Stolen Heir: My Husband Tried to Kill Me for His Mistress

The contractions felt like a rusty saw dragging back and forth across my lower abdomen.

Every breath I took tasted of thick, metallic blood.

I was lying in the delivery room of Vance Private Hospital.

Cold sweat had long soaked through my thin hospital gown.

Outside the door, I heard the nurses whispering in hushed tones.

"The guy in the VIP suite is out of his mind. He's actually forcing his wife, who's in active labor, to hold it in."

"Hold it in? How do you even do that?"

"By injecting a massive dose of contraction inhibitors. Apparently, his childhood sweetheart is getting an MRI, her claustrophobia kicked in, and shes crying and screaming for him to be there."

"Is he insane? His wife is about to give birth! Forcing her to delay labor could kill both mother and child!"

"Shh, keep your voice down. He's Luke Carter, the youngest Vice President of our hospital. Word is he's also the CEO's son-in-law. We can't afford to mess with him."

The nurses footsteps faded into the distance.

I stared at the harsh, white fluorescent lights on the ceiling, my vision blurring.

Luke Carter.

My husband.

Just three hours ago, he was kissing my forehead at home.

He had pressed his ear to my belly, his voice so gentle it could melt.

"Thank you, sweetheart. I'll be right by your side at the hospital today to welcome our baby."

Now, he was keeping another woman company during an MRI.

To soothe her petty claustrophobia, he had ordered the staff to pump me with inhibitors.

To force me to hold it in.

The door creaked open.

A nurse walked in carrying a medical tray.

It was Nora, the head nurse whom Luke had personally promoted.

Usually, when she saw me, she was all smiles, calling me "Mrs. Carter" with dripping sweetness.

Now, she wouldn't even look me in the eye.

Her face was masked in cold, professional indifference.

"Mrs. Carter, Dr. Carter ordered this. Your contraction frequency is too high. We need to administer the inhibitor immediately."

She practicedly picked up the syringe.

She flicked it to release the air bubbles.

A few drops of clear liquid splashed onto the back of my hand.

It felt bone-chillingly cold.

"I'm not taking that," I said.

I bit my lower lip so hard I tasted copper.

Nora frowned, her tone dripping with impatience.

"You don't have a choice. Lily is throwing a massive fit in the MRI room, and Dr. Carter can't leave her side."

"If you give birth now, there won't be an attending OB-GYN to deliver your baby."

"Holding it in is best for both you and the child."

Without waiting for my consent, she grabbed my wrist.

She violently tied a tourniquet around it.

The needle hovered inches from my vein.

*Hold it in.*

What a sick joke.

High-dose contraction inhibitors are lethal for a woman in active labor.

It forces the uterus to stop contracting.

It suffocates the fetus inside.

It can even trigger a massive, fatal postpartum hemorrhage.

Luke was a top OB-GYN specialist.

He knew the consequences of this injection better than anyone.

Yet, he still gave the order.

Just because his childhood friend was scared of a machine.

He wanted me, his pregnant wife, to force our baby back into my womb.

I stared at the sharp needle.

Luke's past vows flashed through my mind.

Three years ago, he was just a broke resident who couldn't even afford rent.

I had hidden my status as the heiress of the Vance Group and married him without a second thought.

To protect his fragile, pathetic ego, I didn't even make our relationship public at my family's hospital.

I lived in a cramped basement with him, eating instant noodles.

I watched him climb from a lowly resident to the Vice President.

I thought I had married for love.

It turned out I had just married a joke.

"Get away from me," I growled.

I yanked my hand back.

The needle scraped across my skin, leaving a long, bleeding scratch.

Nora gasped, dropping the syringe to the floor.

"Are you crazy?!"

I threw off the blanket.

I stepped barefoot onto the freezing cold tiles.

A mixture of amniotic fluid and blood ran down my thighs.

Every step felt like walking on broken glass.

"I said, I'm not taking it."

I gripped the edge of the bed, forcing my spine straight.

"Tell Luke to drag his ass over here and face me."

Nora sneered, her eyes full of contempt.

"Who do you think you are? Dr. Carter is the CEO's son-in-law, and Lily is his childhood sweetheart."

"You think you can just order him around?"

*The CEO's son-in-law.*

Yes, he was riding on the glory my father gave him, playing god in this hospital.

And now, he was using my father's power to trample on my life.

I forced myself to calm down.

I took a deep breath, riding out another wave of agony.

"Fine. If he won't come," I said, wiping the blood from my lip, "I'll go find him."

I pushed past Nora and stumbled out of the delivery room.

The cold draft in the hallway hit me, clearing my head.

I needed to ask him.

I needed to ask the man who held me every night and whispered sweet nothings into my ear...

What kind of monster was he?

The hallway felt endless.

The fluorescent lights were blindingly white.

I leaned against the cold wall, dragging myself forward inch by inch.

Contractions came faster and harder now.

It felt like an invisible hand was tearing my insides apart.

I grit my teeth, refusing to make a sound.

Amniotic fluid kept dripping down my legs.

I left a horrifying trail of wet stains on the tiles.

At the end of the hall was the hospital's most luxurious VIP suite.

The door was half-open.

The warmth drifting out carried a faint scent of expensive French perfume.

Luke had personally imported it from France, claiming it was for soothing anxiety.

He had never let me use it, saying it wasn't good for pregnant women.

As it turned out, he was saving it for his "childhood friend."

I stopped ten paces away.

Through the crack in the door, I saw them.

Luke was in his crisp white lab coat, his back to me.

Holding onto him, dressed in silk hospital pajamas, was Lily Brooks.

I knew that name all too well.

Luke had a contact named "Lily" saved on his SnapChat.

He told me she was just a poor college student he was sponsoring, someone who saw him as an older brother.

I had once offered to meet her.

Luke declined, claiming she was too self-conscious and shy around strangers.

Now I realized she wasn't shy.

She was just terrified that I, his legal wife, would ruin her game.

"Luke, the MRI was so scary. It was so dark inside. I thought I'd never make it out," Lily whimpered, her voice dripping with helpless tears.

Luke leaned down.

He wiped her tears with incredible tenderness.

That was the gentle touch he used to reserve only for when I was sick.

"Shh, you're fine now. Haven't I been right here with you?"

His deep voice was laced with infinite patience.

Lily snuggled deeper into his chest.

"But what about your wife? You're staying with me and forcing her to delay her labor. Will she be okay?"

She looked up at him, her tone full of fake worry.

But her eyes danced with triumph.

Luke let out a soft chuckle.

To my ears, that laugh sounded like a poisoned blade.

"Shes just a gold-digging housewife. She won't die."

"Even if something happens, we can just throw some money at it."

*A gold-digging housewife.*

*Throw some money at it.*

I stood there, shivering violently.

My fingernails dug so deep into my palms that they drew blood, but I felt nothing.

This was the man I had loved for three years.

The man who once walked through a torrential downpour across three neighborhoods just to buy me a strawberry cake from Amazon.

The man who stayed up all night massaging my swollen legs when my morning sickness was unbearable.

Now, my life was nothing but trash to him.

Just a bargaining chip to please another woman.

Lily's sharp eyes caught me standing outside.

She didn't panic.

Instead, her lips curled into a mocking smirk.

She reached up and gently stroked Luke's face.

Her sleeve slid down.

Revealing an exquisite emerald bracelet on her wrist.

An imperial green emerald of the highest quality.

That was my mothers heirloom.

Last month, Luke told me the clasp was loose and offered to take it for servicing.

And then, he put it on this woman's wrist.

"Luke, that pregnant lady is staring at us. It's kind of creepy," Lily whimpered, pretending to be scared.

Luke didn't even turn around.

"Ignore those lowlifes."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Come on, lets get some lobster rolls downtown. Isn't that your favorite?"

He guided her toward the private elevator inside the suite.

The entire time, he didn't spare me a single glance.

The elevator doors slowly slid shut.

Cutting off the sight of their intertwined bodies.

I leaned against the icy wall, gasping for air.

My eyes burned.

But I didn't cry.

I closed my eyes, forcing the hot tears back.

When I opened them again, there was only bone-chilling cold.

Luke Carter.

Since you love playing games so much.

I'll play a big one with you.

Lets see how long a pathetic social climber like you can stay on top.

The contractions eased up slightly.

I didn't go back to the delivery room.

Instead, I pushed open the door and walked into the VIP suite.

The room was empty now.

The air smelled of a faint, sickening rose perfume.

I looked around.

Imported Italian leather sofas.

My favorite brand of scented candles on the nightstand.

Even the landscape painting on the wall was the exact one I had wanted at an auction, which Luke had talked me out of buying because it was "too expensive and impractical."

He didn't think it was too expensive.

He just didn't think I was worth it.

I walked over to the sofa, wanting to sit down and catch my breath.

Suddenly, voices drifted from the adjoining dressing room.

It was Lily.

She hadn't left.

She had only put on a show in front of Luke to get him to go downstairs first.

"Don't worry, I have Luke wrapped around my finger," Lily's voice rang out, no longer sweet and helpless, but sharp and venomous.

"The claustrophobia? Totally faked. I just wanted to see who mattered more to himme, or that fat housewife who's about to pop."

She laughed wickedly.

The sound sliced through my heart like a blade.

"And guess what? He literally ordered the nurses to pump her with inhibitors to force her to hold the baby in."

The person on the other end of the line said something.

Lily sneered.

"So what if she's his wife? Luke already transferred the Hilltop Villa to my name."

"Once she gives birth today, he's going to commit her to a mental asylum under the guise of postpartum depression."

*The Hilltop Villa.*

That was the surprise I had prepared for our third anniversary.

I had personally visited construction sites, picked out every tile, and selected every chair.

I even filled the garden with his favorite sunflowers.

I had lied and told him I rented it, just to protect his pride.

At the time, his eyes had welled with tears as he held me, calling me the best wife in the world.

And behind my back, he handed the house that held all my love over to his mistress.

My breathing grew ragged.

But what she said next made my blood run cold.

"And here's the best part," Lily whispered, her tone laced with malicious excitement.

"Luke said the kid in her belly is the perfect backup blood bank."

"Once the baby is born, we'll take it away. Itll be my personal supply to treat my illness."

*Backup blood bank.*

Those words exploded in my brain like a bomb.

I had an incredibly rare blood typeRh-negative.

When I first got pregnant, Luke had insisted on encrypting my medical files.

He claimed he was protecting me from malicious people who might exploit it.

As it turned out, the malicious person was him.

Every night, he would press his face to my belly, gently reading stories to our unborn child.

He bought all sorts of classical music, claiming he wanted to nurture our baby's artistic soul.

He wasn't anticipating a new life.

He was cultivating a living blood bank!

A wave of nausea hit me, and I nearly threw up.

I kicked the dressing room door open with a loud slam.

Lily gasped, spinning around in terror.

When she saw it was me, she froze, then her brow furrowed in anger.

"Who the hell are you? Who let you in here? Get out!"

She hung up her FaceTime call and marched over to me, chin held high.

I didn't say a word.

My eyes were locked onto the emerald bracelet on her wrist.

"Are you deaf? I said get out!"

Seeing me ignore her, Lily reached out to shove me.

I stepped aside.

Raising my hand, I slapped her across the face with everything I had.

*SMACK!*

The crisp sound echoed through the room.

Lily's head snapped to the side.

She clutched her cheek, staring at me with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"You dared to slap me? Do you know who I am?!"

I curled my lips into a cold, mocking smile.

"Youre nothing. You don't deserve to know who I am."

Furious, Lily grabbed a glass cup from the table and threw it at me.

"I'm Luke's woman! Hes about to inherit Vance Private Hospital! I can make him ruin your life in a second!"

The glass shattered against the wall, sending shards flying.

I didn't flinch.

"Inherit Vance Private Hospital?"

I laughed, as if hearing the funniest joke in the world.

"A gold-digging piece of trash like him actually thinks he can dream that big?"

Lily froze.

She clearly hadn't expected a random pregnant woman to speak of Luke this way.

"What nonsense are you talking about?!"

I took a step closer, my gaze like a knife.

"The deed to the Hilltop Villa is under the name Hazel Vance. Did you really think he could transfer it to you?"

Lily's face turned pale.

"How... how do you know Hazel Vance?"

Hazel Vance.

The heiress of the Vance Group.

The public knew the name, but few had ever seen my face.

To hide the fact that he had married into my family, Luke had told everyone that Hazel Vance was constantly recovering in an overseas sanatorium.

I watched the panic rise in Lilys eyes, my hatred growing exponentially.

"Not only do I know Hazel Vance," I whispered, every word sharp as ice, "but I also know that the bracelet on your wrist belongs to a dead woman."