1 abruptly woke up and started gasping heavily.
The room was already dark. The sky outside the window had also darkened. Unexpectedly, I slept all afternoon.
Steven was still sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at me. I was so startled to see his gaze that my heart ached.
It was hard not to be scared when I woke up and saw the murder suspect staring at me.
I rubbed my eyebrows, a little confused. âDonât keep staring at me. Itâs scary.â
He lowered his head but soon looked up at me again. His eyes were bright under the illumination of the night light as if he wanted to see through me.
I felt guilty for no reason, so I looked away. I feared that Steven would discover I wasnât the original Stephany.
âDinner is here.â
He pointed to the food on the table, asking me to finish my meal. I dared not to eat it as there must be aphrodisiacs in it.
âI wonât eat it. I have no appetite.â
Steven thought for a moment before saying, âIf you donât eat, you wonât be able to stand the hunger.â
âI canât stand it even more after eating itâ¦â I complained softly.
He looked at me and said again seriously, âIâm your husband. I can help you.â
My mouth twitched. How could he help me?
âYou want to have a child to help the Larson family. I can help you as long as you donât lie to me. If you lieâ¦
His voice was still gentle, but there was a hint of threat. I didnât know what he meant, but I felt inexplicably guilty.
What did I lie to him about? Well⦠I was hiding the fact that I wasnât the real Stephany.
âI donât want children. I want to escape. The Larson familyâ¦â
I wanted to tell him that the Larson family had nothing to do with me, but I was occupying Stephanyâs identity right now. âForget it.â
If I couldnât fight, I could only compromise.
âWe canât leave before youâre pregnant.
He seemed to be coaxing me, âStephie, Iâm your husband.â
âDonât repeat itâ¦â I looked at Steven warily, I had no idea that I would be married to a possible murderer, let alone that I would have to cooperate. with him to eliminate his vigilance.
I had never thought of handing myself to him.
âI can help you have a baby,â Steven said seriously.
He analyzed it with me from a biological perspective, âAfter ovulation, the eggs Can survive in your body for up to 24 hours, so the sperm must wait for the eggs in the uterine cavity in advance. We should have intercourse every other day.â
I looked at him in shock. Did he know what he was saying to me with that serious look on his face?
âYâYouâre a dimwit, a tramp. How did you learn this in an orphanage?â I felt like I couldnât figure out who he was more and more.
It seemed that he couldnât wait for me to get pregnant. Did he know that with his current situation in the Lincoln family, they wouldnât hesitate to erase him after having an heir?
âItâs the eighth hour after ovulation. We still have a chance.â
Steven continued, âIt takes one to two days for fertilization and about a week for implantation. Itâll also take at least seven days before the HCG in the urine can be detected with a pregnancy test strip⦠So Stephie, if you want to leave, itâll take 14 days at the earliest before they can get the results.â
I looked at the man who was like an encyclopedia. I leaned slumped against the bed and thought about the current situation.
I was trapped in this cageâlike room by the Lincoln family. They treated me as a babymaker.
My situation wasnât much different from before I died. Life was like a dream, and mine was tragic.
I stared at the ceiling. All I could think about was the murderer, Yasmin, and Michael.
I wanted to see them brought to justice and receive retribution. I was eager to recover my lost memories to find out my parentsâ cause of death. But now, I was trapped, in this room. Was there no other way but to get pregnant?
Did I have to accept such a fate?