Chapter 3
I met her challenging gaze with a blank expression.
When Eugene saw that I wasn't answering, his voice suddenly turned cold. "Selena, don't forget. Your parents are buried in a cemetery that belongs to me.
"You wouldn't want them to end up like this house, would you? Gone without a trace?"
Pain tore through my chest so suddenly that I could barely breathe. I slowly lowered my eyes and nodded. "Alright, I'll do as she says."
Yvette instantly stopped crying and threw herself into Eugene's arms, laughing through her tears.
Eugene took her to pick out a wedding dress and book the hotel, but before they left, he paused for a moment.
The anger had finally left his face, and his voice was unusually calm. "Selena, it's only a ceremony. It won't change the fact that you're still my wife."
I kept my face calm and replied, "Alright."
He looked at me for a long moment, the tension in his face finally easing as a faint smile appeared. "You don't have to take care of Yvette for now. Stay in the hospital and get some rest.
"Once the baby is born, the three of us can go somewhere and relax. Think of it as my way of making up for everything I owe you."
I kept my voice flat. "Okay."
Eugene looked satisfied, then walked away without another word.
*****
On the wedding day, Eugene was worried I'd make a scene, so he had his men keep watch over me in the dressing room from early morning.
Yvette struggled with her heavy wedding dress, acting all soft and helpless. "Mrs. Sterling, this dress is so heavy. I can't get my shoes on. Can you help me?"
Eugene frowned and instinctively looked at me.
I lowered my eyes, crouched down, lifted her dress, and put her shoes on for her.
Eugene looked conflicted, like he wanted to say something, but Yvette gently nudged him aside. "Babe, I'm thirsty. Go grab me some orange juice, will you?"
Eugene's expression softened. He ruffled her hair, smiled, and walked out.
As soon as he left, Yvette's face twisted into a sneer, and she kicked me hard in the chest.
Looming over me, she mocked, "Selena, did you think I was some pampered mistress? You didn't know, did you? Eugene and I have been together for almost ten years."
The shock on my face made her smile more cruelly. "Eugene thought I was too young to deal with all the chaos, so he kept me as his girlfriend and married you to keep up appearances.
"He didn't want me to suffer, so when he made his first real money, he lied and told you his enemies had robbed him. He actually spent it all on luxury gifts for me.
"Whenever I got upset, he'd have people come over and pretend to collect debts from you. Then he'd take all the money you paid back and use it to please me.
"Altogether, it was 600 thousand dollars, plus a bracelet. I tossed it ages ago."
I couldn't stop shaking, and my heart sank.
That 600 thousand was every bit of my savings. I had worked day and night to pay off his debts and save that money.
Back then, I was so exhausted that I passed out right on the assembly line, almost getting dragged into the machinery.
When Eugene found out, he held me and cried, blaming himself. And I had been stupid enough to comfort him. I never blamed him once.
It turned out that all that tenderness and guilt was nothing but a lie. He had been using me and lying to me from the very beginning.
Yvette's words cut deep. "When you got pregnant, I was angry and refused to let him touch me. He put on an act with those people, got you drunk, and made sure you lost the baby.
"While you were fighting for your life in the operating room, he was on the phone with me, soothing me."
Her words left my head spinning. My vision kept going dark.
Yvette's face twisted with malice, her eyes burning with resentment. "He loves me more than anyone, but he still won't divorce you.
"You're only above me because he has a little affection for you left over from the past."
She gave a sinister smile. "Tell me, if Eugene thought you'd done something to hurt my baby, do you think he'd hold onto the tiniest bit of feeling for you?"
I felt a cold dread wash over me, and I turned to run out of the room.
Behind me, Yvette grabbed the champagne bottle from the table and smashed it hard against her belly.
Then she let out a bloodcurdling scream. "Eugene, help."
The door to the dressing room was kicked open, and Eugene stormed in. He grabbed my wrist and slammed me hard onto the floor.
His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Yvette, who was lying on the floor bleeding, fury raging in his gaze.
"It wasn't me." My explanation died in my throat, swallowed by the violence in his presence.
Eugene's eyes were bloodshot as he roared, "Selena, how could you do this to an unborn child? You disgust me.
"Since you made Yvette lose her baby, don't blame me for what I'm about to do to your dead parents."
Terror and despair filled my eyes as tears streamed down my face.
Then he gave the order in a voice devoid of mercy. "Dig up Selena's parents' graves. Destroy the remains and make sure nothing is left."
"No," I screamed, completely losing it. "Eugene, you're out of your mind. There are security cameras in the dressing room. Go check them. I didn't do it."
Yvette staggered to her feet, then suddenly bolted for the window. "The baby is gone. What's the point of me staying alive? I might as well die."
Eugene's face darkened instantly. He shoved me aside and rushed over to grab the frail Yvette.
His cold eyes locked onto me. "Selena, you've used up every bit of goodwill I had left for you. You hurt the woman I love and my child. I will never forgive you."
Then he turned to his subordinates. "Send her to prison, and make sure the guards know exactly how to treat her. I want her to suffer every single day in there. I don't want her to have one peaceful day."
*****
Eugene sped through red lights, holding Yvette tightly as he rushed straight to the hospital's emergency room.
His voice was tight with urgency. "Save her. Save my wife and my baby. I'll donate 3 million to the hospital."
The doctor on duty was startled and stared at Eugene in disbelief. "Mr. Sterling, you have azoospermia, and it's hard to have children. Where did this baby come from?"