Chapter 3: The Little Heartbeat
Xia Zhelan sat on the edge of her bed, hands trembling as she clutched the ultrasound printout. The grainy black-and-white image stared back at her—proof of the tiny heartbeat fluttering inside her.
No… not one.
Two.
Twins.
Her fingers traced the faint outlines on the paper. A boy. A girl. Two lives created in a night she couldn't even remember. A night meant to ruin her… yet had given her something precious.
But she couldn't protect them. Not here. Not under this roof.
The door creaked.
Madam Xia stepped in with slow, measured steps, her face blank but her eyes sharp. "I see you've had your little checkup," she said, her voice silky with venom. "You're lucky we let you keep that child… for now."
Zhelan didn't respond.
"Don't worry," Madam Xia continued, inspecting her manicured nails. "We'll make arrangements. You'll go abroad. Quietly. Discreetly. No one needs to know what a disgrace you brought upon this family."
Zhelan clenched her jaw. "I didn't disgrace us. You did. All of you."
The older woman laughed lightly. "Still so fiery. You remind me too much of your mother. That's why your father can't stand you."
Zhelan stood. "Where's Meiyu?"
Madam Xia's gaze sharpened. "What does it matter?"
"She's quiet," Zhelan said. "Too quiet. What is she planning?"
"Oh, darling…" Her stepmother smiled. "She's preparing for her engagement party. Haven't you heard? Liang Jinhai proposed."
The words hit like a slap.
But it wasn't the betrayal that stunned Zhelan most—it was the timing.
Meiyu was already wearing Jinhai's ring. That meant... she'd succeeded in everything she set out to do.
Zhelan's eyes fell to the sonogram again.
Meiyu would never let her children live freely. Not if it threatened her fake perfection.
Her heart clenched in sudden terror. "You won't touch my babies," she said, voice low and dangerous.
Madam Xia only smirked.
---
Two Months Later
Night fell like ink over the capital. In the quiet of a private hospital suite, Zhelan screamed through the pain of labor, her nails digging into the mattress.
The doctors moved quickly. Urgent. Whispering things she couldn't hear.
Then—
A soft cry.
Then another.
Her heart swelled.
"I want to see them," she gasped.
But only one child was brought to her—a girl, swaddled tightly, her tiny lips puckering.
Zhelan blinked, confused. "Where's the other?"
The nurse paused. "The boy… he didn't survive. Stillborn."
Zhelan's soul cracked in half.
"No… No!" she sobbed, reaching out. "Let me see him!"
But they had already taken him away.
Her daughter whimpered in her arms.
And somewhere far down the hallway, hidden behind locked doors, Xia Meiyu cradled a baby boy, her lips curved into a victorious smile.