100 Pranks from My Boyfriend, All for His First Love

Sarah Andrews never imagined that her boyfriend's poverty was all a lie.

For five years, she gave up everything. She sold her belongings, left behind her old life, and moved into a rusting shipping container in a desolate vineyard.

She worked twentyhour days, barely scraping by, all to help him pay off his socalled debts.

Then one day, dizzy from yet another plasma donation, she stumbled into a hospital corridor and saw something that shattered everything.

Harvey Jameson. But he wasn’t alone.

He was holding her foster sister, Zoey Stevens, like she was made of glass, guiding her gently into the obstetrics wing. Behind them trailed the vineyard manager and a pair of creditors, heads bowed like loyal knights.

Then Sarah faintly heard Harvey say, “Your health comes first, Zoey. I’ll take care of things with Sarah. We’re down to the last prank. Just waiting for her to pay off the debt and get kicked out.”

A hundred pranks. That was the promise.

Not love. Not loyalty. Just a long, drawnout con to destroy her.

The illusion shattered in one clean, brutal moment.

There had never been shared dreams. No sacrifice. No 'us.'

Only betrayal.

As a storm ripped through the vineyard that night, Sarah climbed to the hilltop, soaked and shaking, with lightning crashing overhead. She jumped.

Sarah gave them what they craved. Her silence. Her disappearance.

But behind her, the man she had once loved stood frozen in the rain, hands empty, grief etched across his face, raw and real, but far too late.

Harvey had broken her.

And when they met again, he couldn’t bring himself to let her go.

…

“Careful,” Harvey said gently. “You’re pregnant now, Zoey. You’ve got to be extra cautious.”

Then he looked up at him with a sweet smile. “Still thinking about Sarah? Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. I promised you a hundred pranks, remember? I’m not backing out now.”

Sitting just down the corridor, Sarah thought she must have misheard.

Earlier that day, she had told Harvey she would be out late selling blood. He didn’t say anything in return.

He had just smashed a plate and remained silent, as gloomy as ever.

After Harvey's failed investment left him with tens of millions in debt, he spiraled into depression. The doctors noted that he was unstable, withdrawn, and prone to sudden outbursts.

She had believed them. Believed he was broken.

So how could he now be sitting here, speaking so gently to someone else?

Then she heard her name. And just like that, everything crumbled.

She observed Harvey holding Zoey close as they entered the OB/GYN department, with the vineyard manager and a creditor following behind them.

One of them carried their bags.

The other held an umbrella to shield them from the sun.

When Sarah finally got a clear look at Zoey’s face, she froze.

Zoey was smiling, gently caressing her belly. “Sarah’s technically my sister, I guess. I never thought she’d hate me this much. She bullied me growing up. I put up with it. But I never imagined she’d steal my graduation project and delay my graduation. Honestly, Harvey, I don’t think I’d have made it if you hadn't been there for me.”

Harvey squeezed her hand. “Don’t say that. Someone like Sarah, I don’t even know how you still considered her family.”

“Don’t worry,” he added with a calm tone in his voice. “I’ll make her pay.”

Sarah sat there, stunned. Her chest tightened like something was sitting on it.

She reached into her pocket without thinking and brushed her fingers against a folded slip of paper.

It was the hundred dollars she’d gotten that morning for selling 2000cc of her blood.

Five years...

Five years of scraping by, living on bread and porridge.

Five years of backbreaking work to chip away at Harvey’s debt.

Five years of believing they were partners in pain.

And to Harvey, it had all been a longrunning prank.

Sometimes, when betrayal cuts deep enough, the mind shuts down. It couldn't process everything at once.

Still listening to them, Sarah sat frozen as Harvey and Zoey walked into the examination room.

Behind them, the vineyard manager, Joseph Merritt, chatted away like it was casual gossip.

“Miss Zoey, don’t worry. Sir Harvey’s already given the orders. That woman, Sarah Andrews? She doesn’t have a clue. Doesn’t even realize Red Maple Vineyard belongs to Mr. Jameson now. She’s out there every day picking grapes like some stray mutt.”

Joseph chuckled, clearly entertained. “Oh, and just last week, I laid a few snakes along her usual path down the vineyard hill. You should’ve seen her—screaming, crying, calling out for Sir Harvey like a lost little kid in a grocery store.”

Then he laughed and continued mocking Sarah. “She had no idea the whole thing was a setup. Sir Harvey was watching it all on the surveillance feed.”

Zoey stifled a laugh, covering her mouth.

Across the hospital room, Sarah sat as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over her. Her whole body went cold.

She remembered that night.

It was past 3 a.m., and she had been stumbling down the vineyard hill, utterly drained, barely able to keep her flashlight steady. Then she fell straight into a shallow pit crawling with snakes.

Her hands trembled so hard she lost grip of the flashlight. It hit the ground and went dark.

At that moment, panic swallowed her whole.

She screamed Harvey’s name over and over, even though deep down, she already knew he wouldn’t come. But saying his name was the only thing keeping her anchored to reality, preventing her from falling apart completely.

She never imagined it had all been planned. That her worst fear had been twisted into some sick joke.

When things between them first started to unravel, she once told him about a childhood memory of how terrified she had been of snakes after her grandmother showed her a jar of snake wine.

For days, she couldn’t sleep unless her grandmother stayed with her.

She had shared that story with him. Her fear. Her vulnerability.

And Harvey had used it against her.

Now, finally seeing him for who he really was, Sarah let out a slow, unsteady breath.

It was time to leave.

Harvey’s expression tensed for just a moment.

Zoey noticed. She leaned in gently and asked, “Are you feeling okay?”

He gave a subtle shake of his head, but before he could answer, the creditor beside him scoffed with disdain.

“It’s gotta be that woman, Sarah,” the man said, voice edged with contempt. “Always feeding Mr. Jameson Godknowswhat.”

The creditor snorted, then added with a twisted admiration, “Good thing Mr. Jameson thought ahead. Pretended to be emotionally unstable, smashed a few dishes. Gave him an excuse to avoid her food. Though somehow, he still ended up eating a lot.”

The creditor tsked, shaking his head. “That woman’s up to no good.”

'Up to no good?' Sarah let out a bitter, silent laugh.

When Harvey first got sick, she’d run all over the city looking for hospitals that would take him. She could barely afford to feed herself, but never skipped a day buying his medication.

Later, when they were both living in that drafty, leaking shipping container on the grape vineyard, she survived on scraps of burnt loaves soaked in cold water.

Vegetables were a rare luxury. And whenever Sarah managed to get her hands on a few drops of oil or a scrap of meat, it always went into Harvey’s bowl. Always.

Harvey never knew that she would get on her knees and eat the leftovers straight off the floor whenever he smashed a bowl or plate during one of his outbursts. She was careful not to waste a single drop.

Now, that food was being dismissed as 'Godknowswhat.'

A wave of exhaustion hit her so deeply that it felt like it reached her bones.

With that, Sarah didn’t spare the group another glance. She just turned and walked away, returning to the estate alone.

After her grandmother passed, Sarah was taken in by the Stevens family, which, on paper, made Zoey her sister. Her grandmother had said the Stevens were distant relatives and they would look after her.

And in a way, they did.

But there was never warmth. Never affection. Just an obligation.

The Stevens treated her as if she were invisible.

Conversely, Zoey seized every opportunity to torment her. Things only began to change when Sarah’s talent for design started to emerge. Even then, her position in the house hardly improved. At best, she was the one doing Zoey’s work.

Sarah had truly believed Harvey was the only light left in her life after her grandmother died.

He stated that he had fallen for her at first sight, was serious, and that she was the one.

Young love was like this—messy, intense, fast, and burned bright. She’d fallen hard.

And even after he lost everything, Sarah had stayed.

She never thought the truth would be this cruel.

So cruel that now, curled up inside the same rusting shipping container that had once been her safe place, she couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

But sorrow didn’t keep her company for long.

As she wiped her face, her fingers brushed against a folded sheet of paper tucked in the corner of a drawer.

She unfolded it slowly.

Harvey’s handwriting stared back at her.

[Lie to Sarah about the debt.]

[Make Sarah do illegal labor at the vineyard.]

[Pretend to be sick so Sarah has to search for medicine all night and still work the next day.]

[Set up snake traps along Sarah’s path down the vineyard hill.]

Ninetyseven entries in total. Harvey’s full prank list.

She stared at it, forcing herself to read each one like punishment.

Every night, she sat beside him, consumed with worry for his health.

Every day, she forced herself to traverse the city for medicine whenever he coughed.

Yet, all of it was merely part of a game.

Only three pranks remained on the paper for Harvey to keep his promise to Zoey. It was overwhelming her.

Then, Sarah remembered that Harvey had always told her not to touch his things in this tiny container.

Maybe he hadn’t even bothered to hide the list. Maybe he just assumed she’d never dare look.

Her fingers stopped at number eightyfive.

[Pretend to be seriously ill and on the brink of death. Mix the land transfer agreement for her grandmother’s grave into a surgical consent form and trick her into signing it.]

Sarah’s vision tilted.

She remembered that day.

Harvey had been fine. Then suddenly, he collapsed.

At the hospital, the doctor said his condition was critical.

She had panicked. Hands trembling, vision blurry, she’d signed the forms pushed in front of her without reading. She was too scared that even a moment’s hesitation might cost him his life.

She had no idea it was all planned. Staged.

While she ran around, begging for money, terrified he might not make it through surgery, Harvey had been using his own life as leverage to trick her into signing over the land her grandmother was buried on.

Her chest clenched so tightly she could barely breathe. It was like someone had dropped a lead weight on her lungs.

She couldn’t let her grandmother be disturbed. Not even in death.

Her grandmother had been her whole world, and she was the only one who truly loved her. Even when illness had drained her body, she still found the strength to go to the Stevens family and beg them to take Sarah in.

And now, even her resting place had been violated. How could she allow her peace to be disturbed after death?

Sarah sat there, her breath shallow, the paper trembling in her hands.

It was like waking up from the worst dream of her life. Only this wasn’t a dream.

She pulled herself together, changed her clothes, and ran out the door.

It hadn’t been that long since it happened.

Maybe… maybe she still had a chance to plead.

Sarah spotted Harvey in the office at the very top of the vineyard estate. From the day she arrived, she had been repeatedly warned to stay away from that restricted area. She never imagined that Harvey himself had put up those boundaries, deliberately keeping her at a distance.

When they first met, he came across as just another college student—humble, quiet, unassuming. Nothing about him suggested wealth or influence, so she had naturally assumed he came from a modest home.

But now she saw it. He’d been lying from the start, hiding who he was, keeping her at arm’s length the whole time.

She pushed past the guards who scrambled to stop her. Harvey’s gaze darkened the moment he saw her.

Zoey was seated beside him, giving Sarah a lazy, amused onceover. She looked exactly how Zoey liked her: disheveled, broken, pathetic. She had never liked Sarah. Not even from the beginning, especially after learning the real reason Sarah had ended up in her home.

As Sarah looked at Harvey, she gritted her teeth and dropped to her knees.

“Harvey,” she said, her voice tight, “if you want to mess with me, fine. But my grandma was the only family I had left. Can you return the transfer agreement to me? Please don’t move her grave. I’m begging you.”

Even when life had knocked her down, Sarah had never begged anyone.

Only twice.

Once, to a doctor, begging them to save Harvey’s life.

And now this.

Harvey’s brow twitched. For a moment, it looked like he might actually say something.

But before he could, Zoey cut in sweetly. “Harvey, help me pick a ring for the charity gala. That fiftycarat pink diamond you gave me last week? I think it’s perfect.”

Then she leaned in close, her voice barely above a whisper. “Harvey, only three more to go.”

Harvey noticed the signal but never looked back at Sarah. He turned away as if she didn't exist.

Sarah trembled. Her body still hadn’t recovered from the snake trap, and she had just sold blood again. She could barely stay upright.

But the two of them sat there, warm, close, and content, like she was invisible.

Sarah told herself it didn’t matter. She should let it go.

After all, she knew now that none of Harvey's warmth, the smiles, or promises had been real. Every bit of it had been calculated.

Still, knowing that didn’t make it any easier.

She sat there watching Harvey hold Zoey’s hand, watching them pick out rings she wouldn’t have dared to dream of even in her most extravagant fantasies.

She dropped her head, forcing down the sting in her eyes.

He handed out pink diamonds like candy while she worked under the scorching sun, picking grapes and selling her blood to buy Harvey medicine.

“Harvey, what is this?” Zoey’s voice rang across the room. “This cord is so ugly! It’s chafing your wrist. Let’s just burn it.”

She casually slipped off the knotted cord bracelet with the charm and reached for the lighter on the table.

Sarah froze.

That bracelet was her grandmother’s.

Before thinking about it, she lunged forward and yanked it from Zoey’s hand.

Zoey stumbled back in surprise. Her eyes immediately welled with tears.

“Sarah, I know you don’t like me,” she said, her voice trembling. “You always try to take everything from me. Please stop bullying me… I’m scared.”

For a second, Sarah almost believed her.

She had never truly understood why Zoey hated her so much. For years, she thought staying quiet and innocent would be enough to keep the peace.

But now, with Harvey right there, she opened her mouth without thinking.

“I didn’t—”

Suddenly, a sharp crack of shattering porcelain broke the moment as a teacup smashed against the tile beside her, and in the same instant, a searing pain shot through her temple.

Warm blood began to slide down the side of her face. Dazed, she reached up, her fingers coming away sticky, while her clothes, soaked from the grape juice, clung to her skin, cold and damp.

Harvey looked down at her like she was nothing.

“This isn’t the place for your tantrums, Sarah,” he said, flat and cold. “Zoey’s too kind to lay a hand on you, but I’m not.”

Sarah blinked, stunned, as the man before her felt like a complete stranger.

Once, they had shared real moments. Harvey had no hidden identity back then, and she had no idea he came from unimaginable wealth.

In that tiny rented room where they used to talk about the future, he would look at her with eyes so tender she truly believed she could lose herself in them.

The tears she’d tried so hard to hold back finally broke free.

For a second, Harvey’s face shifted. It softened, like he might be hesitating.

Then Zoey let out a soft whine. “Harvey, I’m not feeling great. I wonder if it’s the baby…”

Her voice snapped Harvey out of it. Without a word, he turned away from Sarah and lifted Zoey into his arms.

Before walking out, he turned to Joseph.

“Have her kneel here,” he ordered. “You keep watch.”

“Yes, sir,” Joseph responded instantly.

Sarah didn’t move. She held the charred bracelet tight against her chest. The porcelain edges cut into her skin, but she didn’t even notice.

Only when Harvey’s silhouette finally disappeared did the last of her strength drain away.

The world tipped sideways.

And she collapsed.

Sarah slept longer than she had in years. In her dreams, she was a little girl again, safe in her grandmother’s small, cluttered house. Life back then moved more slowly. The air smelled like simmering soup, and rain gently tapped the tin roof.

But even in dreams, the shadows found her.

She remembered how people used to stare with pity, whispering behind their hands. That was how she learned the truth—her parents had abandoned her, and she had become a burden her grandmother carried alone.

She cried for days. Children don’t know how to hide heartbreak.

It wasn’t until her grandmother placed a knotted charm bracelet around her wrist and promised it would keep her safe that she finally stopped.

“Sarah, my dear,” her grandmother had said softly, “your mom and dad didn’t leave you. They just can’t come back right now. One day, when you're older, you’ll understand.”

But Sarah never got the chance to grow up with her. Illness took her grandmother too soon.

Her dream then shifted.

Now Sarah was in the Stevens' house—cold, spotless, and perpetually too quiet. In that place, she had always felt like an outsider.

It didn’t matter how high her grades were or how careful she was not to step out of line. The smiles of her adoptive parents always disappeared the moment she walked into the room.

And outside the house was even crueler. Her classmates didn’t bother pretending. They cut her clothes, tore her notebooks, and made her backpack vanish just before the bell rang.

One moment stood out more than the rest.

Her backpack had been strung up in a tree. She stood beneath it, pacing and panicked, jumping and failing to reach it. Her hands were scraped and stinging, and tears clung to her lashes, just waiting to fall.

Then a breeze carried the smell of wild grass and warm earth.

She looked up, and he was there.

A tall boy in a school uniform, his collar undone just enough to look effortlessly cool. In his hand was her backpack. In his eyes, there was a calm, unbothered kind of kindness.

Under the bright summer sun, he smiled.

“Hey,” he said. “Nice to meet you. I’m Harvey.”

When Sarah opened her eyes in the hospital, she stared up at the ceiling, dazed.

Back then, she never would have believed that the boy smiling in the sunlight would grow into the man who caused her so much pain.

Suddenly, a gentle beep interrupted her dream. Someone had pressed the call button next to her bed.

For a brief second, something flickered in her chest.

Maybe it was Harvey. Maybe, despite everything, he had come.

Maybe he still cared.

She turned her head.

It wasn’t him.

It was Joseph, the vineyard manager.

Joseph saw the flicker of disappointment in her eyes and scoffed. “Don’t get your hopes up. Sir Harvey is with Miss Zoey. If you’re tired of living like this, maybe stop acting like a victim and apologize. To both of them.”

Sarah let out a bitter laugh and thought inwardly, 'Apologize? Apologize for loving Harvey? For refusing to let Zoey cheat her way through life?'

But she didn’t say a word. Her silence said enough.

Joseph rolled his eyes, yanked open the door, and walked out.

...

A few minutes later, Zoey walked in.

Her belly had just begun to show, a small curve that hit Sarah like a punch to the chest.

Zoey folded her arms across it, her posture casual but her expression smug.

Her voice came out sweet, but every word landed like a slap. "Sarah, I told you not to cross me. Now that you know Harvey only got close to you because of me, how does that feel? Like your whole little world just collapsed?"

She paused, overseeing Sarah, savoring the moment before she added with mock sweetness,

"Oh, and by the way, your grandma’s grave? It's the perfect location. I joked to Harvey about needing a peaceful resting place for Luna, and he just handed it over."

Sarah’s breath caught in her throat. She knew exactly who Luna was.

Zoey’s hamster.

Her heart stopped.

Harvey had given up her grandmother’s grave for a hamster?

The disbelief barely had time to settle before memories slammed into her like a freight train.

She remembered taking Harvey to that hillside when things were still good. She had run ahead, cheeks flushed with excitement, pulling him by the hand. She had looked at him like he was her future.

“Grandma,” she had said, grinning from ear to ear, “this is Harvey. He treats me so well. You don’t have to worry anymore. We’ll come visit all the time.”

But after the socalled debts took over that day, she was never allowed to return.

Harvey had known. He had known exactly what that place meant to her.

And he had still done this.

Something inside her cracked wide open.

She didn’t care that she’d just fainted. She didn’t care about the IV needle in her arm, the hospital gown clinging to her, or the pounding pain behind her eyes.

With strength she didn’t know she had, Sarah shoved Zoey aside and bolted from the room.

The rain had been relentless all week.

When Sarah reached the old part of the town, her shoes were soaked and her clothes clung to her from the drizzle. The roads here were rough and uneven, winding through crumbling alleyways and forgotten lots.

Her grandmother’s grave was supposed to be nestled peacefully in a cemetery. Instead, she found the tombstone discarded in a patch of weeds, mudstained, cracked, and tossed aside like trash.

Sarah’s breath caught in her throat.

She stood frozen for a moment, then dropped to her knees and gently wiped the dirt from the stone, her hands trembling.

“Grandma…” Her voice cracked. “It was my fault. I misjudged him.”

Her chest tightened as the memories came rushing back. The first time she brought Harvey here, she’d been so nervous, so proud. She wanted him to understand how much her grandmother meant to her.

Back then, had he already been laughing at her behind her back? Mocking her for being naïve?

Maybe the devil does appear when spoken of.

A strong hand suddenly yanked her by the wrist.

Sarah gasped, jerking her head up, and there he was.

Harvey.

He looked like he’d rushed over, breath heavy, hair slightly disheveled.

For a moment, she foolishly thought he was worried about her.

But then, a voice crackled from his phone, still on speaker. "Sir Harvey, Miss Zoey isn’t doing well. She said Sarah pushed her. Have you found Sarah yet? Miss Zoey has been crying nonstop."

Joseph’s voice.

And just like that, the illusion shattered.

Harvey’s grip on her wrist tightened, and she felt like her bones might snap.

He muttered a few clipped responses, then hung up.

When he turned back to Sarah, his eyes were hard as stone.

"Zoey said you pushed her. The baby’s position is unstable now. Sarah, have you been getting too comfortable lately? If you’re looking to die, then go do it somewhere far from me."

His venomous words hit her like a slap.

There had been a time when Harvey was worried if she’d eaten, if she remembered to wear a coat, or if she was lonely or cold. Now, he didn’t even ask if she was okay. He just took someone else’s word and threw it at her like a weapon.

Sarah let out a bitter laugh, the sound low and broken. "Fine. As long as you're willing to show some mercy and return my grandmother’s ashes, I’ll disappear. I’ll stay far, far away from you."

She meant it.

She didn’t know what kind of madness he was caught up in, but she was done.

Instead of letting go, Harvey gripped her tightly. His fingers dug into her skin.

"If anything happens to Zoey," he said, voice low and dangerous, "I’ll send you straight to the afterlife to join your grandmother."

Before Sarah could react, he dragged her roughly down the hill and shoved her into a car waiting by the curb.

The pain came almost immediately. Her stomach clenched, waves of nausea crashing over her.

Sarah curled up in the corner of the backseat, clutching her abdomen, trying to breathe through the sharp, twisting cramps.

Harvey sat beside her, scrolling through his phone like nothing had happened.

Eventually, out of his eye, he noticed her trembling.

He scoffed, "Scared now? Trying to fake being sick so I’ll feel sorry for you? Zoey told me you’ve always been jealous of her. Adopted daughter playing victim. How many tricks do you have?"

Sarah opened her mouth, wanting to speak, wanting to defend herself.

But the look in his eyes stopped her cold.

All warmth was gone. There was nothing left of the man she had once loved.

The Harvey who used to hold her, support her, and make her feel safe had disappeared.

In his place was someone cold, someone who had spent years leading her into a cruel trap to help Zoey break her down piece by piece.

Sarah turned her face toward the window, the city lights blurring behind the rainstreaked glass.

Exhausted, Sarah thought, 'I just need to find a way out.'

She didn’t know where she’d go or how she’d survive, but when this was over, she never wanted anything to do with Harvey.

She vowed never to come back.

Just then, the car rolled to a stop in front of the hospital, and the driver called out that they had arrived.

Only then did Harvey look up from his phone.

Sarah hadn’t moved. She was still curled up in the corner of the backseat, her body rigid, drenched in sweat. Her shirt clung to her, and her lips had turned pale.

Something about her stillness made Harvey hesitate.

He turned to look at her more closely.

Slowly, almost uncertainly, he brushed her hair away from her face.

She didn’t flinch.

There was no color left in her cheeks. Her breathing was shallow. Her skin felt like ice.

Harvey’s stomach dropped.

"Sarah," he said, shaking her shoulder. "Sarah, wake up."

No response.

"Sarah—"

The driver turned, eyes wide. "Mr. Jameson, she’s bleeding a lot!"

Harvey froze.

His gaze dropped to her lap. His heart slammed against his ribs.

A dark red stain was spreading fast.

When Sarah awoke, the sterile white ceiling above her appeared unnaturally still and quiet. For a moment, she gazed silently and without expression.

She sensed something wasn’t quite right with her body even through the fog of exhaustion.

Her cycle had always been irregular.

Long hours of picking grapes, skipped meals, and stress had all taken their toll. So, when she missed it this time, the thought of pregnancy didn’t even cross her mind.

But then came the blood.

The cramps.

The gutwrenching pain in the car.

Suddenly, it all made sense.

She had been carrying Harvey’s child.

Tentatively, Sarah lifted a trembling hand and placed it over her stomach. Her palm was cold against the thin hospital gown.

Just then, the door swung open. Harvey walked in, holding a stack of test results.

Their eyes met.

Sarah instinctively flinched and shrank back into the sheets. But then, remembering the baby, she found a trace of courage and pushed herself up slightly.

“If you and Zoey don’t want me around… I’ll leave,” she said softly, barely above a whisper. “But… can I keep the baby?”

The words slipped out quietly, cautiously, almost like a plea.

She had once been vibrant, full of energy and light. Now she lay there in that hospital bed, pale and fragile, like something time had worn down.

Her grandmother spoiled her once. Harvey had too.

But those days were over. That kind of love was long gone.

And maybe, she realized, it had never been real at all.

She wasn’t asking for Harvey’s love, forgiveness, or even kindness anymore. All she wanted now was the right to keep her child.

Harvey’s expression darkened. He threw the stack of test results onto the side table with a sharp snap, his anger rising like a storm about to break.

“You’re not keeping it,” Harvey said coldly. “The procedure’s scheduled for tomorrow.”

Sarah froze. Her lips parted, trying to form a response, but it took a long, painful moment before any sound came out.

“What… did you say?” she asked, her voice cracking. “This is your child, too.”

Tears streamed down her face before she could react. They had become increasingly familiar since she learned that the love she had clung to was onesided.

The man who used to protect her, who once feared she might get hurt, was now the one causing her the most pain.

“What do I owe you, Harvey?” Sarah asked in anguish. “If I’d known you’d treat me like this, I would’ve rather never met you!”

Harvey’s eyes narrowed sharply.

Without warning, his hand shot forward and clamped around her throat.

“You think you’re worthy of carrying this child?” he spat.

A cruel smirk twisted his lips. “You want this kid to grow up knowing his mother’s a thief? A plagiarist?”

Sarah’s entire body went numb.

His grip didn’t loosen. The hatred in his eyes was real, burning, and relentless.

And it was all because of Zoey.

Zoey had claimed it was about stolen designs, that Sarah had been her ghostwriter, and that she had always lived in Zoey’s shadow as the quiet, invisible sister.

But even if Sarah had proof, Harvey wouldn’t have believed her. He hadn’t loved her. He had only gotten close to her to protect Zoey. To punish Sarah for something she never did.

And then, like a door suddenly flung open in her memory, it all came rushing back.

The day Harvey truly snapped—the same day Zoey got married.

That night, the man who was always cold but controlled had become something else. Vicious. Ruthless. He broke her down word by word, touch by touch, until she collapsed from the weight of it all.

She remembered his words that night, slurred and spoken through clenched teeth.

“If you hadn’t ruined Zoey, she wouldn’t have had to marry someone she doesn’t love.”

At the time, Sarah had pushed it from her mind, forgotten about it entirely. But now, as she stood there, everything came rushing back.

She also recalled how things only deteriorated after the news broke that Zoey was pregnant.

Harvey’s cruelty became relentless each day.

Even when she begged him to stop, telling him she had work the next day, he remained indifferent.

Back then, Sarah convinced herself it was just the passion of their lovemaking,

But now, as she thought back to the steep hillside trail, how her legs had given out, how she nearly slipped, and how the overseers had cursed and spat on her, she understood.

Harvey had wanted to push her to the edge.

And now, standing before her with that same face, that same voice, he spoke about taking her child as if it meant nothing.

Because, to Harvey, it never had.

When Harvey saw that Sarah wasn’t speaking, his expression softened. The same hand that had just wrapped around her throat now brushed gently across her cheek.

Sarah froze.

She remembered this touch. On so many nights, it had brought her warmth, comfort, and love—or at least what she thought was love.

But now? That same hand made her feel uncertain and afraid, standing on the edge of a cliff.

Harvey didn’t seem to notice the stiffness in her posture.

His voice was low, almost coaxing as he taunted, “Be good. This child isn’t meant to be born. Getting rid of it is for your own good.”

Just as the words left his mouth, his phone buzzed.

Sarah didn’t need to see the screen to know it was Zoey.

Even Harvey didn’t realize it but always softened when talking to Zoey.

His tone would shift, his voice gentle, reverent, as if speaking to something fragile and precious.

But when it came to her, Sarah felt she barely registered.

She didn’t want to think about it anymore.

After Harvey left the room, she lay beneath the cold, white hospital lights.

The silence pressed in like thick and heavy fog.

For the first time, she felt a pressing need to act.

Sarah hadn’t stolen anything, but back when living under someone else’s roof, she’d tried too hard to please the Stevens family, to get a little attention.

She had been naïve, bound by the idea of 'family,' forgetting that she was always an outsider.

When her grandmother died, she no longer had a home. Later, she thought that even the shipping container was home, because Harvey was there. No matter how hard or bitter life was, she endured it.

Sarah tried to be a good daughter, partner, and woman.

But reality slapped her in the face.

Now, she had a child. And that child gave her something she hadn’t had in a long time—purpose.

That small ember of courage began to glow.

Slowly, Sarah pushed back the covers and stood up.

Her body ached. Every step felt unstable, like her bones weren’t quite holding her up, but she moved forward, one trembling foot at a time.

She opened the hospital room door, and there he was.

Harvey stood just outside, not even surprised to see her.

In his hand was a medicine.

Sarah stiffened. She didn’t need to ask what it was.

Harvey stepped forward and offered her the pill.

Sarah backed up slightly, eyeing the contents with suspicion. She could smell the bitterness from where she stood.

Her instinct screamed at her to run. She raised her hand, ready to knock the bowl from his grip.

However, Harvey’s following words stopped her cold. “Don’t make a decision you’ll regret. Your grandmother’s ashes are with me right now. Didn’t she mean everything to you? You want her to suffer unrest even in death?”

Sarah’s entire body went still.

Her eyes widened. She looked at him in disbelief, but his face remained calm, unreadable, as if he hadn’t just blackmailed her with the one thing she held sacred.

She closed her eyes.

And in that single moment, something inside her broke completely.

The man she had once loved unconditionally and stupidly had never cared. Not for her, not for their child. Not even for the memory of her grandmother.

To him, everything about her, every piece she considered sacred, was merely leverage, a way to control her.

A way to break her.

Her heart, already cracked, now shattered.

She opened her eyes and looked at him, not with anger or hate, but with hollow understanding.

He lowered his gaze, almost like he couldn’t meet her eyes.

“Now’s just not the right time for this baby,” he said again, as though repeating it would make it true. "Maybe someday. I even brought you some fruits to help you bounce back.”

He sounded like he genuinely cared about her health.

But Sarah couldn’t even bring herself to argue anymore.

There was no point.

She was leaving. This was the last time she’d ever let him have power over her.

Without saying another word, she took the pill from his hand, brought it to her lips, and swallowed it in one motion.

Then she turned, walked back to the bed, and lay down.

She didn’t see the flicker of something in Harvey’s expression as he stared at her.

Lying on her back, she forced her voice to remain steady. “I took the pill. I hope you’ll keep your promise. I need to rest.”

For a long moment, silence.

Then the sound of the door closing.

As soon as it clicked shut, Sarah broke down.

The tears came hard and fast, soaking the pillow beneath her.

It hurt more than she thought it would.

But she had once promised her grandmother that she would live well. While sick, her grandmother worked to find her a place to stay and a future to strive for.

If she had given up now, her grandmother would have been heartbroken. Sarah reached for the frayed, knotted charm bracelet from beneath the blanket.

She clutched it so tightly that the sharp edge bit into her skin, but she didn’t feel a thing.

She knew she had to leave this place.

Somewhere, no one knew her. Somewhere, she could start over. Somewhere she could be free.

A sudden warmth spread beneath her.

She knew what it was.

A life, her baby, was being taken from her. And she had done it with her own hands.

At that moment, her phone buzzed.

Automatically, she reached out and tapped it, desperate for a distraction.

The screen lit up. It was Zoey.

A video popped open without warning.

Zoey was sitting crosslegged in it, instructing Harvey to sew baby clothes. Harvey, awkward and all thumbs, fumbled with the fabric. Sweat clung to his forehead. But he was focused, careful, and unrecognizable. No one would’ve guessed this man was heir to the Jameson Group.

Zoey’s voice came through, teasing but curious. “Harvey, you’re taking this so seriously. Do you like kids?”

He didn’t even look up. “Yeah,” he replied.

Zoey hesitated. “Then what about Sarah’s child—”

He cut her off instantly. “That child shouldn’t exist. Don’t bring it up.”

The video ended.

Sarah stared at the screen silently, then quietly set the phone aside and pulled the blanket over her head. The sharp, metallic scent of blood hung in the air, making her head pound.

She couldn’t stay here. Not another second.

As soon as her body recovered, she would leave, far away from all of this. From him.

She never wanted to see Harvey doting on Zoey ever again.

After packing her luggage, she no longer had the slightest attachment to this place, and this time she did not hesitate!