On the day I married Colin Thomson, the Thomson family's adopted daughter tried to jump off a building.

Colin ditched me in my wedding dress and ran off to save her.

With hundreds of guests staring at me with mockery in their eyes, I stood up and declared, "Whoever walks up to the altar now—I'll be your bride!"

Three years later, Colin came back with his adopted sister, Irene Simpson.

I was lounging on a leather sofa, eating lobster bisque, and watching dramas.

Colin stared at my bulging belly, gritting his teeth. "Whose bastard is that?"

I ate another bite and smiled. "Of course, it's a Thomson family's child."

***

Furious, Colin stormed over and yanked me up from the sofa.

"Bitch! I left with Irene on our wedding day. I haven't set foot back here in three years—how could that possibly be my child?"

I found it funny. When did I ever say it was his? Colin wasn't the only man in the Thomson family.

"Of course, it's not your child. You don't even deserve to be my child's father."

Irene looked shocked. "Joanna Scott, even if Colin left you at the wedding ceremony, he still let you keep the title of Mrs. Thomson and enjoy the wealth and status that came with it. How could you shamelessly get pregnant with someone else's child?"

I glanced at her and said, "Irene, you're the adopted daughter of the Thomson family, yet you shamelessly commit incest with your brother. If we're talking about disgrace, who could top you two?"

Irene immediately looked at Colin with a pitiful expression. "For the past three years, we've kept things proper despite our feelings. But she's cheated on you and is pregnant with someone else's bastard."

The moment she said, "cheated on you," Colin's rage boiled over. He raised his hand and slapped me hard.

"Slut! You get knocked up and still dare to drag me and Irene down with you? Get out of my house!"

My cheek burned from the slap, and for a few seconds, my head was spinning.

Three years ago, Colin ran off with Irene, leaving me humiliated at the wedding ceremony in front of everyone.

Out of anger, I announced an open marriage offer on the spot, and it was Colin's uncle, Wallace Thomson, who walked up to the stage and married me.

Wallace was known as the Cold-faced King in New York. Ever since I married him, everyone had treated me with flattery and smiles.

After I got pregnant, he pampered me like royalty. He wouldn't even let a single hair on my head be harmed.

If Wallace found out that Colin dared to lay a hand on me, blood would be spilled.

To avoid a family tragedy and for the sake of my baby, I decided to keep the peace.

I said coldly, "If you both leave now, I'll pretend none of this ever happened."

But instead of backing off, Irene grabbed my hair.

"Colin, this bitch is feeling guilty. She wants us out, so she can use that bastard in her belly to take over everything in the family!"

Colin snapped, "So that's your plan, huh? Do you think I'll let you get away with it? Not a chance."

I broke free from Irene's grip and said coldly, "Ever since the day you ran off, your grandpa expelled you from the family. Everything they have now has nothing to do with you."

Irene chuckled. "That was just Grandpa's angry words. Colin is the only grandson. There's no way he'd really be expelled."

Colin smirked smugly. "Grandpa's always said everything in the family belongs to me."

I rested a hand on my belly and replied coldly, "Not anymore. The child I'm carrying is a Thomson too."

I thought I'd made myself perfectly clear.

But Colin's face twisted with rage. "You bitch! So you really are planning to pass off that bastard as a Thomson. I'll teach you a lesson today!"

He slapped me again, even harder. I clutched my belly as I fell to the floor.

Seeing their hideous faces, a wave of fear surged through me. I was terrified they'd hurt my baby. I quickly tried to explain, "My child isn't a bastard, he's—"

But before I could finish, Colin leaned over, grabbed the lobster bisque on the ground, and stuffed it into my mouth along with the broken pieces of the bowl.

"Irene and I have been struggling for three years, while you've been using the baby in your belly to scam food and drinks from my family!"

"Today, I'll make you pay for it!"

I was immediately choked into silence, the sharp porcelain cutting my mouth, blood pouring out.

I raised my hand to defend myself, but Irene's sharp high heel pressed down on the back of my hand.

My whole hand trembled from the pain, but I couldn't even scream.

After Colin shoved the entire lobster bisque into my mouth, he spat at me, then clapped his hands and stood up.

Irene, in her high heels, moved her foot toward my swollen belly.

I was terrified and held her ankles tightly to prevent her from stepping down.

Wallace was infertile. This child was a precious gift we got after three years of seeing top doctors at home and abroad.

Irene sneered mockingly. "Joanna, you look just like a dog protecting her pups. It's disgusting."

Colin frowned as he stared at my belly. "If word gets out that I've been cuckolded, how am I supposed to survive in New York? Irene, crush that bastard child in her stomach!"

I shook my head frantically, spitting out a mouthful of blood, struggling to speak, "My... child... is Wallace's..."

Colin froze for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Joanna, you're really terrible at lying! Everyone in New York knows my uncle doesn't go near women and is infertile."

"Right now, the Thomson family only has my line to carry on the legacy. Otherwise, why would my grandfather have been so eager for me to marry you and have children?"

Irene chimed in, "Colin is the only heir of the family. To force him to come back and inherit the fortune, Grandpa even froze his cards."

"You filthy bitch, it's funny that after we exposed you, you still dare to drag Uncle Wallace into this!"

Colin had eloped with Irene for three years, never bothering to call back. His grandpa, Bryan Thomson, was truly disappointed with him, so he froze his cards and cut ties with him.

But now, seeing them both clearly in an irrational state, I decided not to argue, so as not to provoke them further.

I said again, "I'm not lying. My baby is Wallace's."

"If you don't believe me, I can call him to confirm it."

I protected my belly with one hand and reached for the phone on the table with the other.

As long as I could contact Wallace, both the baby and I would be saved. He would rush to me as quickly as possible.

As soon as I grabbed the phone, Colin snatched it away and slammed it onto the ground.

Watching my phone screen shatter into pieces, my heart sank.

Colin gripped my chin and said, "My uncle is moody. He's the Cold-faced King feared by everyone in New York."

"If he finds out I can't even handle something as small as being cuckolded, he'll think I'm useless and won't pass the company on to me.

"Joanna, was this your purpose in calling my uncle?"

I quickly shook my head. "No, I'm carrying..."

Before I could finish, Irene forcefully stepped on my stomach with the tip of her shoe. "Colin, why waste time with this slut? Let's get rid of the bastard in her belly quickly so we can go to Grandpa and claim credit."

A sharp pain shot through my belly, and I felt the baby moving frantically inside. I felt an unprecedented panic.

I looked at them, pleading, "Please, let my baby go..."

Irene pulled out her phone and aimed it at me. "If you get down on your knees and bark like a dog, then call yourself a filthy bitch, I'll spare the child in your belly."

At that moment, all I cared about was the baby in my belly. I turned and got on my knees, barked, and said, "I'm a filthy bitch."

Irene looked down at me and smiled smugly.

"Joanna, did you ever imagine this day would come—after I begged you not to marry Colin?"

At the time, Irene came to me, saying she and her brother were in love and asking me to call off the engagement.

The marriage between the Thomson and Scott families was a decision made by our parents, with countless business interests behind it. If I broke off the engagement, the responsibility would fall on me, and my family would be dragged into it. So, I refused.

I never expected her to hold a grudge all these years, remembering it until today.

Now, I had no energy to argue with her about the past. I looked at them, pleading, "Please, call an ambulance."

Colin stomped hard on my back. "Joanna, you're pathetic! You'd do anything for this bastard!"

I was forced down to the ground. My stomach hit the hard floor, and an intense, burning pain spread across my abdomen.

"You said you'd spare my child..."

Irene spoke casually, "I said I'd spare your child, but Colin never said so."

"You filthy bitch, using the bastard in your belly to deceive my family under my name, and you want me to spare you? Not a chance!"

Colin kicked me hard in the stomach. A sharp pain shot through my lower abdomen, and fresh blood began to flow between my legs.

I felt the baby in my womb gradually stop moving. A sense of hopelessness filled me. I looked at them with eyes full of deep hatred.

"Colin, Irene, you'll regret this!"

Irene stood beside Colin, her eyes filled with malice as she said, "This bitch still hasn't learned her lesson. Looks like she hasn't been punished enough!"

Hearing this, Colin smirked and said, "Let's see who makes who regret it.

"Irene, go get a rope."

Irene nodded, quickly finding a rope from the living room and walking toward me.

I dragged my bleeding lower body backward, fear filling my eyes. "What do you want to do?"

But all I received in response was their twisted excitement.

They tied my hands and feet together with the rope, then dragged me by it, pulling me from the house to the outside. A long trail of blood was left on the floor.

They dragged me to the edge of the pool, and Colin kicked me into the water. With my limbs bound, I couldn't move, only sinking hopelessly to the bottom.

The pool water blocked my mouth and nose, and the suffocating pain overwhelmed me. Just as I thought I was going to die right there, Colin pulled me up by the rope.

"Joanna, have you learned your lesson? Will you dare to embarrass me again in the future?"

I gasped for fresh air, but I felt the contractions in my belly gradually shifting downwards.

I had taken prenatal classes with Wallace, and I knew that this was due to the stimulation leading to premature birth.

Even though I knew the chances of the baby surviving were slim, I still didn't want to give up on that last bit of hope.

I pleaded with Colin again. "I know I was wrong. I won't ever do it again. Please, spare me and my baby."

"I'm about to give birth. Please call an ambulance, please..."

Colin spat at me. "Bitch, you're still thinking about the bastard inside you. You have no remorse!"

"There's no way I'm letting this bastard live and leave my house!"

Then, he raised his foot again, aiming to kick me back into the pool.

I closed my eyes in despair, my heart filled with the terror of drowning.

Just then, the door to the Thomson's villa swung open.

Wallace rushed in with an anxious face, shouting, "Stop!"