Chapter 3

I didn't sign the papers. Instead, I went straight to the hospital for a prenatal checkup. I was still torn about the pregnancy. This child couldn't be born into a world filled with betrayal and disgust. But a part of me couldn't let go.

The day I went to the hospital, the sky was overcast and gloomy.

Holding my registration slip, I sat alone in the long corridor of the OB-GYN department. Around me were expectant mothers accompanied by their husbands, all looking happy. Only I sat alone.

"Oh my, isn't this Miss Carter?"

A saccharine voice shattered the quiet.

I looked up to see Bella wearing a pure white maternity dress, holding an ultrasound report and standing before me with a smug expression.

Her belly was still flat, but she deliberately supported her lower back with one hand, acting as though her child had secured her status.

"Are you here for a checkup too, Miss Carter? All by yourself?" Bella covered her mouth with a light laugh, her eyes full of malicious challenge. "Ethan wanted to come with me, but he had an important meeting at the company. He insisted on hiring ten bodyguards for me. I told him it was such a waste of money."

I looked at her coldly, as if watching a clown.

"Get lost." I spat out the single word.

Bella's expression froze momentarily, then her eyes quickly reddened, tears falling like broken pearls.

"Miss Carter, I know you hate me. But love doesn't follow a first-come-first-served rule. Ethan doesn't love you at all. He says being with you feels like completing a chore. Why do you keep clinging to him shamelessly?"

She leaned closer, lowering her voice to a volume only we could hear, whispering viciously:

"You know what? Ethan says you're like a cold, dead fish. But me---I'm his real woman. I'm carrying his child now. What do you have to compete with me, you barren woman?"

Rage instantly shattered through my rational defenses.

I jumped to my feet, raising my hand to slap her.

But before my hand could land, Bella suddenly screamed and threw herself backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing hard onto the cold floor.

"Ah---my baby! It hurts so much!"

She clutched her stomach, rolling on the ground in apparent agony.

"Bella!"

A furious roar came from the end of the corridor.

Ethan charged over like a madman, shoving me aside.

His strength was tremendous. Caught off guard, I flew backward, my lower back slamming brutally into the metal armrest of a corridor bench.

*Bang!*

A dull thud.

Excruciating pain instantly tore through my nerves. My vision went black and I nearly passed out.

"Bella, are you okay? Don't be scared, I'm here!" Ethan knelt on the floor, carefully cradling Bella in his arms, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Ethan... Miss Carter... she pushed me... our baby..." Bella weakly leaned against him, pointing at me, crying pitifully.

Ethan whipped his head around, his eyes bloodshot, glaring at me like an enraged beast.

"Natalie! You vicious woman! If anything happens to Bella, I'll make you pay with your life!"

I lay crumpled on the floor, drenched in cold sweat.

A heavy, dragging pain seized my lower abdomen, followed by warm liquid slowly trickling down my inner thighs.

I looked down with difficulty.

Bright red blood---shockingly red---spread across the floor tiles.

"Ethan..." I reached out with a trembling hand, trying to grab his pant leg. "My... child..."

Ethan glanced at the blood on the floor, his eyes flashing with utter disgust.

"Enough, Natalie! How long are you going to keep up this act? Faking a pregnancy for sympathy---you make me absolutely sick!"

He scooped up Bella and rushed toward the emergency room without looking back.

"Doctor! Please save my wife!"

He called her his wife.

People passed through the corridor, countless pairs of eyes looking at me with accusation and contempt.

I lay in a pool of blood, feeling life drain away, my vision gradually blurring.

In the last second before darkness consumed me, I saw a pair of polished designer shoes at the end of the corridor, running frantically toward me through the coldness.