Chapter 3
Seeing Stephen and me return, Emma quickly turned and rushed into the kitchen, bringing out utensils to set the table for us. “Hazel, you’re back. Come try the nutritious meal I made.”
I walked over and sat down at the table. Eloise pursed her lips with slight displeasure. “Hazel, you changed your mind about giving birth and didn’t even tell me. I was already on the operating table when I found out you weren’t going through with it. I said this won’t do, so I’m not having the surgery
either.”
“I’m not trying to criticize you, but you don’t trust the doctor you found yourself, yet you left me stranded at the hospital. What were you thinking?” Eloise continued to scold.
Stephen quickly stepped in to explain for me: “How could Hazel possibly harm you?”
Seeing Stephen take my side, Eloise’s mouth turned down in displeasure. “Stephen, I’m carrying your father’s child-your little brother!”
I let out a cold laugh: “I was planning on a natural birth all along. You were the one who kept persuading me to have a C-section on the same day as you. Now that I don’t want to go through with it, what’s wrong with that?”
Eloise’s face turned pale with anger, her finger pointing at me as
her voice trembled: “What do you mean I pressured you? I was doing this for your own good! Natural birth is so troublesome -you changed your mind at the last minute and now you think you’re in the right!”
Stephen quickly positioned himself between us, playing peacemaker while gently patting her back to calm her down: “You’ve misunderstood. The doctor actually recommends that Hazel wait until her due date for a natural birth, which is why we decided against the C-section and left the hospital.”
Hearing that I wasn’t planning on a C-section anymore, Eloise’s eyes widened as she began trying to persuade me: “When I had Stephen at Christmas, it was also by C-section. Look how smart and tall he is now. You should listen to my experience!”
Emma chimed in as well: “That’s right, Hazel. Natural birth isn’t as great as people think. Look how many women have massive hemorrhages during difficult deliveries—it’s so dangerous!”
I interrupted them somewhat impatiently: “The doctor already said they recommend natural birth. Are you more professional than the doctors? Besides, how I give birth is my own business. If you prefer C-sections, go ahead and have one. I’m not doing it!”
I set down my utensils with a heavy thud, staring coldly at Eloise: “If you think the doctor I chose isn’t professional enough, then go back to the countryside to give birth!”
Eloise opened her mouth, momentarily speechless, finally managing only: “I’m just looking out for you.”
If I hadn’t experienced my previous life, I might have believed
her.
There are always people in this world who do harmful things under the guise of “doing it for your own good.”
What’s more, Eloise never had good intentions from the start.
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes and said coldly: “I want to rest now. If there’s nothing else, have Stephen take you home.”
Eloise, apparently plotting something else, looked at Stephen with feigned difficulty: “Look, I’m about to give birth, and living in the countryside is too far from the hospital-it’s just not convenient. How about I stay here with you and Hazel for the next few days?”
I immediately understood her plan.
She wanted to freeload at my house so she could continue pressuring me into having a C-section, thereby carrying out her baby-switching scheme.
I firmly refused: “No way. If you get hurt while staying here, I’ll be the one to blame…”
Eloise looked aggrieved: “Hazel, what are you saying? Don’t you
consider me family anymore?”
Seeing my resolute attitude, she turned to Stephen and tried to persuade him: “Stephen, hiring two nannies is too expensive. Now that I’m staying with you, Emma can take care of both of us, and you’ll save money. Isn’t that better?”
Before Stephen could respond, I spoke up again: “Money isn’t the issue. If necessary, you should stay at the hospital. It’s safer and more convenient. I’m thinking about the baby in your belly!”
Stephen also agreed with my suggestion: “Yeah, Mom, you’re due soon. It’s better to stay at the hospital.”
But the next second, Eloise, with her big belly, sat down directly on the floor.
Stephen and I were both startled. She was completely disregarding the baby in her belly!
Stephen rushed forward to help her up, but she grabbed his hand and cried while shouting: “John, look at your son! He wants me to sleep outside with this big belly! I’m at such an advanced age and worked so hard to carry your youngest son, but Stephen is treating us like this. I don’t want to live anymore!”
I finally witnessed what those unreasonable, troublesome relatives on TV were like.
Stephen couldn’t bear it after all, and his tone softened: “Alright, Mom, Hazel is pregnant and in a bad mood. Don’t hold it against her. Just stay here!”
Upon hearing this, Eloise immediately changed her expression, smiling as she took Stephen’s hand and stood up, her face full of smiles, as if the unreasonable tantrum from moments before had never happened.
She said: “How could I hold anything against you? We’re family!”
Over the next few days, Eloise did exactly as I expected, nagging in my ear every day, trying to convince me to have a C-section.
I completely ignored her words. After all, her due date was earlier than mine. If we kept this standoff going, she would definitely give birth before me.
While she and Emma were taking their afternoon nap, I secretly installed hidden surveillance cameras throughout the house.
Now that Stephen had let them move in, I had to be on guard.
Days passed, and I finally waited for the day Eloise went into labor.
Emma helped the pale-faced Eloise into the living room,
shouting anxiously: “Hazel, Eloise seems to be going into labor.
Quick, call an ambulance.”
I got up to dial, when a terrible thought suddenly occurred to
At this moment, Eloise’s face was deathly pale, clutching her belly in pain, with amniotic fluid flowing down her legs onto the floor.
If I found an excuse to delay getting her medical help at this moment, would she and the baby in her belly be in danger?
But then I thought, Emma was still there, so she wouldn’t just ignore Eloise.
Before I could think further, Emma saw that I wasn’t moving and suddenly let go of Eloise’s hand, rushing to make the phone call for an ambulance.
As she passed by me, she slipped and fell straight toward me.
I couldn’t dodge in time and was knocked heavily to the ground.
The severe abdominal pain made me lose consciousness instantly.
Before my consciousness faded, I saw Eloise in the distance with a triumphant smile at the corner of her mouth.
When I woke up, I found myself lying in a hospital bed.
I instinctively reached for my belly—it was empty!
Stephen was keeping watch by the bedside. Seeing me wake up, he breathed a sigh of relief: “Emma said you accidentally fell at home, and then you and Mom both had C-sections. The baby has been born and is very healthy.”
I frowned, thinking: Did I fall by myself, or was I pushed?
I was so shocked at the time that I couldn’t remember clearly.
The most urgent thing now was to confirm whether the baby had been switched.
I asked Stephen: “Where’s the baby?”
Stephen walked over to my bedside carrying the baby.
I took just one look and nearly fainted again.
This familiar little face was Eloise’s child Jasper, not my son
Henry!
In the end, the baby had still been switched!
