They Faked My Baby's Death, So I Ruined Them All

During my third trimester, my baby was diagnosed with severe hydrocephalus. My entire family pressured me. "Nora, if you give birth to this child, he'll have cerebral palsy.

He'll be in pain for the rest of his life." I couldn't bear to let go, but with them constantly whispering in my ear, I finally agreed to the abortion.

That night, my brother Jack suddenly sent a message in our family Snapchat group. "How did it go?

Is the abortion done?" My husband, Ethan Carter, replied: "I performed the surgery myself. There won't be any complications." My dad, Thomas: "Thank God.

Now Vivian can finally focus on her own pregnancy in peace." My mom, Helen: "It's all thanks to the fake medical reports Ethan forged.

Nora still thinks her baby had severe hydrocephalus." Right after that, their foster daughter, Vivian Vance, chimed in: "Delete those messages, quickly!

You sent them to the wrong group! Nora is in this chat. She'll see them when she wakes up." The next second, all the messages were deleted.

What they didn't know was that I had woken up long ago. And I had already screenshotted everything. When I sent those screenshots back into the chat, the group went dead silent.

After a long while, Mom sent me a private message. "It's true that Vivian is carrying Ethan's baby, but she never wanted to hurt you." "They were together before you and Ethan even got married.

They only kept it a secret to protect your feelings." "You've been Ethan's wife for so many years.

You should be satisfied with what you got." I stared at her words, the incision on my abdomen burning with agonizing pain.

The people I thought were my family were actually the murderers of my child. As the anesthesia wore off, sharp waves of pain rippled through my lower abdomen.

I gritted my teeth and dragged myself into the elevator. The VIP suites of this private hospital were all on the top floor. Ethan had used all his connections to secure a spot here.

He had told me, "Vivian's due date is earlier than yours. Let her use the suite first. I'll figure something out when it's your turn." I had agreed.

But I never expected that he would never even give me the chance to use it. As I passed the nurse's station, a few nurses were gossiping. "Mr.

Carter is so incredibly sweet to his wife. He got her the VIP suite and a private medical team." "I heard he even hired a personal chef.

She's getting organic meals, bird's nest, and collagen soups every single day." "She just gave birth yesterday, and he already booked physical therapists, estheticians, and pelvic floor specialists.

He even hired a toptier therapist just to make sure she doesn't get postpartum depression." I stood there, my blood turning to ice.

We were both pregnant, yet Ethan had never cooked a single meal for me. When my morning sickness was at its worst, he couldn't even spare five minutes to boil some pasta for me.

When my back ached so badly that I couldn't sleep, I asked if he knew any good prenatal masseuses.

He didn't even look up from packing Vivian's hospital bag. "Why waste money on that? Every pregnant woman goes through this. Just deal with it." He said it so easily.

But when it came to Vivian, he never made her "deal" with anything. I clenched my fists, forcing down the rage and grief. The door to the VIP room was slightly ajar.

Vivian was lying in bed, a soft, blissful smile on her face. My parents and my brother, Jack, were gathered around her. Ethan was gently cradling a newborn baby.

When I was undergoing my abortion, they all claimed they were too busy to come. But now, they were all here. Every single one of them. It wasn't that they didn't have time.

Their time just didn't belong to me. Standing outside the door, watching their pictureperfect family moment, I felt like a total stranger for the first time in my life.

When they finally noticed me, everyone froze. Ethan set the baby down and quickly walked over to me. "Nora, don't start a scene. Vivian just gave birth and she's very weak.

Let's talk about this at home." I was weak too, but I couldn't wait. I needed the truth right now. "Is that baby yours?" I screamed, my voice cracking.

I thought he would make excuses or try to dodge the question. Instead, he looked me dead in the eye and said calmly: "Yes, it's mine.

On the night of our engagement party, you left early. Vivian was heartbroken over a breakup and came to talk to me. We drank too much and crossed the line.

That was when I realized she had been secretly in love with me for years." My ears started ringing.

On the night of our engagement, Ethan's mother had called saying she was in a car accident. I had rushed over to help without a second thought.

After resolving everything, I called Ethan to let him know she was safe. His voice had sounded raspy over the phone. I asked him what was wrong, and he said he just caught a cold.

Thinking back to it now, a wave of intense nausea hit me. While I was running around trying to take care of our family, he was busy betraying me in our bed.

I clenched my fists. "So you two slept behind my back, and you even killed my baby just so hers could have a perfect, happy family?" An impatient frown crossed his face. "You can blame me all you want, but leave Vivian out of this.

You only lost a baby. Vivian was so consumed with guilt over your miscarriage that she couldn't sleep all night. What more do you want?" He said it with such righteous indignation.

As if I was the unreasonable one. But he knew my uterine lining was dangerously thin. My chances of conceiving were already near zero. I didn't just lose a baby.

I had lost my only chance of ever becoming a mother.

"Nora, don't blame Ethan. Forging the medical records was my idea.

I was afraid you'd find out, so I actually wanted to bring a stray cat home to make you contract an infection for real.

But Ethan was worried I might get infected too, so he shot the idea down." Vivian sat up, looking at me with big, tearful, innocent eyes. "Honestly, when I first found out I was pregnant, I wanted to get an abortion.

But Ethan stopped me.

He said abortions are terrible for a woman's body and leave permanent damage." "To make sure I didn't do anything stupid, he took me to the Maldives for a whole month.

And during my third trimester, I couldn't stand the smell of smoke, so he quit smoking cold turkey for me." I listened in silence, my breathing trembling.

He knew abortions were terrible for a woman's body, yet he tricked me into getting one.

I had begged him to quit smoking a thousand times, and he always brushed me off, saying his job was too stressful. Yet, Vivian didn't even have to ask, and he quit instantly.

I guess love, or the lack of it, is always painfully obvious.

Suddenly, I remembered the early days of my pregnancy when the doctor ordered me to be hospitalized for observation because the pregnancy was unstable.

Terrified of losing the baby we had tried so hard to conceive, I had called Ethan, sobbing. But he didn't care about my fear at all.

He just brushed me off impatiently: "Nora, the company is sending me on an urgent business trip abroad for a month.

Take care of yourself." I tried to plead with him. "Can you ask your boss to send someone else?

I'm so scared something will happen to the baby if you're not here..." But before I could finish, he hung up. When he came back, he was several shades tan.

How could I have been so blind? He wasn't on a business trip. He was using that excuse to take Vivian to the Maldives. The pain in my chest was suffocating.

I tilted my head back, refusing to let my tears fall. But out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the bassinet next to the bed.

It was a custom piece I had commissioned from a European craftsman. It had taken seven months to make. My baby's nickname was carved right on the wooden frame.

Vivian let out a weak, awkward laugh. "Nora, I didn't want to use it, but Ethan insisted on bringing it here. He said since your baby is gone, it's just sitting around anyway.

Might as well let my baby use it. At least it's not going to waste." My mom chimed in from the side. "It's just a bassinet, Nora. What's the big deal?

Just let Vivian have this one." Always "let her have it." My throat felt like it was clogged with cotton, dry and tight.

Since we were kids, no matter what Vivian wanted, I was always forced to give it up to her. From a pretty dress to my spot at a toptier school. And now, my baby's bassinet.

She always had an insatiable desire to steal whatever belonged to me. Seeing my silence, my dad spoke up sharply. "Vivian grew up as an adopted child in our home.

You've had a million times more happiness than she ever did. Why are you fighting her over a stupid bassinet?

I honestly regret raising a daughter as selfish as you." A cold, bitter smile crept onto my face. "Sometimes I wonder if I was the one who was adopted." Hearing this, Jack instantly lost his temper. "Do you have a conscience?

Dad is just trying to be fair to Vivian, and you can't even handle that?

Do you have to tear this entire family apart before you're satisfied?" They stood united against me, a solid front. As if I were some kind of monster.

At that exact moment, I realized I had always been completely on my own. "This family won't fall apart.

Because I'm leaving." With that, I turned on my heel and slammed the door behind me. My dad's angry shout echoed from inside the room. "Ethan, don't go after her!

She has no job and no money. She doesn't even have a place to stay. Once she hits rock bottom, she'll come crawling back on her knees." I rushed out of the hospital.

The cold wind hit my face, and the chill seeped deep into my bones.

Just then, my former business partner sent me a text. "Are you still interested in joining our agency's expansion? The team is heading out tomorrow. I can still book your flight."

This wasn't the first time he had invited me. I had actually been tempted to go before.

But when Ethan found out, he did everything he could to stop me. "The West Coast is so far away, Nora. We'd be living in a longdistance relationship.

I can't bear to be away from you. Please, for me, don't go." My parents had used guilt to chain me down too. "We raised you, Nora.

We're getting older, and we'll need you when we get sick.

Do you really have the heart to abandon your aging parents?" Even Jack had pleaded with me, pretending to be reasonable. "Mom and Dad are getting old and their health is failing.

I'm too busy with work to look after them. I need to rely on you. I'm begging you, don't leave." Their words had softened my heart. Plus, I had finally gotten pregnant.

So, I gave up on the idea of leaving. During the years I spent undergoing fertility treatments, I had drained every single penny of my savings.

I thought I was sacrificing for our future. But in reality, it only gave them the leverage to control me.

Recalling my dad's words, "She has no job and no money, she'll come crawling back," I tapped on my partner's chat and replied: "Book the ticket." Five minutes later, he sent me a screenshot of the flight confirmation.

I saved it silently. Then, I went home to pack. When I opened the front door, I noticed a pair of pink women's slippers in the shoe rack.

On the coffee table, my favorite yellow roses had been replaced with peonies. Even my favorite hand soap on the bathroom counter had been shoved into the cabinet.

As I stood there in confusion, my phone buzzed with a text from Ethan. "Vivian is staying at our place for her postpartum recovery.

It's easier to take care of her here." I didn't reply. I locked my phone, pulled out a large suitcase, and began packing. There was so much stuff.

Most of them were things Ethan and I had bought together when we were dating. A pair of matching mugs we made at a pottery class. Matching hoodies we bought in a cozy mountain town.

And over eight hundred photos of us during our happiest moments. I threw the mugs and hoodies straight into the trash can. Then, I took the photos to the stove and lit them on fire.

Midway through, Ethan's voice suddenly startled me from behind. "What the hell are you doing?" When he realized what was burning in my hands, his face paled with shock. "Are you burning our photos?" I replied flatly, "Too much clutter.

It takes up space." Meeting his disbelief, I calmly pulled out a signed set of divorce papers and laid them out. "I've already signed.

Now it's your turn." I expected him to sign it without hesitation.

Instead, he glanced at the papers and threw them straight into the fire. "Who said I'm divorcing you?" An uncontrollable rage flared up in my chest. "What is wrong with you?

I'm stepping aside to let you two be together. Why are you dragging this out?" He didn't get angry.

Instead, he looked at me with a sickeningly gentle expression. "Nora, we've always been happy together, haven't we?

Do you really have the heart to leave me?" I felt like I had swallowed a fly. What did he mean by "we've always been happy"?

His version of happiness was built entirely on my misery, and now he actually expected to keep both of us? Just then, Vivian's cry echoed from the living room. "Ethan!

I fell!" Ethan bolted out of the kitchen instantly. He carefully lifted Vivian off the floor and cradled her onto the sofa.

When he turned back to look at me, his face was masked in cold fury. "Why did you leave your suitcase right in the middle of the hallway?

Vivian almost got seriously hurt because of you! Don't you know she just gave birth?" Vivian clung to him, her eyes red as she whimpered, "Don't blame Nora, Ethan.

She just lost her baby, so she's bitter.

It makes sense that she'd do something like this on purpose." My dad pointed a finger at my face, shouting, "Even if you're bitter, you can't take it out on Vivian!

She's recovering!

How can you be so cruel?" I was about to say "I didn't." But before I could speak, Jack grabbed my suitcase and hurled it out into the hallway. "Maybe a little lesson will teach you some manners."

I stared at my brother, shocked by his sudden hostility. I remembered when he was short on his down payment for his apartment.

I had transferred all my savings to him without a second thought. He had cried tears of gratitude back then, saying, "Nora, you're the best sister.

I'll always have your back." And now, he was throwing my things out, claiming he wanted to teach me a lesson. Standing there, a wave of sheer exhaustion washed over me.

My phone screen lit up. My partner had sent over the employment contract. I signed it digitally.

When I looked up, my mom was shoving a heavy plastic bag into my hands. "I bought some salmon. Prep it and make a lactation soup for Vivian. And bake some cod.

Your sister hates heavy seasoning. She only eats it wildcaught and lightly seasoned. No more than eight minutes in the oven.

Don't mess it up." The plastic handles dug painfully into my palm.

My eyes stung. "Mom, I'm allergic to seafood." Mom froze for a second, then rolled her eyes. "Well, you never say anything.

How am I supposed to remember?" She couldn't remember my lifethreatening allergy, but she remembered every single one of Vivian's dietary preferences.

I carried the ingredients into the kitchen. As I was chopping the vegetables, the knife slipped, slicing deep into my finger. Blood poured out instantly.

Ethan walked in and saw the blood, and his first reaction was to shout: "What is wrong with you?

How is Vivian supposed to eat this now?" "Throw all of this away and sanitize the cutting board with boiling water.

Now!" Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he grabbed a bandaid from the cabinet and tossed it to me. "Put this on.

Don't get an infection." I looked at the greasestained bandaid and said nothing.

Once the food was served, Vivian took one bite and started gagging violently. "Nora, did you put onions in this? You know I'm allergic to onions!" "I didn't..." "Enough!

We all know what you did. Stop lying!" Ethan barked, his voice booming. I flinched, my cut finger throbbing.

Before I could even process what was happening, Jack grabbed his car keys and rushed out the door. Ethan scooped Vivian up in his arms and followed closely behind.

My parents grabbed Vivian's favorite snacks and a bag of spare clothes, rushing out without giving me a single glance. The apartment fell dead quiet.

I dragged my suitcase back inside and doublechecked my ID and documents. Lying in bed, my mind was completely blank and peaceful.

The next morning, I took a prebooked cab to the airport. During the ride, I scrolled through Instagram and saw a post Vivian had just uploaded.

It was a ninephoto grid celebrating her birthday. A beautiful doubletier cake covered in expensive berries. Handwritten cards from the family.

My parents wrote that she was their "most beloved daughter." Jack wrote that she was his "favorite sister." My husband wrote that she was "the most important woman in his life." I looked through every single photo, my heart completely numb.

I gave the post a 'like,' and then, without hesitation, left the family Snapchat group. With a loud roar of the engines, the plane lifted into the sky. ......

After blowing out her candles, Vivian was about to cut the cake. Ethan suddenly stopped her. "Wait a minute. Today is Nora's birthday too.

Let me call her over so you guys can cut it together." Vivian frowned in annoyance, but she nodded reluctantly.

Ethan opened the family Snapchat group to mention me. "Nora, we misunderstood you last night. Vivian wasn't having an allergic reaction, it was just mild stomach flu.

Take a cab over now, let's celebrate both your birthdays." But the moment he hit send, a system notification popped up: "This user is no longer in this group chat."