What a good man.

So devoted to his family.

Back then, that was exactly what I had liked about him. He was filial. He treated his family well.

I never imagined that same quality would become the blade pointed at me.

He had never once seen my son and me as his real family.

In his heart, only his own blood relatives mattered.

Even Lana mattered more than his biological son.

I turned to go downstairs, but my sister-in-law, Ariel Whittaker, rushed over and shouldered past me.

She threw herself toward Lana and wrapped her arms around her, furious.

“What gives you the right to hit my daughter? I can’t even bear to hit her myself. Who do you think you are?”

I was shaking with rage.

“Why don’t you ask what your daughter did?

“Your son died, and now you’re blaming my daughter? If you want to blame someone, blame your son for being unlucky!”

I hated them so much.

But right now, all I could think about was the baby who had just fallen from upstairs.

Who was he?

How had he ended up in Nancy’s house?

“Ariel, you have a child too. If the one who died today had been your child, would you still be able to say that?”

Ariel’s pupils shrank. She pointed at me and cursed, “You shameless lunatic. Your son died, so now you’re cursing my family, aren’t you? If you ask me, your son deserved to die! Good riddance!”

I grabbed my phone with its shattered screen and headed straight downstairs.

Nancy shouted anxiously, “Stop her! She’s going to call the police!”

Ariel sneered. “So what if she does? Lana won’t go to prison anyway.”

“Are you stupid? If she calls the police and sues us, we’ll have to pay compensation!”

Ariel suddenly understood, and the disgust on her face deepened.

“David, look at the wife you married. Her own son is dead, and she still has the energy to scheme against us!”

David chased after me, his face dark with anger.

But I had already sent a text to my parents, telling them to call the police.

He lunged forward to snatch my phone. When he saw the message I had sent, he was so furious that he slapped me across the face.

“I told you this is a family matter. Why do you insist on calling the police?”

“My brother’s family isn’t well-off to begin with. Are you trying to extort them? How did I never realize you were this vicious?”

I clutched my chest and let out a hopeless laugh.

Yes, I was vicious.

I hated them so much I wished their whole family would die.

Without saying a word, I kept walking downstairs.

I needed to know who that baby was.

A vague answer had already formed in my heart.

But I didn’t dare believe it.

Given I ignored him, David panicked and followed me downstairs.

Just as I was about to step outside, he grabbed my shoulders tightly.

“Nina, stop making a scene, okay? I already checked the baby. It’s gone.

“Let’s bury it and pretend none of this ever happened, all right?”

I pushed him away without expression.

But in the next second, my pupils shrank.

The spot where the baby had been lying was now empty.

I grabbed David by the collar and demanded, “Where is the baby? What did you do with him?”

Police sirens sounded outside the courtyard.

Two officers walked in and asked, “Who called the police?”

David clamped a hand over my mouth and forced out a smile.

“Officers, my wife dialed the wrong number. Sorry for the trouble.”

Nancy and Ariel hurried downstairs too.

Nancy pointed at me and snapped, “She’s crazy. It was just an argument between the couple, but she wants to call the police over every little family issue.”

The officers looked doubtful, but they seemed to think it was just a domestic dispute.

They took a brief statement and left.

Only after the police were completely gone did David finally let go of me.

“Nina, do you think I’m not devastated that the baby is dead?

“But if you insist on making this public, how is Lana supposed to face her classmates afterward? And what will people think of our family?”

I wiped the cold tears from my face.

“Is any of that worth more than a life?”

I looked around, searching for the baby.

But they were nowhere to be found.

I searched every corner of the house, but I couldn’t find the child who had died.

Then my gaze landed on the outhouse.

When Ariel saw me heading toward it, she quickly grabbed me.

“The outhouse toilet is broken. Go somewhere else.”

I shook her off coldly and walked toward the outhouse.

A foul stench hit me in the face.

Then I saw a corner of the bright red baby blanket floating in the filth below.

My whole body shook.

A furious, broken roar tore from my chest.

“Are you people even human?”

Ariel still looked smug, as if she was proud of what she had done.

“If I hadn’t been smart, you really would have scammed us. Once someone is dead, they're just a body. We don't have money to pay you.”

Lana hid behind Ariel and shouted at me, “You’re a terrible woman! Your son died, and now you’re trying to scam us out of money. You’re shameless!

“Your son was only three months old, and you’re already trying to squeeze hundreds of thousands out of us. What, are you planning to get rich every time you have a baby?”

Nancy and David kept trying to persuade me to let it go.

David held my arm and said, “I’ll buy you a handbag tomorrow. Stop being angry. It’s just one child. We can have another.”

I was so furious at this family that my whole body went weak.

Right now, only one thought remained in my mind.

I had to know who that baby was.

“Get him out,” I said. “We... we’ll bury him.”

David frowned and looked at the filthy outhouse with obvious disgust. He clearly didn’t want to do it.

I couldn’t help letting out a bitter laugh.

“That child is connected to you by blood, and you’re disgusted by him?”

David took a deep breath and resigned himself to it, reaching for the scoop.

But Ariel blocked him, staring at me warily.

“David, your wife is tricking you. The second you get that baby out, she’ll call the police!

“Then she’ll drag your niece to court. Do you know how much our family will have to pay?”

Lana tugged at his clothes too.

“Uncle David, I don’t want to pay money. If we pay, I won’t be able to go to school anymore!”

David tossed the scoop aside and said to me, “The baby is already dead. Stop disturbing his peace.”

I closed my eyes.

“Don’t regret this.”

With that, I stumbled toward the courtyard gate.

Ariel panicked and grabbed my wrist tightly.

“Where do you think you’re going? I’m telling you, don’t even think about running off to call the police!

“You have to stay here until after the holidays. Then we’ll just say your son accidentally fell into the outhouse!”

By the time the holidays were over, there would be no evidence left to prove he had fallen from upstairs.

Nancy came over with a rope and tied my wrists together.

“Nina, be good. As long as you behave, we won't do anything to harm you.”

I struggled twice, but the rope only tightened.

I looked at David, pleading.

“Do you really think I’m calling the police just to extort money?”

David looked away.

“Nina, behave. Stop doing things that hurt this family.”

While my hands were tied, Lana rushed up and slapped me hard across the face.

She made a face at me and mocked, “Weren’t you so tough? Come on, hit me if you can! Come on!”

I gritted my teeth, trembling so hard I could barely stand.

But with my hands bound tightly, I couldn’t even fight back.

“You’re rotten,” I said through clenched teeth. “You were born rotten.”

That only made Lana more excited.

She kicked me hard in the lower abdomen.

Pain tore through the scar from my C-section, and I bit down hard on my lip.

I hoped David still had even a shred of feeling left for me as his wife.

I hoped he would untie me.

But he only focused on comforting Ariel and said casually, “How much strength can a child have? You scared her earlier. Just let her blow off some steam.”

Lana kicked me in the stomach again, taunting me.

“Your son deserved to die! He deserved to die!”

“Who the hell said my grandson is dead?”

A furious roar rang out, followed by the sound of police sirens once again.

My parents were standing at the gate with the police.

And in their arms was my living, breathing son.