When I'm eight months pregnant, my husband, Levi West, becomes a donor to help his ex-girlfriend get pregnant. He even brings her and their illegitimate child home, wanting me to serve them.

I refuse, and he calls me inhumane. "Audie's lost her husband—what's so bad about her wanting to have a child? You're a woman, too! How can you be so cruel?"

I leave the house in anger, but Levi doesn't care. "Where can a country girl like you go when you're so heavily pregnant? You're going to come back and beg me to take you in again!"

I head to the hospital to get an abortion. Then, I return to the countryside and rear pigs with my grandmother.

Later, when Levi sees my flat belly and asks to see our child, I throw a handful of ashes in his face. "There you go. It's all there."

I was eight months pregnant, and I was slaving over lunch in the greasy kitchen.

Before going out this morning, my husband, Levi West, told me that a friend was coming over for lunch, and he'd specifically instructed me that lunch was to be a huge feast.

"A very important person is coming later. You must make the whole feast from scratch and make sure every bite is clean and healthy!"

So, I worked hard at preparing the ingredients and making lunch in the kitchen from 5:00 am until noon. I was covered in a thick layer of sweat.

The door opened just then, and Levi entered the house with a newborn baby in his arms. He then yelled to me in the kitchen, "Where's the lamb stew I told you to make? Bring out a bowl!

"Audie just gave birth and needs to replenish her body with nutrients!"

I was stunned when I saw the beautiful newcomer following Levi through the door. It was none other than Claudia Evans, Levi's first love.

I didn't know what was going on. My mind was in a blur. Meanwhile, Claudia just looked at me like she was the lady of the house instead and I was her maid.

"Thank you, Ms. Freeman. Make sure you get rid of all the grease when you bring it to me.

"I'm not breastfeeding, but the nanny Lev hired to look after me during my postpartum period was such a wonderful cook that I put on a lot of weight!"

Claudia grabbed Levi's hand and placed it on her dainty waist. Then, she pretended to be mad at him as she chided, "It's all your fault! You made her spend 100,000 dollars on my food for a whole month. I'm plump now, thanks to you!"

A hundred thousand dollars per month?

What?

Levi was the one who ordered it?

I widened my eyes in shock. He had been the first one to oppose when I suggested to him that I would like to hire a postpartum nanny to care for me after I'd given birth.

"You're just a country girl! Who do you think you are to have the right to order people around? You've got hands and feet, so why can't you care for yourself? If you really can't handle it, then my mom can take care of you for a few days!

"Don't you know how expensive postpartum nannies are? Did you think my money grew on trees?"

Levi had just changed jobs at the start of the year, and he'd been appointed as the manager there. His salary was ten thousand dollars a month, just enough for us to live on. We were fairly comfortable, but we still couldn't afford luxuries or any other extravagant spending.

I had then told him that I had some savings that I didn't mind using on myself, but his face had turned black at the mere mention of it.

He then chided me, saying that it would be expensive to bring up our child in the future, and we had to save for times like those. He then yelled at me for not planning for the future.

"We're just a regular household with just about enough to break even! Learn how to live within your means!"

Levi refused to hire a nanny for me, yet he was more than willing to splurge 100,000 dollars on Claudia in just a month.

But most importantly, where did he get the money from?

"Levi, where did you get so much money for that?"

He just answered matter-of-factly, "Didn't you have 200,000 dollars in a fixed deposit under my name? I just took it from there."

That was the money I had been saving for Grandma to renovate her farm!

I could feel my blood boil at that instant.

"Levi West! How dare you use my money on your ex's baby!"

Claudia suddenly looked at me with her "innocent" wide eyes and said, "Oh, but didn't you know, Ms. Freeman? Lev is my baby's daddy!"

She cocked her eyebrow and continued provoking me. "It's all thanks to Lev for becoming a donor for me that I'd get to know how it feels like to be a mom even after losing my husband."

The kitchen hood continued humming in the background while I felt as though my brain had just exploded and was being sucked dry by it.

"Levi West! What is the meaning of this?" I screamed at him.

I had been married to him for two years and had been pregnant with his baby for eight months. My due date was approaching, yet he already had a baby with his first love.

I'd lost control of my voice as I shrieked at him, and the volume immediately woke up the baby sleeping in Levi's arms.

Claudia frowned, feeling sorry for the baby.

"Ms. Freeman, I know country shrews like you like talking in loud voices, but we'll be having a baby in the house, so you need to change your ways!"

Levi comforted the baby and continued chiding me. "Audie's right. You should change all of your bad habits. You always act like a crazy nut all the time with your screaming and yelling!"

"It's okay, sweetie. Did the bad lady wake you up? Daddy will beat her up and protect you, okay? He'll protect sweetie and Mommy…" Claudia cooed.

Levi seemed to get triggered when Claudia called him her baby's "Daddy". He actually raised his hand and slapped me on my back.

"Don't cry anymore, sweetie! Daddy's beating up the bad lady, see?"

Levi hit me really hard. The moment he hit me, I could feel a warm liquid trickling out of my nether regions.

Claudia then stared at me in great shock. "Ms. Freeman! Did you just pee your pants?"

In late pregnancies, the uterus pressed up against the bladder, and with how hard Levi hit me, he'd caused some of my urine to escape.

I was a sorry sight with my wet pants and greasy, disheveled appearance.

Claudia immediately covered her nose with her hands and turned around to dry-retch.

"Sorry, Ms. Freeman, but I have germophobia, and I'm very particular about cleanliness…"

Levi quickly patted her back to soothe her. Then, he turned around to glare at me. "Look at Claudia and then at yourself! She never went out of shape during her pregnancy, but what about you?

"You're as disgusting as a pig! Go and change out of your clothes this instant, you disgrace!

"Also, since Audie has germophobia, you'll be in charge of caring for her baby, including changing diapers and everything else. Understand?"

I was so angry that I started laughing.

"Are you telling me, Levi West, that you expect a heavily pregnant me to care for your bastard child after you spent all of my savings on your mistress?"

Levi's face flushed red with anger at once. He yelled at me, veins popping out of his neck, "Selena Freeman! Watch your words!

"All I did was donate some of my seeds to Audie. You never had to do a thing for us! You have no right to tell us what to do!

"Also, the doctors say that pregnant people should be moving around anyway to help with giving birth later on. That's why you should move about as well! It's for your own good!

"Otherwise, you're going to come to me crying and begging for a stupid epidural!"

Claudia gloated and said, "Oh, but I had my baby via C-section. Although I had some epidurals and pain shots, I still suffered quite a lot. Lev's just looking out for your baby. He doesn't want the epidural to harm your baby's brain!"

I glared coldly at Claudia. "Really? I guess your mom must have had plenty of epidurals then. You have no brain cells left to show for it!"

Levi then screamed at me, "Selena, I'm warning you, Audie just gave birth, and her emotions need to be stabilized! If you keep provoking her like this for no reason, don't blame me for going rough on you later!"

Although I kept telling myself that I shouldn't argue with brainless people like them, I couldn't stop myself after his shameless words.

I shook as I retorted, "Levi West! I am a pregnant woman too! My emotions need to be taken into consideration and cared for as well!"

Levi had always been disappearing at crucial moments ever since I got pregnant. He had never once come to the hospital with me for my regular check-ups or ultrasounds.

I initially thought that he had just been busy with work because of his new managerial position, but it seemed as though he had just been accompanying Claudia all this time!

"Levi! How could you say such shameless things?"

I threw my spatula at him. Levi immediately shielded Claudia behind him, but he forgot that he was holding a baby in his arms.

The spatula landed on the baby's blanket before falling to the ground.

Claudia screamed. "How dare you harm a baby!"

Levi continued roaring at me. "Selena Freeman! How dare you hurt a baby! You're a freaking animal!

"Get down on your knees and apologize to Audie and the baby this instant!"

I laughed coldly. "You're ordering me around now? What gives you the right?"

Levi slapped me hard. "Because I am your husband! Country bumpkins like you should know better than to go against your husbands. You have to obey my every word!

"I've been too lenient on you for far too long. You don't even know your place anymore. How dare you talk so haughtily to me?"

He slapped me with so much force that I crashed into the wall behind me before falling to the ground. I could taste blood, and half my face went swollen from the slap.

My stomach took a good hit against the wall too, and I felt an excruciating pain coming from it. I gasped loudly in pain, taking shallow breaths each time, and my body felt numb and paralyzed from the fall. I felt as though I would pass out at any moment.

I fished out my phone with much difficulty, wanting to call the ambulance. However, Levi immediately kicked my phone away.

"It costs 400 dollars to call the ambulance! That's more than enough to buy Audie a week's worth of supplements!

"Get up from the floor now and cut your act, you knucklehead!"

Seeing that I was lying unmoving on the floor, Levi kicked me twice in the chest.

"Selena Freeman! Get up and serve lunch! You stupid, good-for-nothing trash!"

It was Claudia who stopped Levi from kicking me any further. She saw that I was really in pain and pulled him away, a little frightened.

"Forget about it, Lev. It's fine if Ms. Freeman doesn't want to serve us lunch now. I can wait until she's done with her tantrum before she apologizes to me.

"I don't want to eat her cooking anymore anyway. But I've been craving crab legs for the longest time since my pregnancy. Can you bring me and sweetie to a seafood restaurant instead?" Claudia pleaded, shaking Levi's arm as she acted coquettishly with him.

I glared at the despicable pair and never felt so hurt and angry in my life. I balled my hands into fists.

If I didn't divorce this bastard of a husband now, then I would be subject to more provocations and humiliation in the future!

Levi nodded and agreed with Claudia's suggestion.

"Alright! I just got my salary today. Let's go to that five-star restaurant that costs 3,000 dollars per pax! I've been wanting to go there for some time, but I couldn't possibly bring Selena there with me.

"She's got the words 'country bumpkin' etched into her forehead. The waiters would laugh at us as soon as we stepped foot into that place!

"Of course, only beautiful, elegant people like you deserve to dine at such a prestigious place with me."

Levi used to tell me that he was terrible at romantic gestures and words, but he seemed to be doing fine with Claudia.

He then cast a look at me on the ground, where I was still struggling with the pain, and resumed his cold and haughty attitude.

"Everything Audie brought back from the hospital is made from silk, so they must all be hand-washed. And we don't have the time or energy to watch your performance on the floor.

"When we get back, make sure you have cleaned out the room for Audie and her baby!"

Levi and Claudia then stepped over me, hand in hand, like they were stepping over a pile of trash.

I didn't know how much longer I lay on the ground, but finally, I mustered enough strength to move.

The baby in my stomach must have inherited all of its father's vile genes. It still seemed to be doing fine even after being tortured so much.

I placed my hand on my tummy and could feel it moving in me. Then, I grabbed my phone, with its screen now shattered to bits, and called the hospital.

"Hello, I would like to book an appointment for an induction of labor."

I grew up in the countryside with my grandmother, Gwen Pearson. Since I was young, I'd been told that I had to sow good seeds in order to have a good harvest.

Since I had decided to cut all ties with Levi, I wasn't going to let a child with his genes and bloodline stay by my side.

As soon as I hung up, I received a notification on my phone that someone I followed on Twitter had just posted a tweet.

It was a photo of two hands making a heart, with a baby's feet in the center of them.

The accompanying caption read, "Thank goodness Mommy and Baby are both safe and sound."

Levi had posted the tweet. It was from his second account.

I'd accidentally come across his second account on his phone. Most of the tweets he'd posted there were about how excited he was to be a father as he eagerly waited for the birth of his child.

I'd stupidly thought that this was a secret account he'd created for our baby, thinking that he didn't know how to express it to me extrinsically.

But now, I knew that I had been a fool all along.

I swiftly contacted a moving company.

When we got married, I single-handedly replaced all the old, rotting furniture in our run-down apartment.

Levi's friends had teased him in the past when they learned about it.

"Say, Lev! I didn't know that you married a rich country girl! Your wife must be loaded!"

"Make sure she's not pretending to be rich! Otherwise, you're going to be saddled with debt when the bills arrive!"

Back then, I'd explained seriously to his friends that the furniture was a wedding gift from Grandma after she sold off some of our livestock. I never realized how black Levi's face was turning when I was explaining things.

It had just been the first day I'd married into his family, and he humiliated me in front of all the other guests by shouting at me.

"Shut up! You're such a disgrace and an embarrassment!"

I hadn't understood back then why he'd called me a disgrace or an embarrassment.

It wasn't until long after that that I found out about Levi's friends looking down on me because I had come from the countryside. They treated "city girls" and "country girls" with much disparity.

Levi hadn't come from a rich family, just a regular one. That meant he was often invisible to his usual group of wealthier friends. It wasn't until two years after he married me that he started earning a sizable salary.

However, I didn't think that he would want to kill the goose even before it had managed to lay him any golden eggs.

Since Levi started this, I made sure I made him pay—tit for tat.

I told the movers to pile up the furniture into their truck. There was literally nothing left in the apartment other than the four walls.

While I was resting at a hotel, I received an angry call from Levi.

"Selena Freeman, are you out of your mind? Where did all the furniture go?

"How could you do such a thing and steal them away? I'll sue you for marriage fraud! I'll put you in jail to think about what you've done!"

I scoffed coldly.

"I have all the receipts for when I bought the furniture with my own money. What's wrong with taking my things away?

"You were the one who stole my money without my knowledge. Levi West, you had better crack that brain of yours and return that money to me. Otherwise, I'm taking you to court!"

After a few bouts of heavy breathing, Levi managed to calm himself down.

"Selena, I know that there must be something wrong with your brain. You just couldn't digest all the information at once.

"But Audie and I never once slept together! Don't you dare sully our innocent relationship like that!

"Where on earth are you right now? Come back at once! And bring back all the furniture! The baby needs to rest, and so does Audie!

"The nanny had been taking care of the baby back then, so you can't possibly want Audie or me to continue caring for the baby, can you? Come back and look after the baby for her!"

I laughed coldly and answered him in no hurry, "What, there's such a huge space left in the apartment now, and you're still saying that it's not good enough for you, your mistress, and your bastard child?

"Why would I care whether or not any of you get any rest?"

Levi seemed stunned on the other end of the line. He then gritted his teeth and shouted, "Selena Freeman! You'd better watch that mouth of yours!

"You're going to have to come back sooner or later with that big belly of yours! Don't tell me that you're planning on relying on your grandmother to sell off more livestock to look after you and your baby!

"I'm giving you one last chance. Don't you dare come begging at my feet like a dog when the time comes and you realize you needed me after all!"

So, Levi thought that I couldn't afford to leave him because I came from a poor family background and was heavily pregnant. Was that why he'd been bullying me so relentlessly all this while?

I scoffed coldly again and replied, "I'm divorcing you, you bloody idiot!"

After hanging up, I took another huge bite of my beef stew made from bone broth.

Levi only knew that Grandma owned some livestock, but he didn't know that she actually owned a massive farm that exported livestock all over the country!

How audacious of him to take advantage of me!

He was going to learn what it meant to upset and cause the wrath of a "country bumpkin" like me!

…

The next morning, I went home to Grandma and told her everything.

Grandma was 63 years old this year, and she was an iron lady who had been through countless hardships in life.

When she learned that I was planning to induce labor, Grandma's eyes reddened. However, her voice was determined as she said, "It's okay to make mistakes as long as you have the courage to turn back and make things right.

"Lena, let's go to the best hospital in town!"

I never shed a single tear when I was with Levi. However, I couldn't stop myself from crying as I fell into Grandma's embrace and let her hold me.

I went to the hospital for labor induction. It wasn't much different from actually giving birth since I was so close to my delivery date.

After getting the injection, I felt the cool forceps entering my body under the cold, bright lights in the labor room. In no time at all, the life in me was reduced to nothing but a mass of flesh.

When I was getting discharged, the nurse asked me if I wanted to bring home my baby's ashes.

I held the little wooden box in my hands and felt a sudden grief overwhelming me.

This was the very evidence taken from my body, proving that I had been abused and bullied by Levi, the monstrous beast, for two whole years.

I held the tightly wrapped box in my hands as I waited in the hospital lobby for my driver, Tom Hardy, to pick me up. However, I didn't think that I would bump into Levi and Claudia here, with their baby, for their regular check-up.