Chapter 1

Lucia's POV

In the delivery room, several nurses pinned me down on the operating table.

They were going to forcibly take my eight-month-old baby out of me.

The pain was tearing me apart. I locked my eyes on my husband Xavier Davis, who was standing to the side, and screamed at him in a hoarse voice.

"You animal! That's your child too. How can you do this to him..."

Xavier stared at me, his face completely blank. He didn't say a single word.

"Hurry up! Mia needs the cord blood!"

Julia, standing next to Xavier, snapped impatiently at the doctor.

She was Xavier's stepmother, only two years older than him. Her husband had died not long after she got pregnant, and Xavier had been taking care of her ever since.

Recently, Julia's one-year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. She needed a newborn's cord blood for a transplant, so she set her sights on my baby.

And Xavier agreed to it. That was when I found out the two of them had been sleeping together for a long time.

Julia had nearly bled to death giving birth to their daughter, and lost any chance of having another child.

"What's going on? Her water already broke. Why isn't the baby coming?" The doctor was sweating with anxiety.

Julia picked up a pair of scissors and handed them to the doctor, her voice completely casual.

"Just cut open her uterus. Then the baby comes out."

My eyes went wide with shock. I shook my head desperately. "No. Please, no..."

"Someone could die from that," the doctor said, hesitating to take the scissors.

Xavier frowned slightly and finally spoke. "Maybe we should wait a little longer..."

"Wait for what? You just feel sorry for this slut!" Julia shoved him aside and walked toward me with the scissors. "Useless, all of you. If you won't do it, I will."

I was shaking all over with fear. I fought as hard as I could, but my arms and legs were being held down. All I could do was cry out in desperation. "You can't do this! You'll burn in hell for this!"

Maybe the terror triggered contractions. Suddenly a wave of brutal pain hit my abdomen, like my uterus was about to explode.

"Ahhh!" I let out a scream. Then I heard a baby crying. Before I could even catch a glimpse of my child, I blacked out.

When I came to, I was lying in a hospital room. Xavier was sitting beside me, watching me with a heavy look in his eyes.

I immediately struggled to sit up and grabbed him by the collar.

"Where is my baby? Answer me!"

Xavier's lips parted, but before he could speak, Julia's mocking laugh cut through the room.

"Such a shame. Your baby is dead. But he saved my daughter, so at least he died for something."

My mind went completely blank. I turned to Xavier, unable to believe what I was hearing.

"Is that true?"

Xavier frowned and said quietly, "Lucia, Julia's child cannot die. The Davis family needs an heir."

Julia smiled with satisfaction, reached over and straightened his tie, then kissed him on the cheek. Her voice was soft and suggestive. "Darling, I knew you'd come through for me. Don't worry. Once Mia is out of the hospital, I'll hand over control of the Davis family to you."

Watching them together like that, I felt every last bit of strength leave my body.

I never imagined Xavier would go this far. He killed his own child just to win Julia's favor and take control of the Davis family.

Every ounce of rage and humiliation I'd been holding back came flooding out. I went at him like I had nothing left to lose, grabbing everything within reach and hurling it at him.

"Xavier, you liar! You said you'd protect me for the rest of my life! You murderer! I'll kill you!"

I couldn't make sense of it. This was the same person I'd grown up with. The one who had put his own life on the line to keep me safe when I was in danger. How had he turned into the monster who killed our child?

The water glass I threw hit him in the head. Blood ran down his forehead onto that handsome face.

He wiped it away with the back of his hand, then looked at me with pure irritation.

"You'd better calm down. I'll make sure you're taken care of for the rest of your life. But if you keep this up, you can go to hell and join your kid."

He put his arm around Julia's shoulder and walked out of the room without looking back.

That was how they locked me up in that house. A dozen bodyguards stood outside my door around the clock. There was no way to escape. All I could do was cry until I had no tears left.

Five years went by like that, in a daze, until a little boy pushed his way into my room.

"Out of my way! I want to see that woman!"

Outside the door, a small but bossy voice was ordering the bodyguard to stand aside.

I turned toward the door and saw the bodyguard hesitate. "Mr. Davis told us not to let you near this room."

"I'm going in anyway!"

Before the bodyguard could react, the door swung open. A boy of about five stood in front of me, wearing overalls, both hands on his hips, his big round eyes looking me up and down.

I was struck by his face. His features, his whole presence, were the spitting image of Xavier as a little boy.

But Xavier only had a daughter. He had no son.

Could it be... this was the child I gave birth to five years ago?

My heart pounding, I walked toward the boy and reached out a trembling hand. My voice broke. "What's your name?"

The boy watched me come closer, then suddenly bent down and bit my hand. He stepped back and looked at me with disgust.

"You don't deserve to know my name, you horrible woman. I came to tell you that our whole family hates you. Get out of our house!"

I stood there frozen. My chest felt like something was gnawing through it, a deep, spreading ache.

I had never met this boy. How could he possibly hate me this much?

It had to be Julia. She had turned him against me, poisoned my own child into hating me.

The thought cut through me like a knife.

I looked down at the bite mark on my hand. He had bitten hard enough to draw blood. But I felt no pain at all. I walked toward him one step at a time, pulled him into my arms, and broke down crying.

"It's okay, sweetheart. I'm your mom..."

The boy thrashed wildly in my arms, pounding my body with his small fists.

"Let go of me! You horrible woman!"

His shouting brought the bodyguards rushing in. They pulled us apart, and then a familiar figure came striding through the door.

Xavier. Impeccably dressed in a suit, he had taken on an even more commanding air since becoming the head of the Davis family.

The boy ran and threw his arms around Xavier's legs, sobbing.

"Daddy, she was mean to me! Punish her!"

Xavier's brow creased. He ran a hand over the boy's head and said to the bodyguards behind him, "Take him out."

Two bodyguards took the boy by the hand and led him out of the room.

I couldn't bear to let him go like that. I got up to follow, but Xavier caught my arm. "Where do you think you're going?"

I grabbed his sleeve and looked up at him, my eyes full of desperate hope.

"Xavier. He's my son, isn't he?"