Chapter 3
Brandon wouldn't let me leave, and he sure as hell wasn't letting me off easy.
After smearing away the lipstick from his mouth, he called the doctor right in front of me.
I was treated like a lifeless puppet, flipped and turned any way they pleased.
"Thirteen weeks pregnant, Mr. Malone," the doctor said.
I lifted my eyes. Right then, I noticed Brandon stubbing out his cigarette.
I asked coldly, "You're not going to keep going? If I died here, no one would even notice."
Brandon turned his head, looking everywhere but at me, his jaw set tight, refusing to meet my gaze.
It was like a cruel memory hit him, and his lips twisted into a grim line.
"Amy, you know exactly what price you'll pay for lying to me," he said, icy as ever.
He vanished without another word.
A few minutes later, I got dressed.
Right at the door, the doctor blocked my exit.
Nadia's eyes were icy as she stared at my belly. "Nowadays, I hear there's a way to do a paternity test before the baby's even born. Hold her down and draw a venous blood sample," she said coldly.
I didn't even have time to refuse.
Two maids from the estate pinned me down and forced me back onto the big bed.
The needle pierced my arm.
All these years spent with Brandon, every moment felt like I was chained to him.
My whole existence revolved around Brandon. There was never room for anything else.
Day turned into night without meaning, and I lived off diets and medication for years.
When the pregnancy was discovered, the doctor told me I'd better take care of the baby this time.
But right now, blood was relentlessly drawn from my veins, tube after tube.
My lips went pale, and it felt like my whole body was wilting.
My vision flickered, and I was on the verge of blacking out.
Nadia sent a photo to Brandon.
Nadia: [Brandon, she looks downright pathetic, flailing like that. How on earth did you manage to put up with her all this time?]
Her smile looked innocent enough, but the way she directed the doctor was calm and ruthless.
Life was slipping away from me, drop by drop.
For a split second, I could've sworn I saw a little angel hovering above my head.
It was gently tugging at my finger, as if it couldn't bear to let go.
"Mom... Mom, please don't make me go..." The words echoed in my mind.
My forehead was slick with sweat as I struggled to catch my breath.
Just as the doctor prepared to jab me again, I made a desperate grab for the glass bottle and smashed it.
My hands shaking, I gripped a jagged shard and pressed it hard against Nadia's throat.
"Stay back. Let me go. If you don't, I'll make sure she suffers!" I said coldly, my grip unyielding.
The jagged shards tore into my fingers, leaving them drenched in blood.
My arms and legs were ready to give out, but I clung to Nadia. She was my last bargaining chip, and I wasn't letting go.
Step by step, leaving bloody footprints behind, I staggered toward the gates of the estate.
Just as that first shaft of sunlight reached me, Brandon's car rolled onto the lawn.
His eyes were bloodshot with panic as he took in the chaos of the estate.
He stared at me in shock and roared, "Amy, what the hell have you done?"
I met his gaze, unwavering, and said nothing.
Nadia, usually so arrogant, suddenly looked like she'd been the one bullied.
She was crying pitifully, tears streaming down her face. "Brandon, I swear I didn't mean for this to happen..."
She continued, "I just... I only wanted to help you make sure this baby is really yours... But she'd rather risk everything running away than just work with me..."
Nadia struggled in tears, and as she fought me, the broken piece of porcelain traced a thin trail of blood across her neck.
Brandon couldn't watch any longer. He kicked my calf, forcing my grip open and wrenching Nadia free.
"Amy, fight me one more time, and that baby in your belly won't survive till morning," Brandon said coldly.
Hopeless, I loosened my grip on the jagged porcelain.
I collapsed into the dirt, not even trying to catch myself.
But when I shut my eyes, it wasn't the rain-soaked mud I felt beneath me. It was Brandon's hands.
He grabbed me and dashed for his car.
A vicious glint flashed in Nadia's eyes.
Brandon was the one who wanted nothing more than for the baby in my belly to die. But why did he save me?
Brandon took me away.
Before heading out, he promised Nadia that he'd buy the star item at the upcoming auction for her as compensation.
With just a few casual words, she bluntly exposed that they were planning to have a baby.
She said, "I want that lucky pendant for the baby."
She added, "Brandon, you could fool around with those sleazy women in the past. But now that we're married, I'm never going to let you or anyone else make me or my child suffer."
Maybe it was the blood all over my hands that made me look so freaky.
Brandon drove me back, keeping the car steady and smooth the whole way.
Still, the vein bulging on his forehead said just how wound up he actually was.
He pulled over somewhere on the outskirts of town.
He didn't reach for a cigarette. He just clasped his hands tight and sat there in silence.
Brandon stared out the window at the drifting maple leaves, interrogating me like I was on trial. "Amy, why did you propose to me three months ago?"
I let out a cold, bitter laugh and pressed a fingertip to my heart.
"What else could it be? Money, of course," I replied, flat and unflinching.
"Because with you, I knew I'd have it easy for the rest of my life. You already knew, didn't you? Just like my mom, I'm nothing but a lowlife," I said, my voice flat and cold.
It was exactly what Brandon wanted to hear.
He just wanted to see me apologize, admitting I was wrong, barely clinging to what was left of my pride.
Tears streamed down my face. Cornered and utterly helpless, I begged him with everything I had left. "Brandon, I swear, I'll never let myself feel that way about you again. Please, let me go."
"Nadia drew my blood. She can prove the baby isn't yours. I'm begging you, Brandon... please, stop putting me through this," I cried.
Brandon's gaze shifted—first suspicious, then turning absolutely ice-cold.
He stepped in closer and closer, clamping his hand down hard on my jaw.
"Amy, talk all you want. It won't change a damn thing. Don't even think about lying to me. Where exactly were you that night, three months ago?" he growled, his voice deadly low.
A storm of emotion swirled behind his eyes. There was anger, realization, and something else… a faint trace of relief.
He slapped a hotel check-in receipt down in front of me.
"The doctor said you got pregnant during those exact days. Amy, what excuse do you have now? You were in my room, don't even try to deny it!" he said.
Brandon brought the crook of his hand dangerously close to my throat, his posture radiating menace.
He pressed his lips, and every inch of him screamed predator.
"Still refusing to tell me the truth? Amy, I'll make sure you'll have a miscarriage," he threatened.
Brandon was just as crazy as he'd always been.
But now, a baby was growing inside me, and that little one needed me to fight for them.
I wasn't that helpless Amy Mullen from back then, the girl who used to be completely at his mercy.
Gripping his wrist tight, I blinked steadily and met his eyes, daring him like I had nothing left to lose.
"Tell me, Brandon. Do you want it to be yours, or not? If it's your baby, I dare you to kill me now," I shot back, my voice steady and cold.