chapter 2

I dug my nails into my palms and begged, "Robin, don't hurt them… please, I'll do whatever you say."

My voice cracked with tears, but half of it was swallowed by the lake water.

Robin's mocking laugh came through the walkie-talkie. "That's better. Winona, I knew you were smart."

I gritted my teeth, refusing to waste a single second.

The fishing net around my ankles cut into my skin, and the fish inside thrashed violently.

Every time I finished baiting a hook, it felt like someone stomped on my chest.

In fact, I was the only daughter of the richest family in Lynchester, raised in luxury and cherished by Dad.

I even had a rare fertility trait.

But Dad wanted to use me to gain political power, planning to marry me off to the son of a powerful official I had never met.

"It's a marriage alliance, not selling you," he said. "As long as you agree, our family will rise even higher."

I found it utterly ridiculous.

Refusing to become someone's pawn, I ran away.

I cut off all ties with the Ford family, removed the tracker Dad had planted on me, and vanished from Lynchester overnight.

Later, I met Robin. He was gentle, attentive, and cared for me in every way.

I thought I had finally found someone I could rely on, so I lied that I had no family and was an orphan.

He believed me and even shared his secret. "The doctor said my sperm count is too low. I might never be able to have kids in this lifetime."

When he said it, his eyes were filled with shame and a desperate kind of longing. "If you could accept…"

"I'm fertile," I said softly under the moonlight that night. "If we're together, we can have children."

Robin froze, then pulled me into his arms, trembling with excitement. "Winona, marry me. I want to spend my life with you!"

A year after our wedding, I gave birth to triplets.

He was overjoyed and doted on me endlessly.

When the kids turned one, I found out I was pregnant with our fourth baby, Fred Brown.

During that time, he poured all his love into us.

But happiness was fleeting.

At some point, he got involved with Melanie, claiming the company needed funding and that if she invested, it could thrive again.

From then on, he obeyed Melanie in everything and catered to her every whim, buying her one thousand pounds of fish and rigging contests to ensure her wins.

Looking back, the so-called investment was just an excuse for him to get close to her and spoil her.

But now that I understood all this, it was already too late.

Love makes people blind, and it was only the icy, bone-chilling lake water that finally woke me up.

But at this moment, no matter what, I couldn't afford to give in.

I couldn't contact home and had no way out, so I poured every last ounce of strength into meeting Robin's demands, praying our three children stayed safe.

Time dragged unbearably, each second like torture.

I kept diving into the water, struggling through suffocation and cold, hooking 50 fish one by one onto Melanie's hook.

My lungs burned with pain, my whole body weak and trembling. In the end, even breathing became a torment.

Finally, the first 10 minutes passed, and Robin's excited voice came through the walkie-talkie. "Not bad, Winona! Look, Melanie is far ahead! If you hold on for 20 more minutes, I can turn everything around!"

From the shore came Melanie's playful laughter as she spoke in a deliberately coy tone, "Wow, Winona, you're incredible, working so hard. Aren't you afraid of freezing?

"But if I really win this contest, I'll invest 50 million dollars more into Robin's company."

A few rich kids nearby joined in the teasing.

"Melanie, no wonder you're doing so well today! Turns out Mr. Brown arranged a pro diver to help you underwater!"

"No wonder your business is booming, Mr. Brown. With a wife like that backing you up, who wouldn't be?"

Robin waved them off with a faint smile. "My wife? She's only good for this much. She's decent in the water, so being able to help Melanie is her good luck."

Their teasing laughter came through the walkie-talkie.

In the lake, my body was about to give out, but I gritted my teeth and kept going.

Then, a sudden, sharp pain shot through my lower abdomen.

Blood trickled down my diving suit, spreading through the cold, murky lake until it bloomed into a cloud of red.

I could feel it clearly—the tiny life in my womb was slipping away.

Fear clawed at me as I trembled, clutching the walkie-talkie. "Robin… help me… I'm losing the baby… I can't hold on, please pull me up, okay?"

There was a brief pause on the walkie-talkie, then came what sounded like Melanie's seemingly considerate voice.

"Robin, why don't you just pull Winona up? I probably won't win this contest anyway. For the investment, I can use my own private funds to help you."

Robin hesitated, but the rich kids nearby started jeering.

"Melanie, if it weren't your birthday and we were trying to make you happy, we wouldn't have let someone dive underwater to help you cheat. She can come up, but if you lose, you'd better keep your end of the bet!"

I had no idea what the bet was, but Melanie's face flushed instantly. She shot them a glare, pretending to be annoyed.

However, Robin gripped Melanie's wrist tightly. "Melanie, it's your birthday? Then I'll make sure you win this contest!"

Then a familiar yet cruel sneer echoed in my ear.

"Winona, haven't you always bragged about being fertile? How can this baby be slipping away so easily? Just bear it. Soon it'll be over.

"Once the company thrives, we can have more kids. And if… this one really is lost, then that's its fate."

I bit my lip and stayed silent, mechanically swimming, catching fish, and hooking them again and again.