Chapter 2
I couldn't even remember how I managed to stumble out of that private room.
The streets were deserted in the dead of night, the biting wind cutting right to the bone. The dragging pain in my stomach grew sharper, as if something precious was slipping away from me.
With trembling hands, I took out my phone to book an Uber to the hospital.
The screen lit up, and a headline flashed across the top of my feed: [CEO of Reed Corp Goes Public with New Flame; Mystery Girlfriend Returns—Is a Wedding Around the Corner?]
The attached photo showed Charles at the entrance of the club, tenderly draping his coat over Lily's shoulders. That look of pure devotion used to belong only to me.
My tears finally broke, splashing onto the screen.
Right then, a black Maybach roared past, drenching me in muddy water. It screeched to a halt a few yards ahead and reversed toward me. The window lowered down, revealing Charles' cold, sharp profile.
My heart leaped. I actually thought he had come back for me. "Charles..."
"Get in," he said curtly.
I bit back the pain and pulled the door open. But as soon as I sat down, I saw Lily curled up in the passenger seat, her face pale.
"Lily isn't feeling well. We're heading to the hospital, so I'll give you a lift since it's on the way," Charles said.
Of course. I was just an afterthought.
I let out a bitter, silent laugh and huddled into the corner, terrified of getting even a drop of mud on his pristine leather seats.
"Charles, I feel so dizzy. Am I going to die?" Lily whimpered, her voice trembling with tears.
Charles floored the accelerator, his voice softening as he tried to soothe her. "Don't say that. As long as I'm here, not even the Grim Reaper would dare take you."
Through the rearview mirror, I saw him holding Lily's hand so tight his knuckles were white.
Meanwhile, I was clutching my cramping stomach, my back drenched in cold sweat. I didn't even dare to let out a whimper of pain.
When we hit the hospital, Charles scooped Lily into his arms and bolted toward the ER, completely forgetting that I was in the back seat, clinging to life by a thread.
I struggled to crawl out of the car. With every step, I felt a warm rush beneath me. Deep down, I knew—my baby was as good as gone.
I leaned against the wall, inching my way toward the triage desk. "Doctor... help me..."
Before my vision went dark, I saw Charles grabbing a doctor by the collar, roaring, "I don't care what it takes, save her! If anything happens to Lily, I'll burn this entire hospital to the ground!"
I collapsed onto the freezing floor. Not once, until the moment I closed my eyes, did he even bother to look back.
When I came to, I was in a standard ward. The air was thick with the sharp smell of disinfectant. I instinctively reached for my stomach; it felt terrifyingly flat.
"So, you're awake?" A cold voice came from beside my bed.
Charles was sitting on the sofa, flicking a lighter on and off. The dancing flame cast dark, menacing shadows across his face.
"The baby..." I croaked out.
"Gone." He clipped the word short, his tone laced with mockery. "Emma, just how far are you willing to go to frame Lily? You actually staged a miscarriage? What did you do, take the pills yourself?"
It felt like I'd been hit by a bolt from the blue. My blood ran cold. "What did you just say?"
"The doctor said it was a medical abortion." Charles stood up and closed in on me, his presence so suffocating I could barely breathe. "Lily fainted from simple anemia, and you couldn't wait to induce a miscarriage just so you could hold it over my head and make me feel guilty?
"Emma, how can you be so twisted?"
"I didn't! It was you..." I tried to explain, to tell him it was because of that shove, because of his reckless driving in the rain.
But Charles grabbed my chin, his strength enough to snap bone. "Shut it! Since the baby's gone, that's just perfect."
His gaze was dark and predatory, his voice a devil's whisper. "Lily's severely anemic and needs a transfusion. You're a rare blood type—a perfect match for her. Get up and give her 400 cc."
I stared at him, eyes wide, unable to believe what I was hearing. I had just suffered a miscarriage; I was at my absolute breaking point. And yet, he wanted to drain my blood to save Lily, who was "just a bit anemic"?
"I'm not going... Charles, you'll kill me!" I cried out, my voice trembling with fear.
"You won't die." He threw my head back and wiped his hands in disgust. "You owe her this.
"If you hadn't muscled your way into marrying me, Lily never would have fled the country in rage, and she wouldn't be this sick now. Emma, it's time to pay the piper."