They were willing to trade my life and my child's, for the sake of Theo's survival.

It was not hard to imagine what would happen to my baby if I died.

An unloved child, abandoned from birth, would likely be left in my parents' care.

At that moment, my sister's phone rang. It was our mother.

As soon as she answered, she complained bitterly, "Mom, Isabelle said she wasn't feeling well. I asked her about the baby, but she wouldn't say a thing. Isn't that frustrating?"

"If she's unwell, just have Caleb arrange a C-section. Whether the child survives or not doesn't matter. The priority is Theo. He needs that umbilical cord blood to save his life. We can't afford to delay. If his condition worsens, we won't have time for regrets!"

My mother's voice rose in urgency, but my hearing had always been sharp, so I caught every single word she said.

It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck me.

I had foolishly believed that my parents' sudden change in attitude over the past year meant they had finally come around, that they had started to love me, even if just a little.

It turned out that it was all an act, all for the sake of the child in my womb.

They acted so flawlessly that I did not even notice the slightest.

If I died, even if my baby made it into this world, he would be left to struggle alone, unloved and unwanted.

A crushing despair swallowed me whole, dragging me into an endless abyss.

My sister ended the call, then lowered her voice and said to Caleb, "Look at her face, it's ghastly. There's definitely something wrong with the baby. Get the operating room ready for a C-section."

I stared at the face in front of me that was identical to mine yet contorted in malice. A bitter smile tugged at my lips. "I know everything. I know it all."

Caleb's expression darkened. There was no point in pretending anymore. His mask slipped, revealing unfiltered cruelty. "So what if you know? Julie and I love each other. If you hadn't taken advantage of me when I was drunk, if you hadn't pretended to be her and tricked me into sleeping with you, I would have never married you. We've been husband and wife for years. You should be satisfied!"

Rage burned through me. I raised my hand and slapped him hard, my voice trembling. "Nonsense! The night you came into my room, I told you myself that I was Isabelle, not Juliette! And you said you knew!"

Caleb clenched his jaw, spitting out each word with venom. "You said you were Juliette."

A sharp pain twisted in my lower abdomen. My vision blurred, black mist creeping in at the edges.

I fumbled for my phone, hands shaking and dialed a number. The moment I whispered "Hazel," Caleb snatched the phone from my grasp.

Immediately afterward, a searing impact struck the back of my head.

As I slipped into unconsciousness, I vaguely heard Juliette's voice. "What? Feeling guilty now?"

Caleb's cold sneer followed. "Not at all."

I had no idea how long I was out, but I woke to a deep, throbbing ache.

The air was thick with dust. My surroundings were an abandoned operating room.

They had gone to such lengths to keep this hidden.

Moments ago, Caleb had thrown me onto the operating table like a discarded waste. The pain of my spine slamming against the cold metal jolted me back to full awareness.

I tried to move, but I could not.

Caleb must have injected me with anesthesia.

I forced myself to stay calm, straining to listen as Caleb and Juliette spoke, all while desperately thinking of a way out.

"Caleb, why don't you get a colleague to help? I don't understand this and I can't do much."

"I called Griffin, but he refused to come. It's fine. I'll guide you, just follow my instructions."

A cesarean section typically involves meticulous preoperative preparations, but given the suddenness of the situation and the lack of proper facilities, they had no choice but to improvise.

Juliette continued to grumble while Caleb's tone grew noticeably impatient.

"Stop talking! The cleaner usually passes by around this time. If she hears anything, we'll be in trouble."

"Caleb Adams, why are you yelling at me? You don't love me anymore, do you? I told you I didn't want to go through childbirth again, but you still had Isabelle conceive a child to save Theo without hesitation. What now? Are you regretting it?"

Before she could finish, a suspicious voice came from outside the door. "Is someone in there? Who is it?"

Caleb lowered his voice. "The cleaner is here. Don't make a sound!"

They were afraid of drawing attention, but for me, this was the only chance to survive.

I tried to move my toes and was delighted to find that I could barely control my body.

Strangely, I could feel the anesthetic wearing off much faster than it should. How could a doctor of Caleb's caliber administer such a weak dose?

However, there was no time to think.

The knocking on the door grew louder, continuing for several minutes. Then, just as it abruptly stopped, I gathered all my strength and shouted, "Murderer! Call the police!"

The words were not loud, but in the eerie silence, they echoed several times over.

I forced my eyes open and rolled off the operating table.

My strength had not fully returned and I did not dare rush to the door, fearing Caleb would overpower me and inject me with another dose of anesthetic.

His and Juliette's faces twisted in panic, but they quickly regained composure.

"Juliette, hold her down! Don't let her make another sound!"

"Got it!"

Just as the door that was the only thing standing between me and salvation was about to be forced open, Caleb rushed out.

At the same time, Juliette shoved me behind the operating table, clamping a hand over my mouth. From the outside, we were completely hidden.

"It's okay, I have a relative with a mental illness who somehow escaped from the psychiatric hospital and came looking for me. When she has an episode, she becomes violent, so she might attack people or even kill them. I had to restrain her for now. I just gave her a sedative and the hospital staff will be here soon to take her back."

"But the voice I just heard sounded familiar... It sounded a lot like Isabelle."

I had met and greeted her several times before and she remembered me.

Caleb's voice remained steady. "How is that possible? She's at home right now."

I struggled to stand, but Juliette landed a hard punch to the back of my head.

A wave of dizziness hit me, pain pulsing through my temples. My vision blurred, making her face indistinct.

She then chuckled apologetically. "Maybe I misheard. Alright then, I'll be on my way."

Her words felt like a bucket of ice-cold water pouring down my spine, extinguishing any last sliver of hope.

The door to the operating room shut once again.

Caleb's footsteps echoed as he approached, each step pressing against my chest like a slow, suffocating weight.

Then, my sister's phone rang.

Her face twisted with urgency as she answered. "Mom, I'm in the middle of something. What? Theo is in a coma again? Is his condition critical? Tell the doctor the umbilical cord blood is on its way!"

The moment she hung up, she lunged at me, wrapping her hands around my throat, her eyes burning with desperation.

"Stop wasting time and cooperate, or I'll kill you!"

She was furious and dug her nails into my skin, making it hard to breathe. Instinctively, I pried at her fingers.

Caleb's furious voice thundered above me. "What are you waiting for? Get her on the operating table!"

In that split second, while they were distracted, I slipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out a pill, shoving it into my mouth.

Hazel, my best friend, had given it to me.

As a traditional medicine doctor, she had taken my pulse while I was preparing for pregnancy and warned me that my body was too weak to carry a child. If I insisted on going through with it, she urged me to terminate the pregnancy at the first sign of trouble. It might be the only way to save my life.

The pill was abortive.

I never thought I would have to use it, but in this desperate moment, it became my only way out.

Caleb and Juliette worked together, strapping me down onto the operating table.

"Our hospital strictly controls anesthetics and I barely managed to get some. Now that it's worn off, I'll have to proceed without it," Caleb muttered.

Juliette scoffed. "What if she dies from the pain? Are we supposed to cut up her body and dispose of it in pieces? That sounds like too much trouble."

This was my own sister speaking. She had always maintained a gentle and kind image, but beneath that façade lay nothing but cruelty.

If I died, she would not feel guilt or sorrow, only annoyance at the inconvenience of getting rid of my body.

The love I once believed in, the bond of flesh and blood, was nothing more than my own naive illusion.

To her, I was never a sister. I was merely a tool to save her son.

Something was stuffed into my mouth, silencing any cries for help.

Caleb did not hesitate. The scalpel descended, slicing into my abdomen.

Agonizing pain ripped through me, so intense that I felt as if I were being torn apart. My fingernails dug into the disposable sheets beneath me, nearly shredding them.

Then, there was a noise at the door.

The pain was unbearable and suffocating, yet hope flickered back to life within me.

I forced myself to turn my head, my vision blurred by tears and through the haze, I saw my parents standing there, looking anxious.

"Help me... save me..."

With the last ounce of strength I had, I stretched out my trembling hand toward them.

But would they?

Even now, I still do not understand why they never wanted to look at me, let alone love me. My sister and I were identical. We were both their daughters.

From the moment I was born, they discarded me, sending me away to live with my grandmother in the countryside.

However, my grandmother only cared about mahjong. She never treated me well. As long as I could remember, I was always hungry and crying hoarsely until my throat went raw. If not for the kind neighbor who secretly fed me through the window, I might have died long ago.

When I was ten, my grandmother passed away. I thought my parents would finally take me home. But instead, they sent me off to my other grandparents.

To them, only the two sons of my eldest uncle mattered. I was nothing.

I never had enough to eat, never had warm clothes to wear and I slept in a cold storage room. Every night, I longed for the day my parents would finally come for me.

It was not until my grandparents passed away that my parents finally and reluctantly, took me back.

I foolishly believed that hearts were made of flesh and that if I treated my parents and sister well, I could restore the family bond I had always longed for.

Last year, my parents suddenly began treating me kindly and I thought I had finally succeeded.

But now, caught in the clutches of death, I realize it was all an illusion.

At this moment, standing at the gates of hell, I have no choice but to pin my last shred of hope on them.

People said blood was thicker than water. Surely, I wanted to believe that they would not stand by and watch me die.

However, their next words shattered me completely.

"It takes too long to find another donor. Theo can't wait any longer!"

"Cut her open. As long as we get the umbilical cord blood, just leave Isabelle and the child here. Let them fend for themselves."

They rushed forward, frantic and feverish. One of them was seizing Caleb's scalpel and the other was ripping open the IV bag to prepare for the extraction.

Four devils, eyes bloodshot, filled with a madness beyond reason.

The scalpel plunged into my flesh, carving through me over and over again.

My limbs convulsed from the sheer agony, my soul screaming to escape this broken body.

Cold sweat drenched me. The pain was unbearable and I felt I was dying, but I did not even have the strength to scream.

Then, just when the pain reached its peak, I felt it. I felt something being torn from my body, ripped away with brutal force.

A child…

The baby I had carried for seven months…

Laughter rang out, sharp and unhinged, piercing through the blood-soaked air. Wild. Crazy.

I was trapped in a living hell, enduring inhuman torment with no hope of survival.

My consciousness wavered, slipping into the abyss of nothingness.

The breath of death crept closer, wrapping around me like a suffocating shroud. A part of me longed for release, to be freed from this agony, but I could not.

I was not the one who deserved to die. They were.

Through the excruciating pain, I forced myself to stay awake, clinging desperately to the last shreds of my will.

Then, suddenly, Caleb's bloodied hands trembled as he let out a horrified scream.

"Why is the baby covered in bruises? Is he... is he dead?"

"It's worse than that… It's over… The umbilical cord blood seems to be contaminated."