Chapter 1

My husband's mistress bonded with a Heartthrob System.

It attracted countless powerful men to fall for her.

Just because she said she liked kids, my husband made the child I had through three years of IVF call her "Mom."

I broke down and rushed over to demand an explanation.

Only to have my brother slap me hard across the face.

"She rarely likes anything. Why are you fighting her for this?"

"It's just a kid. You can have another one."

Fiona basked proudly in everyone's adoration.

She leaned close to my ear with a soft laugh.

"I have the Heartthrob System. What do you have to compete with me?"

In my despair, I awakened the system that had been dormant in my body for years.

"You claim to be the main system, right? Can you handle her system?"

After a long silence, a scornful laugh echoed in my mind.

"Heartthrob System? Nothing but a failed, defective product."

I actually detected a hint of disdain in the system's cold mechanical voice.

It seemed to particularly look down on this so-called Heartthrob System.

【It's just a defective product that was manufactured. It has many inherent safety hazards.】

【There's no need to deal with it. After the host uses it a few more times, the side effects will emerge.】

Hearing the system's words, I instinctively looked toward Fiona.

At this moment, she was nestled in my husband's arms, playing with my son.

The three of them looked so harmonious together, like a real family.

My hands clenched at my sides, nails digging deep into my palms until a sharp pain brought me back to my senses.

When I looked up, I saw my husband and the others glaring at me with rage.

The child in Fiona's arms was reaching toward me, crying hysterically.

His little face turned purple as if he might pass out the next second.

My heart clenched painfully.

I reached out to grab the child, but Liam Mitchell shoved me away hard.

"Sarah, can you stop being such an eyesore?"

"As long as you keep hanging around, how is the baby supposed to accept Fiona as his mom?"

The child's heart-wrenching cries filled my ears.

My heart twisted with anxiety as I shouted angrily:

"This is MY child! I'm still alive and well, and you're making him call someone else Mom? You bunch of bastards..."

Before I could finish, a slap came flying at me.

I clutched my reddened, swollen face and looked at my brother in disbelief.

This person who had cherished me since childhood, who had always shielded me from danger, was now glaring at me with fury.

He still held his hand extended from the slap.

When our eyes met—mine full of hurt—a flicker of confusion crossed his face.

But the next second, he returned to that disgusted expression.

"Fiona's health is fragile. How could she endure the pain of childbirth?"

"You can have kids anyway. Just give this child to Fiona and have another one."

The words came out of his mouth so lightly, yet they weighed a thousand pounds.

A bitter smile tugged at my lips as I said in a trembling voice:

"Why should my child call her Mom?"

The next second, Fiona tugged at my brother's sleeve with fake concern, looking pitiful.

"If Sarah doesn't want to, then forget it. I really liked this child though. What a shame..."

She made a show of wiping away nonexistent tears from her eyes.

She shrank into Liam's arms looking wronged.

I was about to mock her terrible acting when Liam suddenly kicked me hard in the abdomen.

Instant pain shot through my belly.

My face went deathly pale.

When my back slammed into the wall, I couldn't suppress the cry of pain that escaped my throat.

"Stop wasting words on her. I have a share in this kid too."

"I've given Fiona so many expensive jewels and she didn't like any of them. It's rare for her to be interested in something—just give it to her."

With that, he strode toward me, grabbed my wrist, and dragged me toward the basement.

"As long as she's not hanging around the baby all the time, it won't take more than a couple days before he stops recognizing her as his mother."

The basement was dark and damp, full of scurrying rats and bugs.

Liam released my hand in disgust and threw me to the floor.

"Stay here obediently. When the baby finally forgets about you, then you can appear in front of him again."