For ten minutes, I sat on the bathroom floor staring at five pregnancy tests.

Five.

Apparently, after the third positive result, I had continued testing because I believed the next plastic stick might suddenly announce:

Just kidding.

It didn’t.

I put a hand on my stomach.

“Are you awake?”

Nothing.

I poked my belly gently.

“Hello?”

Still nothing.

The little traitor really had gone to sleep after dropping the biggest disaster of my life into my lap.

I was about to stand when the voice finally returned.

Sleepy.

Annoyed.

【Mom… stop poking me.】

I froze.

“You’re real.”

【Unfortunately, so are you.】

I stared at my stomach.

Was my unborn child insulting me?

“Who is the woman?”

【What woman?】

“The reborn protagonist!”

The baby became instantly awake.

【Oh! Bad Auntie!】

“Yes. Bad Auntie. What’s her name?”

Silence.

Then:

【I don’t remember.】

I nearly screamed.

“You remember your father’s future net worth but not the woman who destroyed our lives?”

【Money leaves a stronger impression.】

I closed my eyes.

Daniel and I had somehow created a tiny accountant.

“Tell me anything you remember.”

The baby’s voice became more serious.

【She knows Dad’s legs will recover.】

I stopped.

“What?”

【Dad isn’t permanently paralyzed.】

My throat tightened.

For months, Daniel had undergone treatment without complaining.

The doctors had never promised anything.

Some days he could barely feel his feet.

Other days there were tiny responses.

I had stopped asking whether he would walk again because every time I asked, I saw hope appear in his eyes before he forced it away.

“When?”

【Soon. Bad Auntie knows which treatment works because she remembers the previous life. She uses that information to make Dad think she saved him.】

My hands turned cold.

“And the underwear?”

【Hers.】

I sat straighter.

“She entered our apartment?”

【Yes!】

“How?”

The baby paused.

【Mom, I was dead before I was born. I wasn’t exactly doing detective work.】

Fair.

Painfully fair.

My phone rang.

Unknown number.

I answered cautiously.

“Hello?”

A woman’s voice came through.

“Clara? I’m Iris Shen.”

The baby screamed so loudly inside my head that I dropped the phone.

【BAD AUNTIE!】

There was my answer.

I picked up the phone.

“Sorry. Bad signal.”

Iris laughed gently.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you. Daniel mentioned that you’re often home in the afternoon.”

Daniel mentioned me?

Interesting.

“I wanted to bring you something. I’m actually downstairs.”

My entire body stiffened.

【Mom! Don’t let her in!】

I walked to the window.

A woman stood near the entrance of our building.

Long coat.

Expensive handbag.

Beautiful face.

I recognized her vaguely.

Professor Shen’s daughter.

She had visited Daniel once at the rehabilitation center.

At the time, she’d barely looked at me.

Now she was downstairs?

“I’ll come down.”

【MOM!】

“Public lobby,” I muttered.

【Oh. Smart. Previous-life Mom would’ve invited her upstairs.】

“Please stop reviewing my previous performance.”

I went downstairs.

Iris smiled the moment she saw me.

“Clara.”

She handed me a box.

“Supplements. They’re good for stress.”

I didn’t open it.

“How thoughtful.”

Her eyes moved subtly toward my stomach.

Too subtly.

But I noticed.

The baby noticed too.

【She knows!】

My heartbeat accelerated.

How could she?

I had discovered the pregnancy less than an hour ago.

Iris sighed.

“I heard you and Daniel have been having problems.”

“From whom?”

She paused.

“Daniel seemed unhappy recently.”

Lie.

Daniel barely discussed our relationship with Felix.

He certainly wouldn’t discuss it with her.

I smiled.

“We had a misunderstanding.”

Something flickered across her face.

Disappointment.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“I’m glad.”

She didn’t sound glad.

Then she lowered her voice.

“Still, Clara, you should think carefully about your future. Taking care of someone in Daniel’s condition can consume your entire life.”

My smile disappeared.

“In his condition?”

“I don’t mean anything cruel.”

She touched my hand.

I pulled it away.

“You’re young. Daniel may never walk again.”

Inside me, my baby snorted.

【Liar. She knows Dad will walk before New Year.】

Before New Year?

That soon?

I looked at Iris differently.

She continued.

“Sometimes leaving isn’t betrayal. Sometimes it’s self-preservation.”

There it was.

A gentle push.

Exactly where she believed I was already falling.

Then she took out a business card.

“I have a friend recruiting administrative staff for a private medical company. The salary is excellent, and housing is provided.”

I accepted the card.

The location was several provinces away.

My baby’s voice changed.

No jokes now.

Pure terror.

【Mom.】

My fingers tightened.

【That’s the job.】

“What?”

Iris tilted her head.

“Sorry?”

“Nothing.”

The baby continued.

【In the previous life, you accepted it after breaking up with Dad.】

I felt cold despite the heated lobby.

【There was no company.】

I looked at the address again.

【That’s how they took you to the mountain village.】

I raised my eyes.

Iris was smiling at me.

Waiting.

She already believed she’d won.

So I smiled back.

“This sounds interesting.”

Her eyes brightened.

“Really?”

“Very.”

【MOM?!】

“I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t wait too long,” Iris said. “The position could disappear.”

“I understand.”

She left five minutes later.

The moment the glass doors closed behind her, I photographed the business card.

Then I called Daniel.

He answered after three rings.

“Clara?”

His voice was cold.

I deserved that.

“Are you busy?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

Silence.

Then he sighed.

“What happened?”

I suddenly wanted to cry.

Even angry, he knew me too well.

“Daniel, about yesterday…”

“If you’ve decided to break up, wait until I return.”

“I haven’t.”

Silence.

“What?”

“I don’t want to break up.”

Another silence.

Longer.

“Clara, don’t say that because you feel guilty.”

“I don’t.”

I swallowed.

“The underwear wasn’t yours.”

“I know.”

That almost irritated me.

“I mean, someone planted it.”

His voice sharpened immediately.

“What?”

“Iris Shen visited me today.”

Daniel became completely silent.

“She offered me a job far away.”

“Don’t take it.”

The speed of his answer surprised me.

“Why?”

“Because Iris has been asking questions about you.”

My heart stopped.

“What questions?”

“Your schedule. Whether you’re home alone. Whether you plan to leave the city.”

The baby whispered:

【See? Dad isn’t stupid. Just emotionally constipated.】

I covered my mouth to stop myself laughing.

Daniel heard it.

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing.”

“Clara.”

“Pregnancy hormones.”

Silence.

Oh.

Oh no.

I had said it.

Daniel’s voice disappeared completely.

“Clara.”

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Yes?”

“What did you just say?”

There was no escaping now.

I put my hand on my stomach.

“I’m pregnant.”

Nothing.

Not even breathing.

“Daniel?”

Still nothing.

Then I heard something crash on his side.

Felix shouted in the background.

“Brother! Your phone!”

Daniel finally spoke.

“How many weeks?”

“About ten, based on my last period. I still need an ultrasound.”

“And it’s…”

He stopped.

I became offended instantly.

“Yours!”

“I wasn’t questioning that.”

“Oh.”

Another silence.

Then his voice became strangely rough.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“The baby?”

“I think so.”

【Tell Dad I’m excellent.】

“He’s apparently excellent.”

Daniel froze.

“What?”

“Nothing!”

I needed to stop repeating the fetus.

Daniel took a breath.

“I’m coming home.”

“What about the conference?”

“Felix can present.”

In the background:

“I CAN?”

Daniel ignored him.

“I’ll take the next flight.”

“Daniel, you don’t need—”

“Someone planted evidence in our home, a woman I don’t trust approached you today, and you’re pregnant.”

His voice became colder.

“I’m coming home.”

The call ended.

My baby sighed happily.

【Dad is reliable.】

I smiled despite myself.

“Yes.”

【Rich too, eventually.】

“There it is.”

Three hours later, someone knocked.

I checked the camera.

Iris.

Again.

But this time, she wasn’t smiling.

I didn’t open the door.

“Clara?”

I remained silent.

“I know you’re inside.”

The baby woke instantly.

【Don’t open it!】

Iris knocked harder.

Then she said something that made every hair on my body stand up.

“Daniel can’t protect you.”

My hand tightened around my phone.

How did she know I’d called him?

Then the elevator opened.

Felix appeared first.

And behind him was Daniel.

Still in his wheelchair.

Still wearing the clothes he’d traveled in.

Iris turned pale.

“Daniel?”

He rolled forward.

“What are you doing outside my home?”

“I was checking on Clara.”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

Her expression changed.

Then she crouched beside him.

“Daniel, I’m trying to help you. There are things you don’t understand yet.”

He looked at her hand on his wheelchair.

“Remove it.”

Iris slowly stood.

“You’ll regret trusting her.”

Daniel’s eyes became ice.

“Why?”

“Because she was going to abandon you.”

My heart sank.

She knew.

She knew about our argument.

Daniel looked toward the closed apartment door.

Then back at Iris.

“She didn’t.”

“She will.”

Iris’s composure finally cracked.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen!”

The hallway became silent.

Daniel narrowed his eyes.

“What is going to happen?”

Iris realized her mistake.

Too late.

She stepped backward.

And inside me, my baby suddenly screamed:

【Mom!】

I gripped the door handle.

【That’s what she said in the previous life!】

“What?”

【Before Dad’s surgery!】

My blood went cold.

【She knows exactly which doctor can make Dad walk again!】

I stared through the camera at Iris.

And suddenly everything changed.

This woman wasn’t merely trying to steal my boyfriend.

She possessed knowledge of Daniel’s future.

Knowledge that could determine whether he spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

And judging by the fear on her face—

Daniel had just realized it too.