The Cuckoo's Egg

Our bridal room was set on fire, and my husband, a firefighter, was grievously wounded while trying to save me. I sent him to be saved at the hospital where Winnie Sloan, his childhood friend worked, but the surgery ended up being a failure, and my husband passed away.

After the announcement that my husband was deceased, Winnie told me that his dying wish was that he wanted a child. Hearing that, I powered through my grief and used the sperm he had previously frozen to conceive a child through IVF, raising my son to be enrolled in the most prestigious university in the area.

On the day of the celebration party, my son kicked me out and invited my husband and Winnie onto the stage as his 'biological parents', and that's when I found out that my husband had faked his death.

All those years ago, he and Winnie had swapped out the embryo I'd conceived in secret. The son I had painstakingly given birth to and raised turned out to have no blood relation to me whatsoever. Meanwhile, my husband had been enjoying a luxurious life overseas with Winnie while waiting for a chance to reconnect with his son.

In my rage, I confronted them and demanded an explanation, but ended up dying because they pushed me down the stairs.

When I came to, I was back to the day of the fire.

Roaring flames lit up the bedroom, sending waves of heat and smoke that choked me to tears.

"Sweetheart, stay there and don't move!"

Hearing the voice message my husband sent me, I finally realized that I was reborn.

My husband's name was Joey Pierce, and he was the captain of the local firefighters. In my past life, I trusted him completely, not moving a single muscle even when my flesh was burning while waiting for him to come in and save me.

It was only after my death that I found out that he had intentionally told me to stay there, where the flames were the most severe. With his logic, the more pain I went through, the more it'd be deserving of him 'saving my life'!

Thinking back to how I was discriminated against after being disfigured in the fire, I immediately doused a blanket with water and dashed out of the room, covering my nose and mouth.

"Nina?"

I had only just arrived at the living room when I came right upon my husband, wearing a firefighter's uniform. Without a second word, he tore the wet blanket right out of my hands, and shouted, "Why didn't you follow my orders?!"

His expression was fierce and vicious, just like when he pushed me down the stairs.

All at once, the memories started flooding back, my limbs pulsating from phantom pains, and I instinctively tried to flee the scene.

Before I could do anything, however, Joey carried me by the waist and hoisted me to the nearest window. "Sweetheart, you go first! This is too dangerous!"

Then, he opened the windows and pushed me out right onto the mattress below, and the brunt force of the fall knocked me right out.

By the time I woke up again, I was already lying in the hospital.

"Miss Nina, your husband isn't doing very well!" Without caring for my injuries, a nurse snatched me right off my bed towards the operation room.

In my past life, I waited for Joey here too, and I almost passed out crying after I heard that he couldn't be saved.

The next moment, the doors to the operation room opened, and Winnie walked out, pushing Joey who was covered with a piece of white cloth.

"I did all that I could." Her eyes were red, and she glared at me with hatred. "He died from the fire, all because of you! If you have any conscience left, take care of his parents and relatives for the rest of their lives!"

In my past life, I felt nothing but tremendous guilt at her words, and I immediately kneeled in front of Joey, reaching for his hand and swearing that I'd take good care of his family.

After that, my parents-in-law asked me for money time and time again so that they could enjoy their lives, not caring that I had a son to raise. His relatives followed suit, citing the excuse that I was the one who had caused Joey's death in the first place.

I worked hard all my life to feed their family, yet Joey was enjoying large condominiums and luxury cars overseas with Winnie, enjoying trips all around the globe.

Back to the present, I only stared right at Joey, thinking how I'd get this horrendous couple to pay the price for what they did to me.

Seeing how I was unresponsive, Winnie's tone became rushed. "Nina, how can you be this ungrateful? This is your responsibility!"

In response, I only rolled my eyes at her and took out my phone, dialing a number.

"You… You're terrible!" Winnie pointed at me as she started to sob.

"Miss Sloan, what's the problem here?" Joey's teammate, his vice-captain Tony Ross pushed me aside and led his teammates to surround Winnie in a protective circle. From the looks of it, they were worried about poor little Winnie, and their glares told me as much too. If one didn't know better, they'd think the firefighters were glaring at a wanted convict.

"It's all my fault…" Winnie choked as she sobbed, but I could see the vindictive glee in her eyes. "I don't care how Nina treats me, but Joey died because of her! How can she play games on her phone at a time like this?"

Hearing this, Tony reached towards me and grabbed my phone, smashing it towards the ground angrily before pointing at me. "Apologize to her right now!"

Seeing this, Winnie continued pushing the line. "Nina, you probably weren't educated well at home, but playing games in a hospital like this is very disrespectful!"

I didn't say anything, only bending down to pick up my phone. Thankfully, it was good quality enough to have survived the impact.

"What an awful person!" Tony shouted. "I respected you as Joey's wife, but I didn't expect you to be someone this disgusting!"

I ignored her, only swiping the button to accept the call on my phone.

"Hello, is this the Body Donation Center?"