Chapter 1
I was pregnant with sextuplets, but my husband refused to let me reduce the number of fetuses.
I thought it was because he loved me. What I didn’t know was that none of these six children were mine–they belonged to him and his first love.
swapped out my eggs. The only
Stephen Delami had drugged me reason he wanted these children was to harvest their umbilical cord blood -to save Joey Cabrina, his childhood sweetheart, from leukemia.
I stood outside the door, listening.
“If Mrs. Delami finds out the children she’s suffering to carry aren’t even hers–that she’s just a living blood bank–she’ll probably break down,” his assistant said.
Stephen’s voice was ice cold. “So what? She’s just a tool.”
Three years of marriage, and I just realized–I never knew him at all.
My hands clenched so tightly that my nails drew blood.
I pulled out my phone and dialed my doctor. “Terminate the pregnancy,” I heard myself say, voice hollow. “All of them.”
***
The morning sickness started right after our honeymoon. At the hospital, the doctor confirmed I was pregnant–with sextuplets.
“Ms. Kingston, your uterine lining is thin. We recommend fetal reduction. Sextuplets are extremely high–risk.”
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But Stephen refused immediately. “No reduction. The Delami family can afford them all.”
His warm palm pressed against my still–flat stomach. “These are our children. I want to keep everyone.”
I was deeply touched by what I thought was sincere love. So, I gritted my teeth and decided to carry on.
Things were fine until six months later–one night, I got up to use the bathroom and overheard a conversation coming from the study.
“Joey’s leukemia needs umbilical cord blood. Six babies mean better odds. The more, the better,” Stephen said, his voice cold and unfeeling.
“But Mr. Delami, this could put your wife’s life at risk…”
“She chose to marry into the Delami family. She should’ve known there would be a price.”
I clenched my hands tightly, and my vision blurred with tears.
So this was it. Both the children and I we were nothing more than tools
to him.
“With six cord blood donations from Mrs. Delami’s pregnancy, Ms. Cabrina’s leukemia will be cured for sure.
Another voice chimed in, “Our CEO only has eyes for Ms. Cabrina. That’s why he had Jessica Kingston act as a surrogate–no delay in treatment, and a hope for survival.”
“If Mrs. Delami finds out the babies aren’t hers–that she’s just a living blood bank, she’ll lose it for sure.”
Stephen’s tone was icy. “So what if she finds out? She married into this family–she has to pay her dues.”
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Others murmured in agreement. “Exactly. Even if she finds out, what can she do? She signed the prenup. Jessica gave up her entire family business just to marry Mr. Delami. No matter how bitter she feels, all it takes is one look from him and she’ll fall in line.”
They all laughed knowingly. The meaning behind their words was unmistakable–cold and calculated.
I stood frozen in the shadows of the hallway. It felt like all the blood in my body had turned to ice.
I reached trembling hands toward my swollen belly. My nails dug deep into my skin.
I thought, “What did they mean these children weren’t mine?”
I had endured violent nausea, swollen limbs, and torturous sleepless nights.
And the mocking, shocked looks from others, being ridiculed as a “breeding pig” by those rich girls in the circle, enduring it all through gritted teeth until now–just to provide umbilical cord blood for Joey?
The conversation in the study continued, but my ears were ringing. I could no longer make out the words.
I knew who Joey was. She was Stephen’s childhood sweetheart.
When I first heard, six months ago, that she’d been diagnosed with leukemia, I even volunteered for a bone marrow match. Unfortunately, I
wasn’t a fit.
I never imagined my kindness would be repaid like this. My womb turned into her lifeline.
Dizziness crashed over me. I braced myself against the wall to keep from falling.
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The buzzing in my ears was deafening, but every single word from the study still pierced through loud and clear.
They were still discussing my “purpose.”
Stephen’s cold, calculated voice made my skin crawl.
Three years of marriage, and I never truly knew the man I slept beside,
I touched my six–month belly–home to six carefully planned blood bags. I was just the incubator.
Joey Cabrina. I knew that name far too well. Stephen even kept their high school photo on his phone.
The night she was diagnosed, he had locked himself in the study and smoked the whole night through. I’d thought he was grieving for a friend.
But now I understood–he was grieving the woman he truly loved. And they were never just friends.
A laugh bubbled up, then dissolved into tears.
I thought, “If Stephen wanted to save his precious first love–why did he have to lie to me?
“Why drug me during our honeymoon and implant her embryos into my body? How could he be so cruel?”
I clenched my fists tightly. I once believed the warmth in his hands, the way he covered me with blankets at night, and the porridge he cooked- meant he cared.
The gentle way his hands brushed over my belly–I thought I had married for love.
As it turns out… it was all a lie.
