Chapter 2

"Look at our baby. Doesn't he look just like us?" Alexander said, his voice filled with pride.

"Honey, thank you for giving me such an adorable son. I promise I'll be a good father."

I gazed at the peacefully sleeping infant in his arms, but my heart ached with a pain I couldn't ignore.

Alexander was wrong. No mother could mistake her own child.

The baby had Alexander's features, but the nose and chin were almost identical to Sophia's.

This was their child.

And my baby? My child was just a cold, lifeless body.

"Olivia, is your leg still hurting? Here, take some painkillers."

The concern in his eyes mirrored what it always had been, tenderness, but it was all a facade. A way to numb me.

I stared at the pills in his hand, the memory of what I had overheard earlier playing in my mind.

"Alex, the medicine is too bitter. Can I take it later?" I asked, my voice barely steady.

You've already taken one of my children from me. Can you at least leave me the dignity of being a mother?

Alexander hesitated for only a moment before smiling and patting my head.

"You're a mother now. Why are you still acting like a child? You've been through so much with the childbirth and your injured leg. It pains me to see you suffer. Olivia, please take the medicine for my sake? I need to take care of our little one too."

"I've added honey to the water. It's very sweet. Come on, let me help you."

No. That's not my baby. That's yours and Sophia's!

But Alexander insisted, bringing the pills to my mouth, giving me no chance to refuse.

My blood ran cold. I closed my eyes briefly, forcing myself to swallow the pills, refusing the honeyed water.

I don't want that fake sweetness.

The drug worked quickly. My lower abdomen felt like it was being sliced open with a knife, a burning pain that intensified until I felt the warmth of blood between my legs.

"Olivia, what's wrong?" Alexander shouted for a doctor as I passed out from the agony.

In my foggy consciousness, I could hear the doctor's voice.

"Mr. Carter, your wife's entire uterus has been corroded. She can never have children again."

Alexander let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.

When I woke again, I found him sitting beside me, his eyes red and swollen, his face twisted with fake concern.

"Olivia, the doctor said you had severe postpartum bleeding. You won't be able to have children anymore."

"Don't be sad. Luckily, we already have Andy. I'm sure he'll take good care of you when he grows up."

Andy? He had already named Sophia's child so quickly?

Despite his germaphobia, Alexander refused to let the nurse clean me up. Instead, he fetched warm water himself, gently wiping the blood from my body.

He told me his mother wanted to see her grandson, so she'd taken the baby away for now.

By the time he finished, it was late into the night.

I looked at his exhausted face and managed a weak smile.

"I'm fine. You've had a long day too. Get some rest."

Alexander kissed my forehead, his voice soft.

"Alright. Wake me if you need anything. Tomorrow, we'll go pick up Andy together. From now on, the three of us will have a good life."

Once he fell asleep, I quietly reached for his phone.