Chapter 4
"Hazel, stop acting out! I'm your husband, and that's my child," Edward yelled.
His rage exploded, his voice booming across the cold morgue.
His veins stood out as he grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his glare.
"Look at me. I'm the one you truly love!" Edward shouted.
When I finally looked at him, all I could see were memories of pain and despair.
Whenever Claire and I had a fight, Edward always took her side. He'd force me to apologize every single time.
Once, when I was burning up with a fever, Claire called and said the pipes burst at her place. Edward didn't even hesitate and just left me there alone.
At the funeral home, Claire secretly told the staff to make things hard for me, and they ended up sending me to be a dead man's nominal wife.
In my moment of terror, I ran out and called Edward.
But the reply was Claire's sweet, taunting voice. "Edward's in the shower. Oh, Hazel, did you seriously manage to escape all on your own?"
Before I could respond, strong hands grabbed me and forced me back inside.
Then my fingertips brushed against something icy, and suddenly I felt at ease, like a tether pulling me out of hell and back to the real world.
To my immense relief, when I entered the room, I realized the one they intended for me to marry was Lucas.
Backed into a corner, I finally broke my silence with Edward—the first words I'd spoken to him in three months.
"No. He's my real husband," I said, my voice steady.
For a split second, it was like the last thread of sanity in Edward's mind finally snapped.
With wild, bloodshot eyes, he snatched up a knitting needle and plunged it viciously into Lucas.
"Keep your eyes open and watch. He's been dead for long!" Edward yelled, his voice twisted with rage.
The needle slid straight through the flesh, and yet Lucas remained completely unharmed.
Edward was stunned, his eyes wide with shock, unable to tear his gaze away from my shoulder pierced clean through by the needle.
Drop by drop, my blood splattered against Lucas' deathly pale, ice-cold skin.
After a long, tense moment, Edward suddenly snapped. He threw me over his shoulder and strode for the door, with wild desperation in his eyes.
Edward muttered to himself like a man possessed, "I don't care if this is all an act. You're my wife and are carrying my child. You're coming home with me."
Regardless of the agony in my shoulder, I grabbed the cabinet door with all my might, refusing to let go no matter what.
Just then, Alfred cried out in shock. "Mr. Rivers, did Mr. Lancaster just... move?"
Edward didn't even turn around, letting out a cold, mocking chuckle. "Hazel, you really do have some tricks up your sleeve, huh? Even Alfred's working with you to fool me now? Lucas has been dead for a long time. I'm just taking my wife home. You..."
Before he could finish, a fierce blow smashed into the back of his head out of nowhere.
As he blinked in confusion, everyone was gawking in horror at something right behind him.
The morgue went totally quiet.
I called out, my voice sugary sweet, "Hon, you're finally awake!"
I could feel Edward's body tense up under me all of a sudden.
Cold sweat streamed down his face, and warm blood oozed from the back of his head.
With his neck stiff as a board, Edward turned his head slowly, trying not to make a sound.
But there was nobody behind him. Lucas was still lying on the morgue slab, only his posture looked a little different now.