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Chapter 2
Justin Cooper didn't give me a chance to explain.
He crouched down without warning, grabbing the spilled bird's nest soup and shattered porcelain shards from the floor, then shoved the mess violently into my mouth.
"For three years, Emily and I were out there suffering, while you lived it up in the Cooper family mansion with that bastard in your belly!"
His voice was full of venom. "Today, I'm gonna make sure you get your fill."
The sharp edges of porcelain cut into my lips and gums, the metallic taste of blood mixing with the sickly sweetness of the soup.
I gagged, tears blurring my vision, unable to make a sound.
Emily Cooper's stiletto heel ground down cruelly on the back of my hand. Pain shot through my arm, making my whole body tremble.
Justin shoved the last fistful of slop into my mouth, then straightened up with a smirk of satisfaction and spat at my feet.
Emily's shoe drifted toward my swollen belly, slow and deliberate.
Panic surged through me. I grabbed her ankle, my nails digging deep into her skin.
This baby—this precious life Vincent Cooper and I had spent three agonizing years trying to conceive—couldn't be harmed.
Sophia Chen, you look just like a mutt guarding her litter," Emily sneered, circling her shoe over my stomach like a vulture.
Justin's face darkened. "If word gets out I've been played for a fool, how the hell am I supposed to show my face in Capital City? Emily, crush that bastard!"
"No!" I cried, blood dripping from my lips. "The baby... it's Vincent's..."
Justin froze, then let out a bark of cruel laughter.
"You couldn't even come up with a better lie?" he sneered. "Everyone knows my uncle doesn't even like women—let alone father a child."
He leaned in, his voice low and cutting.
"I'm the last of the Cooper bloodline. Why the hell do you think the old man was so desperate to drag me back and chain me to you?"
Emily chimed in, laughing, "Grandfather even froze Justin's accounts to force him back to inherit the family business. And you—nothing but a gold-digging slut—you had the nerve to drag Uncle Vincent into this?"
They were right about one thing—Justin had vanished for three years after eloping, shattering the old man's heart.
But none of that mattered right now.
"I can call Vincent," I gasped, clutching my stomach as I reached desperately for the phone on the table. "He'll prove it—he'll save us—"
Before I could touch it, Justin grabbed the phone and hurled it to the ground.
The crack of shattering glass echoed like a death knell through the room.
"You know who my uncle is?" Justin sneered, gripping my chin hard enough to bruise. "The Ice-faced Reaper of Capital City. If he finds out I couldn't even keep my own woman in line, he'll think I'm trash."
His eyes burned with a crazed fury.
"You did this on purpose, didn't you? You wanted him to watch me get humiliated!"
Tears poured down my cheeks. "No... please, the baby is really—"
Before I could finish, Emily slammed her heel down hard on my stomach.
The agony ripped through me like fire.
I doubled over, the baby kicking frantically inside me, fighting for life.
I had never known fear like this.
"Please... please, spare my child..." I sobbed, my voice cracking.
Emily pulled out her phone and pointed it at me with a wicked grin.
"Beg like a dog," she said, her voice dripping with malice. "Admit you're a filthy bitch, and maybe I'll let your bastard live."