Chapter 1

The day my prenatal screening report came out, I heard a voice inside my belly.

[Mommy, Daddy is going to divorce you the second you give birth to me!]

[His true love is infertile, so all these years he just used you as an incubator to get a son. As soon as I'm out, he's running off with her!]

I believed it without a shadow of a doubt and adamantly filed for divorce.

For nine long months, I took care of my pregnancy alone, determined to raise the child by myself. But on delivery day, everything went horribly wrong.

The doctor said the baby was dangerously premature and severely breeched.

"The baby is thrashing wildly inside you... almost like he's torturing you on purpose."

Eight agonizing hours of emergency surgery did nothing to save us.

In the end, it was a catastrophic obstructed labor. Neither of us made it off that table.

Just before I took my final breath, I heard the voice in my womb one last time.

[Haha! Daddy never cheated at all! I lied to you the whole time!]

Why would a baby lie?

Even in death, I couldn't comprehend it.

When I opened my eyes again, I was sitting right back in the doctor's office on the day of that first screening report.

"Mrs. Hayes, congratulations, you're going to be a mother! The ultrasound shows you're just over eight weeks along!"

"From now on, watch your diet and take extra good care of that little life inside you."

The doctor's gentle voice snapped me out of my daze. I jerked my head up, my eyes locking onto the report in her hands.

That was when I knew for certain—I had been reborn.

A split second later, the voice chimed in from my belly.

[Mommy, Daddy is going to divorce you as soon as you give birth to me!]

Hearing that exact same voice, echoing word for word from my past life, a bone-chilling wave of dread washed over me.

The phantom agony of dying alongside my unborn baby on that freezing operating table was still fresh in my soul.

Before I could wrap my head around it, the voice sounded again.

[Daddy's true love can't have kids! That's the only reason he married you! You're nothing but a human broodmare to him!]

[Once I'm born, he'll divorce you, take me away, and live happily ever after with her!]

In my previous life, hearing these words shattered my world.

Without asking a single question, I demanded a divorce from my husband.

No matter how desperately he pleaded or tried to explain, I stood firm, convinced that the psychic connection with my unborn baby couldn't lie.

It wasn't until my dying breath that I learned it had all been a malicious fabrication.

Why would the thing inside me do that?

In this life, I was going to uncover the truth.

Noticing my ashen complexion, Dr. Evans looked at me with genuine concern. "Mrs. Hayes, are you feeling alright? Is the news overwhelming? Would you like some glucose water?"

My hand instinctively hovered over my flat stomach. I asked, my voice trembling slightly, "Doctor... is this baby... normal?"

Dr. Evans blinked, clearly taken aback. "Do you mean his physical development?"

I remembered how violently malpositioned the fetus had been in my past life, and the surgeon's terrifying remark that the baby seemed to be torturing me from the inside on purpose.

It was that deliberate cruelty that led to our deaths on the table.

If I chose to terminate the pregnancy right now, would my fate change?

I nodded weakly at the doctor. "This wasn't planned. I'm not ready for this... and I have a bad feeling something is wrong."

"What if... what if I don't keep—"

Before the word could leave my mouth, a blinding, searing agony ripped through my lower abdomen.

My internal organs twisted violently, as if a pair of invisible, icy hands was wringing them dry.

The next second, the voice hissed directly into my skull.

[Mommy, what are you trying to tell the doctor?]

[You're not thinking of getting rid of me, are you? If you do that... I will be very, very upset!]

The agony doubled instantly. A breathless scream caught in my throat as I collapsed against the armrest of the chair, completely paralyzed.

Cold dread flooded my veins. The creature inside me was listening. It was tracking every word, every breath around me.

The moment I showed even a flicker of wanting to terminate it, it was ready to drag me down to hell with it.

Seeing me doubled over and panting in cold sweat, Dr. Evans realized something was gravely wrong.

"Mrs. Hayes! Are you in pain?"

"If your current physical condition can't support a pregnancy, I strongly advise prioritizing your own health. You can always try again in the future—"

Grit and raw adrenaline kicked in. I clenched my teeth until they nearly cracked, cutting her off with ragged breaths.

"I'm... I'm fine. I can do this."

"Please, Doctor... just write me a prescription for prenatal vitamins and supplements. I need to make sure this baby stays completely healthy."

The moment those words left my lips, the tearing pain in my gut vanished into thin air.

The voice purred back into my head, sickeningly sweet.

[That's more like it, Mommy.]

[You have to take good care of your body. You need to hold on until the day I come out.]

My shirt was drenched in cold sweat. I didn't dare say another careless word.

I knew with absolute certainty now: whatever was inside me was listening twenty-four seven.

Right then, my phone buzzed in my bag with a text from my husband, Charles.

[Honey, having drinks with some college buddies tonight. I'll be home a bit late. Don't wait up!]

In my past life, this single text had been the catalyst. Back then, already poisoned by the baby's voice, I assumed he was out spending the night with his mistress. I drafted the divorce papers that very evening.

This time, I wasn't going to dance to anyone else's tune.

I pulled out my phone and typed back a steady reply.

[Okay. Be safe, see you tonight.]