Chapter 3
"Can't you see what's important here? This is work."
My back crashed against the table's edge, flooding my mouth with the metallic tang of blood.
"Ervin, don't go—please."
"Lucinda, grow up already, will you?
"She's your best friend too—her wound's busted open, and you're over here throwing a fit?"
He spun around, spotting the blood smear on the floor, and scowled.
"Come on, really? All this theater to stop me from leaving? Don't sink that low, okay?"
"Just go."
He blinked, caught off guard by my compliance, freezing for a beat.
Eyeing my ghostly pale face, he dialed back his tone.
"Hang tight—I'll be quick."
But as the sky lightened with dawn, he was still nowhere in sight.
I went completely ashen, collapsing into unconsciousness.
When I finally opened my eyes, I was in a stark, chilly hospital room.
My abdominal wound felt like it was being torn apart, with endless needle pricks stitching it back together.
The pain had me drenched in cold sweat.
"You're lucky the housekeeper spotted you in time—otherwise, you'd have bled out and died."
Through the throbbing haze, laughter floated in from outside the window.
"Ervin, if you help me and the baby win this thing, you can crash in the bed tonight."
The hospital was running a family bonding event out there.
Susana cradled the baby, chuckling lightly, while Ervin watched them with an unusually soft gaze.
He couldn't help but reach out and playfully tap her nose; in response, she rose on her tiptoes and pecked his cheek.
The three of them painted a cozy family portrait—heartwarming on the surface, but it burned my eyes.
A deep ache twisted in my chest, making me flinch as a sour lump rose in my throat.
The sun beat down fiercely outside, and I lost track of how long I stared.
It scorched away the moisture gathering at the corners of my eyes.
Those two hours stretched on endlessly.
Until the doctor finally said, "All done—the stitches are fresh, so take it easy and focus on recovery. Get your husband to stick around and help."
I shot a glance out the window at my so-called husband, busy pampering my best friend.
Without a word, I got up and left.
I slumped into a chair in the corner, staring blankly into space.
This pregnancy had been an unexpected twist this year.
I'd seen it as a blessing from above.
Three years back, a massive earthquake hit the construction site my parents were overseeing—dozens vanished into gaping fissures in seconds.
Their precious pearl, once cherished and protected.
Reduced to a rootless orphan in an instant.
I'd longed for love, ached for a family to call my own.
This child was the result of hundreds of injections, my arms still pocked with tiny scars from the needles.
On the day of the crash, watching that vivid red fade away, I'd sobbed until I blacked out.
The baby I'd endured so much for, shattered into a bloody pulp.
The family I'd yearned for night and day, dissolved into a crimson stain.
Biting back the pain in my gut, I caught a cab home by myself.
Time to pack up and get out of the house Ervin and I had shared.
But as I went through my things, I discovered the sole emerald hairpin from my mom was gone.
That hairpin—she'd scrimped for forty long years, surviving on bare basics and pickled scraps each month, just to afford it.
On my eighteenth birthday, she placed it in my hands, wrapped me in a tender hug, and whispered to wear it for wedding photos with my true love.
Wishing it would guide me to happiness.
Yet here we were, wedding held but not a single bridal shot taken.
As wrenching sobs escaped me, a familiar name echoed from the TV.
"Congratulations to Mr. Norris and Ms. Boyd on first place! Your prize: a top-of-the-line computer and a premium custom family photo package."
On screen, Ervin held the baby close, while Susana beamed, nestled against his shoulder.
She wore a red dress, and tucked in her hair was that emerald hairpin—my mother's heirloom.
I went rigid, my world spinning into darkness.
Fury and grief threatened to explode from my chest.
By the time I stormed the event's photo setup, Susana was mid-kiss on his cheek, radiating bliss.
I charged forward, seething.
"You thieving slut—give me back that hairpin!"
Before I could even graze her, she reeled backward.
"Ahh, ow! Lucinda, why'd you shove me...?"
She crumpled to the ground, hands on her belly, eyes welling up as she sniffled and ducked behind Ervin.
His crew of childhood pals were there too, faces stormy as they formed a wall in front of me.
"As long as we're here, you psycho hag won't touch a hair on our Susana's head!"
Ervin's face was a mask of pure rage.
He marched up to me, looking utterly mortified, like I'd shamed him.
Then he hurled me aside.
"Lucinda, when are you gonna quit?
"It's just some promo pics for the event—a harmless skit. Did you really have to barge in here and throw a fit?"