"Daddy, hug, the baby is scared, there are bad guys who want to hurt the baby..." Sophie Foster curled up in Nicholas Croft’s arms, shrinking her shoulders in fear. Through the thin fabric of his shirt, Nicholas could clearly feel her body trembling.

He lowered his gaze, and what entered his eyes was a face—no, eleven faces—of terror and innocence, her mouth pouting in grievance, pressed against his chest, saying something...

Nicholas Croft knew his Lara was treating herself as the baby. He lifted his big hand to cover her head, gently stroking as he soothed her softly, "Baby, don’t be afraid. Daddy’s here, Daddy will protect you..."

He’d thought this kind of comfort would make the woman in his arms feel safe, but to his surprise, the woman suddenly pushed him away like a madwoman and raised her hand to slap him. The slap landed squarely on Nicholas Croft’s handsome face—not very hard, but it tugged at his heart so much it hurt there instead.

Sophie Foster lifted her chin and looked at Nicholas Croft, questioning him coldly, "Nicholas Croft, what kind of man are you, if you can’t even protect your own baby!"

"Lara, I’m sorry, it’s my fault. Hit me, as long as it makes you feel a bit better inside." Nicholas grabbed Sophie Foster’s hand and brought it toward his own handsome face, but she clenched her fist and yanked it back, still glaring at him. All of a sudden, her lips pouted again in grievance, and both hands reached toward the bandage stuck to his temple.

"Daddy, how did you get hurt, does it hurt? Baby will blow on it for you..."

A warm breath puffed against his temple. Nicholas Croft once again pulled Sophie Foster into his arms, closed his eyes, forcing the liquid in them back, and drew in a trembling breath as he said, "Daddy is a grown-up, it doesn’t hurt."

Sophie Foster kept blowing against Nicholas Croft’s temple. After a long time of only exhaling and not inhaling, her brain started to suffer from a lack of oxygen. Her vision went black, forcing her to raise a hand to her forehead and close her eyes, and suddenly a certain scene popped up on its own.

On a bluestone-paved street, bundled up in a heavy cotton coat, she was standing by the roadside when a car suddenly charged toward her. Before she could dodge, she had already been hit and sent flying...

Her eyes snapped open. Sophie Foster instinctively reached for her lower abdomen. There, it was flat and empty. Her baby was already...

Sophie Foster’s heart jolted. She flung herself onto Nicholas Croft’s shoulder and began to cry in sorrow, "Uncle... the baby, the baby is gone... it’s all my fault... I didn’t protect our baby... If I hadn’t gone to the supermarket, this wouldn’t have happened..."

In that moment, Sophie Foster was lucid.

"Good girl, it’s not your fault, it was premeditated," Nicholas Croft opened his bloodshot eyes too, staring straight ahead with a vicious, steely resolve. Even if his Lara hadn’t gone to the supermarket, even if their baby had been safely born, that vicious woman would still have gone after them!

To eliminate all future threat, for the sake of that child who died before even coming into this world, he would never let that woman off!

And he would cut out the problem at the root, never again giving her a chance to stir up trouble!

"Premeditated? Who was it? Who wanted to hurt our baby?" Sophie Foster suddenly lifted her head, staring intently at Nicholas Croft, as if saying that once she knew who had killed her baby, she would fight that person to the death!

Not wanting her to bear more pain, Nicholas Croft said, "We’re still investigating. Once we find the culprit, we’ll definitely make her face the punishment of the law!"

Staring into Nicholas Croft’s eyes, Sophie Foster suddenly said with certainty, "I know! It must be Hannah Hargrave. She’s had a crush on you for so long, and she even drugged you before. It has to be her!"

Nicholas Croft licked his lips and was just about to say something when, all of a sudden, Sophie Foster pushed him away again, and another slap landed across his face.