When Love and Hate Had Gone, The Destiny Ended

On my wedding day, my fiancé publicly called off our engagement. He also announced that he had already registered his marriage with Laura O'Donnell.

As the crowd erupted into mocking laughter and ridiculed me, my childhood friend Collin Huttington stepped forward, pulled out a diamond ring and, with heartfelt sincerity, proposed to me. Touched, I nodded and agreed to marry him.

Seven months into my pregnancy, I was in a car accident. Collin personally performed the surgery to save me.

When I regained consciousness while he was sitting beside me, he told me that the baby hadn’t made it and that I would never be able to have children again.

Devastated, I broke down. With his hands around me and tears streamed down his face, Collin apologized for failing to protect me. He swore to stay by my side forever.

However, six years later, I accidentally received an audio recording of a conversation between him and a colleague.

"Collin, you helped Laura forge a fake pregnancy certificate and even staged a car accident to force Nora Reynold into premature labor so you could give her baby to Laura. Do you have any regret about it?"

“Laura has been infertile since birth. Do you expect me to watch her be ridiculed by her in-laws for the rest of her life? My only regret is that the baby was a girl. If it had been a boy, her position would’ve been even more secure," said Collin.

What I had thought was his deep love for me was nothing more than a carefully orchestrated scheme.

***

The sound of running water came from the bathroom. Collin was taking a shower.

The audio recording continued playing through my headphones.

"You are too much, though. What if that car accident hadn’t just caused Nora to have premature labor but rather killed them both?”

"No, that would never happen. Laura and I hired someone to conduct crash tests on the car months before the actual crash happened.

"

There was a hint of regret in his colleague’s voice when he spoke, "However, because of that accident, Nora had to lose her uterus and she will never be pregnant anymore in the future. She longs to have a child and loves you so much. Why can't you adopt a child from the orphanage for Laura?"

“No, because it wouldn’t have been my own child. I wouldn’t feel secure about that. I want to feel close to Laura."

“Have you considered what you’ll do if Nora ever finds out about this?” his friend asked.

Collin fell silent for a moment then sighed, "I'll make sure she'll never know. However, if that day ever comes … I’ll spend my life making it up to her.”

The recording stopped abruptly as it ended.

I clapped a hand over my mouth as I tried to stifle the sobs that racked my body. My tears fell uncontrollably as a chilling numbness spread from the top of my head to the soles of my feet.

Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that while I had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of my baby, the man I loved was conspiring with another woman to take her from me.

What I thought was his love had all been part of his elaborate plan to ensure the happiness of someone else. The real reason for his proposal to me was just a ploy to keep me away from Teddy Larkin and not to disrupt Laura’s happiness.

I recalled the day Collin brought the lifeless body of my baby to me. He was crying and apologizing for not being able to save my baby. I had believed his sorrow mirrored mine. However, now I realized he had already handed over my baby to his beloved, Laura, for a while so she could secure her place in the Larkin Family.

So, what were all these years of guilt and pain worth?

"Nora?" Collin's startled voice sounded behind me.

When he saw my tear-streaked face, he became so alarmed that he rushed toward me in panic. He accidentally knocked his knee on the corner of the bed and caused blood to seep out immediately.

However, he did not care about his knee. He ran toward me, pulled me tightly into his arm and asked in a frantic voice, "Nora, what’s wrong? Did I do something to upset you?”

I gently extricated myself from his embrace and said with fake calmness, “No, I just watched a romantic movie. The heroine had a pretty tragic story.”

Collin exhaled in relief and pulled me back into his arms, as he smiled. “You scared me. Stop watching those sad movies, okay? We’re nothing like them. I’ll make sure you’re happy for the rest of your life.”

There was a time when hearing those words would have filled my heart with sweetness. Now, they only felt like a cruel joke.

“Your knee is bleeding. I’ll get some ointment and make you some milk," I said.

Collin had a sleeping problem. I had read somewhere that warm milk could help, so no matter how late he worked, I would always get up to prepare a glass for him.