It was Samuel who saved me that night.
Afterward, he looked after me in every possible way, checking on me constantly, comforting me with gentle words, and showering me with gifts until my hands were full.
As an orphan who grew up in a group home, even the slightest bit of warmth was enough to make me fall.
Even when people warned me that Samuel was a player who would never settle down with someone like me, I still became his seventeenth little mistress.
In my previous life, after we married, he dismissed all the other women and personally cared for me throughout my pregnancy.
I had been so happy I felt like I was going insane.
Until the day my water broke.
He tied me up and dragged me into the basement. Without anesthesia, he cut me open himself to take the baby. He knew I had a clotting disorder, but he still refused to take me to the hospital. He watched, cold and detached, while I screamed in agony.
"The one I love was never you. I only married you to fulfill a promise to Grandma. Now that the heir is born, your purpose is finished. You should die. I'll raise him with the woman in my heart."
With my remaining strength, I asked in a thick accent if that woman was Rhian, his first love.
Samuel gave a faint, calm smile. "You'll know when you see her."
Just as the words left his mouth, a figure stepped through the doorway. But I only managed to turn my head halfway before everything went black.
I died of blood loss before I ever saw her face.
Cold sweat broke out on my palms as I recalled the memory.
I shook my head firmly. "I can't go."
Evelyn blinked in confusion, clearly baffled. "Why not? Haven't you always wanted to become my grandson's wife?"
I hesitated, then spoke with a steady seriousness that felt too honest for the moment.
"There was a misunderstanding earlier. I mixed up gratitude with love. To be honest, I slept with another man last month. I'm already pregnant with someone else's child."
A vein throbbed on Samuel's forehead as he clenched his jaw, fury seeping through every line of his face.
"Leslie, you're really something."
His gaze then moved toward Rhian. He didn't even need to speak before Rhian took a step back, flailing her arms wildly.
"Don't look at me! I can't do it either!"
"Oh? What, you cheated too?" Samuel sneered.
Rhian, who a moment earlier had been scrambling for any excuse, suddenly brightened.
She nodded rapidly and jabbed a finger in my direction. "Yes, yes! We did it together. Same guy as her. I'm pregnant too!"
Evelyn nearly fainted from anger.
If we risked carrying someone else's child, then our fertility didn't matter—we were considered useless.
Right then, she pointed at both of us, her finger shaking.
"You two little sluts will pack your things and get out tomorrow morning!"
Still fuming, she turned worriedly back to Samuel.
"Sam, how about letting the others—"
Before she could finish, Samuel cut her off sharply.
"No."
Rhian and I exchanged a bewildered glance.
Oh, we understood now.
He thought using any of the others would be disrespectful to his beloved.
'Tsk. Truly devoted.'
That night, Samuel soaked in an ice bath until he finally recovered.
Meanwhile, Rhian and I went back to our rooms, happily counting the savings we had stashed away over the years and daydreaming about our new futures.
We slept soundly and peacefully.
...
The next morning, we came downstairs early with our suitcases.
What greeted us, however, was Samuel standing in front of the door.
He took two blood test reports from his assistant and tossed them at our feet, his expression dark and icy.
"Neither of you is pregnant. Yet you dared to team up and lie to me."
So that was why we had slept so well.
Good grief. He played dirty.
A Northeastern girl's temper is blunt.
Rhian stiffened her neck and snapped, "So what? We just don't want to have your kid!"
The Grant family was one of the most influential in Harbor City.
Yet here they were, being rejected by two mistresses.
Evelyn's expression turned frosty.
"Sam, if they don't appreciate the opportunity, then forget it. There are still sixteen girls left, aren't there? You've been too busy all these years to have children. As long as you keep putting in the effort, eventually someone will get pregnant."
