In a villa.
Mia stood in the hallway on the third floor, hesitating as she stared at the door in front of her. Her right hand dropped and then rose again, but she just couldn't bring herself to knock.
Her gaze fell on the prenatal test report in her hand, and she let out a nearly silent sigh. She was already six months pregnant. During her last check-up, the doctor mentioned that the baby's heart rate was too low. This time, they suggested bringing a family member along, just in case oxygen support might be needed. Now, on the day of the check-up, she was too scared to knock on Lambert's door.
Well, to be precise, it was her husband's door.
The cold, handsome man had never treated her like his wife. In fact, to him, she and the child in her womb were nothing more than embarrassing reminders of his life.
Click.
A faint sound broke the silence. Without warning, the door opened, and Mia looked up into a pair of icy eyes.
"Ah…"
Startled and unprepared, she let out a hoarse cry, but no words came out—after all, she was mute.
"What are you doing here?"
Sure enough, his voice was filled with disdain, and his brows furrowed deeply.
Mia instinctively wanted to sign, but she remembered that no one in this house bothered to learn sign language for her, and this man certainly wouldn't. Suppressing the loneliness in her heart, she quickly pulled out her phone and typed a message.
"I'm going for my prenatal check-up today."
The man's thick brows tightened when he saw the message on the screen. His thin lips parted: "Prenatal check-up? Don't you have a servant to go with you? Are you expecting me to come along?"
That's right—he didn't like her. Since she'd been pregnant, he'd never once accompanied her to the hospital. In his eyes, she was just some scheming woman who got pregnant to secure her position. If it weren't for the fact that the child in her womb was his grandfather's long-awaited grandson, he probably wouldn't even have been looking at her twice.
Mia flinched at the mockery in his tone, her chest aching. She shook her head quickly and couldn't help glancing at the wheelchair under him.
Even sitting in a wheelchair, he still carried an air of authority that made others uneasy.
She bit her lip, forcing herself to ignore the impatience in his eyes. Carefully, she held out her phone to him again, her heart clinging to the last shred of hope, beating in sync with her pulse.
But in the end, she'd overestimated herself. With a cold laugh, the man spoke again.
"Mia, stop pretending to be pitiful.Don't forget, this so-called my child is the result of your despicable schemes!"
He paused, his deep, dark eyes mocking her as he wheeled himself toward the elevator at the end of the hallway.
Every word felt like a sharp knife slicing through Mia's soft heart, tearing her apart.
Ding—
The elevator doors closed softly, and the prenatal test report in Mia's hand fluttered to the floor.
She grabbed at her collar, her face pale as paper. She gasped for air, but no sound escaped.
Because she was mute.
But even a mute could feel pain—the kind of pain that can't be put into words.
Lambert was right; her child was conceived because of the drugs her stepmother had given her before marriage.
But what could she do? She couldn't stop her stepmother, nor could she stop loving Lambert, a love that had lasted from when she was four until she was twenty-four—two whole decades.
She went from being a little girl following him around to a mute living in an orphanage. He no longer recognized her, but she had kept him in her heart all these years.
So when her stepmother came to her and said she'd found a good match for her, Mia agreed the moment she saw his picture.
With that, she successfully married Lambert.
Now, in Lambert's eyes, she was nothing but a disgrace, a malicious woman full of schemes and intentions, wasn't she?
"Why are you standing here dressed so lightly? What if the baby catches a cold?"
At that moment, a dissatisfied woman's voice sounded behind her. Mia turned to see a middle-aged woman standing there—it was Lambert's stepmother, Jennifer.
Lambert's father had passed away, and she had no children of her own, so she treated Lambert like her own son.
But that didn't mean she treated Mia the same way. Even though she spoke with a tone of concern, there was no warmth in her face—only impatience.
Mia looked at her, unsure of what to do, and bent down to pick up the test report from the floor, but Jennifer beat her to it.
"Low fetal heart rate?"
Jennifer furrowed her brows instantly, speaking in a tone that carried a sense of superiority:" This is the last test report. Why didn't you tell me? And now you're standing here dressed so lightly. What if something happens to the baby? "
The reproach in her tone made Mia lower her gaze, quickly typing a few lines on her phone.
The doctor said it wasn't very serious last time,but they might consider oxygen support, which is why they suggested I bring my husband. But Lambert...
The rest of the message was replaced with a row of helpless ellipses. Jennifer didn't need to guess why,and she had vaguely overheard something when she was coming over.
"You don't have to worry about him. The most important thing now is to focus on taking care of the baby and making sure everything goes well. Now go back to your room and put on some warmer clothes. I'll go with you to the hospital for the check-up."
Her tone grew even more impatient as she saw Mia obediently head back to her room. Jennifer turned and looked at the elevator at the end of the hallway, which had been prepared especially for Lambert. Her expression slowly turned cold, even carrying a hint of mockery.
Mia changed into a thicker coat and flat shoes and followed Jennifer out of the villa.
Though Mia knew that Jennifer only cared about the baby in her womb, she was still the only one in the Winster family who had treated her kindly. She had played a crucial role in helping Mia marry into the family.
Just like now, she would unhesitatingly accompany her to see the doctor.
In the hospital hallway, just as Mia, who had just returned from the restroom, was about to push open the doctor's office door, she suddenly heard a sound from inside—
"Madam, because of the baby's position, we still can't tell whether it's a boy or a girl. We'll need to wait for the baby to grow a bit more…"
"Isn't there any other way? The Wenshte Family doesn't need a little girl!"
"And Mia's muteness, won't the child be born mute?"
The doctor quickly replied, "No, no, the young lady's muteness is not congenital, it won't be passed on to the child..."
Jennifer's and the doctor's cold voices came from the doctor's office, and Mia's fingers tightened, turning white.
Although she had always known that what Mrs. Jennifer cared about was only the child in her belly, hearing it with her own ears now made her feel suffocated.
"Creak—"
At that moment, the door to the doctor's office was opened from the inside.