Josephine dropped me off at the studio and left.
I ran my fingers over the oil paintings hanging on the walls.
After I'd helped Dominic build his company from the ground up, he knew how much I loved painting. He'd spent a fortune sending me abroad to study.
He was clingy back then. He'd call me every day, and we'd talk for three hours straight.
I used to stare at his handsome profile on my phone screen and sketch him on paper.
The entire studio was filled with portraits of Dominic.
I traced the texture of the oil paint, and something inside me cracked. I wanted to tear every single one of them to shreds.
The door creaked open behind me. I buried my emotions.
"Josephine, didn't I tell you not to disturb me?"
A girl's coy laughter rang out from behind me.
Stephanie walked over and took my hand, pressing it against her slightly swollen belly.
Her words coiled around me like venom, each one sinking its fangs into my heart.
"You've already figured it out, haven't you, Joanna?"
"Dominic stopped loving you a long time ago. Honestly, why didn't you just die in that car accident?"
Something splashed against my ankles. The sharp, unmistakable smell of gasoline filled the air.
My heart slammed against my ribs. I grabbed Stephanie's hand in a panic.
"What are you doing?"
The click of a lighter.
Seconds later, thick smoke clawed at my throat and I doubled over coughing.
Everything around me turned scorching hot.
I couldn't see. My hand brushed against a burning easel by accident.
Pain ripped across the back of my hand, and I gasped through clenched teeth.
Stephanie laughed, a sharp, taunting sound, and squeezed my hand tight so I couldn't run.
"Today, I'm going to show you exactly who the woman Dominic truly loves is."
The smoke thickened. I couldn't stop coughing.
The oxygen in my lungs was running out. My legs buckled and I collapsed to the floor.
The door shuddered with a deafening crash.
Dominic's voice, frantic.
"Joanna! Are you okay? Don't be scared. I'm coming to get you."
He called my name again and again.
When I didn't answer, his voice grew more desperate.
The instant the door burst open, Stephanie yanked me backward and crumpled to the ground.
"My stomach... it hurts so much..."
A fragile, pitiful whimper.
The footsteps that had been charging straight toward me faltered the moment Stephanie cried out, then changed direction entirely.
A brutal, dragging pain tore through my lower abdomen. Cold sweat beaded on my forehead. I screamed his name with every ounce of strength I had left.
"Dominic, save me!"
I was shaking with terror, clawing and crawling across the floor, desperate to find a way out for my baby.
Dominic's footsteps faltered again.
He was caught between us, paralyzed with indecision. I bit down on the tip of my tongue to force myself to stay conscious.
"I can't see... please, just save me first?"
I made myself small. I begged. I prayed he would choose me.
But he'd barely taken a few steps before Stephanie's agonized sobbing filled the air again.
Her voice was barely a whisper. "Save our baby." Then she went silent.
The uneven footsteps moved further and further away from me.
Ice flooded my veins. I curled into myself on instinct, wrapping my body around my belly.
A sharp crack split the air, followed by a blast of searing heat.
A burning easel crashed down onto both my hands.
Tears streamed down my face. I writhed and squirmed, dragging my hands free inch by inch.
The skin on the backs of my hands was raw and blistering. When I touched them, all I felt were welts.
My consciousness dimmed. Tears of pure despair slid down my cheeks.
Who's going to save me and my baby?
In the last second before everything went dark, I heard the wail of sirens.
Someone lifted me gently, carefully, and carried me somewhere I couldn't name.
When I woke again, the sharp sting of antiseptic filled my nostrils.
My hand flew to my stomach, and I turned frantically to the side.
