Chapter 5
As the sticky blood pooled beneath her, Alina totally freaked out.
She had fought so hard to convince Kevin to let her carry his child.
If she lost the baby now, she couldn't keep him in her grasp anymore.
"What's going on?" Kevin pushed the door open and stepped out.
When he saw Bella standing by the door, his heart ached. "Bella? Why are you awake? You shouldn't be standing here this late."
Bella blinked and answered softly, "Nothing. I was going to the bathroom and heard Miss Cross's voice."
"Kevin, it hurts so bad. Save our baby!" Alina cried out, her voice shaking with pain.
She sobbed louder when she saw him.
Kevin saw the blood and went wild, racing downstairs. "What happened? How did this happen? Who did this?"
Alina pointed straight at Bella, hatred burning in her eyes. "It was her. She pushed me. Kevin… is our baby going to die?"
"What did you say? Bella pushed you?" Kevin's face darkened. He turned toward the servants. "Did anyone see what really happened?"
The servants shook their heads, terrified. "No, sir. But we did see Mrs. Richardson on the stairs... and Ms. Cross fell..."
The moment the words came out, Kevin grabbed Bella's arm hard enough to bruise.
"Bella, was it really you? Do you have any idea Alina's pregnant? How could you push her down the stairs?" His voice shook with rage and disbelief.
Her arm throbbed with pain. Bella stared straight into his face. "I didn't."
It was the first time Kevin had ever yelled at her.
Now, for Alina's sake, he didn't even bother to keep up the act.
"You didn't? So Alina just made it up? Since when did you become like this?" Kevin snapped.
He released her and scooped Alina into his arms. On his way out, he threw one last sentence behind him. "Bella, if something happens to Alina's baby, I won't forgive you."
Bella watched his retreating back, a cold smile curling on her lips. 'Don't worry, Kevin. I won't forgive you either.'
*****
Alina and Kevin's child didn't make it.
When Bella arrived at the hospital with a bouquet of flowers, she heard Alina sobbing to Kevin inside the room.
"Kevin, our baby is gone. Bella killed it. She can see. She told me herself!" Alina sobbed, her voice trembling with grief and accusation.
Kevin immediately rejected it. "No. Bella wouldn't lie to me. If she could see, she would've told me."
Alina cried harder. "It's true! Why won't you believe me? She killed our baby. Aren't you going to do something?"
"I'll make a call."
Kevin called the doctor who had performed Bella's surgery abroad. The doctor told him she had not regained her sight.
He didn't know Bella had met another ophthalmologist by chance, the one who actually performed the successful surgery.
The doctor Kevin trusted was completely unaware.
Which meant Kevin walked away with the completely wrong story.
"Alright, alright, I know you're hurting. Don't worry. I'll get justice for you, okay?" he murmured.
"You said it. You have to fight for our baby," she whispered back.
Bella didn't go inside. She found herself wondering, almost curiously, what exactly Kevin planned to do to her next.
"And you promised me," she said softly. "You'd marry me."
"Relax. Even though the baby's gone, I'll still marry you like we planned. I already talked to the court. They'll send over my divorce papers with Bella soon," Kevin replied.
The moment she heard that, Bella tossed the flowers she was holding straight into the trash and walked away without a second glance.
'Works for me,' she thought. 'I can't wait to be done with him myself.'
At night, Kevin came home from the hospital unusually early.
He said he wanted to take Bella out for dinner. On the drive there, he didn't say a single word.
The silence pressed against her like a hand around her throat. She narrowed her eyes toward him. "Where are you taking me? And how's Alina?"
"Not good. She lost the baby," Kevin replied.
"Kevin…" Even if he didn't believe her, Bella wanted to explain one last time. "I didn't push her. She lost her balance on her own."
"Yeah. Sure. I believe you," he answered, flat as ice.
His tone made her chest tighten, but she didn't dwell on it—until the car kept going farther and farther off the main road. Then fear settled into her bones.
"Are we not there yet?" Bella asked.
"Almost," Kevin replied.