On my 28th birthday, I announced that I was pregnant.

But my husband told everyone that he was sterile.

Together with my best friend, they said that this was proof that I cheated on him.

I tried defending myself, but in the end, I, along with my baby, died while burning with hate.

When I reopened my eyes, I returned to the moment three hours before my death.

“Alania, I’m sterile! Just who is the father of your baby?!”

The sharp edge of the paper cut my cheek, and the pain brought my mind back to the present.

I instinctively touched my belly. It was soft, warm, and had a slight bump.

When I looked around, I found that my family and friends were all staring at me strangely.

“If I hadn’t gone to the hospital for a checkup because I was feeling unwell, you would have kept this from me!

“You cheated on me and want me to take care of the baby you had with your lover?! Alania, you’re such a conniving schemer!”

Jeremy Kingston, who was the one saying all these things, was flushed red as he yelled at me from a moral high ground.

I stared at Jeremy with a stony face and dug my nails into the flesh of my palms. Burning hatred swam through every part of my body. I wanted to skin all the people in the room alive and feast on their flesh.

I brought my hand up and wiped the cut on my cheek. The sweat that had pooled up on my skin from agitation slipped into the cut, and my slightly muddled mind became clearer.

Thankfully, I had returned to the point three hours before my death.

Earlier, I had announced to my family and friends that I was three months pregnant.

This was supposed to be another piece of good news on top of my birthday, but Jeremy did not react as I expected him to. He pulled a long face.

He brought out a medical checkup report from his bag and threw it at my face before saying that he was sterile.

Shock made my mind still. I could only stare at him in dumbfoundedness as my lips quivered.

When the people around us saw that the situation was not right, they wanted to mediate the situation, but Joy Murray, my best friend, suddenly stomped her feet. “I told you not to go to that man anymore, but you refused to listen,” she grumbled. “Look at what happened now! You’ve caused such a huge ruckus! What’re you going to do now?!”

Her simple words made me an unredeemable criminal, simply because Joy had been my best friend for seven years.

We were like twins attached to the hip and shared all our secrets with each other.

Hence, whatever she said had to be the truth.

In the last cycle, Joy and Jeremy’s accusations caught me off guard. Before I could regain composure and defend myself, they had already sent everyone off.

After that, me getting pregnant because of cheating became fact.

This time, I stared at Joy and the excitement and restlessness on her face before slamming my hands on the table and shooting to my feet. I looked as imposing as the tall and well built Jeremy.

“You’re sterile? Then, why didn’t you tell me when you got the checkup before our marriage? I’m going to sue you for marriage fraud!”

Joy and Jeremy had been smugly waiting for me to make a fool of myself, so they were stunned by what I did. They instinctively looked at each other.

I picked up the report from the floor and quickly stuffed it into my handbag while no one was looking.

This was proof handed to me for free. Why should I not take it?

When I tried to leave, they snapped out of their shock and tried to stop me, but I had already broken free of everyone’s grasp and arrived at the door.

“Alania, what’re you doing? This is just a misunderstanding between you and your husband. You can resolve it by talking. Besides, you’re pregnant. Sit down.”

Joy ran over to me and grabbed my arm to stop me. With a fake smile, she pushed me back down into my seat.

The other people also asked me to not be rash.

I hung my head and said nothing, but my eyes were cold.

In the previous cycle, when Jeremy and Joy accused me falsely of cheating, the others were not so sincere when they asked me to not be rash. They sided with Jeremy and told him to divorce me as soon as possible so that he would not become a laughingstock.

“Jeremy, if you say that Alania cheated, you have to provide proof. She even gave up on inheriting her parents’ wealth. If you accuse her without proof, I won’t forgive you!”

Joy pushed Jeremy to sit beside me while she sat down beside him. She grabbed his ear and pretended to yell at him angrily. Anyone not in the know would think that they were the married couple in question.

While it sounded as if Joy was feeling indignant for me, she was really forcing Jeremy to bring out the proof showing that I was “cheating” on him.

I twirled the hair that hung loose beside my ear to hide the mocking sneer on my lips.

The moment before I died in the previous cycle, I learned that my birthday party was actually the execution ground they had prepared for me.

After my parents died in an accident, they left behind a massive fortune for me.

But I trusted Jeremy too much. Not only did I not notarize the inheritance, but also treated it as matrimonial assets.

I thought that this would give us an extra layer of security, but it ended up bringing me death.

This time, I was not only going to reclaim all of my inheritance, but also going to bankrupt these two murderers and make them get what they deserved!

Jeremy’s expression remained dark. He brought out a photo on his phone that showed me sitting with a man in a cafe while talking and laughing with him. We looked like we were really familiar with each other.

“If I didn’t have proof, how would I dare say such a thing in front of so many people? Look at this!”

I snickered. So, they had actually been setting this up from that moment on.

When the people heard my laughter, they were stunned. They could not understand why I would react this way.

“Joy, why don’t you tell them what my relationship with this man is.”

I leaned against the sofa with my legs crossed and my chin propped on a hand as I tilted my head toward Joy.

She let go of Jeremy and grumbled in a seemingly troubled fashion, “How could I say that? We never matched stories before this!”

Then, as if she sensed everyone’s gazes on her, she immediately covered her mouth. Panic flashed in her eyes. “That’s not what I meant. Don’t misunderstand…”

After a brief pause, she gave me a resigned look. “Sorry, Alania. I don’t think I can help you anymore.”

I did not say anything during the entire thing and just watched her quietly as she put on her show.

I wanted to know just how sincere she was during our seven years of friendship.

By the looks of it, I was too naive and mistook this venomous viper for a harmless pet. That was why I ended up dying so tragically in the previous cycle.

“That’s fine. If you can’t help me, someone else will.”

I did not stop smiling and dialed a number.

The moment the call went through, the person on the other end asked anxiously, “Miss Nelson, have you managed to contact Joy?”

Joy’s expression changed, and she stared at me fixedly. A brief flash of panic appeared in her eyes.

With my back turned to the others, I mouthed a few words to her. Joy bit down on her lip; she appeared conflicted.

After some time, just when I was about to speak, Joy suddenly said, “Thomas, I’m here. I have something to take care of. Once I’m back, I’ll call you.”

Right before everyone’s puzzled gazes, I hung up and shrugged before wiggling my eyebrows at Joy.

She grabbed the hem of her dress and, with great reluctance, said in a quivering voice, “I’m sorry, everyone. I lied. The person in the photo is my blind date. Alania had gone with me for my blind date.”

Everyone broke into a ruckus because of what Joy said.

“That’s nothing shameful. Why did you lie about it? You made us all think that Alania actually cheated!”

“That’s right. You’re not a child anymore. Why didn’t you make yourself clear?”

“Thank goodness Alania had a clear head on her shoulders, or you would have accused her of something she didn’t do!”

As the people criticized her, Joy’s expression turned even more sour, but I smiled happily.

Joy had gotten to know Thomas during a social gathering. Apparently, his family was into the gemstone business, and he was very generous with his money.

But Joy knew very well that if she became part of Thomas’s family, she would have to suffer, considering her qualifications. Hence, between becoming a rich wife and working together with Jeremy to claim the massive wealth my parents left for me, she chose the latter.

Because of that, Thomas was no longer of any use to her.

That was why she picked a random reason and blocked him. She then falsified it and threw dirt at me.

But she did not expect that Thomas would have my contact number and would immediately contact me the moment she blocked him.

When Jeremy saw that Joy had become the target of criticism, he became agitated and shoved me.

I was not seated properly on the sofa, so I fell, and my stomach knocked into a corner of the table.

A sharp pain instantly spread from my stomach to my entire body, as if a powerful hand was squeezing me. It hurt so much that I broke out in cold sweat.

The next second, a pool of warm liquid spread down from between my legs.

Someone sitting beside me screamed, “Alania, you’re bleeding!”

Since my baby’s life was in danger, no one had any more energy to talk about whether I cheated on Jeremy or not. The group frantically brought me into a car and sent me to the hospital.

While I was still conscious, I saw twin ruthless expressions on Joy and Jeremy’s faces.

I knew that they did not want me to have the baby.

What a coincidence. I did not want the baby either.

Once I got to the hospital, I was immediately sent to the operating room.

Before the anesthetics kicked in, I grabbed the doctor’s hand and said, “I don’t want the baby. Please abort it.”

The doctor was stunned. She was not expecting me to suddenly make such a request.

“Isn’t that man outside your husband? Have you spoken to him about this?”

My mind was gradually slowing down, but I forced myself to say, “The baby is in my womb. I have the right to decide whether the baby stays or not.”

Since I had another chance at life, I wanted to completely cut ties with that piece of trash.

While the baby was innocent, I was no saint.

I was sworn enemies with Jeremy. There was no way I would keep my enemy’s baby around.

Instead of being born to be treated unfairly, it would be better for the baby to be born to truly loving parents.

An hour later, I woke up in a ward. Plenty of people were around me, and they offered me words of comfort.

“Don’t be sad, Alania. You’re still young. You can have other children in the future.”

“That’s right. This baby was simply not fated to be born. Don’t let this weigh on you.”

“Rest well. Getting back on your feet is the most important thing.”

I looked around for Jeremy and Joy, and I was just in time to see a flicker of joy in Jeremy’s eyes as he stood at the door.

I believe that he was happy that the baby did not make it, since he could still use it as “proof” of me cheating on him.

Just as I expected, he walked over to me and looked down at me.

“While you lost the baby, I still can’t accept the fact that you cheated. Once you’re discharged, let’s get a divorce.”

The conversation suddenly turned serious. The people who had been comforting me immediately fell silent. Their gazes flickered as they pretended to be busy.

I cradled my aching stomach and sat up before I beckoned him over.

With a stony expression, Jeremy warily leaned over to me.

I tilted my head and drew closer to him. With a hand by his ear, I chuckled, “You’re such a clown. Do you really think that I can’t conduct a paternity test after the baby is gone?”