Our entire chat history was filled with gruesome images of bloodied babies and cursed effigy drawings, all seemingly sent from my account. The timestamps spanned her entire pregnancy.
But ever since I cut ties with my family, I had never reached out to Neel—not even once.
“You vile disgrace! You can’t have children yourself, so now you’re trying to curse your own sister?!”
My father was the first to lash out, storming over and slapping me across the face. My mother’s eyes burned with nothing but hatred and disgust.
The room erupted with furious voices.
“I knew it! Women like her—damaged, broken—always end up twisted!”
“She’s so venomous, she couldn’t even spare her own pregnant sister!”
“Exactly! A woman like this deserved to have her womb taken! Poor her husband—what terrible karma he must have to be stuck with such a barren, heartless wife!”
Dazed, I instinctively turned to Hubert.
For the past three years, he had been my only shield, the one person who stood by me against the world’s cruelty.
But this time, he didn’t defend me.
Instead, his fingers tightened around my wrist, his voice sharp with anger.
“Sofie! How could you do something so disgusting?!”
“Do you really need to drag everyone down with you before you’re satisfied?”
“Apologize to Neel right now! Stop dragging innocent people into your misery!”
How could I forget? Between Neel and me, he would always stand by her side.
I lifted my head, forcing back my tears.
“Why should I apologize for something I didn’t do?!”
“You call her innocent, Hubert? Tell me—are you? Is she?”
His expression faltered for a split second, something like guilt flickering in his eyes. But then, as if shaking off a ridiculous thought, he quickly steeled himself.
“Sofie, stop this. You’re making me question everything. Maybe marrying you out of pity was my biggest mistake.”
I let out a quiet laugh, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall.
Hubert, you don’t have to wonder. And you don’t have to pretend anymore.
Because soon, we won’t even be husband and wife.
Without Hubert’s protection, the others wasted no time hurling insults, shoving me out of the hospital room like I was something rotten.
I staggered into the restroom, gripping the sink as I tried to steady myself.
Just as I started cleaning up, the door creaked open.
Neel stepped inside, arms crossed, her posture calm, composed—smug.
Gone was the trembling, frightened girl from earlier.
In her place stood someone who had already won.
"My dear sister, how does it feel to be hated by everyone all over again? Pretty familiar, isn’t it?"
"Look at that glare—you hate me, don’t you? Let me guess… You’ve finally realized that it was Huub who personally cut out your uterus and gave it to me."
"And don’t tell me you thought showing up here would make Mom and Dad feel guilty. Let me save you the trouble—they planned the entire kidnapping with Huub from the very start."
"They couldn’t bear to see me lose my ability to have children so young, so naturally, you had to be the one to make the sacrifice."
"Honestly, I should thank you, sis. Without your perfectly functional uterus, my baby wouldn’t have grown up this strong and healthy!"
I stood there, frozen, as the words sank in like a knife to my chest.
Tears blurred my vision. My whole world had already been shattered once, but this—this was worse.
Everyone I had ever trusted had been part of this.
“How could you do this to me? Aren’t you afraid of karma?!”
Neel let out a sharp laugh, then pulled a small bottle of dark red liquid from behind her. Before I could react, she dumped it all over her legs.
"Karma? Sofie, if Huub didn’t still need you as my personal blood supply, do you really think he’d keep you around?"
"Face it—you were born to be beneath me, to have everything taken from you. So do me a favor and watch closely, dear sister—see just how far Huub is willing to go for me."
