Chapter 1

When I came home for Halloween, my brother brought his fiancée over to meet the family. She insisted on dragging me to the mall to buy her a welcome gift.

In the fitting room, she suddenly pointed at the ugly scar on my stomach and shouted in fake surprise:

“Oh my God, Nora! That C-section scar is really raised!”

“Judging by how old it looks, your kid must be in elementary school by now. How come Ethan never mentioned your husband?”

The sales associate gave me a disgusted look. My mother, who had been about to pay, was so furious she threw the bank card in my face.

“You shameless little slut! No wonder you keep refusing to go on dates. You’ve been sleeping around!”

My brother told me to get lost before I offended his girlfriend’s eyes.

I picked up the card, calmly buttoned my shirt, and gave a cold laugh.

“Of course it’s a bad scar. Don’t you remember, Chloe?”

“We met when I was working vice. Though you weren’t using that name back then, were you?”

I had finally managed to take some time off and wanted nothing more than to catch up on sleep. Instead, Mom dragged me out of bed.

“It’s your brother’s first time bringing his girlfriend home. Shouldn’t you do something nice for her?”

She scolded me while slipping my bank card into her pocket.

When we reached the mall, my brother, Ethan Bennett, immediately shot me a look. It was his signal for me to pay.

I sighed. I was tired of these fake family outings.

All I wanted was to get this over with, pay, and go home to sleep.

Chloe Parker held a dress against me, her voice sickeningly sweet. “You have such a great figure, Nora. Why don’t we try matching outfits?”

I frowned. “I don’t wear things like that. I can’t move properly in them.”

Wearing something like that outside would be asking to get myself killed.

Mom pinched me hard and lowered her voice. “This is her first visit. Don’t you dare give her an attitude! Just try it on!”

Ethan leaned over, looking irritated. “Chloe’s trying to be nice. Stop looking so miserable all the time.”

I sighed. I had barely stepped into the fitting room when Chloe slipped in after me, another dress in her hand.

“Oh my God, Nora! Your stomach…”

Her shout drew the attention of everyone in the store.

I instinctively reached for my shirt to cover myself, but it was too late.

Chloe clapped a hand over her mouth and shouted in fake surprise:

“That C-section scar is really raised!”

“Judging by how old it looks, your kid must be in elementary school by now. How come Ethan never mentioned your husband? Unless…”

The store went silent.

The sales associate gave me a contemptuous look. Whispers reached my ears.

“She looks so respectable. Who knew she slept around?”

“Had a baby out of wedlock, and there isn’t even a man around. Bet she was someone’s mistress until he dumped her.”

I took a deep breath and held back my anger. “Watch what you say, Chloe.”

“This is a knife wound.”

Chloe stepped closer as if I had told a hilarious joke. Her voice grew louder.

“Having a baby out of wedlock might be embarrassing, but the child is innocent. You shouldn’t deny they exist.”

“I trained as a nurse. The position, the shape—that’s definitely a C-section scar.”

“And with scarring that bad, you must have gone to some sketchy clinic.”

“Were you so desperate to save money that you risked your life? How old is the kid? Boy or girl?”

She fired questions at me without giving me a chance to answer.

With every question, the looks around me grew more contemptuous.

Then an angry shout rang out.

“What did you just say?”