Chapter 1
My boyfriend tricked me into being a surrogate mother for my sister.
Because I said I wanted to eat a pancake, my boyfriend, Antonio Kaufman, braved the fierce wind to buy it for me.
Worried about his safety, I ventured out despite my pregnant belly, only
to overhear his conversation with his friend.
“Grace has carried four children for Bailey without even knowing it. Antonio, you really pulled it off!”
Antonio’s voice was slow but firm. “I promised Bailey that no matter what she wants, I’ll make it happen.”
“But what if Grace finds out that those four children aren’t actually hers, and that they never died?”
The wind made Antonio squint as he replied, “I’ve already given her my whole life. Isn’t that enough?”
My world crumbled.
So he secretly treated me like a baby–making machine?
I held my breath and leaned in closer. Who knew what other dirty secrets. this scumbag might have!
The cold wind howled, carrying Antonio’s voice to my ear.
“Five children. She’s used five children to keep me by her side for life. In exchange, Bailey never has to endure the pain of childbirth. What’s there
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Chapter 1
to complain about?”
Antonio’s friend chuckled, “Four already, and it’s still not enough? Bailey sure has a thing for kids, huh?”
Antonio frowned with a bit of worry. “You don’t understand. In elite families, a woman without a son has no standing. If this one isn’t a boy, she’ll have to keep going until she gets one.”
“And you? You don’t even love Grace. Are you seriously planning to spend the rest of your life with her?”
Antonio let out a bitter chuckle. “I failed to hold onto Bailey, and I’ve wronged Grace. Think of it as my way of making amends.”
Antonio’s friend sighed. “Grace probably still thinks you won’t marry her because she can’t give you a healthy child. She has no clue you’ve been lying to her this whole time.
“Last time, you handed her newborn over to Bailey, then turned around and told Grace the baby was stillborn. She cried so hard that her tears were streaked with blood.
“You have enough money to pay for surrogacy. Why go through all this trouble and use Grace?”
Antonio replied with a serious face, “No. If we hired a surrogate, the truth might leak. And if that happened, what would become of Bailey? Her life in her husband’s family is hard enough as it is.”
“And you’re sure Grace won’t explode when she finds out?”
Antonio smiled wryly. “As long as she gives Bailey a son, I’ll marry her. What more could she want?
“For Bailey, I’d walk through fire and never complain.”
Chapter 1
The bitter cold numbed my fingers as I gripped my phone. I stopped. recording and fled before Antonio could see me.
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In the panic, I even forgot to press the elevator button. Leaning against the cold metal wall, my legs gave out beneath me.
The pain in my chest reminded me that what happened just now was real.
No wonder Antonio had loathed me for years, until, suddenly, he confessed his love right after Bailey got married.-
I
had been pregnant four times before, and no problems were found
during prenatal checkups. But every time I had given birth to a stillborn.
Antonio appeared to care for me very much, but he had never agreed to marry me.
The past five years were nothing but a carefully orchestrated lie.
I was never his lover. I was just a vessel. A tool to ensure Bailey’s perfect life.
In the days when I was tormented by various pregnancy reactions, unable to sleep or eat, Antonio would be very tender to me. But was it because he felt guilty for me, or because he cared about the baby for Bailey in my belly?
When I thought I had lost a child again and felt heartbroken, what was he thinking about? Was he feeling regretful that the child I gave birth to be a boy?
The cruelest part of all–now that I knew the truth, I had no right to grieve those lost children.
Suddenly, the elevator door opened. When Antonio saw me sitting inside, he was stunned. “Grace, why are you here?” Before I could react, he scooped me up in his arms and carried me home.
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He laid me on the bed, tucking a thick blanket around my belly, thent grabbed a warm towel to rub my frozen hands and feet.
“I’m sorry, Grace. I shouldn’t have taken such a long time to just get you a pancake. Sorry to make you worried.”
His hands moved gently over me, his voice laced with guilt and concern.
Just like every other time I had mourned a “stillborn.”
At that time, when I saw Antonio’s sad look, I would try my best to hold back my tears because I didn’t want him to worry too much about me. I would pretend to be fine and tell him it was OK. I told him that we could have another child.
But in five years, I had been pregnant five times and had given birth four times already.
Looking at my big belly, I could imagine the scene when this child was born. If it was a boy, Antonio would tell me again that it was a stillborn baby.
Meanwhile, Bailey would hold a baby boy in her arms, pretending that she had just experienced childbirth. There would be a lot of people congratulating her, including Antonio.
Antonio was a monster. He deceived me and tricked me into bearing hist child.
He lied to me, saying that the babies I gave birth to were all stillborn. But in fact, they were not. Antonio just gave them all to Bailey.
He faked his love for me, taking away my five years of youth and health.
With a last glimmer of hope, I said to Antonio, “Antonio, I don’t want to be pregnant anymore. I just can’t. If this one is still a stillborn baby, then let’s give up, OK?”
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I wanted to tell him that since he was so rich, he could find someone else to have surrogacy for Bailey and let me go.
Antonio was first stunned.
Then, he raised a smile and asked, “Grace, don’t you want to have a child
of our own?”
But the child I gave birth to wouldn’t be the one that used to be in my belly. Could that still be considered as my own child?
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