Chapter 1

My husband's ex-girlfriend was in a vegetative state, unconscious, and he was the one taking care of her.

“Vivian became a vegetable because I married you, Zara. We both owe her. It’s my responsibility to take care of her.”

For three whole years, I couldn't show even a hint of displeasure.

Otherwise, I’d be labeled heartless, unable to tolerate even someone in her state.

Guilt-tripped for so long, I was brainwashed, feeling a sense of guilt towards Vivian.

Until one day, by chance, while visiting Vivian.

I found a pregnancy test stick under her hospital bed.

Can a person in a vegetative state get pregnant?

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Blake’s face instantly changed. He snatched the pregnancy test and threw it into the trash.

“It must have been dropped by the nurse! How incredibly careless!”

The atmosphere in the car on the way home was heavy.

I scrolled through my phone, the screen paused on Blake’s credit card’s supplementary card spending records.

“Blake, I see you’ve bought quite a few things for Vivian lately.”

“Chanel No. 5 perfume, a Hermès bag, a Cartier bracelet… It all adds up to over three hundred thousand dollars.”

“Does a patient in a vegetative state really need these things?”

Blake’s face darkened immediately, his tone laced with annoyance at being questioned.

“The doctor said that if Vivian is exposed to things she used to love, it might stimulate her to wake up.”

“Vivian always loved luxury items, but she couldn’t afford them back then.”

“Zara, how can you be so petty about a sick person? Can’t you be a little more generous?”

“We all owe her! Forget spending hundreds of thousands on bags for her, if she could just wake up, I’d lose everything I have, and I’d do it happily!”

He finished, then drove in silence, running three red lights along the way.

My heart ached with a suffocating pain.

Vivian becoming a vegetable was certainly tragic.

But what had I done wrong?

When we got home, I went to freshen up, still in a gloomy mood. Blake, however, quickly reverted to his role as the attentive husband.

He came to me with a bowl of nutritional supplements.

“Darling, I was out of line earlier. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“I’m just so stressed. Seeing Vivian in that state… it just breaks my heart.”

“But you’re not wrong. This is all my fault, my past mistakes. You shouldn’t have to suffer with me.”

He put an arm around my shoulder, bringing the nutritional drink to my lips.

“Drink this tonic to boost your health. Mom even called yesterday, nagging us about having a baby.”

The nutritional drink had a strong, peculiar smell.

My husband claimed he’d specially learned to make this herbal tonic.

Normally, I would have been touched by his thoughtfulness, overlooking his earlier coldness.

But now, the pregnancy test was like a sharp thorn, plunged deep into my heart.

“Just leave it there. I don’t have an appetite.”

I pushed the drink away.

That night, I had a series of bizarre, unsettling dreams.

The next morning, I was supposed to drive to the office, but for some inexplicable reason, I went to that private sanatorium again.

I didn't notify Blake. Avoiding the nurses’ station, I quietly slipped into the private suite where Vivian was staying.

And then I saw a scene that made my blood run cold.

Behind the floor-to-ceiling windows, it was no longer a cold hospital room.

Instead, it was a lavishly decorated living room.

Vivian, the patient who was supposedly lying motionless in bed.

Was now standing in a custom-made dress, perfectly made-up, and haughtily glaring at the aide.

“Slap!”

She slapped the young aide hard across the face.

“Useless! You can’t even make a decent cup of coffee! Do you even want this job?!”

Vivian’s voice was sharp and surprisingly strong.

There was no sign of illness about her.

And what was most glaringly obvious was her slightly swollen belly.

She was pregnant!

I stood frozen, my hands and feet turning icy cold, a sudden, chilling realization dawning on me.

Blake’s "devotion"!

Vivian’s "suicide attempt"!

My ridiculous guilt!

It was all a carefully woven lie!

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