Chapter 1

"Congratulations, Mrs. Carter, you’re having a pair of twins.” The gynecologist handed the ultrasound report to Sylvia.

Sylvia took the sheet with trembling hands.

Twins!

Odell must be ecstatic to hear of this piece of news.

Sylvia thanked the gynecologist earnestly before leaving the hospital with her copy of the report.

She entered the car.

The driver promptly asked, “Madam, would you like to head home?”

With a flick of her hand, Sylvia instructed, “Take me to Victoria Lake Villa.”

The driver hesitated. “Are you sure, madam? That’s where—“

Sylvia cut him off and said with a steely gaze in her eyes, “I’m sure.”

The driver sighed silently and began to steer the car toward the direction of Victoria Lake Villa which was located southwest of Westchester City.

Victoria Lake Villa was an extremely upper-class residence area developed in recent years in Westchester City. There were only ten sparse villas in the community, one of which was owned by the Carters. However, the lady of the house was not Sylvia Carter, the missus of Odell Carter, but his one true muse, Tara Avery.

Half an hour later, the vehicle came to a halt.

Sylvia took a deep breath and strode into the house with the ultrasound report.

Unsurprisingly, she chanced upon Tara as soon as she entered.

Tara was draped in an elegant dress that seemed like something nobilities would wear.

As if she was already anticipating Sylvia to show up, she was not surprised by her appearance. She shot a haughty look at Sylvia that displayed her authority over the house and asked, “Sylvia, what are you doing here?"

Sylvia looked at this former friend of hers who was now playing the role of the mistress in her marriage. She responded with a cold expression in her eyes, "I'm here for Odell."

"That's too bad. Odell worked late last night but still somehow found the energy to wake me up for some action. He only dozed off around the time the sun came up and is still sound asleep, so why don’t you go back for now?"

She shot Sylvia a sly and smug grin.

Although Sylvia knew that this woman was goading her intentionally, she still felt a tightness in her chest.

Nevertheless, she managed to compose herself as best as she could and asked politely, "Where is his room? I'll leave after I discuss something with him.”

Tara glanced at the top of the stairs and answered impatiently, "Sylvia, do you, by any chance, happen to speak a different language? I already told you that Odell is sleeping and doesn't have time to see you. If you have anything to tell him, just wait until after he gets home.”

Sylvia felt another pang in her chest.

Odell had not been home for two full months since he managed to take back his Carter Corporation shares from his stepmother.

Needless to say, Tara was saying this to provoke her.

Sylvia took a deep breath.

She loved Odell; she had always loved him since she was a child.

During their two years of marriage, she had tried her best to fulfill her duties as Mrs. Carter and would do everything she could for him. Although he rarely if ever came home to her, she thought it was worth another try.

After all, this was the man she had loved for so many years, not to mention the fact that she was now carrying his children.

She did not want her children to be born into a broken family.

She found herself walking up the stairs the very next second.

Just as she was about to reach the second floor, Tara suddenly caught up with her and grabbed her while yelling, "Sylvia, have you no sensibility?! I already told you not to disturb Odell’s rest. Get the hell out of here.”

Sylvia was anxious to see Odell and belted angrily, "Tara, Odell is my husband. You have no right to stop me from seeing him!"

Tara scoffed, "If it wasn't for your nasty conniving two years ago that left Odell no choice but to marry you, I would've been the one to marry him instead. You were never meant to be Mrs. Carter in the first place!”

Sylvia was not expecting Tara to bring up what happened two years ago. She was so upset by this that her eyes turned red as she spat out, “Odell and I were promised to each other when we were young. Also, I was just as much a victim on that night two years ago. And don’t even get me started on you, Tara. You were supposed to be my best friend, but you seduced my fiancé behind my back!”

When Sylvia was a year old, her mother passed away. After her father found himself a new wife, he abandoned Sylvia and left her to live with her grandparents downtown. That was where she ended up meeting Tara.

When her grandparents passed away, she ended up living with her father again. During that period, Tara, who was very fond of her, frequently took her to the affluent part of town where the two would kill time together, Tara even went as far as to buy her expensive bags and jewelry with her own pocket money. Never in her wildest imaginations would she have thought that Tara would secretly seduce Odell!

It was only some time ago when Odell settled the matter with his stepmother when Sylvia finally learned that the identity of Odell’s ex-girlfriend that he had been keeping secret this entire time was Tara. The revelation ravaged her emotionally, and she nearly had a miscarriage.

Throughout the two years when she and Odell had been married, Sylvia frequently invited Tara to come over to visit, and Odell was home during most of those occasions as well.

The thought that the two were hooking up in her house was immensely infuriating to her.

How could she be so idiotic to let herself be played like a fool by others?!

Fixating on these issues would only further sour her mood now, thus she resolved her mind to tell Odell about her being pregnant with twins.

She yelled at Tara, “Let go!”

Tara suddenly darted a glance at the corner rounding the corridor and quickly put on a troubled expression as she voiced out, "Sylvia, what are you doing? Let go! I’m pregnant with Odell’s child!”

Sylvia froze for a moment.

What did she say?

What was even more astonishing was the way Tara immediately loosened her grip and drew her momentum backward.

Thump, thump, thump…

She immediately rolled down the stairs and fell hard against the floor. A spot of bright red blood slowly soaked the bottom of her outfit.

Sylvia froze in disbelief with her eyes widened like two large pearls.

It was at this very moment that a tall figure emerged from the corner of the second-floor corridor.

Dressed in a black shirt, his appearance was dashing, and he wore a dark look on his face.

It was none other than Odell.

He had witnessed everything. The temperature in the room dropped by several degrees, and the atmosphere became unbearably tense.

"Sylvia, what did you do to Tara?!” His voice was filled with rage as he uttered these words.

Sylvia turned pale when she felt Odell’s rage directed at her, and she hurried to explain, "Odell, it wasn’t me who pushed her. She fell on her own!”

"Do I look blind to you?” His gaze was icy and piercing like a gleaming katana that penetrated Sylvia in an instant.

Sylvia shuddered.

The man in front of her was supposed to be her husband. To think that this was their first meeting after two months of not seeing each other! He was not even remotely interested in hearing her explanation before forming his conclusion.

After all, she was his actual wife!

Sylvia felt an unbearable sadness swelling inside her.

When Odell walked past her, she subconsciously tugged at his arm and tried to explain, "Odell, I didn’t push her. I..."

Before she could finish speaking, his response came in the form of a heartless shrug.

“Scram!”

Sylvia almost lost her footing, but the man barely cast her a glance in her direction.

She managed to catch herself, but by then, Odell had walked down the stairs and approached Tara's side.

Tara's skirt was soaked with blood by this point, and the scene was especially gruesome to behold.

Tara's face was pale as a sheet of paper. She looked utterly devastated as she sobbed into Odell’s chest, “Odell, our child… our child is gone.”

"Let's go to the hospital right now, everything will be fine."

Odell picked her up as he comforted her. Before he left, he shot a murderous glance at Sylvia.

"Sylvia, if there turns out to be any complications with Tara, I’ll make sure you pay for what you’ve done!”

A relentless chill invaded her body when she felt Odell’s piercing gaze on her.

After the man left without hesitation, Sylvia involuntarily reached for her belly with her palm. She felt as if her heart had dropped into a deep, dark abyss where nothing but the chill of winter reigned.