Chapter 2
"Ruth, faking an emergency with the old woman to squeeze money out of Mr. Poole, only to pass it along to your side piece? That's pretty low, don't you think?"
I gaped at them in total shock.
Why did none of this make any sense?
I couldn't deal with it anymore—I scrambled to my feet to leave, but he yanked me back.
Grandma's surgery required my signature.
Left with no options, I tried wiring the money over first, pleading with the hospital to keep her alive.
But the notification that my card was frozen hit me like a brick.
Meanwhile, Sanford was fondly booping Juana's nose.
"What if I use 300 thousand dollars on that card to snag the necklace you've been eyeing?"
Juana grinned and nodded, then hummed smugly in my direction.
"It's way better spent on me than thrown away on Ruth."
It all clicked then.
Sanford had handed over Grandma's emergency funds to Juana.
Just to make her smile.
Tears streamed down my face in desperation. "Sanford! Please, I'm begging you—help me out here. Grandma's life is on the line!"
A flash of regret crossed his eyes when he saw my tears.
But he didn't relent.
I twisted in his grasp, bawling my eyes out, begging him nonstop.
My phone rang again.
I scrambled to pick it up.
Only to hear the crushing news: Grandma had passed.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed to the pavement.
When I lifted my head, my gaze was filled with raw hatred.
"Why? Grandma's gone now—are you satisfied? Let me go!"
My glare must have rattled him.
Sanford released me on reflex. "Ruth, this performance is over the top."
I shoved him away with all my strength and staggered into the taxi.
It raced to the hospital, where I threw myself over Grandma's body, sobbing uncontrollably.
A doctor handed me a small box.
"Ruth, my deepest condolences. This is something she asked me to give you."
Tears clouded my eyes as I took the box and opened it.
Inside was a bracelet.
One Grandma had crafted herself.
I gripped it fiercely, crying so hard I gasped for air.
A shadow fell over me.
Sanford's voice sliced through the silence, cold as ice.
"Done with the performance?"
That was the breaking point. I seized his collar and unleashed a torrent of screams.
"What performance? What the hell are you talking about? Sanford, look at her! Pull back the sheet and see!"
It was like he couldn't even register my anguish—he didn't bother to check, just smirked.
"You missed your calling as an actress. Such a shame."
He snatched the bracelet from my grasp, glanced at it dismissively, and flung it away like garbage.
Juana scooped it up, gave me a sly smile, then flicked on a lighter and set it ablaze.
My eyes bulged in horror. I lunged to grab it back.
But Sanford clamped down on me, yanking me away.
"No..."
Trapped in his hold, all I could do was scream in utter despair.
In the blink of an eye, I was thrust into an operating room.
I went rigid, whipping my head around to glare at Sanford.
He was hunched over, scribbling his signature on a consent form. Catching my stare, he flashed a sadistic grin.
"You said your grandma's dead, right? So why not send that little bastard in your gut to keep her company in the afterlife?"
The "bastard" he spat out...
It was our child—the one I'd conceived with him.
My body shook violently. I couldn't process what I'd just heard.
"...Bastard? Sanford, how can you call our baby that?"
He charged over, fisted my hair, and jerked my head up to force eye contact.
"I'm no sucker! You know if that kid's really mine! Did you think hiding it would keep me in the dark?"
My sight blurred, doubles overlapping.
His lips moved, but my mind swam in a haze.
A searing pain ripped through my abdomen.
I sank to my knees on the floor, blood seeping through my skirt and staining the tiles.
The devastation of loss, tangled with the sting of betrayal, engulfed me completely.
My eyelids drooped.
And the world faded to nothing.
The baby was gone.
They'd even had to remove my uterus.
I'd never be able to become a mother.
Sanford sat beside the bed, leaning in to softly caress my face, whispering to himself.
"It's probably for the best that you're infertile now... At least you won't end up pregnant with someone else's kid..."
He stood up and walked out.
Once he was gone, I opened my eyes, my heart aching but strangely numb.
Grandma was dead.
The memento she'd left me—I hadn't even gotten to cherish it for a moment.
Juana had burned it to ashes.
My child was gone, too.
And my husband? He was convinced I'd cheated on him, and he wouldn't even let me explain.
I covered my face with my hands, shattered beyond words. Why was all this happening?
My own husband had turned into a total stranger—one who scared the hell out of me.
The door creaked open.