"Eleanor, quit the theatrics. Fay's in labor too, and she's not screaming or making a scene—she's waiting for me at the hospital like a grown woman. She knows how to behave. You never did."

The words barely left his mouth before Elijah's phone rang.

A woman's whiny, bratty voice came through the speaker.

"Elijah, the doctor says I'm ready to push. They're sending me into the delivery room right now."

"You're still with that old hag, aren't you? Well, of course—she's your lawful wife, the one you actually married. The baby in my belly is just a bastard, right?"

"Elijah Gilbert, if you don't get here, I'm not giving birth!"

The man who never lost composure went white in an instant.

Anxiety flooded his eyes, and even his voice dropped into something almost pleading.

"Hey, hey—stop that. You know what I promised you. Only the child in your belly gets to be the Gilbert firstborn."

"Eleanor's water broke. She's rolling on the ground in pain right now. If you don't believe me, let me show you."

He bent down and shoved the camera in my face.

The moment Fay got a clear look at how wretched I was, she finally laughed, satisfied.

The pain had soaked all the way into my bones. I bit down on it and lifted my eyes to him.

"Why? Why her?"

"Elijah, have you forgotten? She's the one who nearly killed you drunk driving. She's the one who pushed your mother off that cliff with her own hands—they never even found the body!"

All I got back was a cold, derisive laugh.

"What happened back then, call it bad luck on my part. As for my mother, there were no cameras at the summit. Even the police said it could've been an accidental fall. How can you blame Fay for that?"

I slumped to the ground, laughing until tears streamed down my face.

Fay Fox—my half-sister, same mother, different fathers. Spoiled rotten since the day she was born, and cruel to me for as long as I could remember.

After the college entrance exams, she partied all night with friends and insisted on driving drunk despite everyone telling her not to.

She hit Elijah, who was just getting off a night shift.

No witnesses. Fay left him lying in a pool of blood and drove away without looking back.

Later, she pinned everything on me.

I was taken in for investigation. Terrified the victim's family would keep digging and uncover the truth, she lured Karen to a cliffside under the pretense of apologizing on my behalf—and when Karen wasn't looking, pushed her over the edge.

I took the blame and served three years for crimes I didn't commit.

After I got out, I found out by chance that Elijah's legs were permanently damaged. The doctors said he'd spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

I found him and told him the whole truth.

He wanted to die. Every last spark in him had gone out. And it was me—me who half-knelt in front of that wheelchair and swore I would help him stand again.

I took care of him for two full years, doing every session of rehab at his side. I weighed barely ninety pounds, but I clenched my teeth and became his human crutch.

The day he finally stood on his own, Elijah dropped to one knee and slid a plain silver ring onto my finger.

His eyes were full of tenderness then.

"Ellie, you gave me a second life. Can I ask you for one thing? Let me spend the rest of mine taking care of you."

I believed him.

Even though he was too poor to give me a proper wedding, I married him without hesitation, without regret.

He said I bullied Fay.

But he knew. He knew she had forced me to drink urine, made me kneel inside a cage and bark like a dog.

Ten years worse than death. The nightmare of my entire life.

After we married, I woke screaming from dreams more times than I could count, crying as I told him I'd seen Fay beating me again.

He would hold me, his own hands trembling, eyes red, promising he would make something of himself and get justice for me and for Karen.

To crush the Fox family, he threw himself into the business world and clawed his way into becoming CEO Gilbert.

And the very first thing he did once he got there was Fay Fox.

The day I walked in on them—half-undressed, mouths on each other in my marital bed—I nearly lost my mind.

I slapped Fay across the face twice, hard, then took a photo of her with her chest spilling out of her clothes and posted it everywhere.

Elijah's eyes were bloodshot when he dropped to his knees in front of me, swearing he'd been drunk, that he'd mistaken her for me.

He threw her out right in front of me and swore he'd never see her again.

I never saw it coming.

He kept saying he'd get justice for me and for Karen. Instead, behind my back, he and Fay had a child together.

I never left his side—not once in ten years—and what I got back was his dead-blank face, telling me he'd hand over my life and my baby's as atonement to Fay.

I bit through the flesh inside my mouth until I could taste nothing but copper, and forced my voice out.

"Elijah Gilbert, how could you? How could you do this to me!"

No answer.

He was in too much of a hurry to even glance at me before he walked away.

The blood beneath me kept spreading.

The pain was dissolving the edges of my consciousness.

But for my baby, I clenched my teeth, hauled myself upright, and stumbled toward the hospital.

By the time I reached the ER entrance, everything below my waist was drenched, warm and heavy with blood.

After a quick examination, they rushed me toward the operating room on a gurney.

But just outside the doors, a hand shot out and stopped us.

I lifted my head with the last of my strength and met Elijah's cold stare.

"Eleanor, didn't I tell you to go home and wait?"

"Playing fragile now? Can't take a little pain? When you had Fay beaten until she miscarried, did you think about whether she could take it?"

"I'm warning you—Fay hasn't delivered yet. Until that baby is out, you hold it in. I don't care if it kills you."

His face was nothing but impatience. I didn't have the strength left to argue.

The doctor tried desperately to push past him.

"Her water's broken and she's losing blood fast—if we don't operate right now, we lose them both!"

Elijah kicked the gurney over. It crashed sideways, and he stood there with a vicious smile.

"How much did Eleanor pay you to put on this show?"

"There's nothing she wouldn't pull to make sure her kid comes out before my wife's."

"It's just her water breaking. Waiting a little longer won't kill her. Quit the theatrics."

I lay facedown on the floor, wanting to laugh and unable to, wanting to cry and unable to do that either.

Ten years I'd walked through life and death beside this man, and my suffering meant nothing to him—just another act I was putting on.

The pain seared through my scalp, and I couldn't hold it in anymore. I clutched my stomach and screamed.

Even the doctor's face changed.

"Sir, this woman's condition is critical. If she's not treated and something happens, her family will hold this hospital accountable!"

The doctor bent down to help me up, but Elijah cut in again, his voice flat and cold.

"Family? She has no family."

"Eleanor is my mistress. She found out today is my wife's due date and showed up like this on purpose, trying to compete for attention."

"And if she costs my wife her delivery, I'll shut this place down myself."

The hands holding me let go. I hit the floor hard.

Blood pooled beneath me. I lay on the freezing tile, barely conscious, every organ trembling with pain.

A faint smile settled on Elijah's lips.

He bent to my ear, and his voice turned soft—the kind of soft that makes your skin crawl.

"Hurts, doesn't it? Good. Burn it in. Maybe then you'll stop throwing your weight around as Elijah Gilbert's wife and making Fay's life hell."

"Shh, Ellie. Be good now. Stop fighting it. The better you behave, the less you have to suffer."

"Just hold on a little longer. The moment Fay's baby is out, I'll send you straight into surgery."

"Your child may not be the firstborn, but I won't play favorites. I promise—whatever Fay's child gets, yours will get too."

"I've told you. You're the one I love most. This life, the next—you'll always be Mrs. Gilbert."

I bit clean through my lip. My smile bled.

Elijah, your love is crushing me. I don't want it anymore.

I don't want you anymore, either.

Before I could say a word, he scooped me up.

He carried me all the way back to the ward, watched the doctor inject the labor suppressants with his own eyes, and only then left, satisfied.

I lay on that hospital bed through the night. Every time I blacked out, the pain tore me back—raw, alive, no mercy in it. I couldn't die. I couldn't make it stop.

The nurse who came to change my medication looked at me with open disgust, deliberately pinching my leg hard enough to bruise.

Their whispered gossip cut deeper than anything.

"That's what a mistress deserves. Writhing in pain and nobody gives a damn. Should just die already."

"Brought it on herself, didn't she? The lawful wife's in there having the baby, and this one drags herself over to fight for scraps. Like spreading your legs is enough to make a man love you."

"Oh, but the real wife's smart. Fully dilated, epidural and everything—and she just won't push. Long as she keeps that baby in, the little homewrecker can scream herself to death and still won't set foot in that delivery room. Love to see it."

I tried to smile. It came out bitter.

Love to see it? But I'm the one who's actually Elijah's wife.

I couldn't understand it. The man who once would have thrown away his own life for me was now doing this to me.

Another contraction tore through me.

Before I could even cry out, the door swung open.

Fay walked in, supported on someone's arm, a newborn cradled against her chest.

I hadn't expected who came with her. My mother, whom I hadn't seen in years.

Fay's eyes were full of triumph as she looked at me.

"I know how hard this must be for you, so I brought your little nephew over specially—come say hello!"

"Seven pounds six ounces. Healthy as anything, both of us. Elijah cried when he held him—actually cried."

I stared at her, barely holding my rage in check.

"He's not my nephew. Take your bastard and get out."

Fay's lips curled into a cold smile, and she slapped me across the face, hard.

"What right do you have to tell me to get out?"

"Last night, while you were screaming your throat raw, Elijah was right next door with me. He could hear every sound you made. He didn't even flinch—just kept stroking my hair and telling me everything was fine."

"So what if you're Mrs. Gilbert? The one who isn't loved is the real mistress. That thing in your belly is the real bastard."

Her hand split the skin at the corner of my eye, and blood ran warm into my tears.

But Fay wasn't done.

She leaned in close, making no effort to hide the malice in her eyes.

"You're really hard to kill, aren't you? A whole night and still kicking. How about I help you along, send you and your little bastard off together?"

She snatched the thermos from the floor and swung it straight at my stomach.

I shoved her away with everything I had and stumbled toward the door.

The moment I made it out of the room, I crashed into a familiar chest.

When I saw Elijah's face, the concern written across it, I seized his sleeve and held on with both hands. My voice shook.

"Elijah, save me. Fay's lost her mind. She's trying to kill our baby!"

His expression shifted. He was about to speak when a shrill, piercing cry erupted from inside the ward.

He shoved me aside, kicked the door open, and rushed in.

A hand twisted into my hair and dragged me back inside.

I couldn't stop shaking.

Fay was on her knees in the middle of the room, cradling her baby. The infant was drenched in blood.

"Elijah, I just wanted her to share in the good luck—so she'd have an easier delivery! That's the only reason I brought the baby to see her!"