“Speak! Speak!”
The scalpel’s blade bit into my neck, slicing the skin, parting flesh inch by inch.
“Ah!”
Lawrence’s roar was animalistic. He thrust the scalpel toward my head with such force that a cold jolt shot through me. Metal grazed the corner of my eye; heat and wetness blurred my vision.
The blade buried itself deep in the ward’s wall, quivering from the impact.
“You bitch!” His voice shook with rage. “You wouldn’t even spare your own son. What right do you have to live?”
His palm crashed against my face.
Blood trickled from my lip, but I swallowed my words.
More blows followed—harder, faster—until the world tilted and my body folded to the floor. I stayed silent, even as the hospital staff rushed in to restrain him.
“If you keep hitting her, someone’s going to die. Don’t be impulsive,” the attending physician warned. “I swear we’ll do everything we can to help.”
“What good will that do?” Lawrence seized the doctor by the collar, voice low and lethal. “If Selene speaks, Claudia’s legs can be saved. My son can live. Can you guarantee that?”
When the doctor couldn’t answer, Lawrence shoved him aside.
“Selene,” Claudia sobbed, “I know I’ve wronged you these past years, but it was all to take care of your son. Please—help me.”
I slumped against the wall, vision glassy.
If I can’t even beg to save my own child, why should I save her?
Lawrence’s face hardened. At that moment, I knew something in him had broken.
He seized my throat and slammed me against the wall. “Selene, listen to me. If Claudia’s leg isn’t healed tonight, I’ll make you feel every ounce of her pain. If Alex dies, you die with him. Don’t test me.”
The pressure on my windpipe stole my breath. I clawed weakly at his wrists until darkness nipped at the edges of my vision. Only then did he let go.
---
His bodyguards dragged me down the hall and locked me inside the utility room.
That evening, Nanny Evelyn came with a tray of food. She lingered at the door, her voice hushed.
“Madam, I heard everything. I know these years haven’t been kind to you, and Claudia has treated you cruelly. But… even for your own sake, you should help.”
I shook my head, mute.
Her sigh was heavy. She left without another word.
When the footsteps faded, I broke. Silent tears soaked my sleeves.
Alex might resent me for my silence, might hate me for not being there—but he was still my son. My blood. My heart.
---
Sometime past midnight, pounding shook the door.
Lawrence stormed in, his face a mask of grief and fury.
“Because of you, Claudia’s leg was amputated!” His howl rattled the walls. “Bitch! Why didn’t you save her?”
I bit down hard on my lip, tasting iron. But somewhere in my eyes, a flicker of satisfaction glinted.
Maybe I am small-minded.
How could I bear to watch another woman wedge herself between my husband and me? How could I stand to see her raise my child as her own?
Especially when she was the one who had endangered my Alex in the first place.
“Didn’t I tell you?”
Lawrence’s gaze darkened, the light draining from his eyes.
“I’ll make you feel the same pain she’s suffering.”
At his signal, shadows shifted in the doorway—his bodyguards stepping forward.
