My husband's first love gets engaged. To make her regret it, he abandons me, his newlywed wife, and joins a research project down at the southern tip of the earth.

I've made 999 attempts across several years to visit him, with each one ending in failure. After five years, I stopped going.

During a lively birthday party, he suddenly shows up.

When he sees my slightly bulging belly, he howls in anger. "I spent five years at the research base, and not once did you care about how I was doing! Who's the father of the bastard child you're pregnant with?"

"It's none of your business," I calmly reply.

In a fit of rage, Walter Gray kicked over the birthday cake and snarled, "Alice Carter! I've only been working abroad for five years, and you've gone and got yourself knocked up? You're such a shameless woman! Tell me who the father of this bastard child is. I'm going to make sure he'll never survive in Salton!"

Seeing the meticulously prepared birthday party ruined by Walter, my own temper flared. "Walter, this is not the time and place for you to go on a rampage. Stop acting crazy. If there's something wrong with you, go to a hospital."

The mention of the word "hospital" sent Walter into a frenzy at once. He came straight at me, grabbing my arm and dragging me toward the door.

"Go and get an abortion at the hospital right this instant!"

He was too strong. I could barely even attempt to struggle.

Just then, Ethel, Walter's grandmother, heard the commotion and hobbled over with her cane. When she saw Walter's violent actions, her heart jumped into her throat. "Walter! Let go of Alice at once! She's pregnant with—"

Walter's emotions had eased a little when he saw Ethel, but after hearing what she said, his rage shot through the roof again. He immediately cut her off, saying, "My, my. You really are something, Alice. You've even got Grandma wrapped around your finger!"

Then, he slapped me across the face. My face swelled up at once, and blood appeared at the corner of my mouth.

Ethel was horrified by what she saw. She reached out to try to rescue me from Walter, but his bodyguards kept her away.

He instructed his bodyguards to call up a doctor at a private hospital to prepare for the abortion. While making the arrangements, he continued hauling me out to the car.

Ethel insisted on tagging along with the bodyguards in the other car.

Meanwhile, none of my friends who attended the party dared to step forward and lend a hand. On the contrary, they were gleefully relishing the spectacle. Walter's family, the Grays, were rich and powerful. None of them wanted to offend him. Instead, they were more than happy to do him a favor.

Soon, the car pulled up outside the private hospital. Hugo Atkinson, the hospital director, came out in person to greet Walter.

Ignoring Hugo's attempts to suck up to him, Walter dragged me to the obstetrics department.

"Let go of me, Walter! The child I'm pregnant with is—"

Before I could finish my sentence, we ran into Isabel Larson, who was stepping out of the doctor's office. She was Walter's former sister-in-law and the woman he had never stopped thinking about—his first love.

The moment she saw Walter, she happily ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

"I'm finally pregnant, Walter," she said before staring at him affectionately.

Walter let go of my arm and carefully held Isabel. "Be careful, Isabel! You're pregnant now, so you shouldn't be moving around so recklessly anymore!"

Isabel let out a playful giggle. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed me and exclaimed in shock, "Alice! How are you pregnant as well?"

After seeing how intimate Walter and Isabel were, the situation dawned on me. They had gotten together years ago.

Ignoring the taunting look in Isabel's eyes, I said coolly, "Walter, didn't you cheat on me first by hooking up with Isabel ages ago? You two even have a child now, so why do you care about what I've been doing? Let go of me at once, or you won't be able to face the consequences."

Ethel was also stunned to find out that Walter and Isabel had gotten together, but to her, it was more important to make sure that Walter didn't do anything rash right now.

"Walter, let Alice go home and rest," she said.

Upon hearing that, Walter released Isabel from his embrace and growled, "Alice cheated on me, Grandma! She's pregnant with some bastard kid! Do you expect me to pretend like I'm blind?"

From his words, Ethel realized he wouldn't be giving up so easily. She hurriedly said, "Walter, Alice isn't pregnant with a bastard kid. She's—"

Before Ethel could finish speaking, Isabel cut in, saying, "Look, Walter. Mrs. Gray Senior's complexion doesn't seem too good. Maybe Alice hasn't been taking good care of her, or maybe Alice has been threatening her!"

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity.

"Ethel raised you herself, Walter, and you've been gone for five years. You know better than anyone why she's in poor health."

Scoffing derisively, Isabel walked up to me and said, "Don't you know why Walter left? You were the one who got in between Walter and me, ruining our relationship."

The moment she finished speaking, she shoved me violently. My belly hit a hospital gurney that was out in the hallway, and immediately, I felt a sharp pain shooting through me. Something warm began flowing down my leg.

Upon seeing that, Ethel became extremely anxious.

"We need a doctor, quickly! Nothing must happen to Alice's baby!"

A team of doctors and nurses quickly came over to check on me, but Walter roared at them, "Don't you dare! No one is allowed to check on her. I'm going to make sure she aborts that bastard kid today!"

Once Hugo signaled them, all of the doctors and nurses dared not move.

Isabel started mocking me again. "Who knows who the father of Alice's bastard kid is? How can she be shameless enough to ask the doctors from the family's private hospital to check on her when she cheated on Walter?"

Seeing that, Ethel frantically searched her bag for her phone to call for help. However, Walter got his bodyguards to snatch her phone away.

"What kind of spell did Alice put on you, Grandma? Why are you still trying to help her at a time like this?" Walter snapped. "I'm telling you right now, Grandma—I won't let that bastard kid survive."

Ethel was shocked beyond words. "Walter! I'm your grandmother! You won't even listen to me?"

After coming forward to help me up, she tried to lead me out of the hospital to take me to a different one for help, but the bodyguards stopped us.

"Walter, stop acting like a lunatic!" I snarled.

I held my stomach. It was incredibly hard for me to remain standing. I had broken out in a cold sweat.

"You don't have the right to harm my child. Let me go right now, or you won't be able to handle the consequences."

For a moment, Walter stared at me in silence. During this time, Isabel started a live stream using her phone. Then, she tiptoed and whispered something into Walter's ear. He took the phone from her and pointed it at me.

"Alice, since you refuse to comply with the more dignified method of getting a professional abortion from the hospital, then I'll resort to other means instead. I'll see to it that you remember the consequences of betraying me."

He got his bodyguards to tie me to a hospital bed.

My eyes widened in terror as I stared at the bodyguards, who were now holding bats. My hands and feet were bound, but I flailed around with all my might in an attempt to break free anyway.

I couldn't care about anything else now. I had no choice but to reveal the identity of the father.

"Have you lost your mind, Walter? I'm pregnant with—"

Before I could finish, Walter gave the signal, and a bodyguard swung a bat at me. Pain shot through my body, and I screamed in agony. My wrists and ankles began bleeding from the way I was struggling against my restraints.

"This is what happens when you sleep around behind my back and get pregnant with some bastard kid."

After hearing what was happening, the live stream viewers flooded the comments in agreement.

"One look and I can tell that woman isn't the faithful type."

"All cheaters should go to hell! Make sure she doesn't get off the hook so easily."

"What a shameless woman. Beat her to death! Let all the women watching see what happens when you cheat on your man."

Walter showed me the live stream.

"Not only did you cheat on me, Alice, but you even manipulated my grandma into helping you deceive me! I'm going to teach you a lesson today."

Back when the bodyguards were tying me up, Walter had ushered Ethel into a doctor's office on the side to keep her away.

Just as Walter's bodyguard was about to hit me with the bat again, a different bodyguard charged in and stopped him.

"Mr. Walter, you no longer have the authority to do anything to Ms. Carter. Things might go a little easier for you if you stop now and apologize to her," Peter warned.

When Isabel saw Peter, her expression darkened a little, but she didn't say anything. Meanwhile, Walter stared at Peter, the unexpected intruder, for some time before remarking, "You look a little familiar… I remember now. You're Jeremy's bodyguard."

Then, without warning, Walter grabbed the bat from the nearest bodyguard and smashed it against Peter's head. "You're just a goon we hired! How dare you touch my woman?"

Blood immediately spurted from Peter's head, and he collapsed to the floor. My heart dropped when I saw Peter, who had been my bodyguard for a while now, lie unconscious on the floor. I didn't even know if he was still alive. He'd been my only hope, and now, I had nothing.

"Walter, I beg you. I admit I made a mistake. Please just spare the child in my belly!" I cried in despair.

Walter glanced between the phone and me before instructing his bodyguards to untie me from the bed. "Kneel in front of me and tell me what mistake you made. If the live stream viewers forgive you, I'll let you go as well."

Supporting my agonizing belly, I got on my knees in front of him with great difficulty. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have cheated on you. I shouldn't have gotten pregnant. I'm despicable. But the child is innocent. Please spare the child."

Walter remained silent as he took in my pathetic display. He picked a viewer at random and allowed that viewer to connect their mic to the livestream. The viewer's furious voice rang out.

"She deserves to die! Kill her!"

Isabel walked over to Walter and said, "Walter, Alice still refuses to give up on the child or say who her affair partner is. It seems to me that she isn't sincere about owning up to her mistake."

Their words made all the color drain out of my face, but for the sake of my child, I had to do everything I could. Pushing through the pain, I shot to my feet and ran out of the ward. My only option was to escape from the hospital and ask someone to call the police for me. That would give my child a fighting chance to survive.

But just as I was about to reach the hospital entrance, Walter grabbed my hair from behind. He yanked me back with brutal force. I felt an excruciating pain coming from my scalp.

"I can't believe you're still trying to escape. You're not going to learn your lesson if I don't make sure it sticks."

While speaking, he handed me off to his bodyguards and had me tied up in the operating room.

"Cut the fetus out of her, doctor," Walter demanded.

When the medical staff attempted to give me a dose of anesthesia, he stopped them, saying, "Don't bother with the anesthesia. She's nothing but a shameless woman, and her baby's a bastard child."

Staring at the bright lights in the operating room, I said weakly, "You're definitely going to regret this, Walter."

"Maybe you'll be thanking me after this," he replied nonchalantly. "Don't you know? You're famous now. You'll be the first person in internet history to livestream your abortion."

I sank into utter despair. I kept apologizing to my child. I was too weak and powerless to save it.

I saw pity in the nurse's eyes, but all of the medical staff had no choice but to proceed with the surgery out of fear for their boss.

When the pain of the scalpel slicing through my skin hit me, I couldn't stop myself from letting out a heart-wrenching scream.

Annoyed, Walter stuffed a rag into my mouth.