Mikaela Terry stepped into the villa and her heart started racing. She had received a call from Roland Rodriguez himself, summoning her urgently to this place. Her eyes frantically searched for any signs of danger, but Roland's knitted brows relaxed as soon as he saw her.
He gestured towards his bodyguards and two burly men came forward, grabbed Mikaela, and started moving her towards the stairs. She tried to resist, shouting, "Let go of me! What are you doing?" but her struggles were futile.
As they reached the locked room on the third floor, Mikaela's eyes widened in horror as a man in a white robe approached her with a syringe in his hand. "No, don't draw my blood!" she pleaded, but the man's cold voice cut through her words. "Maliah is in a coma due to blood loss. If her treatment is delayed because of you, I think you know better than me what will happen to you."
Mikaela took two steps back, stunned by the man's words. "Roland, is this why you asked me here?" she asked, hoping it was all a misunderstanding.
"What else?" Roland's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Did you think I was asking you here for a date?" He was cold and heartless, and Mikaela knew that he meant business.
"But... I'm pregnant!" Mikaela pleaded, trying to tug at Roland's heartstrings. "This would be too much for the baby. I can't donate blood..."
"So what?" Roland sneered. "Your only value now is to give Maliah blood and nothing else." He nodded at the doctor and instructed him to give Mikaela a tranquillizer if she didn't cooperate.
Mikaela gave up her struggle in despair. She couldn't believe that the first time she entered the room in two years, she was forced to donate blood to the woman on the bed. The woman who looked exactly like her.
Mikaela watched in a daze as Roland gently tucked Maliah in. She watched as he instructed the doctor with a sullen face, "Take more blood. Maliah is very weak."
The tears welled up in Mikaela's eyes as she realized the reason why she had become Roland's wife. Two years ago, Maliah Webb was in a car accident and went into a coma before their wedding. In order to prevent his family from canceling their wedding, Roland had found Mikaela, who looked exactly like Maliah, to fill in for the wedding.
Even if it was fake, he had to defend this marriage.
One day ago. He called her too.
At that time, she had been walking aimlessly on the street because she had just discovered that she was pregnant. She did not dare to go home because she didn't want him to find out. In the end, she rushed home because he told her she should be back in half an hour.
She knew that he was not a patient guy and knew the consequences of disobeying him, so she didn't dare to delay for a minute even though her stomach hurt.
After returning home, he asked her indifferently about the results of her physical checkups. For the first time, she plucked up the courage to say that everything was normal.
"Why were you vomiting a few days ago?" He held a cigarette between his fingers and blew the smoke at her seemingly unintentionally.
Only God knew how nervous Mikaela was at that moment. While holding her breath to keep herself from breathing in the second-hand smoke, she pretended to be frank and said that she vomited because of her gastric.
He didn't say anything, but just stared at her. "I know what you're hiding from me."
Mikaela's heart raced as she pleaded with Roland, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't bear the thought of losing the child growing inside her. She had never felt such a strong attachment to anyone or anything before. It was as if this baby was her only hope for a future, a chance at redemption.
But Roland remained unmoved. He watched her with cold eyes, his expression unreadable. For a moment, Mikaela thought she saw a flicker of something in his eyes, a hint of regret or compassion, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
As she knelt on the ground, begging for mercy, Mikaela couldn't help but wonder how she had ended up in this situation. She had never expected to fall in love with Roland, the handsome and powerful CEO of the company where she worked. But somehow, he had managed to capture her heart and soul, and now she was at his mercy.
The silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Roland spoke, his voice low and menacing.
"You don't understand, Mikaela," he said. "This child is not yours to keep. It belongs to me and Maliah. You were just a vessel, a means to an end. And now that your usefulness is over, it's time for you to go."
Mikaela felt her heart sink as the full weight of his words hit her. She had been nothing but a pawn in his game all along, a disposable object to be used and discarded as he saw fit.
But she refused to give up without a fight. With all the strength she could muster, she stood up and faced Roland, her eyes blazing with defiance.
"No," she said firmly. "I won't go quietly. I won't let you take my child away from me. I'll fight you every step of the way, no matter what it takes."
Roland looked at her with a mixture of amusement and contempt. "You're a brave one, Mikaela," he said. "But you don't stand a chance against me. I hold all the cards, and you're just a pawn in my game. So go ahead and fight if you want. But be warned, the consequences will be dire."
Mikaela took a deep breath and steeled herself for what was to come. She knew that she was in for a long and difficult battle, but she was determined to fight for her child, no matter what the cost.