"Baby, be good and don't make a fuss." Laura Santiago, heavily pregnant with an eight-month-old baby, struggled to climb up to the sixth floor.
After the divorce, to avoid Pierce Burrows's investigation, she escaped to the countryside by the seaside and rented a small house without needing an ID card, living alone.
Nobody knew that she was already pregnant when she left Dunwich.
Including herself.
When she found out about the pregnancy, she was devastated. But after struggling, she decided to keep the child and raise it on her own.
Time flew by, and half a year has passed. She led a peaceful life here, almost forgetting her previous nightmare - the tragic marriage in which she was imprisoned and abused by Pierce after marrying into the Burrows family.
However, as she climbed up to the sixth floor, she saw a familiar figure at her doorstep.
It was Zera Hampton, her once best friend, and the one she had trusted most but betrayed her. It was Zera who orchestrated her marriage to be in shambles.
Upon seeing her, Laura paused, her expression complicated.
Dressed in luxurious clothes with exquisite makeup, Zera looked totally different from the past when she needed to rely on Laura's support to live. After all, ever since Zera became a rising star in the music industry, she successfully found her biological parents and shed off her orphan status.
Now, Zera was a rich and privileged heiress in name and in fact.
While Laura was lost in thought, Zera also noticed her.
Zera's gaze fell on her bulging pregnancy belly, and her eyes were filled with shock. "You are pregnant! Is the baby's father Mr. Burrows?"
Laura's face turned grim as she instinctively shielded her belly. "Why are you here?"
"I came to see you."
Zera, wearing high heels, slowly approached Laura. There was an undisguised malice on her beautiful face. "Back then, when you gave me money with your identity as Mrs. Burrows, it was always a condescending gesture. Now that you've fallen from grace, I naturally wish to witness your most pathetic state."
Laura clenched her fists, her voice low. "Why do you hate me so much?"
They had grown up together, always roommates at school, and she thought of Zera as the closest person to her.
Yet, Zera had betrayed her, constantly inciting her to resist Pierce while secretly reporting to Pierce, provoking him, and causing him to imprison her.
Ultimately, Zera even stole her painstakingly composed music to compete in the contest, becoming a new music prodigy.
"Why would I hate you?"
Zera sneered and retorted, "Aren't you just an unwanted orphan? You lived a good life because of the Santiago family's adoption. If it weren't for the real Miss Santiago refusing to fulfill the engagement, do you think you could marry Mr. Burrows?"
Yes, her marriage was nothing but a substitute.
Laura stared at Zera indifferently for a while, and then sneered, "So, you are jealous that I married Pierce!"
Therefore, had Zera been consistently inciting her to resist Pierce, angering him, and in the end making her imprisoned without seeing the light of day?
That was utterly ridiculous!
Zera's sore spot was exposed and her face flushed with a mixture of shame and anger.
"I am jealous indeed! I hate you!"
Zera said spitefully, "In terms of background, you are inferior to me. In terms of scheming, you are stupid and foolish! Why could you obtain wealth and status, while I had to please you to have the life I wanted?"
"Taking your sheet music to compete is me showing you respect. People like you don't deserve that glory! You should just stay in the darkest corner, unable to see daylight forever!"
Zera's emotions were a bit agitated, her eyes filled with deep resentment.
Laura sensed something was wrong and looked at her warily, trying to soothe her with a soft voice, "I have already hidden here, I will never return to Dunwich. You will have everything you want!"
"I thought so too, but..."
Zera's voice trailed off as her gaze fell on Laura's belly. Gritting her teeth, she said, "You're actually pregnant!"
"You want to use this child to return to the Burrows family, don't you?" Zera viciously retorted, "You still haven't given up and still wish to bewitch Mr. Burrows... You really deserve to die! The child in your belly should die too!"
She approached step by step, and Laura, realizing the danger, tried to dodge to the side, saying, "Calm down..."
"Calm down?" Zera sneered, "I am very calm right now! Other than me, no one knows you're hiding here. Even if I were to kill you, no one would know."
"Laura, go to hell with the bastard in your belly!"
Zera revealed a ferocious smile and forcefully pushed Laura's belly.
Caught off guard, Laura tumbled down the stairs.
A piercing pain swept through her body from her abdomen, and she tightly held her belly, tears and blood mixing together.
Her child... her child...
Her body was growing colder and colder. She lay in a pool of blood, her consciousness gradually fading away.
Right before her death, she saw Zera standing on top of a grand staircase, laughing heartily.
Zera... Zera...
If there was a next life, she would never let Zera go!
...
Cold.
So cold.
A bone-chilling cold seeped into her marrow, carrying a chilling sensation that gnawed at her bones.
Laura trembled. As she weakly opened her eyes, she saw a familiar face.
It was Pierce!
Wasn't she already dead?
After being pushed down the stairs by Zera, she and her child were both dead!
Why couldn't she escape from Pierce even after death?
Laura gritted her teeth in hatred and tried to push Pierce away.
But his strength was greater, tightly gripping her slender waist and pressing her down.
Laura's eyes reddened suddenly. She scolded with a hatred-laced voice, "Let go of me! You beast!"
She was carrying his child. How could he do this?
"Dream on!" His eyes were full of blatant menace, and he gritted his teeth as he spoke, "Even if I die, I will never let go of you!"
He pressed down on her, taking Laura down into the depths of desire.
Laura had fainted several times, and when she woke up again, Pierce had already left. She endured the pain and sat up, looking at the familiar furnishings in the room, and then at her belly without any signs of being pregnant. She was slightly stunned.
The calendar on the bedside indicated the date, and Laura finally dared to confirm.
She had been reborn!
She had returned to the time before her divorce with Pierce, the night they had sex for the first time.
"Rat-a-tat-"
There was a knock on the bedroom door. and Zera's voice came from outside.
"Laura, it's me. May I come in?"
Zera!
Laura tightly clenched the bedsheets, hatred filling her eyes.
How dare she come?
