Chapter 4

How could he possibly keep her around? In a split second, a million thoughts raced through my mind.

I spent the entire holiday night waiting in agonizing suspense.

I waited through the midnight fireworks and for nearly a week after.

Ian never showed up. He didn't send a single text either.

He lied to me. He lied to the woman who still had a shred of love left for him. This time, I was truly done.

When I told my parents I was filing for divorce, they fully supported me.

I rarely visited them anymore, and they had silently resented Ian for years.

Out of respect for my feelings, they had always kept their complaints to themselves.

The day I flew back to the city, my mother-in-law, Audrey, called to scream at me the second I stepped off the plane.

She shouted, "Stella, your husband was in a horrible car crash, and you are hiding at your parents' house! If you are done with my son, sign the divorce papers right now so someone else can take your place!"

*****

When I arrived at the hospital, Ian was still unconscious.

I learned he had gotten into the accident on his way to see me, which explained why Audrey was so furious.

There were no nurses in the room. Only Nora was there, carefully wiping Ian's face with a damp cloth.

She didn't look panicked like she usually did when she saw me.

She merely gave me a passing glance and continued to gently moisten Ian's dry lips with a cotton swab.

Watching her delicate movements, I remembered Ian's text message.

"You pushed me on purpose that day, didn't you, Nora?" I asked.

The plastic cup slipped from her hand and clattered to the floor.

Between her pale face and her guilty eyes, I didn't need to ask anything else.

Losing my baby was no accident. I didn't need their input anymore. I would uncover the rest of the truth myself.

Having gotten the confirmation I needed, I turned to leave.

Nora suddenly spoke up behind me. "Ian left right after dinner that night. He was going to stay over, but your dad called and said you were upset. That's why he drove out in the middle of the night.

"He was conscious after the crash, and the first person he called was me. I rode in the ambulance, and I have been taking care of him ever since.

"When he was dying, he only thought of me. You know what that means, right, Stella?"

No wonder she was so confident. She really believed she had replaced me.

I took a long, hard look at Nora, finally seeing her true colors.

I just couldn't understand why some women viewed stealing a husband as a badge of honor.

My intense stare must have made her nervous because she shifted uncomfortably.

I just smiled. "Don't worry. I'm divorcing him soon. You two lovebirds can be together before you know it."

A look of pure joy spread across her face. As I turned around, I cast one last look at the man in the hospital bed, and my smile faded into a cold line.

Ian. Nora. You better pray I didn't find proof that you orchestrated this together.

Otherwise, I would personally destroy you both. That was a promise.

*****

The private investigator's report was in my hands within an hour.

I read it repeatedly, sickened by the absurd, laughable excuse inside.

And Ian had actually believed it.

Tears spilled down my cheeks as I laughed uncontrollably.

So that was it.

How dare they scheme against me like this? How dare they plot something so vicious against my unborn child?

I cried until I felt I had drained a lifetime's worth of tears. Finally, I pulled myself off the floor.

I stormed straight back into the hospital room.

Ian was awake now, resting in Nora's arms as she gave him water.

His eyes lit up the moment he saw me, but I wiped that look off his face with a resounding slap.

Still burning with rage, I raised my hand to strike his other cheek, but Nora caught my arm.

Naturally, I didn't spare her either. I dragged her to the floor and hit her with everything I had.

I had never been in a real fight, but pure hatred fueled my hands, leaving Nora shrieking in pain.

With his broken legs, Ian was trapped in the bed, forced to watch Nora suffer.

I didn't stop until the doctors and nurses rushed in to pull me away.

Nora threw her arms around Ian's waist, sobbing pitifully.

He patted her back to soothe her while glaring at me. "Stella, you have disappointed me beyond words. What did Nora ever do to deserve this kind of brutality?"

I shook out my aching wrists and stared at him with venom. "She murdered my baby. I will never let her get away with that."

Ian's breath hitched, and his righteous anger evaporated. He looked down, unconsciously stroking Nora's hair, looking somewhat dazed.

"So you know," he murmured. "I wanted to tell you on Christmas Eve. But since you know the truth, you really can't blame Nora. She did it for our own good."

I grabbed my phone and hurled it squarely at his bandaged head with a loud smack.

Ian didn't even get angry.