Rejecting the Baby Trap

My roommate looks like she survived a crime scene, but the glowing text floating above her head is calling it a fairytale.

Joy stumbles through our dorm door at dawn, her dress torn at the shoulder and her neck painted with violent, purple bruises. While she shivers, looking traumatized, a stream of neon comments erupts in the air only I can see.

[OMG! Look at those hickeys! Xavier really marked his territory!]

[The Alpha beast went wild all night! Im so jealous!]

[Baby trap him, girl! Secure that billionaire child support!]

I stare at the "spoiler alerts" dancing around her disheveled hair. They think this is the start of a sweet romance with a secret baby.

But looking at Joys hollow eyes, I have a sinking feeling that for us living in reality, this "story" is going to be a horror show.

Chapter 1

Joy and I had been living together for nearly three years, so I considered us friends. Naturally, I spoke up out of concern.

"Joy, is something wrong?"

Tears welled up in Joys eyes. She parted her lips to speak, but eventually rasped out in a hoarse voice, "I Im fine."

Even this provoked a smug reaction from the floating stream of comments that only I could see.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Did you hear that? The heroines voice is so raspythats definitely a testament to the male leads performance."

I watched Joy silently head to the bathroom to shower before climbing back into her own little sanctuary. Sometime later, the sound of suppressed, stifled sobbing drifted out from behind the curtains of the bed next to mine.

I didnt know how much time had passed when Joy cautiously poked her head out from behind her curtains, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

"Fallon, I have a friend"

She nervously emphasized, "Its really not me. Its just a friend I work part-time with."

"While she was working, a man she didnt know suddenly pulled her into a room He took her virginity. She doesnt know what to do now. Fallon could you maybe give her some advice?"

My heart skipped a beat. The comments were actually telling the truth.

After a moments thought, I said, "If it were me, Id call the police."

As soon as the words left my mouth, the comment stream exploded.

"Damn it! The side character just cant stand seeing our baby heroine happy!"

"Thats the male lead! How could she encourage our baby heroine to call the cops on him? Shes so vicious!"

"Our male lead was drugged! She should feel lucky that her first time was taken by someone as handsome, rich, and skilled as him. She got the better end of the deal! Not just anyone is lucky enough to be chosen as his tool for relief."

"I think this side character is doing it on purpose. If our baby heroine actually goes to the police and says she was you know and it ends up on the news, think of the rumors and judgment shed face from classmates and everyone she knows!"

"People will definitely think she has loose morals and ostracize her. They wont want to go to class with her! This side character is trying to ruin our baby heroine! And to think the heroine trusts her so much!"

Watching those rows of ridiculous comments scroll by, the corner of my mouth couldnt help but twitch.

Joy bit her lip, seemingly recalling something. A few minutes later, she finally spoke. "But I dont think that man did it on purpose. It seemed like he had been drugged, and thats why he grabbed my my friend and pulled her into the room."

I hit the nail on the head. "Does being drugged give him the right to violate an innocent girl?"

"Besides, when he saw your friend, why didnt he ask her to call an ambulance or the police? Instead, he chose to use your innocent friend as a tool to vent his lust!"

"Even if someone did drug him, he is not innocent in this!"

Joy went silent. Yet, I could tell from her silence that she didnt agree with me.

I didnt want to push it further. However, I still offered a reminder. "Make sure you tell your friend to take the morning-after pill. It would be best to go to the hospital for a check-up, too. Better safe than sorryyou never know if that man has any infectious diseases."

A faint blush rose on Joys cheeks, as if she were recalling something specific. Her tone shifted to defend the man.

She glanced up at me cautiously. "Although that man was in the wrong, you dont have to be so hostile toward him, Fallon. I dont think hes the type of person who has a messy private life."

Her words revealed a deep sense of inferiority. "Someone like him if it werent for the accident, he never would have chosen an ordinary girl like me to help him relieve himself."

I was rendered speechless.

The comment stream, however, was celebrating as if it were a national holiday.

"Our baby heroine is just so understanding."

"Hehehe, after a whole night of deep interaction, our baby heroine must have fallen for the male lead, right? Otherwise, she wouldnt be speaking up for him."

"Dont feel inferior, baby heroine! Even though youre not good enough for the male lead in any aspect, all the women hes dated before were high-maintenance heiresses. Hes long since gotten bored of them."

Chapter 2

Two months later.

Joy, who was usually so attentive in class, kept dozing off during the lecture.

Later, in the cafeteria, facing her favorite sweet and sour ribs, Joys face changed color the moment she took a bite. She immediately started dry heaving, a purely physiological reaction.

We locked eyes, both thinking of the same thing.

Panicked, she wiped the corner of her mouth and rushed off, dropping a quick excuse: "I just remembered I have something to do. Im leaving first."

When I finished eating and returned to the dorm, I saw Joy clutching a pregnancy test, her eyes vacant and her face pale.

Seeing me, she grabbed onto me like a drowning woman clutching a straw, rambling incoherently, "Fallon, Im pregnant. I really dont know what to do. Please help me."

Even though I had suspected it, hearing the confirmation still sent a shock through me.

"Actually the one who had the one-night stand with that stranger wasnt my friend from work. It was me!"

After saying this, the blood drained from her face.

For a moment, I didnt know what to say to her. "Didnt I remind you to take the morning-after pill? Why didnt you take it?"

A flash of guilt crossed Joys eyes. "I I didnt think it would be such a coincidence. I thought just that one time wouldnt result in pregnancy, so I didnt take it."

I was truly speechless. A breath got stuck in my chest, and it took me a long time to calm down before I said, "My advice is to go to the hospital and get an abortion."

Joy looked hesitant. "But this child coming to me proves that we are fated. It might have gone through so much hardship to get here and choose me as its mother."

She continued, "Wouldnt it be too cruel to get rid of it? Its a life, after all!"

Her expression gradually softened as she gently stroked her flat stomach. "You know Im an orphan. I have no family in this world. Maybe I can keep it."

I immediately objected strongly. "Are you crazy? You want to give birth to a strangers child?"

Joy couldnt help but argue, "But no matter what, the child is innocent."

I was angry at her lack of sense. "Have you thought about the fact that youre still a college student who hasnt even graduated? You can barely support yourself; how are you going to raise a child?"

"You say you have no family, which is exactly why you cant keep this child!"

"Otherwise, youll face going to prenatal checkups alone with a big belly, giving birth alone, and having no one to take care of you during your postpartum recovery."

I pressed on, "Youll have to drag your recovering body around to care for a newborn Raising a child isnt as simple as just talking about it!"

I tried my best to persuade her earnestly. "You once told me how much effort you put in to get into a top-tier university. The sweat and tears you shed for your studies, the time spent, those sleepless nights with red eyes"

"Are you going to give up your education and let all your past efforts go down the drain for a fetus that hasnt even formed yet?"

I was truly heartbroken. Joy was such a hardworking and ambitious girl. She was usually either working part-time jobs or studying in the library.

She was top of her class and won scholarships every year. She won so many school competitions that her hands practically grew tired of holding the awards.

How could such an outstanding girl give up the education she was so proud of just to give birth to a strangers child?

As soon as the words left my mouth, the floating comments appeared again. They were practically jumping with anxiety.

"How can the supporting character incite the female lead to abort the male leads baby!"

"Baby girl, dont listen to her nonsense! Whats so important about school?"

"Isnt the ultimate goal of a girl studying just to meet a husband who loves her in the future, have a cute child, and live a happy life?"

"As long as she gives birth to this child, she can reunite with the male lead in a few years, and all of this will come true!"

"Just suffer for a few years, and youll have the male lead and your son pampering you together! Having a husband who loves you and a cute sonisnt that worth more than anything?"

Chapter 3

"All that talk about women needing to be independent, about becoming a girl boss with your own careerits all a lie! Without a mans love, without a child of your own, you are a complete failure of a woman, no matter how successful your career is. Because aside from money and work, you have absolutely nothing!"

Ignoring the toxic comments floating in the air, I looked at Joy.

She seemed stung by my earlier advice, but her expression gradually hardened into resolve. "Fallon, youve never been a mother. You dont know what it feels like to have a little life inside you. I can feel the baby moving."

I stated the facts calmly. "A two-month-old fetus doesnt move. That is just your hormones clouding your judgment."

Joy radiated a maternal glow, her eyes firm. "No, its the baby asking me for help, begging me not to give up on it."

"Dont hate the baby in my belly just because youre prejudiced against the father."

I was out of options. Finally, I could only offer advice. "If you are really going to give birth to this child, I suggest you find that man. Make him compensate you so that you and the child have some security."

"Or sign an agreement with him so the child has nothing to do with him later. You dont want to struggle to raise the kid, only for him to show up and reap the rewards once the child is grown."

But Joy bit her lip. "I I dont want to find that man. I dont want him to think Im the kind of woman who only cares about money or has ulterior motives."

My head started to throb. No matter how I tried to persuade her, she was determined to keep the baby.

A few days later, she dropped out of school. She moved out of the dorms and left the city.

We kept in touch sporadically after that. I knew she gave birth to a son. The childs name was Cooper.

However, I never expected that the next time we met would be at my engagement party to my fianc, Xavier.

The engagement was merely to solidify business cooperation between our families. There were no feelings involved.

I stood beside the tall and handsome Xavier, wearing a fake smile as we toasted the guests one by one.

"Daddy!"

A tender, childish voice rang out across the banquet hall.

Everyone instinctively looked toward the source. We saw a boypractically a miniature version of Xaviersprinting toward him.

But he stumbled and crashed into the towering stack of champagne glasses.

Crash!

Liquor and glass cascaded down. Sharp shards mixed with the spilling alcohol on the floor. The child sat there, stunned.

Just then, a familiar face rushed anxiously toward the child.

It was Joy.

She looked nervous and concerned. "Cooper, are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"

She checked him over frantically. But the child pointed excitedly at Xavier. "Mommy, Im fine! I found Daddy!"

When Joy saw me and Xavier, her face instantly went pale. "Cooper, youre mistaken. Thats not Daddy!"

She looked at me in a panic. "Fallon, I didnt mean to bring the child here in front of you and Mr. Gu. Ill take him away right now!"

She tried to drag the child away, but having finally found his dad, he wasnt having it.

"Im not wrong! That is Daddy! He looks exactly like the photo!"

The childs appearance sparked whispers among the crowd.

"Whats going on? When did the heir of the Gu Group have a son?"

"It doesnt look like a scam. The kid is the spitting image of Xavier."

"Oh my god, they look so alike, you dont even need a DNA test. Xaviers illegitimate son is so big already. Is Fallon going to be a stepmother? Yikes."

The engagement party was in chaos.

Chapter 4