Chapter 1

In my four years of marriage to Jason, I got pregnant five times and miscarried five times.

Then I woke up early from anesthesia and heard my husband tell the doctor, "Keep giving her the medication. Make sure every child she conceives dies in the womb."

So all his devotion had been a mask. Revenge on behalf of the woman he truly loved.

On our anniversary night, he drugged me and sent a strange man into my room, setting up a scandal to frame me for infidelity.

I swallowed the antidote with a smile and quietly secured evidence.

Jason Hunter, you'll soon find out who the real prey is.

Evelyn's POV

The year I married Jason Hunter, I knew full well that ours was just a business marriage, a transaction where we each got what we needed.

So from the very beginning, I planned to maintain a cordial relationship with him.

However, Jason spent four years transforming this marriage of convenience into a romance everyone envied.

He cared about everything I liked.

Jewelry I glanced at would appear on my vanity the next day.

When my stomach bothered me, he'd cancel international video conferences to personally cook and feed me.

When I casually mentioned liking the stars, he spared no expense building a private observatory just for me.

His kindness was thorough, meticulous, and flawless. It made me go from initial wariness to gradual acceptance and gratitude, until I finally fell completely into this dreamlike devotion.

I began to anticipate our future together, longing for a complete family.

But in our four years of marriage, I got pregnant five times, and I couldn't keep any of the children Jason and I conceived.

After my fifth miscarriage, I woke up earlier than the anesthesia was supposed to wear off.

Through a haze, I heard Jason arguing with his friend Julian, a doctor, outside the hospital room.

I propped myself up on my arms, wanting to go mediate their fight.

Instead, I heard Jason's voice, laced with a coldness I'd never heard before.

"Keep giving her the medication. Make sure every child she conceives dies in the womb."

I froze in place.

What did he mean by that?

Outside the room, Julian's voice came through, struggling to contain his fury.

"Are you insane? Her body can't take this anymore! If this continues, she might never be able to conceive again!"

Jason replied with icy indifference.

"This is what the Johnson family owes Amanda."

"But Evelyn doesn't know anything! Isn't it your child she's carrying? How can you be so heartless?"

"Child? Heartless?"

Jason let out a scornful laugh.

"If there's anyone to blame, it's the fact that her last name is Johnson."

"Back then, her father knew he was terminally ill and wanted to secure the Hunter family's protection before he died by arranging our families' marriage."

"He used underhanded methods to force Amanda to abort our child, then made her go abroad alone where she fell into depression."

"They should have anticipated there would be consequences."

Julian said, "So all these years, your devotion to Evelyn has been fake? You pampered her, made her fall in love with you, gave her children only to make her lose them again and again. All to get revenge on her father for forcing Amanda away?"

"It's only fair, isn't it?" Jason said coldly.

"The pain her father inflicted on Amanda, now his daughter gets to experience it firsthand. Now she knows what it feels like."

"Her father is already dead. Is it really necessary to keep doing this to her..."

"Enough, Julian! What I do is my business. Don't forget this hospital is one of the Hunter family's properties."

Jason cut him off, his tone detached.

"Keep prescribing the medication. Reduce the dosage by half, but make sure any child she conceives won't survive."

"What if she finds out? Aren't you afraid she'll..."

"She won't dare."

Jason's measured tone had an almost cruel quality to it.

"Johnson Corporation is currently surviving on life support from Hunter Corporation. Even if she found out, what could she do? Unless she doesn't care about Johnson Corporation anymore."

Inside the room, I felt like I'd been struck by lightning.

What did those words mean? Had Jason been deceiving me all along?

Even the children we lost-had he deliberately killed them himself, over and over?

And he did all this because my father had forced the woman he loved to abort their child and then drove her away?

My blood felt like it was flowing backward. My legs went weak and I stumbled back toward the hospital bed.

The people outside heard the noise and immediately pushed the door open.

"Evelyn? You're awake?"

Jason strode toward me.

"Why did you get up?"

"I..."

"The doctor said your body is still very weak. You need to lie down and rest properly."

Jason supported my shoulders and guided me back to the bed.

"If you need anything, just tell me. Don't move around on your own."

His attentive demeanor made it seem like the cold, callous person from moments ago wasn't him at all.

I lifted my eyes to look at his sharply defined, handsome face.

I desperately wanted to ask him if what they'd said outside was true.

But when I opened my mouth, I couldn't produce a single syllable. I only felt bone-chilling cold spreading from my limbs throughout my body.

Noticing my reddening eyes, Jason assumed I was devastated from losing another child.

He pulled me into his embrace and gently patted my back. "It's okay, Evelyn. Losing this baby wasn't your fault. Don't be sad. We'll have more children in the future."

Every time I'd miscarried before, Jason had comforted me in exactly this soft, soothing way.

Previously, I couldn't understand why I kept miscarrying after a few months when my checkups showed I was perfectly healthy.

Now I finally knew.

It was because the father of the children didn't want me to give birth to them!

And the person who repeatedly drugged me and took away our babies was now putting on this act, saying we'd have children in the future?

How ridiculous!

My heart felt like it was being sliced with a knife, the pain piercing to the core.

I pushed him away forcefully. "Don't touch me!"