"Darling, behave, don't be troublesome," Laura, heavily pregnant with an eight-month-old baby, struggled to climb up to the sixth floor.
After the divorce, to avoid Pierce’s investigation, she hid in a rural seaside village. She picked a house which didn't require an ID for renting to live in, raising her expected baby by herself.
Nobody knew that she was pregnant when she left Dunwich.
Including herself.
When she realized she was pregnant, she had a breakdown. But after a struggle, she still decided to keep the baby and raise it alone.
Time flew by, and half a year has passed. She led a peaceful life here, almost forgetting her previous nightmare - the tragic marriage in which she was imprisoned and abused by Pierce after marrying into the Burrows family.
However, as she climbed up to the sixth floor, she saw a familiar figure at her doorstep.
It was her ex-best friend Zera, the one she trusted most but betrayed her. It was Zera who single-handedly sabotaged her marriage, causing it to be full of wounds.
Upon seeing her, Laura paused, her expression complex.
Dressed in luxurious clothes with exquisite makeup, Zera looked totally different from the past when she needed to rely on Laura’s aid to live. After all, ever since Zera became a rising star in the music industry, she successfully met her biological parents and shed off her orphan status.
Now, Zera is a rich and privileged heiress in name and in fact.
Caught in her thoughts, Laura didn't notice Zera had spotted her too.
Zera's eyes fell on the bulging pregnancy belly, filled with shock. "You are pregnant! Is the baby Mr. Burrows's?"
Laura's expression darkened, subconsciously shielding her abdomen. "Why are you here?"
"I came to see you."
Zera, stepping gracefully in high heels, slowly approached. There was unmistakable malice in her alluring face. "When you were Mrs. Burrows, you were all condescension to me while doling out money. Now that you've fallen from grace, I naturally wish to witness your most pathetic state."
Laura clenched her fists, her voice low. "Why do you hate me so much?"
They had grown up together, always roommates at school, and she thought of Zera as the closest person to her.
Yet, Zera had betrayed her - on one hand inciting her to resist Pierce, and on the other secretly telling tales about her, provoking Pierce's fury leading him to imprison her.
Ultimately, she even stole her painstakingly composed music to compete in the contest, becoming a new generation of music prodigy.
"Why would I hate you?"
Laughing coldly, Zera retorted, "Aren't you just an unwanted orphan? You've lived a good life because of the Santiago family’s adoption. If the rightful Miss Santiago hadn't reneged on her marriage promise, did you think you could have married Mr. Burrows?"
Exactly, her marriage had been merely a substitute affair.
Laura stared at her indifferently for a while, and then laughed derisively, "So, you are jealous that I married Pierce!"
Therefore, Zera had been consistently inciting her to resist Pierce, angering him, and in the end making her a clipped-wing bird, caged and hidden from the world?
That’s utterly ludicrous!
Zera’s pride was wounded and her face flushed with a mixture of shame and anger.
"I am jealous! I despise you!"
Zera said spitefully, "In terms of lineage, you are not better than me; in terms of cunning, you're unbearably dumb! Why is it that you can live in luxury, while I have to rely on pleasing you to have the life I want?!"
"It's a show of respect that your music score was chosen for the competition; someone like you simply does not deserve any glory! You should be hiding in the darkest corner, never seeing light!"
Zera's emotions were a bit agitated, her eyes filled with deep resentment.
Laura felt the ominous sign, warily watching her, and tried to use a soft voice to soothe, "I've hidden away here, I will not return to Dunwich, all that you desire you will receive!"
"I originally thought the same, but..."
Zera’s voice trailed off as her gaze fell on Laura's stomach, gritting her teeth and declaring, "You're pregnant!"
"You want to use this child to return to the Burrows family, is that it?" Zera viciously retorted, "You still haven't given up, you still wish to bewitch the Mr. Burrows... You really deserve to die! The child in your stomach should die too!"
She advanced step by step towards Laura, who seeing the situation vertically sidestepped, "You need to calm down..."
"Calm?" Zera sneered, "I am very calm right now! Other than me, no one knows you're hiding here. Even if I were to kill you, no one would know."
"Laura, go to hell with the bastard in your stomach!!"
Zera revealed a ferocious smile and pushed heavily towards Laura's stomach.
Caught off guard, Laura tumbled down the stairs.
An excruciating pain spread all over her body from her abdomen, she clutched her stomach tightly, tears, and blood mixed together.
Her child... her child...
Her body was growing colder and colder. She lay in a pool of blood, her consciousness gradually fading away.
Right before her death, she saw Zera standing on top of a grand staircase, laughing heartily.
Zera... Zera...!
If there is another life, she would never let her go!
---
Cold.
So cold.
Chill seeped into her bones, carrying an icy intent.
Laura was shivering, her eyes trembling open to meet a familiar face.
It was Pierce!
Wasn't she dead?
After being pushed down the stairs by Zera, wasn't she and her child dead?
Why couldn't she get away from Pierce even in death?
Laura gritted her teeth resentfully and tried to push Pierce away.
But the man's grip was stronger, his arms tightly wrapped around her waist, pinning her underneath him.
Laura's eyes reddened suddenly. She scolded with a hatred-laced voice, “Let go of me! You beast!”
She was still pregnant with his child, yet how could he do this?
“Dream on!” The man was full of blatant menace, gritting his teeth as he spoke, “Even if I die in this life, I will never let go of you!”
He pressed himself down, dragging Laura with him and sinking her into a baptism of fire.
Laura had fainted several times, and when she woke up once more, Pierce had already left. In agony, she sat up to see the familiar furnishings of the room. She glanced at her own belly that showed no signs of pregnancy, and was taken aback for a moment.
The calendar on the bedside table proclaimed the date, and only then did Laura dare to assure herself:
She had been reborn!
She was back to a time before her divorce with Pierce, the night they had first discovered their relationship.
“Knock, knock, knock—”
There was a knock on the bedroom door. Zera's voice came through.
“Laura, it's me. May I come in?”
Zera!
Laura tightly clenched the bedsheet, hatred filling her eyes.
How dare she come?!
