A wave of despair pulled me under, into a darkness so deep the air itself felt thin and distant.
I opened my mouth, desperate to form words, to cry for help, but only hoarse groans escaped.
"What was that noise?" Caleb’s voice hissed from the phone, and a tiny sliver of hope sparked in me.
I groaned louder, praying he would hear my pain.
Tiffany shot me a wary glance, scrambling to cover it up.
"That was nothing. You must have misheard."
He didn't question it, not for a second.
"Alright. Do whatever you want—I'll have your back."
"Love you," she cooed, ending the call with a smug smile.
I collapsed to the floor, tears streaking through the blood on my face as Tiffany stood over me, her hands fisted in the fabric of my dress.
She turned to the growing crowd and announced, "Don't get the wrong idea, everyone. I'm just giving this stalker the lesson she deserves! This woman had the nerve to get between me and my fiancé. Tell me, doesn't she deserve this?"
The whispers around me swelled into a chorus of scorn.
"Goes to show, you can't judge a book by its cover."
"Who would've thought? Someone who looks so put-together is a complete stalker. Shameless," one woman scoffed.
"Exactly! She's shameless!" another echoed.
"Honestly, she has it coming."
"Right! Women like her need to be taught a lesson!"
The stabbing pain in my abdomen left me unable to respond, my strength draining away with every ragged breath.
Tiffany bathed in their support, a dark satisfaction gleaming in her eyes.
She straddled me, slapping me repeatedly, each blow making my head ring.
My hand rose, trembling, desperately trying to shield my stomach.
"My... baby..." I moaned, my voice barely a whisper.
Tiffany laughed, a hollow, merciless sound.
"You're lucky the baby isn't born yet. Otherwise, I'd make sure that little thing knew just how ugly this world is."
Her friends yanked my hair, and the edges of my vision blurred and tilted.
I could just barely sense a shift in the crowd, a growing unease.
"Okay, that's enough," a voice finally cut in.
"This is... this is too much, don't you think?"
"Look at her face," someone else muttered.
"It's swollen and bleeding... this is going too far."
Someone spat, "Only a bitch defends another bitch! You on her side? Maybe you're a stalker, too!"
But one of Tiffany's friends suddenly gasped, "Tiffany, there's blood!"
The word jolted me.
Blood?
My body trembled as I fought through the pain, trying to focus my scattered senses.
"My baby... please, my baby..."
The tone of the crowd shifted, now laced with alarm.
"Is she pregnant? Even if she's a stalker, this is insane! What if she miscarries?"
"Oh, now you all feel sorry?" another muttered darkly.
"If she loses that baby, it's on all of you—you egged her on."
Tiffany’s facade faltered. She took a step back, shocked but still defiant.
"Oh, please, she’s faking it. There's no way this would make her lose a baby. She's not even pregnant!"
I used every last ounce of strength to move.
I reached behind me. My fingers came away slick with warm blood.
Tiffany gestured to her friends, and they hauled me roughly off the floor.
"Fine, since you're so eager to go to a clinic, we'll take you. But remember this," she sneered, "you brought this on yourself."
They dragged me roughly to a dim, windswept cliffside, the air thick with the salty tang of the sea.
My gut screamed this wasn't a clinic, but I was fading too fast to fight, my eyes refusing to stay open.
With my last shred of strength, I forced my eyes open and pleaded, "Please... my baby might still be saved... just take me to a clinic. I swear, I'll stay away from Caleb, I'll disappear... but please, save my baby..."
A contemptuous smile played on Tiffany's lips.
"Oh, and we're supposed to believe a stalker now?"
"Still worried about that bastard, are you?"
"Well, too bad," she hissed, her face contorting with malice.
"You and your baby can rot here together."
She pulled a gleaming utility knife from her purse, its tip tracing a slow, cold path down my cheek.
"And just to be sure," she whispered, "I'm going to ruin this pretty face you use to seduce men."
