My twins were coming, but I swallowed pill after pill to hold them inside me–just one more night.
Hour after hour of contractions wracked my body, but I refused to push–until the billionaire CEO Sullivan Stryder proudly announced on live TV that his tenth mistress had given him a child.
“Shannah Gillick’s son will carry forward my family’s legacy!“}
Only then did I let the labor take over and bring into the world the two sons my husband would never father.
In my past life, Sullivan was almost infertile.
Desperate for an heir, he turned ten women into mistresses and made childbirth a race for one big prize–the first son born would win the entire family fortune.
I still remember what he promised me.>
“Be the first to give birth, and I’ll discard the rest. Your child will inherit everything.”%
He made me feel special, and I believed him.
When I learned I was carrying twins, I was sure we’d won.
But when the contractions began, when i needed Sullivan most… he showed up not with flowers but with fury.
I screamed. I begged. But he still forced the doctor to do the unthinkable.
“Put those damn babies back in. Stitch her up!“}
Paralyzed by sedation and grief, I lay there unable to save the babies who stopped kicking inside me…1
As if that wasn’t enough, Sullivan dragged my limping traumatized body to a grave still wet with dirt and forced me to kneel like a sinner.
He forced my head down until my forehead split open, and my blood mingled with soil.
“I just wanted her child to be the heir!” he snapped, towering over me like a god passing judgment. “Shannah’s been through hell. If her baby inherits, no one will ever look down on her again. But you–you couldn’t stand that, could you?“%
“She died giving birth to my heir! They died–both of them!” he shouted, shaking with rage. “And now, I swear, you’re going to pay for that!“% And just like that, he beat me to death right beside the grave of the mistress he loved like his wife.?
The next thing I knew… I was breathing again, lying in that same hospital bed, right before the man I married would kill his own children and their mother.
But this time, I wouldn’t let that happen; I’d give Sullivan and Shannah the fairytale they wanted.
-7
I grabbed the phone and called the doctor. “Give me another dose of that labor inhibitor! I need more right now!“? His face went pale. “Ma’am, you can’t keep delaying! It’s dangerous–you have to deliver. Your life is at risk!”
I bit down on my screams and braced myself to argue–but before I could say it again, Sullivan’s men stormed in.&
One grabbed my arms. Another took my legs. They lifted me like a rag doll and dragged me from the hospital bed.
Behind us, the doctor frantically shouted, “Her vitals are dropping! If you take her away now, she could bleed out! That’s three lives at risk!” But they didn’t give a damn. Not a bit. They hauled me straight to the press conference hall like some kind of animal.
All of Sullivan’s mistresses were already there–some with swollen bellies, some barely showing.
Then, without warning, his men injected us with fast–acting labor–inducing drugs.
The room descended into chaos. Agony echoed off the walls. The air filled with the sharp, metallic stench of blood. Women cried out, clutching their bellies, collapsing one by one.
“Even if she has his heir, it’s not like we’d ever replace her!” one woman wailed. “So why do our babies have to die?! Oh god–it hurts! Someone help!”
I fought. I bit, kicked, clawed–tried to knock the syringe from their grip. But they overpowered me…
The contractions I’d held off came crashing in like a tidal wave. Blood poured down my thighs. I screamed until my throat ripped open. That cry ripped through the room, and the mistresses broke even more–panicked, confused, their voices clashing over one another.
“Wait, they injected her, too? But she’s about to give birth!“?
“If she’s not in labor yet, then who gave birth to the heir?”
“Who wants all of us dead?!“%
I collapsed onto the floor, my body shaking, my vision spinning. Using my remaining strength, I gritted my teeth and pleaded to the guards at the door.”
“Call a doctor! We’re going to die here!“?
And just then, the doors swung open.
Shannah walked in, dressed in a flowing white gown, her arm looped sweetly through Sullivan’s. She looked radiant–rosy cheeks, glowing skin, not a hint of exhaustion. She didn’t look like she’d given birth. Not even close.
Sullivan stopped in his tracks, taking in the camage–blood smeared across the floor, women writhing in pain, the whole room engulfed in horror.
8:15 PM
But Shannah just wrinkled her nose and gasped. “Oh my god… Did all these women miscarry?” she asked, eyes wide. “Who would de something so cruel? Why not let the poor babies be born?”
The words had barely left her mouth when Sullivan turned on me. His murderous eyes locked on me.
“You bitch!” he roared.
His boot slammed into my stomach before I could even move.}
“You drugged them while I was gone?! You were so jealous you’d rather kill their babies?!”
I couldn’t even lift my head from the pain. But through the haze of pain, I turned my head–just enough to see Shannah’s smug, satisfied smile behind him.8
My fingers curled into fists, my nails digging into the blood–slick floor.
“… didn’t. It wasn’t… me. It was her-”
“And you’ve got the nerve to deny it?!” he thundered. “This isn’t the first time you’ve gone after someone out of jealousy, Zareena. But this time–this time, I swear you’ll pay for this!“>
