My stomach churned, the nausea a familiar coil, even as I watched the soft swell of Sutton’s belly, growing larger every day after our divorce. My parents—my adoptive parents, the Robert—and Nolan, the golden boy they actually loved, were frantic. They called incessantly, demanding I schedule a D&C. In the life before this one, my temper had been a blade I used on myself. Blindsided by Sutton's affairs, I’d spat every cruel, cutting word I knew. I had forced her hand, screaming until she agreed to terminate the pregnancy. She’d left me then, her hate a cold, impenetrable fortress. It wasn’t long before Nolan slipped in to claim the space I’d abandoned, marrying her and taking control of the sprawling family empire. When the market turned and the Robert lost everything, I was already a pariah, a scorned ex-husband. I drifted, the lingering sickness from the stress and poverty hollowing out my body until I was nothing but a casualty, dying on a lonely street corner one frozen winter. Nolan and Sutton, meanwhile, were on a permanent European holiday, perfectly tailored and laughing, financed by the Vincent fortune. Everyone had called it karma. Said I was born for a life of suffering. Then I woke up. The first thing I did was call Sutton. This time, I was keeping the baby. And the money—that was mine, too. … “You’re divorced, Kai. Letting her parade around pregnant is a joke, a stain on our name. Listen to your mother, book the procedure.” Patty’s voice was sharp, a perfectly manicured nail digging into my skin. “That’s right, big brother. You barely fit in as it is, growing up where you did. Now people are saying you have no shame at all…” Nolan’s voice chimed in, a perfectly timed double-act designed to wear me down. They were desperate, wanting Sutton to be rushed into the operating room right now. Last time, their goading had worked. I’d walked into that hospital, rage clouding my judgment, and tossed away the only leverage I had left. Nolan had stepped right into my shoes, becoming the heir to the Vincent legacy, and later, he’d even forbidden my body from being buried in the Robert plot. A bitter, metallic taste rose in my throat, but I met Nolan’s feverish, impatient eyes and—I smiled. The front door slammed open a second later. Sutton barreled in, her eyes rimmed red, clearly assuming I’d called her to confirm the appointment for the procedure. “Are you keeping this baby or not?” she demanded, breathlessly. Before I could answer, Nolan cut in, perfectly positioned to play the grieving martyr. “Sutton, don’t blame Kai. He’s made up his mind. None of us can talk him out of it.” He gave me a quick, frantic side-eye, a subtle instruction, before turning to comfort the immediate stiffness in Sutton’s posture. “We’re keeping the baby.” I directly contradicted him. The tension drained from Sutton's face, her shoulders relaxing instantly. She rushed forward and collapsed against me, her arms tightening around my waist. “Come home with me, Kai. Whatever we need to discuss, we’ll do it there.” In the rearview mirror, Nolan’s face was a mask of cold, distorted fury. I let out a quiet, internal snort. As I turned my attention back, something caught my eye on the passenger seat: a men’s watch. Not mine. Sutton’s brow furrowed slightly as she noticed my gaze, and she opened her mouth to speak, but I simply shifted my eyes away, staring straight ahead. A heavy silence followed, broken only when Sutton turned her scrutinizing gaze on my face. “You seem… different,” she observed, her voice heavy with insinuation. I just gave a noncommittal hum. “Is that a problem?” In my previous life, I was a coiled spring of insecurity. I would have torn the house down if Nolan so much as touched her hand. I’d yell, accuse, slap her, and force her to write endless letters of apology. She indulged me at first, calming me, but eventually, she’d had enough. She had stood in front of a room full of people and sliced me open with the truth: “You’re a foundling we took in. No father loves you, your mother treats you like a chore. What right do you have to be so arrogant in front of me?” I had been shattered, a pathetic clown, my heart ripped to shreds. She knew me too well—she knew exactly where to plunge the knife. Humiliation and rage had drowned me. I didn’t believe then that I needed her. I insisted on the divorce. But eighteen years growing up far from their gilded cage hadn't prepared me for life among the elite. The Robert brought me back, but they never taught me how to stand on my own. The life that followed was exactly as she predicted: brutal. Sutton studied me silently, clearly trying to read my sudden detachment. Her phone buzzed. Patty’s anxious voice was audible even from the receiver. “Sutton, that wretched Nolan—he drove off like a lunatic. Can you please go find him?” Patty always defaulted to Sutton for anything regarding Nolan, never sparing a thought for me. Of course, they’d been the intended pair, childhood sweethearts until I was dragged back into the Robert' affluence at eighteen. I stood awkwardly in the grand foyer, wearing clothes that were worn and too short. A circle of privileged kids snickered. My face burned, but I held my stance rigidly. That was the moment Sutton had cut through the crowd, silencing them with a look, and led me to a private room. After that, the chance encounters started. She taught me the rules of their world, bought me proper suits and ties. But I was so insecure then. I thought she pitied me, so I met her kindness with sarcasm and barbs. Yet, she never retaliated. Instead, she fiercely defended me when others called me a “hick” or a “stray dog.” When we announced our wedding, I knew Nolan hated me, but I also knew Patty resented me for snatching her favorite son’s ideal bride. “It’s fine. Go if you need to. Just be careful with the baby.” My voice was level, my reflection in the glass impassive. Sutton’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, her expression darkening. As if to spite me, she sped off the moment she dropped me at the house. I didn't mind. I walked straight inside. The staff, used to my sudden reappearance, quietly took my coat. “Mr. Robert, your bath is drawn. Would you like to wash up?” I shook my head. “Not yet.” I wandered leisurely through the mansion, savoring the antique, curated mid-century modern furniture and elegant décor. Finally, I stood before the safe, staring at the countless jewels and stacks of crisp cash inside. After the divorce in my first life, Nolan had taken all of it. My brother marrying my wife—a scandalous affair—yet my mother only condemned me. “What’s the point in blaming others when you didn’t appreciate her? It’s all kept in the family anyway.” My father had just shrugged, remaining perpetually absent. I was their only biological child, yet I was less than nothing compared to Nolan. The family I craved had always been a ridiculous joke. Shaking off the memory, I went for a long, hot soak and then collapsed into bed. I slept beautifully. Snap. The sudden click of the overhead chandelier jolted me awake. I squinted, blurry-eyed, at the figure standing over me: Sutton’s face, dark and thunderous. “Is it morning already?” I mumbled, my voice rough with sleep. Sutton let out a bitter, near-hysterical laugh. “We were supposed to talk, Kai. I told you I wanted to talk. And you just… went to sleep?” Before I could reply, she rushed to explain, as if looking for a gold star. “I found Nolan outside the pub. I made sure he got home and then I rushed right back here.” I waited two seconds for the silence to pass, realizing she was waiting for my approval, my frantic thanks. I gave a slow, dry nod. “That’s… good.” “‘Good’?” Sutton repeated, her voice brittle. She gripped my wrist, forcing me to look at her. “Why did you come back, Kai? Was it for the baby? Or…” Her eyes turned instantly watery. “…Was it for me?” A sharp ache radiated from where her fingers dug into my skin. Neither. I wanted neither of you. I only wanted myself. Seeing her desperate need, I delivered the necessary lie. “Both. I’m going to be a father. I guess I finally decided to grow up.” As for her? She was just the delivery service. As long as the money kept flowing, she could do whatever she liked. Just like before, sleeping with me one night and rushing off to comfort Nolan the next. Sutton’s face went rigid, a flicker of profound loss crossing her features. “Kai Robert,” she whispered, “you feel strange. I can’t figure you out.” She glanced at my flat, bored expression, then checked her empty phone. A sudden, fierce burst of anger crossed her face. “Why do you have to be like this? So passive-aggressive, so… dead! I give you whatever you want. What more do you need from me?” I looked at her, genuinely perplexed. “I don’t want anything. You’re overthinking this.” Her face didn't soften. She stared, then slammed the door on her way out. In the months that followed, I threw myself into learning finance. Sutton threw herself into work. We went nearly three months without a single conversation. I stopped being frugal, spending money without a second thought. I went to a fashion show with friends, and on a whim, I peeled off a wad of cash and handed it to a model. The model took my hand, kissing my palm with a playful, stinging intensity. For a fleeting second, I understood the appeal of infidelity. The sudden ring of my phone broke the spell. I answered it, hearing the muffled background noise. After a few beats, Nolan’s unsteady voice came through. “Bro, Sutton’s trashed. You need to come pick her up.” The model was guiding my hand toward her velvet-soft body. “Have the driver get her,” I replied, distracted. “No! You have to come. Promise me you will.” He hung up abruptly. I sighed, annoyed, but eventually drove to the Robert’ compound. When I pushed open the door, the sight that greeted me was not a surprise. Sutton was lying beneath him, their bodies twisted and slick. Her face was flushed, a look of satisfied release on her features. They were two serpents, entangled until death. Ah. That’s why he insisted I come. “Ah! Bro!” Nolan scrambled up, pulling on his clothes, his voice thick with fake apology. “I’m so sorry. We were drinking, and we just got carried away.” Sutton seemed to snap out of it. She pushed Nolan away wordlessly, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag. No explanation. Her eyes were flat, almost challenging. The scene yanked me back to the past. Since our wedding, Nolan had been a persistent ghost. My birthday, Valentine’s Day, even our anniversary—he always managed to find a way to wedge himself between us. When I broke down, Sutton would always lecture me: “Be the mature one, Kai. I owe him this. He’ll get over it eventually.” But Nolan never got over it. He called me a “leech” and a “country idiot” behind my back. He circulated old photos of me working as a waiter and handing out flyers. Then, at my own birthday party, he screened a secretly recorded video of my adoptive parents beating me. I became the laughingstock of the city. Yet, I had survived worse. What was this? To their stunned silence, I walked over, picked up Nolan’s crumpled jacket, and placed it over his trembling shoulders. “I don’t blame you,” I said gently, like the compassionate elder brother. Then I turned to Sutton, whose face had gone dark and miserable. I looked her dead in the eye. “I need a new sports car, Sutton. Can you wire me ten million dollars?” “You’re not going to ask why?” Her eyes were blazing red. I kept my gentle smile. “You have your reasons, sweetheart. I understand.” Sutton’s straight posture seemed to falter. Her eyelashes fluttered, and her smile was sickly. “Stop pretending, Kai! I wish you would hit me! Yell at me!” Her voice was getting too loud. I worried about the baby. I quickly urged her to calm down. Her mother had promised me a hundred million in cash and ten percent of the company stock if she delivered the baby safely. Nothing was more important than the child right now. Sutton’s expression changed instantly. She started to chase me as I walked toward the door. Nolan lunged, grabbing her from behind. “Sutton, don’t you see he doesn’t love you? Divorce him! I can be the father to your baby!” Sutton shoved him off, her finger pointing at him in pure rage. “You scumbag! If you hadn’t drugged me, I never would have confused you with Kai!” Nolan stumbled back, hitting the floor. A calculating shadow crossed his eyes, and he instantly launched into his act. “Sutton, your brother brought that drink! I don’t know why he would do something like that!” Sutton’s mind seemed to short-circuit. Her eyes, filled with accusation, landed on me. “Why would you do that, Kai?” Rage and disgust finally washed over me. “I didn’t do that!” “Bro, why would you lie? Do you really think I’d joke about something like this?” Nolan yelled, his voice laced with the deepest humiliation. He then grabbed a discarded fruit knife nearby and lifted it to his throat. “Nolan!” Sutton screamed, snatching the knife from his hand bare-handed. She put an arm around Nolan’s shaking shoulders, then turned her fury on me. “Get out!” I knew talking was pointless. I turned and walked out the door. I didn’t expect what happened the next morning. Nolan burst into the house with my adoptive parents, George and Patty Robert, right behind him. The staff backed away, afraid to intervene. My adoptive parents’ eyes lit up the moment they saw me. “Kai, you look good, you’ve put on a little weight,” Patty cooed, rushing forward to hug me. I froze, paralyzed from head to toe, like an animal playing dead. I hated them. They beat me, starved me, and when I was sixteen, they tried to sell me into a forced marriage with a man twice my age. I’d had to climb over a fence to save my life. They were here for one reason: destruction. The next second, Patty grabbed my arm. “Kai, you need to make Sutton get rid of that baby. Your brother needs her, and we’ll find you another girl. Listen to Mama, give Nolan what he deserves.” George chuckled, his eyes full of contempt. “You two don’t match anyway, Kai. You don’t belong here. Just come back to the village with us.” I snatched my arm away. This was their third attempt to sell me off. My breathing accelerated, a familiar panic tightening my chest. I pointed at the door. “Get out!” Patty planted her hands on her hips, her face twisting. “This is my daughter-in-law’s house! I don’t have to leave! You ruined your brother, what kind of person are you? You stole his place, you stole his woman, and now that they’ve slept together, you must give Sutton back to him!” She was shouting, posturing, believing I was still the beaten, cowering child she used to torment. I didn't waste another word and called security. Patty spat on the floor and sat down. “I raised you! You owe me! I won’t move until you agree to come back with us!” Nolan had been watching the chaos with a cold, detached expression. Suddenly, he lunged, grabbing my arm and trying to drag me out. “You hick! You don’t deserve this house!” My parents quickly joined in, pulling and tearing at my clothes. The security detail grabbed my parents but hesitated, afraid to touch Nolan. Sharp fingernails dug into my skin, forcing a gasp of pain from me. I shook Nolan off violently and slammed my fist straight into his nose. “You hit me?!” Nolan clutched his bleeding face, his expression pure malice. I laughed, a humorless sound. “Get out. If you ever break into this house again, it won’t just be your nose.” I bent to pick up my phone, which had fallen to the floor. It was in that split second, out of the corner of my eye, that a flash of cold steel caught the light. I couldn’t dodge it. Pfffsch. A blade plunged into my back. “Ah!” The pain was agonizing. I collapsed onto the floor. As my scream echoed through the house, the front door was kicked open. Sutton saw me sitting on the floor, my hands instinctively clawing at my back, my face white with shock and pain. Her entire face went instantly bloodless.
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