While waiting at the hospital for my checkup, I ran into my ex-husband, Christopher Voight, and his wife, Pamela Carrey, who was there for her prenatal exam.

After a long silence, Christopher said in a gentle tone, "Sammie, so you finally realized a woman needs a child to fall back on, huh?"

I gave a slight smile and passed over my prenatal check-up sheet.

He narrowed his eyes. His face slowly turned dark. "What?! Sammie, didn't you always say you didn't want kids?"

I curled my lips but didn't say anything.

He didn't know it back then, but the premarital checkup had shown he was born with azoospermia. To protect his pride, I insisted that I was the one with health issues and that I simply didn't want children.

His gaze, heavy with complicated thoughts, lingered on me. After a while, he asked, "Is he good to you? You must really love him."

I smiled again and stayed quiet.

What could I possibly say to someone who had no idea what love meant?

I took back my document and had just put it in my bag when a familiar figure pushed open the door and came out.

Pamela froze when our eyes met. A faint trace of joy lit up her face as she slipped her arm through Christopher's. "Sammie, long time no see. You're here for a checkup, too?" As she spoke, she thrust out her baby bump.

I stepped back, my face a blank mask, nodded, and turned to leave.

Behind me, Pamela's soft voice sounded. "Sammie, let me treat you to a meal. We can catch up."

My steps faltered slightly before I walked on.

Not long ago, Pamela wouldn't have dared to ask me out. Now she could do it with full confidence.

Well, I guess it made sense. The girl I once helped had become a famous top lawyer. And her husband was an internationally renowned attorney, supported by three prominent law firms nationwide.

Sure enough, when Christopher set his mind to helping someone, he could catapult her to success and prominence.

Christopher caught up to me when I was waiting at the entrance for a taxi.

He reached out a hand. "Get in. I'll drive you."

I took a few steps back and said flatly, "No, thank you. I don't want your wife to get the wrong idea."

His face darkened at once. "Sammie, do you really have to be this stubborn?

"Back then, if you had been even a little more understanding, you wouldn't be in this situation today.

"I just wanted a child. Why couldn't you just..."

His eyes drifted to my athletic wear and the canvas shoes with dirt on them.

He didn't finish, but I knew what he meant.

He wanted Pamela to have a child for us, and he wanted me to accept both her and the child and share him with them.

Then I would be set for life. I wouldn't have to walk around in sportswear with a canvas bag as I did now.

The boy I'd risked my entire family's lives to save, the boy who once swore he'd never betray me, had finally been swallowed up by the glittering world.

As I stood there in silence, a taxi approached. Just then, Pamela came running out.

She took out a card and tried to shove it into my hand. "Sammie, please take this. If anything happens, come to me. Chris is busy every day..."

The taxi arrived just in time. I pushed the card back, and it slipped and fell to the ground.

The car sped away, leaving a trail of exhaust fumes. Through the rearview mirror, I saw Christopher holding Pamela gently, comforting her. She leaned against his shoulder and sobbed, just like she had all those years ago.

When I reached the gate of the house, the housekeeper, Helena Sullivan, walked over and told me that my husband, Zachary Flynn, would not be home for dinner. She asked what I wanted to eat.

I touched my belly and held back the urge to vomit. I told her to just make me some tonic soup.

Back in my room, I wanted to put away my prenatal report. As I looked through my things, I found the fake infertility report.

Six years ago, I paid 1,000 dollars and asked a friend's friend to make that fake report.

Back then, Christopher and I were a pair of star-crossed lovers who depended on each other for survival.

But we actually didn't have to suffer that much. My parents ran a small shop, and I was their only child. His parents were also successful business owners.

The accident happened when Christopher was ten. A car crash took his parents' lives. His uncle, Maximus Voight, stepped in right away and took control of everything.

He even sent Christopher to human traffickers, who sold him to a rural area.

I was the neighbor of the people who bought him.

Not long after, the neighbor had their own child. Christopher became an extra. They made him work nonstop, and he was covered in bruises every day.

I sneaked bread from my family's shop and gave it to him. I even took blankets from home and laid them in the barn so he could sleep there.

One day, the neighbor, Frederick Kilmer, lost money gambling. He took a whip and beat Christopher until he rolled on the ground.

I ran over and bit Frederick's hand as hard as I could. He swung his arm and threw me. I hit a rock in the yard and bled profusely on the spot.

Christopher grabbed the yard's grass-cutting knife and, in his rage, swung it at Frederick's neck.

Frederick's blood shot up high, and he fell without a word.

I looked at Christopher, shaking in the corner, and fell to my knees in front of my dad. "Dad, please save Chris. He only did it to protect me."

I cried and begged. "Dad, we cannot lose our conscience. If Chris goes to jail, his life will be ruined."

My dad walked into the police station with red eyes. Less than a year later, he died in prison.

Christopher was kicked out. My family's small shop was also given to the neighbor's family to pay for the death.

From then on, he and I started living on the streets.

We had been bitten by wild dogs. We had been bullied by homeless men. Christopher even got pneumonia and almost died. I got down on my knees in front of the doctor and begged to sell my blood to save him.

When Christopher was sixteen, his other uncle, Xavier Brosnan, returned from overseas. He was an international award-winning lawyer. He fought the case for Christopher, won back most of the family property, and found us half a year later.

From then on, he became the Voight family's golden boy.

He went to a private prep school. Influenced by Xavier, he later entered law school and became a top lawyer.

I was not gifted. I barely finished law school and became a small assistant.

Back then, he held my hand and looked at me. "Sammie, you don't have to be great. You have me."

When we were twenty-two and graduating, he even asked me to marry him in front of the whole school. "Sammie, marry me. I'll love you for life. And if I ever betray you, may it be the end of me."

One month later, we got married.

But during the premarital check-up, they found Christopher was infertile. He was proud, and his relatives waited to mock him.

That day, I hid his report, made a fake one, and told him I was the one who could not have children.

He held me tight and told me it was okay as long as he had me.

After we married, Christopher never blamed me. He supported me and helped me grow into a known lawyer.

"Sammie, a person has to live with their own conscience. When your dad walked into that station, I swore I'd take care of you for life.

"Sammie, without you and your family, there would be no Christopher today. Everything I have is yours."

But conscience had no legal force.

In our third year of marriage, he had an affair with the law student we helped sponsor, Pamela.

We only wanted to help society and recruit talent for the firm.

Pamela was indeed very good. She handled a big case right when she joined. She spoke with sharp logic and had her own view on the law. She quickly became the firm's rising star.

The two of them always had things to talk about. They discussed cases nonstop.

They often argued until their faces turned red, then shared a smile.

So in the end, they ended up in the same bed.

Helena brought in the tonic soup and broke my messy thoughts.

I touched my face and felt cold.

Suddenly, I realized that I had unknowingly shed tears, something that hadn't happened in a long time.

I lifted my hand and threw the fake report into the shredder, then fixed my clothes and sat down by the low table.

My tears should have dried up three years ago. Back then, my tears fell like running water, flowing freely but worthless.

When Pamela joined the firm, she called me Sammie every chance she got and acted like she was part of the family.

The day she won a major national case, I even bought a cake to celebrate.

On my way home, I saw Christopher's car. That day, I suddenly wanted to tease the two of them. I was about to get out of my car and surprise them.

I watched him pass the light, watched him drive farther and farther from home, then stop in front of a quiet hotel.

I watched them walk into a room, take off their clothes, and hold each other. I lost control and grabbed Pamela's hair and slapped her face.

That day, Christopher threw me against the wall. It felt like when he was ten, when blood ran down my face from my forehead.

Back then, his eyes were full of anger as he swung a blade at our neighbor and cried while holding me.

Now his eyes still held anger, but the woman in his arms was different. "You are crazy. Pammy is pregnant. Are you trying to hurt my child?"

I froze. They already had a child? I did not even know how many times they had slept together.

I rushed at Pamela and hit her. "You awful woman, whose child are you carrying? Do you have any shame?"

She hid in Christopher's arms. Her face was swollen, and her hair stuck to her wet cheeks. "Sammie, I know I've wronged you, but how can you say Chris's child is not his?

"Sammie, don't worry. I won't take your place as Mrs. Voight. I just feel sad that Chris is so great, but doesn't have a child of his own. I beg you, let me have his baby so I can repay him for helping me."

She straightened up and tried to get down on her knees in front of me.

Christopher pulled her into his arms. His eyes were full of pain. "Pammy, it is not your fault. It is my fault."

Then he looked at me with cold eyes. "Sammie, how can you be so cold? Pammy is doing this for you."

I slapped him, and my lips shook. "Christopher Voight, you are awful.

"She slept with my husband. Am I supposed to thank her? She is a cruel woman with bad intentions."

Before I could say he could not have children, his hand landed hard on my face. "Samantha Levine, I will not let you talk about Pammy like that. She is the mother of my child."

I stared at him, shocked. He had already given his heart to Pamela.

Maybe my face looked too sad and too lost. His anger faded. He touched my cheek. "Sammie, I just want a child of my own. As long as you do not yell or fight, this child can call you mom, too.

"Pammy is loyal and kind. She will not take your place. She will not fight you. Just accept her, alright?"

Pamela dropped to her knees in front of me. "Sammie, please. I truly love Chris. Let me have his child.

"Don't worry. After I give birth, I will leave. I will never see him again."

Christopher panicked. He held her tight and snapped. "Pammy, you cannot leave. You promised you would stay with me and make the law firm global. Did you forget?

"If you leave, I will close the firm. I will look for you no matter where you go."

He turned to me with anger in his eyes. "Sammie, I know I owe you a lot, but Pammy is innocent. If you force her out, then we should get a divorce.

"I gave you status, a good life. Without me, do you think you would have anything you have today?"

It was only in that moment that I understood how much pain my father felt years ago when I got down on my knees and yelled at him for being heartless.

That day, I ran out of the hotel with tears in my eyes, leaving them inside, holding and comforting each other.

I could not swallow the pain. I ran to the law firm and smashed their office.

I threw all of Pamela's things out the door and even put a big sign at the entrance that said "Sluts are not allowed."

I told our clients about Pamela. I told them how shameless she was.

I called them one by one and told them about her bad behavior.

But Christopher only made one call, and I ended up at the police station.

With his status and power now, a single swear word could turn into a long list of charges, ranging from physical attack to psychological harm. Moreover, I was launching a full-scale attack on Pamela.

He crushed me like I was nothing.

In court, I was a mess and full of anger. I looked like I had lost my mind as I stared at him with bloodshot eyes, listing all my crimes.

Then he easily got me convicted.

In the end, he even asked the judge to give me a lighter sentence. I only got three months in jail, but my reputation was gone, as a well-known New York lawyer was jailed for openly slandering and spreading rumors about others.

That day, Christopher handed me a divorce agreement. He said in a cold voice, "Sign it. I can't let my child be born without a father.

"You don't have to worry. As long as you admit you were wrong and get along with Pammy, I won't treat you badly."

I threw the divorce papers at his face and told him that unless I died, Pamela would always be someone who had to hide in the dark.

Christopher looked at me with no expression. He put another document in front of me. "If you want your dad to be restless in the afterlife because of you, then don't sign."

After he became successful, he moved my dad's grave to the best cemetery. Because he handled everything, the grave was under his name.

If he wanted, he really could dig up the bones.

That day, I wanted to slap him. I wanted to ask how he could do that to my dad, the person who saved him. How could he?

In the end, I signed with red eyes.

I had already caused my dad's death because of my own stubbornness. I could not make him suffer even in the afterlife.

To warn me, Christopher used some extreme measures to move the entire law firm under Pamela's name. If he wanted, he could even make me take on a huge debt and grovel before Pamela for mercy.

I was in jail. There was no way I could fight him. I left with nothing.

He had fully inherited his father's nature. He was bold, harsh, and always planned far ahead.

He had not pushed me to get down on my knees in front of Pamela. He held back on purpose, hoping I'd suffer out there and then come back to beg him.

When that time came, whether I was a wife or something else all depended on his mood.

Three months later, I came out of jail. Christopher had already married Pamela.

Everything was beautiful: the diamond-covered wedding dress flown in from France and the magnificent starry-sky vista at the manor. He had truly poured his heart into it.

The wedding gift he once gave me had now become their new home. I set it on fire.

***

When Zachary came back, I was still lost in thought.

His arms wrapped around me from behind, like the day he held my hand and took me across the ocean.

"Dr. Hodge called me and told me we are having a baby."

His voice was warm in my ear.

I turned and leaned into his arms. I let out a soft yes and closed my eyes to calm myself.

"I want to hold a celebration tomorrow. Let's invite Ellie and everyone else. It will be fun."

I smiled. It had been a long time since I saw his sister, Elizabeth Flynn.

Back then, she was my client fighting a divorce case. She cried all the time. No one thought she would one day become a well-known CEO in New York.

Because I worked day and night to gather evidence, she won her case, and we became like sisters.

When I went to jail again, she paid to bail me out. She took me away from that painful place and introduced me to her brother, who was expanding his business overseas.

Zachary started planning right away. He sat on the bed with his arms around me while calling people with a happy smile.

Soon, everyone in the Flynn family, including the dog across the ocean, Charlie, knew.

Three days later, at Vanderbilt Mansion, all the important people in New York came. Flowers and gifts filled the hall.

When Elizabeth arrived, people were gathered around me, asking me to open the gift Zachary had prepared.

I opened the box and found the Williamson Pink Star diamond.

Everyone gasped. Elizabeth laughed and said, "You little punk. You outbid everyone just to make your wife happy. No wonder you wouldn't give it to me when I asked."

I turned and smiled. "Ellie... "

Our eyes met. Christopher was standing there with Pamela in his arms, both of them staring at me in shock.

He was holding a gift.

"Sammie, you are Mr. Flynn's wife?"