My child died.

The man who was both my first love and the father of my child was heartless to the very end.

“That child was a mistake from the very beginning.”

My first marriage, which was filled with nothing but pain, ended with my death.

But in this second life, I made a vow.

‘I’ll give birth to my daughter and leave. That’s all I need.’

To meet my child once more, however, I needed him.

“You’ll cling to me, even if you despise me to your very core.”

I have no intention of begging for your love again. Once I have my child, everything between us will be over.

—

“You… You’re not like this.”

Arianna whispered, her voice trembling and her tears held back only by her bitten lip.

“My daughter isn’t your child. So why—”

“It doesn’t matter. She’s yours, isn’t she?”

His dark, lifeless teal eyes locked onto hers, burning with suffocating possessiveness as though he would consume her whole.

“You belong to me. And so does your child.”