Chapter 3
"Did you say or do something to upset Olivia?"
Javier shook his head, brazenly lying through his teeth.
"I saw she looked sick and tried to help her stand, but she just hauled off and smacked me for no reason.
"Mom, tell Dad to make her pay..."
Big fat tears rolled down his face, his sly, manipulative look leaving me speechless.
His shamelessness was a dead ringer for Timothy.
As I recalled how he'd casually slipped and called Timothy "Dad" before, it all clicked in an instant.
Javier was really Timothy's own flesh and blood.
His thing with Dolores wasn't new—it had been simmering for years.
All along, he'd used our marriage as a smokescreen, duping everyone in sight.
A storm of bitterness and rage surged through me, propelling me to grab Timothy with all my might.
"I'm not letting you get away with this!"
My hateful stare threw him off balance, freezing him for a second.
Seizing the moment, Dolores yanked at my arm.
"You and Timothy are done—divorced. This clinging and tugging? It's not a good look.
"An ex needs to respect boundaries, or if this gets out, you'll be the one everyone despises..."
In a flash of fury, I spun and slapped her square across the face.
"You're the ones who deserve to be despised—you and Timothy!"
The smack rang out sharp and clear, drawing a terrified scream from Dolores.
It was hardly a hard hit, but she reeled back theatrically, then deliberately twisted and bashed her head against the door.
With an over-the-top "ah!", she grabbed her forehead and slumped to the ground.
Timothy's eyes turned bloodshot with panic.
He scrambled to call an ambulance, then pointed at me, snarling through clenched teeth.
"Olivia, if anything happens to Dolores, you'll pay with your life!"
He completely ignored the blood trickling down my legs from the stress—his world revolved around Dolores alone.
Watching him hover over her so tenderly brought back hazy memories of how he'd once promised to shield me for life.
Those faded affections now stabbed like a blade in my heart.
Exhausted, I crumpled to the floor.
Javier just leered down at me, spewing nonstop venom from his tiny lips.
"Die already, stinky woman. When you're dead, I can finally claim my dad..."
As I gripped my spasming belly, a profound sadness enveloped me.
My baby... perhaps we were never destined to meet.
As everything blurred into a spinning haze, I caught the sound of paramedics bursting in.
They lifted Dolores from Timothy's grasp, and one glanced my way.
"What's wrong with that lady over there? Should we take her too?"
As a medic started toward me, Timothy blocked the path like a wall.
With a straight face, he brazenly disowned me.
"She's nothing but a homewrecker out to wreck my family. No connection to me whatsoever!"
He stroked Dolores's cheek softly, his gaze full of urgency.
"This here's my fiancée. Rush her to the hospital—ignore the rest!"
Timothy bossed them around like a dictator, hurrying them to pack up and leave.
The crew was too busy with Dolores's endless groans to spare me a thought.
Only as the ambulance doors were swinging shut did a sharp-eyed doctor notice the blood pooling under me.
Duty called—he pushed past Timothy's frantic blocks and hurried to my side.
When he knelt in front of me, instinct kicked in. With trembling fingers, I dug the report from my pocket.
"Please... save me... and my baby..."
Shaking uncontrollably, I mustered my last strength to pass him the pregnancy test.
The paramedic glanced at it, and his expression shifted to alarm.
"Over here, quick—get her on the stretcher! We move now, or she and the baby won't make it!"
In my foggy haze of awareness, I could still make out Timothy's icy, derisive snort.
"What baby in her belly? This woman's pulling out all the stops just to hold onto me."
The doctor, fuming at Timothy's callous remark, shoved the pregnancy test right in his face.
"It's spelled out right here—this woman's two months along!
"Do you know her husband? Call him in now!"
Timothy eyed the report dubiously.
Spotting the official hospital seal, he paused, his expression turning grim.
As he wavered, Dolores called out desperately from the stretcher.
"Honey, leave her—my head's killing me...
"Could it be a concussion? Honey, am I dying...?"
They weren't even legally hitched yet, but Dolores was already marking her territory.
And with Javier latched onto his leg, pleading for him to tend to her quick, Timothy tucked the test away for the moment and hopped into the ambulance with her.