Joanna was starving. She was pregnant. What was she going to do?


    This child was Robert''s, but it had to be Sebastian''s.


    Joanna racked her brain, trying to figure out how to frame Sebastian. Only if the child was his would Sebastian divorce Natalie and marry her. But if he found out the truth, it would be over between them for good.


    Joanna never expected to get pregnant.


    Lost in thought, she didn''t even notice they had reached the elevator. Sebastian stopped first, and Joanna walked right into his back.


    Sebastian didn''t move, just frowned slightly.


    Joanna snapped back to reality. Scheming against Sebastian... before, she would have been confident, but his recent attitude toward her was unpredictable.


    Unless she could hypnotize him, make him forget Natalie and remember only his love for her.


    The pregnancy... she needed to find an opportunity to pin it on Natalie without a trace. That would solve both problems.


    But she had to n it perfectly, without a single misstep.


    Sebastian hailed a cab for Joanna and told her to go home.


    After getting in, Joanna realized Sebastian hadn''t followed. She asked, "Sebastian, aren''t youing with me?"


    Sebastian replied, "I have something to do. You go on ahead."


    Joanna was feeling unwell. She looked at him pitifully. “Sebastian, my stomach hurts. Can you please stay with me?"


    Sebastian suppressed his anger. "Then get out, and I''ll take you back to the hospital. I''m not a doctor. If your stomach hurts, you should see a doctor, not me."


    Joanna was speechless.


    He knew exactly what she meant but chose to twist her words.


    "Sebastian..."


    “My ride is here. Go home and get some rest.”


    Sebastian signaled for her driver to leave.


    Joanna burst into tears. "Sebastian, how could you just leave me like this?"


    But her anguished cries were lost in the wind and snow.


    Joanna stared ahead, her eyes filled with a fierce determination. She had been besitant before, but now that she was pregnant, there was no more room for doubt.


    Only Sebastian could protect her now.


    Robert might be an A-list actor, but his family''s business wasn''t as stable as Sebastian''s.


    Joanna was torn, but she had toe up with a foolproof n.


    Joanna gave the driver her mother''s address, needing to consult with Sophia.


    When she arrived, she found the house cold and messy. Joanna sighed in frustration. Her mother was somon. She had hired two maids forher, but she insisted on doing everything herself, and she couldn''t even keep the ce clean.


    Seeing that no dinner had been prepared, Joanna''s heart sank.


    She went upstairs and found her father snoring on the sofa. This didn''t feel like a home at all.


    Before, when she lived with Wendy, there would always be a hot meal waiting for her when she got home.


    Wendy had always doted on her,


    buying her designer clothes worth a


    small fortune without a second 1.2


    thought. If she liked it, Wendy. bought it.


    She had thought her own mother would be just as considerate, but what was this?


    Joanna stood frozen in the living room, asking herself, *Is this the life I wanted?*


    She used to believe that without Wendy and those four brothers, her own family of four could be happy together.


    But every time she came back, she left in a rage.


    "Joanna, you''re back." Sophia, who had been napping, came downstairs, woken by hunger.


    Joanna noticed the bruises on her face. “Mom, what happened to your face?"