before nagging mercilessly at me.

"Are you daft, Gianna Larkin? What kind of idiot would let herself freeze like this? You never came home for the whole night. Don't you know how tired I am? Don't you know that I hate waiting up for you?"

Ever since Darlene returned to the country five years ago, Colton's attitude toward me had begun to change. He would mock me and belittle me on the daily.

Had this been another day, I would have fought back and verbally argued with him purely out of dissatisfaction. But today, I just glanced at him being unreasonable and said nothing.

Colton immediately lost his temper when he saw how cold my attitude was toward him.

"Don't show me that kind of face, Gianna. This is the only wish Darlene has ever had since coming back, so what if I help her fulfill it? It's not like I don't know my boundaries. I'll cut off all ties with her as soon as she gives birth!

"I never wanted to bring her back here, but I did it to put your mind at ease. I knew you'd be worried, not knowing where I was, so I forced myself to return and brought her with me, even though she'd protested. You knew all along that I'd been pining after her for years. Back then, you said it didn't bother you. So why are you changing your stance now?"

I couldn't be bothered to listen to him. I just wanted to go back to my room and rest.

However, Colton grabbed me by the arm and shoved me aside.

"Darlene isn't feeling well, so I let her sleep in the bedroom. Since you just came back, you might as well go back out and buy breakfast for the both of us."

The door then slammed shut in my face.

I stood in the corridor and chuckled aloud in exasperation.

To Colton, it was natural that I should let Darlene sleep in my bed, snatch my husband away, and order me around like I was her maid. But if I didn't do as she told me to do, then I was a petty person, putting Colton in a difficult position on purpose.

Colton only dared to openly hurt me so much because he thought that I was still deeply and crazily in love with him, so he wasn't afraid that I would leave.

He probably thought that I deserved to do everything as he wished.

I inhaled deeply and was just about to take my keys out of my pocket when the door suddenly opened from the inside.

Darlene stood at the door, dressed in my pajamas, and cocked her head at me with a shy smile on her face.

"Gianna, I've lost my appetite for a while ever since getting pregnant. Can you please go to the burrito truck two miles away and buy me a burrito bowl? Here's the money for it."

Then, she grabbed a handful of cash from behind her and threw it all over my body, pretending to look shocked afterward.

"Oh no, it slipped out of my hand! Can you pick the notes up?"

When I saw the gloating expression in her eyes, I slapped her on the cheek without a word.

The slap was loud and hard, and Darlene immediately screamed.

"Gianna Larkin! What the hell are you doing?"

Colton was mad. He rushed in front of Darlene and shoved me harshly backward.

I had been walking all night, and my pregnancy was also taking a huge toll on my body. I was feeling weak all over. With that shove, I stumbled backward and tripped over nothing.

The world spun for a bit before I landed heavily on the cold, hard floor.

Then, I felt an excruciating pain as a warm, sticky liquid began flowing from my lower body.

Someone screamed, "She's bleeding!"

My arms went numb. Just before I passed out, my gaze locked on Colton's shocked and frozen face.