Chapter 2
This time, I didn't answer.
The air around David turned icy as he grabbed my chin.
He made me look him in the eye.
A cruel smile tugged at his lips. "Since you're so hell-bent on being the perfect wife and mother, I'll make sure you play that role to the fullest."
David shoved me into the backseat of the car. "Emily's pregnancy isn't stable. Go take care of her.
"You've got plenty of experience with this, don't you?"
My hand started shaking again, and I instinctively touched my stomach.
There was a scar there.
It was left when I threw myself in front of David to shield him from a knife.
It was the first year after we got married. David's business was booming, and he ended up making some enemies.
One of his rivals put a hit out on him.
I took the hit for him, not realizing I was pregnant at the time.
I was three months along, and had felt the baby move.
After losing my first child, every time I got pregnant, I ended up miscarrying.
Every single time, David would hold me and cry like a kid.
He'd swear he'd treat me right for the rest of my life.
But now, he laughed and said, "You've got plenty of experience with miscarriages anyway."
Just then, my phone buzzed with a message from my teacher, Charles Walter.
It read: [Sarah, your application for further studies has been approved.
[Don't worry. I've asked your senior to come pick you up.]
In that instant, my heart, which had been drifting aimlessly, finally found its anchor.
I let David run every red light all the way to the hospital and drag me into the blood-drawing room.
He shouted at the doctor, "She's got the same rare blood type. Take her blood!"
I didn't say a single word.
Right as the nurse was about to pierce my vein, David suddenly shouted, "Stop!"
He leaned in close, locking eyes with me. "Sarah, say something. If you say no, I won't let them take your blood."
He knew I'd been terrified of needles since I was a kid.
He also knew I got dizzy at the sight of blood.
But he still brought me here anyway.
I looked at the familiar face in front of me, and for a second, it overlapped with the quiet, aloof guy he used to be.
Back then, David had saved me from a gang of thugs, carried me on his back, and rushed me to the hospital.
When it was time for the shot, he awkwardly covered my eyes.
He leaned in and whispered softly, "Don't be scared. It'll be over in a second."
Consider this paying him back for saving me all those years ago.
After this, we wouldn't owe each other anything.
I curved my lips into a small smile, met his gaze, and quietly said, "1."
David closed his eyes, his breathing ragged.
He shot to his feet, snapping, "Fine!"
His tone was final as he said, "Sarah, you brought this on yourself."
He roared at the doctor, "Didn't you say you needed blood? Are there enough test tubes?"
But by the sixth tube, I was barely hanging in there.
The doctor started to protest, but David snapped, "Draw ten tubes, not a single one less."
His smile was cold. "Since my wife's so generous, I'd hate to let her down."
The doctor looked like he wanted to argue.
I gave his hand a quick pat, telling him to keep going.
It was useless. The Grant Group owned this hospital.
If doctors had any say, David wouldn't have kept handing out those special meds to my mom whenever he wanted, and she wouldn't have left us so fast.
I closed my eyes, feeling the blood slowly drain out of me.
My lips turned pale, and my body was about to give out.
From the next room, noises came through the wall that made my cheeks burn and my heart pound.
Emily, who was supposed to be resting, whined in a sweet, flirty tone, "Oh, David, you're so naughty. Sarah's right next door."
David answered her with nothing but rough, heavy breaths.
With a swift motion, he yanked the curtain aside.
David and Emily were tangled together on the hospital bed, their clothes all disheveled.
David gave the doctors and nurses a chilling glare. "Get out."
Suddenly, the whole hospital room was empty except for the three of us.
David gave a wicked grin and began to strip Emily's clothes off right in front of me.
He said, "Sarah, look carefully. You might hate it when I touch you, but there will always be women throwing themselves at me.
"Don't think you're irreplaceable."
With that, he kissed her right in front of me, without a care in the world.
David hung my mom's rosary by the window, threatening that if I dared to close my eyes, it would disappear forever.
The last thing my mom ever left me would be gone for good.
After they finished, David tossed the stained sheets at me. "Go wash them."
Emily shyly snuggled into David's arms. "Oh, those sheets are all messy because of me.
"How could I possibly make Sarah clean up after that?"
She strolled out of bed and came right up to me.
She unhooked the rosary and twirled it between her fingers with a smile.
She said, "Wasn't this rosary supposed to keep me safe? But when I wore it, I almost lost the baby.
"I was going to give it back to you, but now it's probably tainted.
"Let me throw it away for you."
I shouted, "No—"
Emily tossed the rosary out the window without a second thought.