2: 2
Have another once this one's gone?
The year Nathan and I first married, I was pregnant once.
But our careers had only just started, and we wanted to put work first, so I let that baby go.
After that, I never conceived naturally again.
This child was one I fought for, going to every specialist I could find, taking hundreds of injections into my belly just to hold on to him.
I'd finally made it to three months, and I never imagined the friend I trusted most would kill him like this.
And the husband I'd loved and stood by for ten years turned out to be her accomplice.
I wrenched my hand out of Nathan's grip and screamed at him for the first time in my life.
“That was a child I nearly gave half my life to keep!”
“Gail killed my baby, and she's going to pay for it with her own!”
Nathan stared at me, stunned, and something plainly like disgust flickered in his eyes.
He was about to speak when Gail suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me.
She wept, tears streaming down her face, both hands clutching desperately at the hem of my dress.
“Madison, how can you accuse me like this?”
“You're the one who said you wanted to meet that man, and asked me to cover for you.”
“Now something's gone wrong, and you want to pin all the blame on me?”
She turned to look at Nathan.
“Nathan, I'm the one who wronged you. I knew Madison had betrayed you, and I still stood by her side without hesitation.”
“But I truly never thought Madison would go this far...”
Gail and I had known each other for fifteen years, longer than I'd known Nathan.
Apart from my parents, she was closer to me than family, closer even than Nathan.
So when she called me sobbing, begging me to come catch her boyfriend cheating, I rushed over without a second thought.
I never dreamed I was walking into a trap she'd laid so carefully.
She hadn't just killed my child, she wanted to destroy my good name too.
Another slap landed across her face.
“Do you have the nerve to stand behind these lies you're spreading about me?”
She let herself slump onto the floor and stared up at me, taunting.
The next second she was clutching her stomach in pain. “Nathan, my stomach hurts so much, our baby...”
Nathan's face changed. He scooped Gail up at once, his eyes fixed on me, dark and hard.
“You couldn't protect your own child, so you're taking it out on Gail?”
“If anything happens to the baby in Gail's belly, I will not let you off!”
Watching Nathan's frantic back as he hurried off, tears spilled out before I could stop them.
The Nathan I used to know would drive back through the night from the next city because I'd cut my finger, just to take me to the hospital.
Would sit by my bed all night because I had a fever.
Would carry me to and from class for a whole month because I'd sprained my ankle.
And now I stood before him covered in wounds, and he looked right through me.
Gail was admitted to the hospital.
To get evidence, I had no choice but to go and "visit."
I stood outside her room and set my phone to record.
Just as I was about to knock, Gail and Nathan's voices came from inside:
“Nathan, Madison must have miscarried because she was assaulted, but I can't reach that man anymore.”
“I should have arranged a few more people to leave proof. Then Madison couldn't have turned it back on us.”
“What if that man really did get taken in by the police...”
“Don't worry, I'll handle all of that. Right now the most important thing is taking care of the baby you're carrying.”
“With Madison's child gone, the Henson heir can only be the baby in your belly.”
“It's just that this time we couldn't make her walk away with nothing, so I can't hand you the position of Mrs. Henson right away.”
Gail spoke in a sweet, coaxing voice,
“Grandfather Henson's birthday banquet is in two days. If she gets caught cheating at the banquet...”
The birthday banquet?
I sent the recording to Blake.
“At the banquet in two days, I'm going to ruin Nathan completely.”
