On the day of our daughter's full-month celebration, Harvey McKinzie walked onto the stage holding the hand of his widowed, heavily pregnant sister-in-law.

"Honey, to be honest with you—my sister-in-law's baby is mine."

His parents followed behind, looking completely unapologetic.

"We're the ones who made it happen. We drugged them. Our oldest son may be gone, but the family can't be without an heir.

"Harvey is taking on the responsibility of carrying on both family lines—it hasn't been easy for him. From now on, you need to take good care of Lydia and the child she's carrying."

The sister-in-law, now eight months pregnant, glanced at me shyly.

"Jennifer, we're sister-wives now."

I stood there frozen, holding my daughter, my voice trembling.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

Harvey frowned and let out a long sigh.

"You're always saying how hard Lydia has it, right? Isn't it better if I just take care of her openly and properly?

"I promise—you'll be the first wife, and she'll be the second. On paper, you're still my only legal wife."

In that moment, my blood ran cold.

Then, for the first time in a long while, I heard the system's alert in my head.

[Host emotional fluctuation detected. Would you like to use all remaining points to exit the current world?]

The last time the system had appeared was when I gave up on the main quest and chose to stay for Harvey's sake.

The price was my body breaking out in oozing sores and boils. I was in agony, barely human.

Back then, Harvey was busy traveling for work. I never said a word.

When I gave birth to our daughter, I had a hemorrhage so severe that even the doctors recommended terminating the pregnancy. I begged them to save the baby.

I spent a week in the ICU. My body still hasn't fully recovered.

I told myself it was all worth it.

And now, I find out that just as I got pregnant, my husband was already crawling into bed with his own brother's widow.

Disgusting.

'System... can I take my daughter with me?'

[No. That would violate the laws of this world.]

I was silent for a long time. Finally, I replied, 'Then take me out.'

The system flickered.

[Protocol initiated. Countdown: 24 hours.]

Harvey was watching me. He softened his voice.

"Listen, honey. Lydia's had it rough since my brother died. She's not here to tear our family apart—she's here to join it. Nothing's going to change how I feel about you."

It was as if he'd forgotten the day he got down on one knee and promised me, "You're the only one I'll ever love."

I dimly remembered Lydia coming over once. I'd poured her a cup of hot chocolate, just being friendly.

Harvey snatched it out of her hand and threw it in the trash. "She's allergic to chocolate," he said.

I thought he just had a good memory. I forgot that he'd never once remembered I'm allergic to strawberries.

His mother shot me a disapproving look.

"Jennifer, a woman needs to be gracious about these things. You couldn't even produce a son. Lydia is carrying the McKinzie family's first grandson.

"If it weren't for Harvey's kind heart—remembering all those years you've been together—by all rights, Lydia should be the first wife and you the second."

I clutched my daughter tighter.

And then, my daughter reached her little hand toward Lydia and giggled. She knew Lydia.

My whole body started shaking.

So while I wasn't looking, Harvey had already been bringing our daughter to meet her stepmother.

Harvey saw it too.

"See? Even Ellie loves Lydia.

"Tell you what—I'll spend Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays with you. Lydia can have the other three days. That's fair, isn't it?"

How ridiculous. I was supposed to be grateful that he was graciously allowing me to share my husband with another woman.

The man standing in front of me was a stranger.

If he really needed to take care of Lydia, there were a thousand other ways to do it. He chose the most disgusting one.

When he was lying to me all those months, did he ever think about me and our daughter?

A sharp pain stabbed through my heart.

"Forget it."

My voice was hollow.

"We're done."

Something clattered to the floor.

It was the ring he'd given me when he chose to give up studying abroad just to end our long-distance relationship. Back then, everyone said he was crazy. He just smiled and said, "My wife is where I belong. So that's where I'm going."

He'd made the ring himself. It wasn't worth much. But to me, it was priceless. I never took it off.

Now it lay at his feet, reflecting the shock on his face.

Lydia walked toward me, her eyes red.

"Jennifer, please stop making this so hard on Harvey. You're the only one he loves. This baby is just to carry on the McKinzie family line. Once it's born, I'll leave. I promise."

She paused and glanced down at her own feet.

My heart clenched.

The next second, she pitched forward and tumbled straight down the steps.

Someone yanked at me. My lower back slammed into the corner of the railing. Pain shot through me so hard I couldn't breathe.

"Baby!"

My head whipped toward Harvey—only to see him cradling Lydia in his arms.

That "baby" wasn't meant for me.

"My stomach hurts!" Lydia sobbed, her face twisted in pain.

Harvey spun on me, his eyes blazing. "What did you do?!"

Lydia clutched her stomach, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Harvey, it was me—I fell on my own. Jennifer didn't do anything. Please don't blame her."

His mother came screeching toward me like a bat out of hell. "Of course you pushed her! Lydia was standing there just fine! You worthless jinx!"

Her palm cracked across my face. My cheek burned like fire.

Then his father's boot connected with my back. I staggered forward. Ellie slipped from my arms and hit the floor, wailing.

Harvey scooped up Lydia and headed for the door.

Just before he left, he glanced back at me. His eyes were full of disappointment.

"Jennifer... I thought you were different."

His mother snatched Ellie off the floor. "Useless little thing! All you do is cry!"

She dug her nails into my daughter's arm, twisting hard like she wanted to tear off a piece of flesh. Ellie screamed—a raw, heartbreaking sound—her tiny hands reaching out for me.

I lunged to take her back, but my legs gave out. Everything went black.

When I woke up, I was lying on the cold floor of a hospital room. Harvey was staring down at me, his eyes bloodshot.

I looked around frantically. No Ellie.

"Where's Ellie?"

Harvey's eyes burned with rage. He pressed a cigarette into my collarbone—hard. I bit down on a scream as the sizzle of my own skin filled the air.

"Happy now?" His voice was low and venomous. "Lydia delivered a stillborn. The doctors say she'll never have children again."

He slapped me on the cheek before I could even react. Then his fist slammed into the wall beside my head.

"You're going to take responsibility for this, Jennifer."

He smiled—a cold, cruel smile.

"Give Ellie to Lydia. Then we'll call it even."

My eyes went wide with horror. "No. Absolutely not. I carried her for nine months. I gave birth to her. She's mine. Why would I ever—"

The door opened. Lydia was wheeled in, holding Ellie in her arms.

The moment my daughter saw me, she burst into tears.

I lunged forward, grabbed her, and held her against my chest, rocking her gently. "Shh, baby, Mommy's here—"

But she only cried harder. Her tiny face turned purple. Her little hands pushed against my chest—pushed me away.

She didn't want me.

"Jennifer, let me try."

Harvey took Ellie out of my arms and placed her gently into Lydia's.

My daughter hiccupped, sniffled, and grabbed hold of Lydia's collar.

And then—she stopped crying.

All the blood drained from my face.

Harvey glanced at me, his voice dripping with contempt.

"See? Ellie doesn't want you either."

[Countdown to extraction: 12 hours.]

The system's voice cut through my thoughts, and whatever last shred of hesitation I had left, I buried it for good.

Harvey dropped a document in front of me.

"Sign it."

I looked down. Voluntary Relinquishment of Parental Rights.

He leaned in and wiped the tears from my face with his thumb.

"From now on, Ellie will be Lydia's legal daughter. She can't have children anymore, but you still can. We'll have more. I promise."

My stomach turned.

He had already forgotten. I almost died giving birth to Ellie. I had to beg the doctors to save my baby instead of me. In the end, they saved us both—but I lost my uterus. The surgeon had explained everything to Harvey in detail.

He hadn't listened. Or he just didn't care.

When I didn't answer, he let out a soft laugh.

"You don't have to sign. But think about your best friend. She's staying at the McKinzie nursing home, remember?"

Lynn Dole—my first real friend in this world. A year ago, she'd rented an apartment full of toxic chemicals without knowing it. Now she had leukemia. We hadn't found a matching donor for her yet. The nursing home was the only thing keeping her alive.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Jennifer."

His voice was soft. The threat underneath it wasn't.

My hands were shaking as I picked up the pen and signed.

Not because I agreed, but because none of this mattered anymore.

I turned and walked out. Halfway down the hall, I coughed—and blood splattered onto the floor.

[Host, this is a normal part of the extraction process. Please don't be alarmed."]

Blood seeped between my fingers.

I pressed a hand to my chest and felt the pain carving itself deeper with every beat.

My phone screen lit up. On the screen was our first photo together. Cherry blossoms. He is hiding a bouquet behind his back.

My grip tightened. Then I deleted every single picture of us.

That night, I finished writing the divorce papers and went back to the hospital room.

It was empty.

Water was running in the bathroom.

I pushed the door open—and my heart stopped.

Ellie was in the bathtub, thrashing, drowning.

Mother's instinct took over. I lunged for her tiny hand—

The door slammed open behind me.

Lydia stood there, her face a mask of shock.

"Jennifer—how could you? You tried to drown your own daughter!

"Just because you hate me, just because you don't want Ellie to be mine—how sick do you have to be to hurt your own child?"

Harvey stormed in right behind her.

I had never seen that look on his face before. Pure, undiluted fury.

"You're beyond saving."

He kicked me. I hit the wall. The back of my skull cracked against the tile. Everything went white for a second.

Then his hand was around my throat, squeezing.

"Even wild animals don't eat their own young." His voice was shaking with rage. "I underestimated you, Jennifer. How could you kill your own daughter?"

He shoved my head under the water.

I choked. I thrashed. Water filled my nose, my mouth—

A metallic taste flooded my throat. Then blood was everywhere—gushing into the bathtub, turning the water crimson.

Harvey froze. Something flickered across his face. Guilt?

Lydia's voice cut through the room.

"Jennifer, did you seriously prepare fake blood too? Just how far were you willing to go to make Ellie look like a victim?"

I wiped the blood from my lips. My hand trembled as I reached toward her.

"It was you... You tried to kill her..."

Harvey's last shred of patience snapped.

"Enough! How much longer are you going to blame Lydia for everything? All you do is lie and play the victim. No wonder Ellie doesn't want you."

The pain in my chest exploded.

The extraction process was amplifying every second. I couldn't even speak anymore.

Lydia walked past me with Ellie in her arms. She bent down close to my ear and whispered, "You showed up just in time to save the little bastard, didn't you? Don't worry. I'll make sure she has a miserable childhood."

My eyes went wide.

Just then, I received a call from the nursing home.

I answered.

"Hi, is this Jennifer? Lynn is in critical condition. You need to get here now. It might be your last chance to see her."