Chapter 2
"My child doesn't need a woman like you, someone who would sell herself for money, to be his mother," Samuel said coldly. "Leave the child here, and disappear from my life. Now."
The nurses and doctors nearby were gossiping, their eyes filled with contempt and the kind of amusement when people were just waiting for the drama to unfold.
I was shaking all over, not because I was cold, but because humiliation was crashing over me, suffocating and relentless.
I clutched the bedsheet, forcing myself to sit up with every ounce of strength I had left.
"Samuel, I dare you to say that again," I demanded, each word sharp and deliberate.
"I said, get out!" he snapped, his patience completely gone.
With just one look from him, the two bodyguards in black stepped forward right away.
"Get her and all her crap out of here," he barked.
"Mrs. Barton, this way, please," one of the bodyguards said, his voice icy and detached.
The bodyguards seized my arms with emotionless faces, their grip vice-like and unyielding.
Fresh out of childbirth, I was utterly powerless to resist. They hauled me off the bed, limp and helpless, like a discarded rag doll.
"Let go of me! My child! My child is still in there!" I screamed, my voice raw with panic.
I looked back at the two tiny figures in the incubator.
But Samuel didn't even bother to look at me. He was completely focused on gently supporting Salena, treating her like she was the fragile one who'd just survived a nightmare.
"Salena, let's go home. Don't let this dirty business taint your eyes," he said softly, his voice full of tender concern.
The door slammed shut in front of me.
The two bodyguards dragged me down the long hallway, practically pulling me off my feet.
Everyone was pointing, whispering, and staring at me like I was some kind of spectacle.
"So that's the lucky charm bride? She actually went through with it and had the babies."
"What does it matter? Now that the big boss is awake, the real deal is back, and she's getting tossed out just like that."
"Did she really think having his kids would get her a ticket to the top? Talk about delusional. Does she even know who she is?"
They dumped me on the freezing hospital steps, my body still weak from giving birth, and I hit the ground hard. The pain in my abdomen was like being torn apart, sharp and unbearable.
Suddenly, rain started pouring down, icy drops hammering down on me and soaking right through my flimsy hospital gown.
I watched as the limited edition Rolls-Royce Phantom slowly drove away from the hospital entrance. Through the window, I caught a glimpse of Samuel and Salena, side by side, their silhouettes close together.
I was the laughingstock of the whole city.
I didn't know how long I sat there, but at last, a black car pulled up and stopped right in front of me.
Russ Floyd, the Barton family's butler, stepped out with an umbrella and handed me two newborns wrapped in blankets.
"Ms. Pierpoint, these are young Mr. and Miss Barton. Mr. Samuel Barton said you're to raise them. This is the money for raising them," Russ said, his voice cold and distant.
He handed me a bank card.
I was stunned.
Didn't Samuel just say he wanted me gone and the babies left behind?
Russ sighed, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"After Mr. Barton woke up, Ms. Poe tearfully complained that she was too weak to look after the babies. He just couldn't bear to see her upset, so..."
So he tossed his own newborns at me, the surrogate he used and threw away, like they were yesterday's trash.
I cradled the two tiny, warm bodies in my arms. They were sleeping soundly, blissfully unaware that their own father had just tossed them aside.
It felt like someone was crushing my heart in their fist. The pain was so sharp, I could hardly catch my breath.
I didn't take the card.
I just grabbed the wrinkled check for 20 million dollars I'd been clutching so tightly.
That was the money from the contract. It was what I was owed.
As for child support, I was not so pathetic that I'd ever accept charity from the man who threw me away.
"Let Samuel know he'll regret this for the rest of his life," I said, my voice icy and resolute.
Cradling the babies, I turned and disappeared into the pouring rain, head held high.
Back in my cramped little apartment, barely 300 square feet, I carefully set the babies down on the bed and just crumpled to the floor, totally drained and empty inside.
I'd finally managed to pull together enough for Grandma's surgery, but somewhere along the way, I'd left my heart behind.
My phone was blowing up with news alerts.
[Shocking! Billionaire Samuel Barton, in a coma for three years, wakes up against all odds!]
[Barton Group heir returns, stock prices skyrocket!]
[The couple of the century! Samuel Barton and his childhood sweetheart, Salena Poe, reunite in a passionate moment—wedding bells may be ringing soon.]
Each news alert was like a knife, cutting deeper and deeper into my already bleeding heart.
In the photos, Samuel was holding Salena as they left the hospital, his eyes shining with the joy of getting back what he thought he'd lost.
But about me, the woman who gave him his children? Not a single word.
It was like I'd never even existed.
I turned off my phone, curled up on the freezing floor, and my tears just kept falling, silent and endless.
I always thought I was marrying a man who was basically dead inside—emotionless, just a living corpse. Our marriage? It was nothing but a cold, calculated transaction, all about money.