After three years of marriage without getting pregnant, my husband and I tried in vitro fertilization for a year and successfully conceived quadruplets.

The pregnancy was incredibly difficult. I threw up constantly for months and my belly got huge - like I'd swallowed a beach ball!

The doctor suggested reducing the number of fetuses, but my husband flatly refused.

"Sonia, the children you are carrying are all ours. I can't bear to lose even one of them," he said.

I touched my belly with a pale face and nodded. I, too, couldn't bear to do it.

When I was six months pregnant, my husband's buddies started betting on the gender of the babies.

In the end, there were three boys and one girl, and my husband won the bet, earning 1.5 million dollars.

Later, I overheard the conversation between Charles Jenkins and his fellows.

"Charles, this is really a great idea, letting Sonia give birth to children for four women at once."

Charles said indifferently, "Since I can't make them all Mrs. Jenkins, I might as well give each of them a child as compensation. Since Sonia is Mrs. Jenkins, it is only natural for her to do this."

I felt a shiver run down my spine when I heard it.

It turns out that the four babies in my belly were not mine.

* * *

"Charles, you really are something. The problem of having four children is solved in one go."

Ron Yates agreed, "Yes, the mothers of those four babies are extremely beautiful, and the children will definitely be very good-looking when they are born."

After saying that, he sighed again. "Poor Luna. She was the belle of our school. I didn't expect that she would die so early from a terminal illness. Fortunately, Charles was kind enough to leave her with a child. Now we just have to wait for Sonia to give birth."

"Vera was also infatuated with Charles. She's been loving Charles for almost 20 years, but since she didn't get Charles, she settled for Charles' kid."

Another person continued, "It's a pity that our Charles only has eyes for Adeline. To avoid betraying her, he found a way for Sonia to carry the children. That way, he wouldn't betray Adeline, and he could still let others have his children.

"I just wonder what Sonia will do when she finds out? If she finds out that the four babies in her belly are not hers, she will probably have a breakdown, right?"

Charles said indifferently, "So what if she finds out? She can only blame herself for becoming someone she shouldn't have."

The others sneered. "Yeah, even if she finds out, she would probably still give birth to the baby obediently. After all, it's Charles' child. Sonia put in so much effort to marry into the Jenkins family, and there was no shooing her away. Even if she's angry, Charles could just call out to her and she would come running back."

They laughed out loud, their words revealing malice and mockery that could not be concealed.

I stood behind the door and felt a chill all the way up my spine.

I looked down at my bulging belly and my nails dug deep into my palm.

What did they mean by babies in my belly not being mine?

I suffered through six grueling months of pregnancy—enduring severe morning sickness every day, swollen feet that kept me from walking, and hair falling out in clumps.

There was also a year of IVF, countless injections, and so many medicines to take.

After going through so much pain to conceive the children, they were telling me they weren't mine?

The discussion in the living room was still going on, but I could no longer hear any sound.

I know that Luna Davies they were talking about. I went to the same school as her, and she seemed to be Charles' first love.

I heard some time ago that she died of a terminal illness, and I felt a little sad.

Unexpectedly, she was already dead, but I was the one carrying her and my husband's child.

It was so absurd that I couldn't even believe it, and an indescribable feeling of fear rendered me numb.

I tried my best to control myself and not rush out immediately.

Outside, they have already started betting on the gender of the babies in my belly.

Occasionally, Charles' voice was heard in the mix, which made me tremble.

After four years of marriage, I realized I had never truly understood the person I was meant to be closest to.

I put my hand on my swollen belly—so big it looked like it might burst at any moment. Inside, four children waited.

One was Luna's and one was Vera Zermatt's. But what about the other two?

I was familiar with Vera as well. She had grown up alongside Charles as his childhood sweetheart—infatuated with him for years, yet never able to have him as her own.

From this perspective, Charles really was kind.

Since he didn't give her his heart, he gave her a child.

I suddenly giggled—the kind that came out so hard, and tears soon fell down my cheeks.

"Charles wanted to give them a child of their own, yet why was I made to do this?

"How could he be so cruel..." I couldn't help but wonder.

I clenched my palms tightly and my lips were bleeding.

I used to think that Charles' care and concern for the children was an expression of his love for me.

The nutritional supplements and special instructions he gave me made me feel loved.

But it turned out that they were all fake.

The noises outside were still going on. It was extremely lively.

"Two boys and two girls."

"I bet all four are boys."

At this time, a sweet female voice sounded.

"Why are you all betting on them being boys? I think girls are great. I'll bet it'd be three girls and one boy."

Turning around, she asked again, "Charles, do you like boys or girls?"

The voice sounded familiar. It seemed to be Charles' secretary.

Charles said indifferently, "Boys or girls, I like them all. Boys are better, girls are too delicate."

Ron asked, "Then who are you betting on, Charles?

"Since Adeline said she likes girls, three boys and one girl then."

Adeline? So that was her.

I smirked bitterly. They were secretly having an affair right under my nose and I didn't even know it.

I didn't know whether to say that they acted too well or I was too stupid.

Adeline Lauren's coquettish voice was heard as she said, "What do you mean girls being delicate?"

Charles raised his eyebrows and pulled her into his arms.

"You're saying that you're not delicate? Who is the one who doesn't dare to carry a baby because of the pain? You cried several times when you froze your eggs."

"But it just hurts."

After Adeline finished speaking, she remembered something and said, "Oh, by the way, Sonia seems to have never cried. With such a long needle inserted into her, and the IVF process lasted so long, she really never cried even once, really?"

Charles sneered. "Sonia has thick skin, so of course she's not afraid of pain, and she really hasn't cried even once. Unlike you, you'll cry from a paper cut."

Ron chimed in with a compliment, "That's because Adeline has Charles. She can be more delicate when someone is there to love her. Unlike Sonia—enduring it all because no one loves her."

"Yeah, Charles feared for your health from giving birth, so that was why he planned to put the baby in Sonia's belly and let her do it, no?"

"Sonia's belly is like a balloon now. Tsk tsk, I wonder what she will look like after giving birth to four children."

"She could be all naked on the bed and Charles wouldn't even look at her, after all this..."

They spoke in a very explicit manner, accompanied by obscene laughter, which made me feel nauseous.

I couldn't hold on any longer and staggered for a bit, my face turning pale.

Just because I had thick skin and flesh, so I wasn't afraid of pain?

Of course, I am afraid.

But thinking about giving birth to Charles' child, I endured it as hard as I could and never cried out, no matter how painful it was.

Even if my nails were broken or my mouth bled from biting down so hard, I would not make a sound.

But all this endurance was only rewarded with them calling me "thick-skinned."

I can still remember the day when the IVF was successful and Charles' face was full of worry as he held my hand.

"You suffered for our children, Sonia."

He would touch my belly, pretending to teach the unborn babies inside a lesson.

"Be good and don't bother your mother."

When I was vomiting and couldn't eat, he would hold the bowl and feed me food one mouthful at a time.

"Eat something even if you can't. You've lost weight since you got pregnant. When they come out, I'll teach them a lesson for you."

It turned out that his worry about me was fake, and his concern for the children was real.

I was merely the vessel through which these children would be born.

I closed my eyes, wiped the tears from my face, and made an appointment with the hospital for an abortion.

"Charles, this time I don't want you anymore.

"And I won't give birth to the children you're looking forward to so much," I thought.

When I went out, Ron and his group had already left, leaving only Charles and Adeline in the living room.

I made noise deliberately to give them time to cover themselves.

I couldn't afford to confront them at the moment.

The blush on Adeline's face had not yet faded, and she was pretending to report her work to Charles.

"Mr. Jenkins, there is an emergency meeting tonight that requires your attendance. The car is waiting at the door."

When she turned around to look at me, she said in a friendly manner, "Mrs. Jenkins."

Then her eyes fell on my belly, and a meaningful smile appeared at the corner of her lips.

"Mrs. Jenkins, your belly looks bigger now. You are so lucky to be pregnant with quadruplets for Mr. Jenkins."

I looked at her hypocritical face and I really didn't have the energy to deal with her.

Seeing this, Adeline excused herself, but when she reached the door, she turned back to look at Charles.

Like some kind of secret signal.

Charles saw me coming out of the room on the first floor, frowned slightly, and spoke like he was trying to test as discreetly as possible.

"When did you come back? Why didn't you make any sound?"

I looked at the saliva stains still on his lips, and my eyes burned as if they'd been stung.

It was so obvious, but I was like a blind person and didn't notice anything before.

I curled my lower lip in self-mockery, my brows drawing downward.

"I was so tired after I came back that I slept in the guest room—and I just woke up."

Relief washed over Charles, and his expression eased back to normal.

"Did your prenatal checkup go well today? I wanted to go with you, but something came up at the company."

He acted very guilty, and if this were the past, I would have believed him. As always, I comforted him, saying that company matters were more important and that it was okay for me to go alone.

But now, I won't believe it anymore.

"Well, it went smoothly. The doctor said the babies in my belly are healthy."

Charles asked a few more questions carefully before finally letting out a breath of relief.

He was like this before, always asking very detailed questions, and I always thought it was his concern for me.

Only now did I understand for whom that concern was.

Charles came over, touched my belly, and talked to the babies in my belly for a while.

In the past, I would have had a happy smile on my face when looking at this scene.

But now, I just feel my heart bleeding.

I clenched my palms tightly to keep myself calm, but I couldn't stop the tears that threatened to fall.

Charles didn't notice anything strange about me because he didn't care.

"I have an emergency meeting tonight. I might be home late. Take good care of yourself while I'm gone."

I forced a smile and nodded. "Okay."

Charles left, and I slowly went up to the second floor holding the rails.

My belly was so big I couldn't see the stairs below, so after five months of pregnancy, I moved to the guest room on the first floor.

I haven't been to the bedroom on the second floor for a long time.

I pushed the door open and saw unmistakable traces of intimacy on the bed. Behind it, on the wall, hung a wedding photo of Charles and me.

"How ironic..." I thought to myself.

My heart ached so much that I couldn't help but shed tears.

But I suppressed my emotions, wiped away my tears, and took out all my documents.

Before going downstairs, I walked to the window as if possessed and looked down through it.

The car parked at the door had not left yet and was shaking irregularly.

I closed my eyes and didn't want to look anymore. The churning emotions in my stomach made me want to vomit.

In the middle of the night, Charles came back with the scent of Adeline's perfume on his body.

He reached out and gently stroked my belly, his movements careful and reverent.

I just felt sick.

I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, recalling many things in my mind, and tears flowed into my hair.

I still couldn't figure it out.

But, it didn't matter anymore.

I went to the hospital first thing the next morning.

The doctor looked at me, frowning.

"You are almost seven months pregnant now. It is very dangerous to terminate the pregnancy at this time. Induced labor is generally not recommended."

There was no emotion on my face and I just made up a lie.

After a series of examinations and evaluations, the date for the induced abortion surgery was determined.

By the time I got home, I was exhausted.

The surgery date is set for three days from now, and in that time, I have to make all preparations.

I wanted to give Charles a big present.