On her first day, she dressed like a streetwalker.
A low–cut top, fishnet stockings, and a micro–miniskirt.
The housekeeper immediately forced her to change into a drab, grey uniform. The villa was just one of Donovan’s many properties, and he was rarely there. Her job was to scrub the marble floors, by hand, from the first floor to the top. After days of back–breaking labor, just as her spirit was about to break, Donovan Croft finally appeared.
That night, she didn’t go home.
She repeated her original plan, drugging his evening tea.
When Donovan saw her, a wave of pure exhaustion and fury washed over his face.
He fought through the drug’s haze, pushed her away, and beat her.
This time, he was even more brutal.
She was thrown from the third–floor landing to the first.
When I saw her in the hospital, she was wrapped in plaster and bandages like a mummy.
Her hand, leg, and tailbone had suffered comminuted fractures.
But the moment she saw me, she started giggling.
I was baffled.
“Did he beat the sense out of you, or into you?”
“Carys,” she whispered, her voice conspiratorial. “I’m going to be pregnant.”
I thought I’d misheard,
I’d heard of people getting pregnant, or having miscarriages.
I’d never heard of someone *going to be* pregnant.
“With whose child?” I asked, my voice flat.
“Donovan Croft’s, of course.”
She raised a triumphant eyebrow.
“I bought his specimen.”
A wave of dread washed over me.
Was his genetic material being sold wholesale?
How did everyone seem to have a sample?
“Jenna, that’s not something you can just buy.”
“You’ve been scammed,” I said, trying to keep the anger out of my voice. Her face immediately darkened.
11:12 Thu, Jul 31 D
“Scammed?”
“Carys, you’re just jealous!”
“Jealous that I could get it and you couldn’t!”
“Then where did you buy it?” I pressed, my patience wearing thin.
“Like I’d tell snapped.
you!” she
“So you can steal my man?”
I nearly fainted from sheer frustration.
Whatever she had, it couldn’t be real.
For my own peace of mind, I texted Silas Finch.
He had given me his number after our first meeting.
I laid out the whole insane story.
His reply was swift and simple.
[Understood.]
I expected Jenna to be dealt with quickly.
I waited.
And waited.
I waited until Jenna’s IVF was a success.
Until the fetus in her womb had a heartbeat.
And still, nothing happened.
Instead, Jenna, now pregnant, began to lord it over me, treating me like her personal servant.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
I sent another message to Silas, telling him my sister’s belly was growing.
In my last life, I had placated her because she was pregnant and I was planning her abortion.
This life, I ignored her completely.
