Third Person's POV
After nine long months of pregnancy, Henrietta Ashbourne finally gave birth to her first child with Raphael Ravenscroft.
Raphael was ecstatic. His hands trembled as he took the baby from the nurse’s arms.
“Baby,” he said softly, voice unsteady with excitement, “how about I take you to see your mom?”
Before anyone could react, he carried the baby straight to his adopted sister, Annelise Ravenscroft. His tone was so gentle it barely sounded like him as he said, “Annelise, haven’t you always wanted a child? From now on, you’ll be this child’s mother.”
Annelise froze, then shyly waved her hands in refusal. “Raphael, I don't think that's right. This is your and your wife’s child.”
“So what?” Raphael cut her off with a doting chuckle. “If she wants to have a child, she can have one anytime. But you... You’re different. You have a luteal phase defect. I can’t bear to let you suffer just to have a child.”
Every word sounded perfectly reasonable.
Yet to Henrietta, they landed like thunder. Her already pale face drained of all color, shock flooding her eyes.
Ignoring the fact that her cesarean wound hadn’t even healed, she forced herself up and staggered toward Raphael. The moment she reached him, she raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.
“Raphael, open your eyes and look!” she shouted, voice shaking with rage. “This is our child, not some tool you use to please her! No matter how biased you are, there should be a limit!”
Her chest heaved violently with fury.
She had lost count of how many times Raphael had trampled on her feelings and dignity like this—all for Annelise.
Ever since Annelise divorced and returned to the Ravenscrofts, Raphael had become a completely different person.
With Henrietta, he was always aloof, proud, distant—untouchable.
But with Annelise, he lowered himself entirely, showing a kind of tenderness Henrietta had never once received.
When Annelise had nightmares in the middle of the night, he abandoned Henrietta—who was burning with a high fever—and stayed up all night by Annelise’s side, reading her Andersen’s fairy tales like she was a child.
And when Annelise wanted cake from the north side of the city, he didn’t hesitate to leave Henrietta—who was already on the verge of labour—on the highway, turning back just to buy Annelise that cake.
Lastly, when Annelise took an interest in Henrietta’s research report, he handed over years of Henrietta’s hard work without a second thought and published it under Annelise’s name.
And now—now he was biased enough to give her child to Annelise!
A sharp, indescribable pain stabbed through Henrietta’s heart.
Enduring both physical agony and emotional torment, she reached out, desperate to take back her own flesh and blood.
But Raphael merely kicked her aside.
With a dull thud, Henrietta crashed to the floor.
Her abdominal wound tore open in that instant, and pain exploded through her body, spreading to every limb. Her eyes burned red with fury as she shouted, “Raphael! Give my child back to me!”
But he just coldly looked down at her and irritatingly spat, “Annelise likes children. Do you really have to fight her over this?”
“Fight?” Henrietta laughed bitterly, tears spilling uncontrollably. “Raphael, this is the child I carried for nine months! My own flesh and blood! Am I really fighting for it—or are you helping her steal it?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Annelise put on that familiar timid expression again, eyes brimming with tears she didn’t quite let fall—pitiful enough to break anyone’s heart.
“Henrietta,” she said softly, “Raphael only feels sorry for me because I can’t have children due to my condition. That’s why he kindly wants me to raise the baby. You don’t have to speak so harshly…" She paused, biting her lip. "If you really don’t want it, then… then I won’t take the child.”
Listen to that.
How generous she sounded.
As if she were the one suffering a grave injustice.
Suddenly, the baby’s cry pierced the long night.
But soon, that once-strong wail weakened, and the baby’s face turned from flushed red to a lifeless bluish purple.
Doctors rushed in at the sound. One glance was enough for their expressions to change drastically as they urgently ordered the medical staff to prepare for emergency surgery.
“The baby’s vital signs are disappearing. Suspected bacterial infection. Mr. Ravenscroft, please hand the baby over immediately for emergency treatment!” the doctor urged.
Hearing that, a loud ringing exploded in Henrietta’s ears. Her mind went completely blank, and her body stiffened as if frozen. She couldn’t care about anything else anymore.
Trembling from head to toe, she screamed at Raphael, “Raphael! This is a matter of life and death—give the baby to the doctors, now!”
Even Annelise pretended to give in, her voice choked with sobs as she chimed in, “She's right, Raphael… let them save the baby first. Don't mind me.”
But Raphael only wiped away her tears tenderly, his eyes full of affection as he comforted her.
“Annelise, your heart is too soft. But I won’t let you suffer any injustice.”
With a single glance from him, his assistant hurried over and handed Henrietta a document.
She stared blankly at the Custody Transfer Agreement in her hands, while Raphael’s icy voice rang in her ears.
“Sign it. Transfer the child to Annelise. Otherwise, you’ll be the murderer who killed your own child.”
Each word sliced into her heart, cold and merciless.
Henrietta completely broke down.
“Raphael, do you even know what you’re saying? This is your child, too!”
The air was freezing, but Raphael was colder still.
“Will you sign it or not?”
Second by second, time slipped away. The child’s life hung by a thread.
Left with no choice, Henrietta collapsed into compromise.
“Fine! I’ll sign.”
Her hands shook violently as she signed the agreement.
Raphael indeed kept his word.
But it was already too late.
The doctor emerged with regret written all over his face.
“I'm sorry, but we did everything we could. Please accept our condolences.”
With a deafening crash, Henrietta felt as if the sky itself had collapsed.
She stumbled toward the gurney covered in white cloth. Her fingers trembled uncontrollably, losing strength the moment they touched the edge of the fabric—until she suddenly ripped it away.
“My baby… my baby!” Henrietta sobbed hysterically. “Open your eyes and look at Mommy!”
But her child had only taken one hurried glance at this world—then left it.
Like a gust of wind—violent when it came, silent when it went—leaving her nothing but hollow joy and endless regret.
A heavy sorrow blanketed the hospital.
Yet Raphael acted as if nothing had happened. He simply covered Annelise’s eyes and lightly remarked, “It’s filthy. Don’t look.”
Then he wrapped an arm around her and walked away without once looking back.
Henrietta, on the other hand, stayed by her child until dawn.
At last, she picked up her phone and dialed the number of Raphael’s sworn enemy.
“You said before that you wanted to recruit me to the overseas headquarters with a high salary,” she said hoarsely. “I now accept it.”
