Chapter 1

"What... if I did something wrong, will you still forgive me?" My husband, sat across the table from me and looked at me gravely.

"It depends on what you did, Rad," I quickly replied.

"You know how much I want to have a baby, Kylie. He will be the heir to our company. But we've been trying for so many years and we're always disappointed—I even thought about giving up."

I felt a bit uneasy that my husband had suddenly brought up the subject. My gut tells me that the following discussion may not be a pleasant one.

I looked down, afraid to meet his eyes, only to catch a glimpse of his thin lips pressed into a line. When I graduated from college at the age of twenty, my father married me to him. I knew it was my destiny to marry a businessman and turn my happiness into a tool of family bondage, but the moment I learned my fiance's name, the twenty-year-old me still covered my mouth in surprise.

Radleigh Adams, the youngest Adams heir. The man all the girls in the merchant's family want to marry.

"Marry him, help him, Kylie. Give him an heir, be a good wife, so that our family can be protected forever," my father whispered in my ear on our wedding day.

Afrer I got married, I did everything my father asked me to do. I became the Mrs. Adams that everyone admired and imitated. I provide my husband with emotional support and business advice, help him socialize in high society, and deal with secret and tricky issues. I can assure you that, apart from not being pregnant, I am doing better than any other lady in high society.

During those seven years, Radleigh would occasionally complain that he didn't have children, but he never expressed much dissatisfaction because he needed me in his business and in his life. But today, on our fifth wedding anniversary, he brought it up again.

"Kristen is pregnant, Kylie," Radleigh said in a cheery tone.

I was stunned for a second. Kristen never told me she had a boyfriend. I always thought my father would choose a business marriage for her, just like mine.

I looked at Radleigh and nodded. Anyway, I should be happy for my sister and her unborn child.

"That's a good thing—"

"That's my baby," Radleigh said casually, as if saying something unimpressive. His words struck me like lightning, and my hands trembled.

My head was full of loud buzzing sounds which made me only see him moving lips. I felt like I had sunk to the bottom of an icy chill lake, completely unable to hear what he was saying.

It probably took me a few minutes until I shook out of my stupor. I knew that my world was collapsing. He always said he would be loyal to me, but now he has easily broken the oath we made in front of God...

Why my sister? When did they start? Why was I never aware of that?

By the time I got my wits about me, I was madly running out and driving straight to Kristen's apartment. I need to confirm it from her. That can't be.

An hour later, I staggered out of the car and knocked on her door with trembling lips. I wish I were sick. I wish I'd realized I was just having a bad dream and I would open my eyes the next second.

Please, let me wake up from this nightmare...

But the reality was still cruel—Kristen opened the door with a bathrobe, and her curly red hair was dripping with water. She seemed to know why I was there.

"K-Kristen..." I called her, legs trembling. "Is it... true?"

She leaned against the doorjamb and shook her hair deliberately. The water in her hair was flung into my face, and my skin stung as if she had slapped me.

"Kylie—"

"Why you?!" I screamed on the top of my lung. "Why do you take everything that belongs to me?!"

She didn't answer me. She just looked at me provocatively and then looked behind me.

"Why are you doing this? Do you know that this is a real blow to me?"

Kristen still hasn't answered. A few seconds later, I don't know what exactly happened but she suddenly squatted down in pain.

"Help! She... She's going to kill me and my baby!" she shouted and ran to the door.

I saw blood flowing down the curve of her leg on the floor.

"Help me! My sister's trying to kill me!"

My eyes widened in shock at run to her. "What are you saying?!"

"My sister wants to kill my baby! Help us!

I shock my head nonstop, started to cry. "No! Kristen, that's not the true!"

I was caught by a pair of big hands that almost lost my balance. I was held down like a criminal, and my ears were filled with my heavy, painful breathing. I didn't know what happened next, but the next thing I remember I lost my conscious.

When I woke up, the windowless room told me that I was still in prison. The damp, rancid smell brought me back from my dream. I'm still in this damn prison, where the Adams' family secretly executed prisoners.

"Let me go here!"

Kristen miscarried—She claimed I was the murderer, but I didn't touch her at all. But my explanation didn't help... and Radleigh locked me in here.

"What were you shouting about?" The ugly bald guard with the scar on his face opened the door with his key and came in.

"I need to go out! Please, let me go out!"

He raised his whip and threw it directly at me. "You need to learn how to shut up!"

I almost cried in pain, but I still tried to stand up and beg to him.

"I want to see my husband, and tell him I'm pregnant," I told the guard, enduring the pain of the flogging.

Just a few days ago, I realized that my period had been delayed. I traded the only valuable watch I had on me for a pregnancy test by bribing another guard, and it turned out I was pregnant.

The guard grinned scornfully. "Are you sure it's not mine?" He squatted in front of me and stared at my breasts with a perverted look.

"I've never enjoyed a anyone's wife. Is your wet garden salty, too?"

I spat in the guard's face in disgust. "Shut up! I am still Mrs. Adams! I order you to tell Radleigh I want to see him!"

The guard wiped the spit from his face with his hand, and his lascivious eyes continued to scan my body. "There is no Mrs. Adams here, only the prisoner. And I think... Mr. Adams must have known that the female prisoner was being ridden like a horse in prison. Do you think he would believe that the child in your belly is his?"

"Please, I'm begging you..." My voice soffened. I had to rely on him to see my husband.

"You know what to do." The guard stood up and began to undo his belt.

Then the phone rang. It was his cell phone. He grunted and strode out of the cell with his trousers up, but he was soon back again. I noticed that his belt was fastened to his waist, and the man's face showed his displeasure at being interrupted.

"Luck you, you have a visitor. Fix yourself."

I quickly wiped my own tears and smiled so widely. "My husband! My husband is coming!"