Hong City, First People’s Hospital, Department of Obstetrics.
Serena Whitfield was drenched in sweat. One wave of contraction after another tore through her stomach, hurting so bad her face had gone ghostly white. She opened her mouth and dragged in deep breaths, looking like a fish tossed onto dry land, barely hanging on, forcing herself to breathe with the doctors’ instructions.
"Push harder. We can already see the baby’s head."
"Don’t be scared. The baby will be out soon."
"The baby’s here. Congratulations, it’s twins—a boy and a girl."
"This is bad. The mother’s blood pressure is rising. Massive uterine bleeding. Prep for surgery."
After what felt like the hardest fight of her life, Serena finally gave birth. She was soaked through, every last bit of strength wrung out of her. With huge effort, she glanced at the babies, both covered in blood. Her lips moved, but not a single word came out. All she could do was let the doctors move her around as they wanted. Then dizziness hit, hard, and she blacked out.
"Just look at these two. Pretty little things, red lips, fair skin... shame they’re just fatherless bastards with no clear background. Tsk, tsk..."
Serena woke to that grating voice in the middle of a noisy blur.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Vanessa Holloway standing by the crib, sizing up her babies like she was picking apart merchandise.
The babies?
Then it all came rushing back.
She had just crawled through hell in the delivery room. She had nearly died giving birth, and right after the babies came out, she’d passed out from massive uterine bleeding.
But she’d been saved.
She was still alive.
That alone felt unreal.
"Serena Whitfield, so you’re awake."
Vanessa turned around. When her eyes met Serena’s desperate yet guarded stare, the corner of her mouth curled into a mocking smile. "The two little bastards you gave birth to are actually pretty good-looking. Too bad nobody even knows who their father is."
As she spoke, she reached out like she was about to pick one of the babies up.
"Don’t touch them!"
Serena’s pupils shrank sharply.
The second she saw Vanessa move, something fierce exploded inside her. She had just become a mother, and that raw instinct was stronger than the weakness crushing her body after childbirth. Ignoring the pain, ignoring how shaky she was, she threw herself out of bed with shocking speed, slammed straight into Vanessa, and shoved her away. Then she stood in front of the twins like a mother hen guarding her chicks with her life.
"Vanessa Holloway, what the hell are you trying to do?"
She stared at Vanessa with full-on vigilance, her eyes thick with disgust and hatred so deep it almost felt solid.
Vanessa Holloway staggered back and barely caught her balance. She shot Serena Whitfield a vicious glare, but then, as if something crossed her mind, she let out a cold little laugh.
"Serena Whitfield, wow, I really didn’t expect this. You actually care this much about these two bastards. I’m just curious—when they grow up and find out they’re fatherless little mistakes, how do you think they’ll feel?"
The second those words landed, Serena’s whole body went rigid. The hatred in her eyes surged up like fire breaking through dry grass.
If Celeste Holloway hadn’t set her up back then, if she hadn’t pushed her into that nightmare with a stranger, Serena would never have gotten pregnant. She would never have ended up abandoned by everyone, shoved into a corner with nowhere to go. Even now, her father still saw her as the disgrace of the Whitfield family, the stain that had dragged their name through the mud.
It had happened at night.
Her first time had been stolen from her in the dark.
What she remembered was barely anything—just a faint, hazy impression of a man, and that unmistakable scent on him, a cool, rich ambergris fragrance that was oddly clean and unforgettable. Other than that, she knew nothing. Not his face. Not his name. Nothing.
"Vanessa Holloway, shut your mouth."
A flash of ruthless anger cut through Serena’s eyes. Taking advantage of Vanessa’s smug, careless moment, she lunged forward without warning. Her hand came up fast, left and right, and several sharp slaps landed square across Vanessa’s face before the other woman could even react.