Love’s Second Chance by Sworth Dinsley

Chapter 1 So You’re Here

At the obstetrics and gynecology operating room of Central Hospital, the top hospital in Cederin.

Anna Jenkins endured the waves of pain coming from her stomach, her whole body covered in cold sweat, her hands tightly gripping the railing beside the delivery bed, her knuckles turning pale.

The assisting doctor beside her saw the situation and reassured her softly, “Don’t be afraid. The baby will be born safe and sound soon. Just endure a little longer.”

Anna nodded, her eyes slightly reddening, her heart filled with reluctance.

After the baby was born, it would be taken away.

She had been carrying the child for ten months, watching the little one grow inside her belly bit by bit. Even though she tried not to form an emotional connection, at that moment, her heart was painfully twisted.

“I’m sorry…” she murmured in her heart. “I’m sorry…”

Anna’s eyes welled up with tears. It was not that she didn’t want this child, but she couldn’t keep it.

After giving birth and taking the money, she couldn’t have any connection with the child.

At that moment, another wave of pain struck, and Anna’s vision darkened, regret surging within her.

She didn’t want the money anymore. She just wanted the child…

No one heard the call from her heart, and the doctor administered anesthesia for her. Her consciousness gradually faded, and finally, darkness enveloped her as she completely lost consciousness…

An hour later, Anna woke up and found herself lying in the hospital room. There was no one beside her. The whole room was empty, except for a check placed on the bedside table, with a sum of 200 thousand dollars written on it.

Anna’s heart felt like a large piece of it had been torn away. Her hands instinctively touched her deflated stomach, and tears uncontrollably streamed down her cheeks…

From now on, there would never be a mischievous little baby moving around inside her belly. She hadn’t even had a chance to take a look at it!

The thought of possibly never seeing each other again for the rest of their lives made Anna’s tears flow even more intensely. Before she could even choke out a sound, however, the hospital room door was pushed open by someone.

Anna turned her head at the sound, only to see Avery striding in with a pair of high heels, looking proud and confident.

Anna felt a momentary panic and instinctively tried to struggle to sit up, but a sharp pain radiated from her just-healed delivery wound, causing her to fall back, her face turning pale.

Avery stood by the bed, giving Anna a once-over with a mocking gaze. “Well, well, so you’re here, Anna!” she sneered.

“What are you doing here?”

Anna was both shocked and angry, her eyes filled with endless disgust and resentment.

Avery seemed unfazed, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. She smiled like a victorious champion. “Stephen and I are about to get engaged, so we came for a pre-marital check-up… I just didn’t expect to run into you here! Anna, oh Anna, look at you! Selling your body for money, giving birth to someone else’s child! What a shame!”

“Shut up!”

Anna was filled with rage, her fingers gripping the object on the table, ready to throw it at Avery. It was as if Anna hated the woman in front of her so much that Anna used all her strength.

However, the wound was pulled again, causing her vision to blur from the pain.

Avery easily dodged her attack, laughing even more smugly. “What? Is this a fit of anger? Well, if I tell you that one year ago, it was me who removed your mother’s oxygen mask, and I even took the medical fees Dad was supposed to give her halfway through… and, I secretly told Stephen about you giving birth. Won’t that just drive you crazy?”

Anna couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had already lost her child, and now she was hearing the truth about what happened before. She was on the verge of going mad, unable to control her emotions, gradually becoming hysterical.

“Avery Jenkins, why would you do that? I’ve never done anything to hurt you. Why would you treat me like this, you wicked snake… I hope you rot in hell! Rot in hell!”

Avery seemed satisfied with Anna’s reaction, her face suddenly darkening as she said, “Did you just ask me why? Well, it’s because I wanted to destroy you, of course! You haven’t done anything to hurt me, but your existence has hindered me. As daughters of the Jenkins family, why were you the privileged one, living a carefree life, while I was called an illegitimate child? Remember all the past grievances? I wanted to settle the score with you. Now I’ve won. Dad, the Jenkins family’s wealth, even Stephen, they’re all mine now. And you’re just the abandoned child of the Jenkins family! Ha!”

Anna’s ears were filled with Avery’s triumphant taunts, each word and sentence like a sharp knife, reopening her still fresh wounds.

Anna remembered that one year ago, her mother was lying peacefully in the hospital room, but suddenly her condition worsened. Anna went to her father, begging for money to save her mother’s life, but didn’t receive a single penny.

Coincidentally, at that time, Anna discovered that her childhood sweetheart and fiancé, Stephen Deleon, was already involved with Avery.

Heartbroken and desperate to save her mother, she had no choice but to resort to this path. Little did she know, Avery was the mastermind behind it all.

That day, Anna was completely driven out of the house.

Anna could still vividly remember her father’s cold gaze as he said, “Once you’re out there, don’t mention that you’re a Jenkins. Don’t disgrace our family.”

And her fiancé, filled with disgust, accused her, “Anna Jenkins, how could you be so disgusting?”

All these past events intensified Anna’s already fragile state. Her lips turned pale, pain and hatred intertwined, and she felt like she was being engulfed by the tide of despair, and eventually falling into an abyss of darkness.