Because I was a witch, Alpha Adrian Hart married me, just to use me as a shield for his sweetheart, Wilona Cantrell.

In the three years of our marriage, I endured every torment imaginable—beatings, kidnappings, poisonings—and died 99 times.

Out of guilt, Adrian swore he'd cut all ties with Wilona and love no one but me.

He had never agreed to have a child with me before, but that very night, he suddenly made love to me over and over for days without using protection.

Not long after, I was pregnant. He doted on me with tender care, coming home early every day to keep me company.

All our friends were amazed by his sudden change, and I was immersed in ecstasy, vowing to be the best wife and mother in the world.

But when I was eight months pregnant, he tied me to a pillar, letting the blindfolded Wilona stab me multiple times with a sharp knife.

As she drove the blade accurately into my lower abdomen, blood immediately poured out of my wound.

They laughed and bet on whether I could stay alive long enough to see my baby born.

Clutching my bleeding wound, I laughed too—ragged and broken.

"Adrian, I won't live to see that day," I thought.

***

Unsatisfied, Wilona pouted, rubbed her wrists, and said to Adrian coquettishly, "Alpha Adrian, my hands are so sore. Can you help me blow the pain away?"

Adrian immediately lowered his head, cupped her hands in his, and gently blew on them.

"I hate to see you strain yourself. Leave this to me next time."

For the first time in our three-year marriage, I saw true tenderness on his face—a privilege he had never granted me.

Blood kept oozing from the wound in my lower abdomen. I lay on the ground, my vision darkening, one hand pressed tightly against the source of the searing pain.

Just when I was about to pass out, my baby kicked me hard from within. Tears of pain welled in my eyes, jolting me back to a fleeting consciousness.

It seemed like a silent protest from my baby against the cruel treatment from his father.

As Wilona walked past me, she kicked me hard.

"I'm so curious. Who's the father of your bastard? After all, you were kidnapped so many times. Weren't you once locked in a cabin for three days and nights?

"You must have gotten pregnant then. I feel so sorry for Alpha Adrian, being saddled with another man's child. Have you no shame at all, Lorelei?"

Adrian glanced at me coldly before scooping Wilona into his arms and walking away.

That was when I realized—he had never cared for me one bit.

The pain in my abdomen intensified. Panicked, I forced myself to get up and made my way to the hospital.

After reviewing my records, the doctor sighed, her gaze dripping with pity.

"Ms. Holden, you bled so much. One minute later, and you would have lost your baby."

I stroked my belly, tears welling in my eyes. After a few deep breaths, I replied with a steady voice, "I see."

As the doctor walked out of the ward, I closed my eyes, feeling nothing but calm.

Just then, my phone buzzed. It was a WhatsApp message from Wilona.

It read, "Lorelei, while you and your bastard were suffering, Adrian and I were reaching the peak of fun."

In the photo attached, she leaned against Adrian's shoulder with a satisfied smile, her body covered in glaring red marks, branded by the intimacy she was so eager to display.

I knew she was provoking me, but I no longer cared.

I turned off my phone, deadpan, enjoying the last twenty-four hours that were exclusive to me.

Though all I wanted was peace, someone just wouldn't leave me alone.

I was in my hospital bed, waiting for an abortion, when the door was slammed open.

I instinctively looked over, only to see Wilona's face, twisted with anger.

She stormed toward me, raising her hand to slap me, but I saw it coming and caught her wrist just in time.

Stomping her foot, she cursed, "What game are you playing this time, you bitch?"

I was puzzled. What was she talking about?

"Drop that innocent act! You called Adrian away, didn't you?

"He was with me. Then you called him away, right? Don't you dare to deny it!"

Countless times, when Adrian's rival Alphas had kidnapped me and threatened to kill me, I had called him for help. But he had rejected every single call.

I smiled helplessly. Adrian would never leave Wilona's side, certainly not for a call from me.

Wilona was too foolish to realize this, and I had no intention of shedding any light for her.

After all, in my remaining twenty-four hours, seeing that exasperated look on her face was a perverse kind of fun.

My silence only enraged her further. She produced a pair of scissors from nowhere and was about to plunge them into my abdomen.

I immediately grabbed her wrists with all my strength. Just as we were locked in a standoff, she suddenly stopped resisting. The scissors plunged into her own body.

"Lorelei, I came to see how you were doing. That's all. Why ... would you do this to me?"

In the next second, Adrian strode toward her. He slapped me so hard across the face that I was knocked back onto the bed.

My ears were buzzing, and I could hear nothing.

All I could see was his murderous glare and the movement of his lips.

No doubt that he was cursing me, questioning my viciousness, condemning me for hurting his kind-hearted, sweet Wilona.

Over the past three years, conflicts, misunderstandings, beatings, and curses stemming from Wilona had happened more times than I could count.

Adrian scooped Wilona into his arms and stormed out, shouting for a doctor. Just as he reached the door, he stopped and turned back, his voice cold and commanding as he commanded the doctor in the room, "Arrange a paternity test for me and Lorelei's baby now. I demand expedited results within 24 hours."

The doctor looked at me, the pity in her eyes palpable. "Ms. Holden nearly miscarried, and she's still very weak. Performing the test now is a risk to both her and the baby. Perhaps ... it'd be better to wait until she's more stable."

He immediately flew into a rage. "I am the family," he barked, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Do as I say."

Faced with his intimidating attitude, the doctor had no choice but to nod.

Nestling against Adrian's arms, Wilona sobbed pitifully.

"Alpha Adrian, my wound hurts so much. Am I going to die? I'm so scared..."

The tears on her face broke Adrian's heart.

He kissed her lips, and the wet, obscene sound of it cut through the ringing in my ears his slap had left behind.

Under his skillful touch, Wilona was soon turned on. While moaning softly, she glanced at me.

"Alpha Adrian, your wife's here. Doing this in front of her ... doesn't feel right."

Adrian glared at me, his eyes dripping with disgust and resentment.

"Willa, you're always so kind-hearted. She doesn't deserve your kindness, especially after what she did to you. I'm just thankful your injury isn't serious. Otherwise, I would have made her pay."

The blade of his harsh words plunged deep into my heart.

The last shred of hope I had for him had long gone. Why? Why did my heart still feel like it was being ripped apart? It hurt so much I couldn't even breathe.

There were eighteen hours left.

Before leaving the hospital, Adrian instructed his men to put me in confinement.

Soon after, I was dragged from the hospital bed.

His men tied me up with a thick, coarse rope, shoved me into the trunk of a car, drove me to the Hart Group's cold storage, stripped me naked, and left me in there.

Before the doors sealed shut, I heard their loud jeers.

"She's the most pathetic Luna I've ever seen. If I were her, I would have killed myself already."

"Don't you know she's a witch? No one can kill her. I heard she was stabbed until her guts spilled out, and she still came back days later very much alive. Fuck, that's creepy."

"I gotta say—she's been through a lot. She was kidnapped, poisoned, and tortured brutally. And now, she's pregnant. Ms. Cantrell won't let her off."

Their voices faded, and I trembled uncontrollably due to the cold.

Time stretched into eternity. My hair had already frozen with ice crystals, and my teeth were chattering nonstop.

My phone lay just out of reach. When its screen lit up, I used the last of my strength to drag myself toward it.

I answered, and then Adrian's furious voice came through. "Lorelei, have you realized your mistake yet?

"I only married you to be Willa's substitute and her human shield. Know your place.

"If you're smart and behave, I might consider keeping you around after I've dealt with my enemies. You'll be set for life. Otherwise ... you know the consequences."

The cold storage's air was bone-chilling, but it was nothing compared to his harsh words. Curling up in a ball, I faltered, "A-Adrian, I'm... I'm freezing to death..."

After a few seconds of silence, his tone suddenly softened.

"What's up, Lorelei? Are you feeling unwell?"

Shivering, I spoke slowly, trying to form each word clearly, "I-I'm in the ... cold storage. Save ... me."

He fell silent again. When his voice came back, it was once again layered with cold indifference.

"What game are you playing this time, Lorelei?

"I ordered my men to put you in confinement. What are you doing in the cold storage?"

"Is this your newest scheme, trying to win my pity to get me back?"

Utterly frozen, I started to hallucinate—was Adrian chuckling at me?

But my body had reached its limit. My vision went black, and I passed out.

A bucket of cold water jolted me awake. As it seeped into my already frozen body, which was mottled blue and purple, a violent shiver seized me.

My belly was hard as a rock, and a slight movement from within told me my baby was still very much alive.

Standing, Wilona looked down, her glare so full of venom it seemed she wanted to tear me apart.

"You're such a shameless bitch, Lorelei. Look at how pathetic you are. Yet you still won't leave Adrian?"

"A bitter laugh echoed inside my mind. Back then, my father had fallen critically ill, and I had signed an agreement with Adrian, exchanging my life for my father's.

Leaving Adrian was never an option.

Meanwhile, she continued, "After all these years, you still can't see it? You're just a human shield Adrian uses to protect me.

"He made you his wife so his enemies would target you instead of me.

"I should have ignored your existence, but you actually dare carry his child! I'm the only one qualified to bear his child! Die, Lorelei!"

I pulled out a smile, whispering, "Don't worry. I'll be dead within a few hours."

She suddenly burst into mad laughter. "Yeah, right! Everyone knows you're a witch who can't be killed. Fine. Since I can't kill you, I'll just make sure Adrian loses interest in you completely."

Just then, a bunch of men clad in black stormed into the cold storage.

I recognized the leader—he was one of Adrian's enemies.

Wilona smiled, placing a bet with me unhurriedly.

"Let's make a bet, Lorelei. Who do you think Alpha Adrian will save?

"Whoever loses will leave him for good. Well? Do you accept?"

I remained silent. The leader barked an order, and his men quickly tied both of us up. He then texted Adrian, demanding that he come alone.

About fifteen minutes later, the heavy door was flung open again.

Standing outside was Adrian, whose expression darkened to the extreme.

The moment he stepped inside, his eyes scanned the room and instantly locked on Wilona. Seeing that she was unharmed, a barely perceptible sigh of relief escaped him.

I keenly noticed it—that tiny, telling sign—and a fresh, sharp pain pierced my heart.

The lead man snarled at Adrian through gritted teeth, "Impressive, Alpha Adrian. Now that you've seized the suburban land, it's time you paid us back, don't you think?

"Alpha Adrian, you surely are a lucky man, being with two great beauties. It seems Luna Lorelei wasn't lying—Ms. Cantrell is your true weakness. After all, you rushed here in fifteen minutes for her."

My heart sank as I realized it was another scheme orchestrated by Wilona to frame me.

I instinctively glanced at Adrian.

Sure enough, he was glaring at me with pure hatred, his expression promising violence.

He spat, "Lorelei, I can't believe how vicious you are. I actually felt guilty about what I did to you and was planning to make it up to you.

"But you dared to endanger Willa? You've let me down completely."

Shaking my head desperately, I explained, not wanting to give up just yet, "It wasn't me, Adrian. Wilona set this up! I had nothing to do with it..."

My words only enraged him even more.

He kicked me hard in the lower abdomen, bellowing, "You're still slandering her? I gave orders for your confinement. You went to the cold storage, lured them here, and told them she's my weakness!

"You did all this, and you're still lying to my face? You're hopeless."

I closed my eyes weakly, tears streaming down my face in silence.

Meanwhile, Adrian turned to point at Wilona while fixing his fierce gaze on the leader. "Let her go. In exchange, you can have Lorelei and two parcels of land in the suburbs."

The leader lit up a cigarette and responded dismissively, "Everyone knows you don't love your Luna. Besides, she's not that pretty. Alpha Adrian, your offer lacks sincerity."

Hearing this, Adrian pulled out a wicked smile and walked toward me, a knife flashing in his hand.

Without a word, he dragged the blade deeply across my forearm. Blood welled up instantly, but within seconds, the wound knitted itself back together.

A flicker of something crossed Adrian's eyes, but it was swiftly replaced by indifference.

"Do whatever you want with her. As you can see, no amount of torture will kill her."

The leader's eyes gleamed as he smiled, "Deal."

Adrian immediately strode to Wilona and untied her.

Clutching my lower abdomen, I pleaded with him through tears.

"Adrian, please... Save my baby. You can punish me however you want, but my baby is innocent..."

But he snorted in a devil-may-care way, "Who knows who's the father of your baby? Lorelei, don't blame me. Since you dare to plot against Willa, you should face the consequences for thinking you could harm her.

"You brought this on yourself."

Deaf to my pleas, he scooped Wilona up and walked past me.

Staring at their retreating figures, I collapsed onto the ground.

After the door was closed, the leader and his men dragged me back to their pack's dungeon and subjected me to every form of torture they knew.

Clutching my lower abdomen, I wailed while lying on the ground, "Kill me! Just kill me..."

The leader shook his head and sighed, "I have to do this. It's for my men who are dead.

"Blame Adrian. He's the one who gave you to us." After saying this, he nodded to one of his men. "Continue the whipping."

The lash fell without mercy, and my cries in pain echoed in the entire dungeon.

In the last ten hours of my life, all ten fingernails of mine were ripped out.

An hour later, I was thrown into a water cell, where countless snakes kept gnawing at my body.

***

In the final hour, the ruthless kicking to my abdomen continued without mercy.

After another thirty minutes, blood kept streaming from between my legs, the faint movements within me growing weaker and weaker.

With only ten minutes left, violent contractions seized my body. The pain was beyond comprehension, as if I were being crushed. Soon after, my baby's heartbeat was gone.

When two minutes remained, I managed to lift my head. My eyes, empty and unfocused, fixed on a distant light. I felt no pain anymore.

Finally, the last minute arrived. It would all be over soon.

I murmured, "Sorry, my baby.

"Adrian, goodbye forever."

I knew, with absolute certainty, that this time there would be no return.

Meanwhile, Adrian was on the way, taking Wilona home. Just then, his phone rang. It was from the hospital.

"Alpha Adrian, the paternity test results are out."