Chapter 2 of In Labor, Yet Ordered to Wait

Chloe looked down on me with a sneer, her hands on her hips.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding?”

“This morning, I heard there was a new maid in the house. Turns out it’s you?”

“Trying to take our place? I’ll teach you a lesson today.”

Martha’s eyes were full of rage as she yanked my hair and slapped me repeatedly. My nose bled, and stars danced before my eyes.

“You little slut, this is our home. Who gave you permission to come in here?” Chloe snarled.

“And you dare to steal my things?”

She ripped the emerald earring from my ear, tearing flesh as she yanked it free.

“This is mine…” I gasped.

Chloe’s eyes turned cold.

“Yours? A while ago, my brother asked what kind of jewelry girls liked. I told him about these earrings, and he flew all the way to France to bid on them. And you dare to claim they’re yours?”

I tried to explain, but before I could speak, Martha kicked me hard in the stomach. I doubled over on the floor, pale with pain.

“Ethan and Richard pay their staff well. And yet you dream of taking what doesn’t belong to you!” Chloe spat.

“Do you know how much they hate women with scheming hearts like yours? So many others tried to worm their way in before. Guess what happened to them?”

She paused, her eyes flashing with jealousy.

“But I’ll admit, you do have a pretty face.”

She eyed the bracelet on my wrist, her gaze lighting up before she ripped it away.

The Browns had come from the mountains to the city, nearly homeless until Richard pitied them and gave Martha work, even funding Chloe’s college education. Chloe had been clever and gradually earned a bit of favor from Richard and Ethan.

But greed has no end. The two of them grew more and more ambitious, spending money on luxury and even coveting the role of mistress of the house. Chloe began to act as if she were the true heiress.

At her coming-of-age, she secretly took my sports car from the garage to show off and ended up injuring a child in an accident.

She and Martha knelt before Richard and Ethan, sobbing and begging for mercy. Chloe even slapped herself in tears, pleading for help.

Feeling sorry for them, I convinced Richard to let them keep their jobs at the mansion. Little did I know, I had welcomed wolves into our home.

“That’s mine—it’s all Mom left me…” I cried.

“Mom? The mistress of this mansion died ten years ago. Don’t you dare lie!” Martha shouted.

They summoned others to hold me down, kicking me in the face until blood filled my mouth and teeth shattered.

“This little slut is good-looking, but did you really think you could become the mistress?”

“Look at that vixen’s face!”

Chloe grabbed my hair and smashed my head against the incubation chamber.

Cracks spread across the glass. With a shattering crash, it broke, and blood streaked my face.