After the divorce, I moved with my son, Max, from city to city, spending two years trying to find our footing here finally.

I thought leaving that family behind would make everything better.

But the thing I feared the most still happened.

Downstairs at my office building stood Martin Davis with a bouquet. His handsome features and imposing stature captivated many women.

My colleagues gossiped around me.

"Look at his demeanor. He's definitely a successful bachelor, with his luxury car and designer watch."

"He's been waiting downstairs for almost a month. What patience!"

"Victoria must have some charm; even our company's most popular woman can't catch his eye."

"Victoria is so attractive. Divorced and with a child, she still has such a following! I'm envious!"

I listened quietly in silence, but inside, my heart was filled with bitterness.

If they only knew the man they were discussing was my ex-husband's stepbrother, their admiration and jealousy would surely turn into disdain and contempt!

I waited until everyone had left the office before slowly making my way downstairs.

Seeing the red Porsche gone, I breathed a sigh of relief.

My job paid enough to support us, and I didn't have to work on weekends, which allowed me plenty of time to be with Max.

If I had to quit because of him, I would be heartbroken for a long time.

As I stepped out, preparing to hail a taxi, a pair of strong hands grabbed my shoulder.

"Victoria, do you think you can escape me by hiding?"

It was Martin!

I struggled to break free, but it was futile.

"Martin, you're wealthy enough to have any woman you want. Why do you have to pursue me? Why?"

I questioned him with all my might, but it never seemed to awaken his conscience.

"Our family treated you so well, and you dared to run off with Max! If I hadn't found you in time, you would have married that pretty boy with our Davis family's child!

"Victoria, do you think he would still want you if he knew the real relationship between the three of us?"

At that moment, I wished God would take away this demon who had destroyed my marriage and ruined my life!

I met Ray Davis in college, and we had a passionate four-year romance.

We got married as soon as we graduated.

The first time I met Ray's stepbrother, Martin, was during our parents' meeting.

Ray's father passed away early, and his mother, Linda, remarried Paul Davis. She won Paul's affection, and he changed Ray's last name to Davis, treating him like his own son.

Although they were not blood-related, Ray and Martin had an unexpectedly good relationship.

A car accident a few years ago turned Paul into a vegetative state, and he had been in a coma for four years.

He had made a will stating that his assets would be distributed according to the number of family members.

So, after Ray and I got married, Linda urged us to have a child, saying it was to continue the Davis family line and pray for the comatose Paul.

But I knew deep down that she just wanted to claim more of the inheritance.

I think Martin was also aware of this.

After two years of trying to conceive without success, Linda began to complain about me behind my back, calling me a defective woman who couldn't bear children.

So, we went to the hospital for a thorough check-up.

Surprisingly, the problem wasn't me; it was Ray.

He had a congenital sperm deficiency, making natural conception nearly impossible.

Eager to have a grandchild, Linda started believing in all sorts of folk remedies, forcing us to drink dark, gloopy concoctions every day, making life miserable for both Ray and me.

As a doctor, Martin couldn't bear to see such foolishness and sincerely suggested,

"Ray, if you and Victoria trust me, come to our hospital for in-vitro fertilization. I'm in charge of that department. It's better than drinking these messy potions!"

Linda didn't trust Martin and wanted to stop us, but she couldn't waver Ray's trust in his brother.

Martin was very dedicated to our IVF process.

Unfortunately, the first three attempts to cultivate the embryos ended in failure.

Linda began to stir up trouble, suspecting that Martin was sabotaging our efforts, not wanting us to have a child who could compete with him for the family inheritance.

Ray and I didn't take her suspicions seriously.

After all, Martin was Paul's biological son. It was only natural that he should inherit everything from the Davis family.

Moreover, Martin helped us without any reservations. We couldn't be ungrateful or greedy.

During the fourth attempt, Martin mentioned that Ray's sperm quality had deteriorated further, almost to the point of being azoospermia.

We didn't dare to hope.

Surprisingly, I became pregnant, with one out of two embryos surviving.

Upon hearing the news, everyone was overjoyed.

Martin immediately wanted to buy a house for the child in my womb as a gift from an uncle to his niece or nephew.

Ray, with a silly smile, kept touching my flat belly, calling out, "Baby, I'm your daddy!"

Linda, on the other hand, was grateful to God every day, and her prejudice against Martin lessened.

This pregnancy was hard-won, and everyone was very careful with me.

Linda racked her brain to prepare three meals for me every day, trying to make each meal different.

Ray's business became very busy, and he often had to travel.

So, Martin volunteered to take on the task of driving me to and from work and delivering meals to me every day.

He joked, "Since the hospital is invested in by our family, no one would dare to say anything even if I'm late or leave early!"

Thus, every lunchtime, my colleagues would praise Martin for his unwavering commitment to delivering meals to me.

I was also grateful for his kindness towards me.

When it was time for prenatal check-ups, considering the baby's age was still small, I wanted to go to the hospital alone.

Martin disagreed and insisted on accompanying me.

"Your condition is not very stable yet, and the hospital is crowded. What if you get bumped into halfway? Linda can't make it. I'm free now, so I can go with you!"

I stood there, thinking about how to refuse politely, but Martin didn't give me a chance.

He took the prenatal check-up form from my hand and walked forward without another word.

I could only smile at Linda and follow him.

At the hospital, the situation was extremely awkward, just as I had anticipated.

After waiting in line for half an hour, when it was my turn, I was about to sit down when Martin quickly took out a cushion from his bag and placed it on the stool.

The doctor who was examining me couldn't help but tease, "This dad is so nervous. Is this your first child?"

At that moment, embarrassment, speechlessness, and awkwardness all washed over me. I didn't know how to respond.

Martin, however, was very composed and could still chat and laugh with the doctor.

Fortunately, the doctor didn't dwell on the topic and began to ask about my pregnancy condition.

To my surprise, Martin answered the doctor's questions fluently, even more so than I did.

After the routine check-up, we went to the pharmacy to get the medication.

Martin, afraid that I would be tired, told me to sit aside and even brought out a box of cut fruit for me to snack on.

This action also led to other pregnant women nagging and complaining about their own husbands.

"Look at other people's husbands. What about you? You're not as good-looking or considerate as him. Useless!"

"Why are you still standing there? You should learn from him. Go buy a box of fruit for me! Your baby wants to eat!"

Seeing that they also misunderstood the relationship between Martin and me, I wanted to go forward and explain, but Martin held me back.

"Instead of wasting your breath on people who don't matter, you might as well use this time to do some prenatal education for the baby."

With that, he went straight to the line.

I sat uneasily under everyone's misunderstanding gaze.

Back home, I acted coquettishly with Linda, begging her to accompany me to the next prenatal check-up. Otherwise, it would lead to more misunderstandings.

At the dinner table, Linda tactfully conveyed my thoughts to Martin.

His face darkened. He put down his fork and left without finishing his meal, leaving Linda and me looking at each other in dismay.

Was Martin upset that I had rejected his kindness?

After dinner, Linda made plans to go out with friends and might not come home for the night.

Feeling physically exhausted, I went to bed early.

In my drowsy sleep, I smelled a strong scent of alcohol.

A gentle kiss landed squarely on my slightly rounded belly.

I thought it was Ray coming back from a social event and teasing me, so I didn't pay attention.

But when that deep, husky voice sounded, I jolted awake.

"Dear, grow strong in your mother's belly. Daddy is waiting for you to come out!"

Martin, inebriated, spoke as he caressed my belly.

My body stiffened, and I dared not make a sound, my mind constantly replaying his words.

I reassured myself that he must have said it wrong due to his drunkenness.

But how could I explain Martin's kiss? He was my husband's brother, for heaven's sake. Even if he was drunk, he shouldn't be kissing my belly.

My mind was in turmoil, and my breathing became rapid.

Just as I was about to lose my composure, Martin stood up, let out a drunken burp, and staggered out of the room.

Since that day, whether it was psychological or not, I always felt an eerie look in Martin's eyes when he looked at me.

He used to call me by my name, but now he suddenly started to call me Vicky, just as Ray and Linda did.

Linda was also surprised at how intimate he had become with me.

Martin, however, clapped me on the shoulder and said, "Vicky has married into the Davis family. She's like my sister. I don't want to call her so formally!"

But all I felt was a crawling discomfort wherever he touched me, as if a million ants were biting.

Linda accepted his explanation, and Martin's behavior became even more audacious.

When he handed me a water glass or fastened my seatbelt, he would always make subtle skin contact with me, sometimes even gently rubbing.

Moreover, he no longer dressed neatly when working out. Instead, he loved to display his impressive physique shirtless in front of me.

I subtly mentioned this to Ray during a video chat, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Martin and I used to work out shirtless when we were together!

"He's just being comfortable around you because we've been close for so long. You can ask my mom. She's seen him working out without clothes many times. You shouldn't read too much into it."

Talking about working out, Ray began to lament how he had neglected exercise since work, causing his eight-pack abs to reduce to just one.

Unable to do anything else, I could only tell myself to forget about that night and not to view Martin through tinted glasses.

But a few days later, I found that my underwear had disappeared from the balcony.

At first, I thought it might have been blown away by the wind.

Fearing that someone might pick it up and use it for something inappropriate, I made sure to clip it securely with several clothespins and hung it in the innermost part.

Eventually, the underwear still vanished without a trace.

Suspicious, I took advantage of Martin and Linda being out at a wedding and sneaked into Martin's study and bedroom.

I silently prayed that I was overthinking.

However, I found those pieces of underwear in the pocket of one of Martin's jackets.

There were still several white streaks on them, emitting a musky scent!

I couldn't imagine what disgusting things Martin had done with them!

I was furious. Despite knowing that doing so would alert him, I still burned them all with trembling hands, unwilling to let him desecrate me in such a way.

I took out my phone and called Ray, urging him to come home that day.

In the afternoon, Ray rushed back.

Seeing that I was fine, he relaxed, untied his tie, and slumped on the sofa.

I leaned against him and whispered, "Ray, can we move out and live just the two of us?"

Ray sat up straight, looking at me with concern. He asked if anything had happened.

I didn't dare tell him the sordid truth, so I evaded.

"Nothing. I just feel it's not very convenient living with Martin."

Ray looked incredulous.

"Vicky, Martin is so good to you! All our neighbors envy us for having such a great brother. He might be heartbroken if he heard you say that!"

I wanted to tell him that the brother he thought was so good had indecent thoughts about me, but I couldn't bring myself to say it.

So, I made an excuse to avoid Martin temporarily.

"I haven't seen my mom for a long time and want to stay with her for a while. You can take me back today!"

I packed a lot of luggage and planned to stay at my parents' house until the baby was born, trying to avoid Martin as much as possible.

I was thrilled to stay at my parents' house with no intention of going back.

Ann was a bit unhappy.

"Vicky, you said you were coming back for a short stay. Why are you still here? Listen to me. Go back in a few days. If Linda gets upset with you, she will make things difficult for you when you return!"

I ate fruit without responding, but Ann still ushered me out.

Reluctantly, I returned to Davis Villa. The moment I opened the door, I heard a fierce argument.

Linda's voice sounded quite agitated.

"Martin, you're utterly immoral! How could you replace my son's sperm with yours! You will face retribution for this!"

Martin's voice was cold, devoid of his usual gentleness.

"If I don't switch it, should I just watch you take away what's rightfully mine?

"Linda, keep this matter buried in your heart forever, or I will expose your affair, and you'll leave my house without a penny!"

I was thunderstruck.

The baby in my belly wasn't Ray's but Martin's?