Chapter 1
My husband forced me to carry his three friends’ children.
Domenico Amato, who had always refused to let me have a baby, suddenly agreed to let me do IVF. After three months of trying, I finally got pregnant with triplets.
But carrying triplets was brutal. My belly got huge, the morning sickness was awful, and I even fainted multiple times, so I was confined to bed for weeks.
The doctor strongly recommended a selective reduction, but Domenico refused without hesitation.
“We love all three of our babies,” he said. “How could I bear to kill any of our children?”
I said nothing, swallowing my pain in silence. But one day, after I collapsed again, I regained consciousness to the sound of laughter coming from outside my hospital room-Domenico, his childhood sweetheart Maria Brunaldi, and his three so-called brothers.
“Domenico, you actually auctioned off her eggs to your three friends for only 15 grand just because I said I was curi- ous to see her pregnant with triplets? You even let her get pregnant with triplets from three different dads. How could you?”
Domenico pulled her into his arms and said, “Only you deserve to have my child, Maria. She’s just trash I can throw away whenever I want. Letting her carry my friends’ babies is the biggest mercy she’ll ever get.”
One of the men chimed in, chuckling, “We paid 15 grand to get a free son. We really should thank you and Maria.”
“Why don’t we make a bet on the babies’ genders? Whoever loses has to buy Maria a diamond necklace worth at least 1.5 million!”
I felt like I had fallen into an ice pit.
Domenico had set this trap-turning my pregnancy into an auction and a bet—and I had stupidly thought I was living a dream. I let Maria step on my back to rise up.
I wiped my tears and made an appointment for an abortion.
***
The laughter outside my room got louder and louder.
Then, Maria said in her fake sweet voice, “Oh, if Frida knew all this, she’d be so mad, huh?”
Domenico just scoffed.
“Mad? What right does she have? I only asked her to give birth to three kids, not to die. But even if I did tell her to die, she’d do it.”
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Chapter 1
One of his friends beat his chest, laughing.
“Anyway, Maria’s the only woman Domenico really cares about.
“I still remember when Domenico took Maria on vacation abroad for half a year. When he got back, he found out Fri- da was already eight months pregnant. To keep Maria from getting upset, Domenico actually told his buddies to hire some thugs to beat Frida so badly she’d miscarry.
“Tsk. Man, I almost felt sorry for her.”
Maria chimed in proudly, “That was just an accident. Domenico was giving that woman birth control every day to make sure she never got pregnant. If I hadn’t gotten curious and wanted to see her miserable pregnant, she wouldn’t even have had the chance to give you guys a kid in her whole life.”
The other friend cracked up. “Well, anyway, we spent 15 grand and got a free kid out of it, so we’re happy. We really gotta thank Domenico for ‘sharing’ his wife for the sake of his bros and Maria.”
Domenico just shrugged and scoffed. “Whatever. She’s taking up a place she doesn’t deserve anyway. So what if she pays a bit more? I’m not worried if she finds out. If I snap my fingers, she’d be begging to be my dog.”
Their mocking laughs filled the room. Every word dripped with sarcasm and cruelty.
Hearing their laughs, I clutched my swollen belly. My nails dug into my skin as I slapped a hand over my mouth to muffle my sobs.
In those six months of IVF, I got jab after jab in my stomach. The hormones left me pale, weak, and so sick I could barely stand. I suffered so much through this pregnancy, yet the babies inside me were nothing but cheap bargaining chips for their twisted games.
What’s even more insane is that I actually believed the assault and miscarriage I suffered at eight months pregnant were just a random accident. I even blamed myself and thought I was dirty after what those thugs did to me.
Who could have guessed that every bit of that humiliation and pain was part of my husband’s plan all along?
