Chapter 1

After marrying Ethan Pierce, I got pregnant nine times. But I miscarried all nine times.

I thought there was something wrong with my body, until I heard him talking in his study.

"She betrayed me. Her dirty womb doesn't deserve to carry my child."

"Only the pure and innocent Lily deserves to bear my child."

It turned out every miscarriage was his doing.

He pampered his pregnant mistress, caused my grandmother's death, and pushed me to the edge.

But when I left him to study abroad and became a renowned doctor, he showed up in a wheelchair, begging for my forgiveness.

I just smiled faintly and introduced the man beside me.

"This is my husband. What are you to me?"

Sophia's POV

After my ninth miscarriage, I dragged myself home exhausted, clutching the medical certificate.

The moment I walked in, I heard voices from the study on the second floor.

My footsteps froze. A bad feeling stirred in my gut.

The next second, I heard that familiar voice, cold and detached.

"Clean up the mess. Don't let Sophia find out."

"The oil stain on the floor has been wiped clean."

Through the speakerphone, I heard his secretary Robert's hesitant voice.

"Mrs. Pierce has been hoping to have a child with you. This is her ninth miscarriage. Shouldn't we tell her the truth?"

I forced my stiff legs to carry me up the stairs.

Through the crack in the study door, I saw Ethan lean back in his chair and let out a cold laugh.

"She should have known the future heir of the corporation could never come from someone like her."

"This is just a taste of what she deserves."

My face went pale. My weak body trembled violently.

I clutched the miscarriage notice in my hand, but tears still fell beyond my control.

The man who had dined with me so gently just yesterday, who promised to go with me to my checkup, now seemed terrifyingly unfamiliar.

Thinking back to every pregnancy after our marriage: being bumped into while walking, mysteriously falling down stairs, midnight fevers, food poisoning...

I thought it was my body's tendency to miscarry. I never suspected anything. Every time, I blamed myself for not being more careful.

Now, looking back, every seemingly coincidental incident had something sinister behind it.

But Ethan loved me so much!

I forced my eyes wide open. Even though breathing was difficult, I struggled to see the person clearly.

After each miscarriage, Ethan would pray in the church for a month for our unborn child.

To fulfill the child's wish, he endured rumors throughout our social circle that he was impotent, and took medication for a whole year without batting an eye.

To let me rest at home and prepare for pregnancy, he hired ten nannies to take care of my every need, arranging everything down to the smallest detail.

Everyone in our circle praised how madly Ethan loved me.

But now the truth hit me like a slap in the face.

Love and not love, which was real?

I trembled as I touched my abdomen, fresh from surgery. Dull pain radiated from below, making it almost impossible to stand.

"If Mrs. Pierce ever finds out, will she leave?"

Robert sounded worried.

Ethan looked at the photo on his desk of the two of us smiling brightly in college, his tone firm.

"We swore to be together forever. Even if she betrayed me, I won't let go. This is just a small lesson."

"It's only a child. It won't affect our relationship."

He paused, then continued.

"That college girl Lily got pregnant with my child after that accident at the gala. Let her have it. But I promised Sophia that the position of Mrs. Pierce will always be hers."

Every word cut into me like a blade.

I stood frozen, my blood running cold. I covered my mouth tightly, trying to suppress the sob rising in my throat.

I suddenly didn't know whether I should confront him about cheating with a college student, or continue explaining that the child was a misunderstanding.

The first time I got pregnant, Ethan and I had been broken up for three months.

Because of my special constitution, I was hit by someone on an electric bike. It wasn't until sharp pain shot through my lower abdomen that I realized I was three months pregnant.

My parents died when I was young, my grandmother was in poor health, I called him twenty times, but Ethan eventually blocked me.

With no choice, I contacted a classmate who worked at the hospital.

After the surgery, when my classmate helped my weak body out of the hospital, we ran into Ethan, who had just finished a meeting and rushed over.

His eyes fell on my classmate's hand supporting my arm. His face darkened like a storm.

"Sophia, are you that desperate for a man? We broke up less than three months ago and you're already pregnant with someone else's child?"

Without waiting for my pale face to respond, he turned and strode away.

I wanted to explain, but he simply didn't believe it was his child.

Not until my classmate went abroad did Ethan come to marry me.

"If you want me to forgive you, marry me."

I agreed. I thought I could spend the rest of my life explaining. I thought Ethan had let go of this matter.

Out of carelessness for losing our first child, I gave up my career to stay home and prepare for pregnancy, just wanting to make up for that regret.

Even at the cost of my own body, I never regretted it.

But Ethan never believed me!

My vision blurred the scene before me. I opened my mouth but couldn't make a sound.

The doorbell suddenly rang downstairs. The sharp sound made the person in the room look up toward the door.

My emotions were complicated. I didn't know how to face him. Instinctively, I turned and ran downstairs in a panic.