That was their child.
But my son was now a cold and lifeless corpse!
"Lydia, does your leg still hurt? Here, take some painkillers." Samuel looked at me. His eyes were filled with the same tenderness as always, but I knew now—it was all just an illusion meant to deceive me.
I looked at the pills in his hand and recalled what I had just overheard.
Taking a deep breath, I said, "Samuel, the medicine is too bitter. Can I take it later?"
'You've already killed my child. Can't you at least leave me the right to be a mother?'
Samuel hesitated for just a second before smiling and patting my head. "You're a mother now, yet you're still acting like a child? Giving birth was already hard on you, and now your legs are hurting. I couldn't sleep all night worrying about you, Lydia. Just take pity on your husband, okay? I still have to be a good father to our baby."
"Don't worry. I added honey to the water. It's sweet. Come on, let me feed you."
'No. That is not my baby. It’s yours and Xandra’s!' I mentally screamed.
He brought the pill to my lips, leaving me no chance to refuse.
A chill spread through my body. I closed my eyes and swallowed the pill dry, refusing to drink the honeyed water.
I didn't want that kind of fake sweetness.
The effects of the drug hit quickly. A searing pain burned through my lower abdomen, as though flames were consuming me from the inside, or as if someone were slicing me open with a knife. Blood gushed from between my legs.
"Lydia, what's wrong?!"
Samuel shouted for the doctor. The pain was unbearable, and I passed out.
In my daze, I heard the doctor’s voice.
"Mr. Lopez, the drug has completely corroded her uterus. She will never be able to have children again."
Samuel let out a long sigh of relief.
When I woke again, his eyes were red, his face filled with grief as he gazed at me. "Lydia, the doctor said you suffered severe postpartum hemorrhage... The doctor said you won’t be able to have children anymore."
"Don’t be sad. Thankfully, we already have Apollo. He’ll grow up to be a good son to you."
Apollo?
He had already chosen a name for Xandra’s child so soon?
Samuel refused to let the nurse clean me up. Ignoring his own obsession with cleanliness, he fetched hot water himself and carefully wiped away the blood.
He told me his mother wanted to see her eldest grandson and had already taken the baby away.
By the time everything settled, it was late at night.
I looked at his slightly tired face and forced a weak smile. "I’m fine. You’ve been busy all day. You should rest now."
Samuel kissed my forehead. "Alright. If you need anything, wake me up. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to see Apollo. From now on, the three of us will live happily together."
After he fell asleep, I quietly picked up his phone.
To prove his loyalty to me, Samuel had never set a lock screen password.
But I had never known—he had a second system on his phone, and the password to switch systems was Xandra’s birthday.
The moment the screen changed, the wallpaper became a photo of him and Xandra from their university days.
His messenger had only one contact—Xandra.
I clicked on their chat. The first message that appeared was a picture of Xandra holding a baby.
[Samuel, look at our beautiful child. He’s going to be as handsome as you when he grows up.]
That baby looked exactly like the one Samuel had brought to me earlier tonight.
The further I scrolled, the colder my heart became.
During the eight months of my pregnancy, Samuel had been constantly "on business trips." The number of days he had actually spent by my side could be counted on my fingers.
I didn’t want to distract him from work, so I endured the morning sickness and exhaustion alone, going to prenatal checkups by myself.
And now I knew—those "business trips" were just an excuse for him to stay by Xandra’s side, caring for her and their unborn child.
Among the thousands of photos stored on his phone, every single one recorded Xandra’s journey from pregnancy to childbirth.
