###Chapter 6
No one was willing to help me. So, in the end, I had to call the ambulance myself.
I awoke from my daze and heard the nurse's gentle voice beside me. "Don't worry, the baby is stable for now."
Only then did half my heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settle.
After the nurse left, hushed footsteps were heard outside the door. Immediately after, I heard Cedric giving orders. "Today, get rid of the thing in her belly."
The doctor hesitated. "Mr. Larkin, at Madam's age, conceiving is truly difficult and her body can't withstand such trauma. Perhaps you could reconsider …"
Still, Cedric interrupted him with a tone that allowed no room for argument. "Sandra is emotionally unstable because this woman provoked her. A child of ours is the best way to comfort her."
The doctor lowered his voice even more, filled with pity. "But Madam has been on medication for years and has undergone multiple surgeries. Her uterus is fragile. If we force an abortion and immediately perform embryo transfer, her body may not be able to handle it."
Cedric's voice remained as cold as a heartless machine. "Use whatever medicine is necessary and whatever means required. I know this will damage her significantly, but this is what she owes Sandra and she should have repaid it long ago. Once the child is born, I will give her a generous sum of money. After all, isn't that exactly what she wants?"
Lying on the hospital bed, I clutched my belly tightly with both hands as silent tears soaked my pillow. After twenty-five years of marriage, it turned out that in Cedric's heart, I was nothing more than a greedy piece of merchandise that could be paid off with cash.
As the conversation outside faded away, I forced myself to sit up and dialed Frank's number. My voice cracked with suppressed sobs, "I can't wait ten days anymore! He wants to destroy everything I have right now!"
The man on the other end was silent for a moment before his steady, reassuring voice came through. "Give me two more days. In two days, I will definitely come to get you."
That promise finally allowed me a small moment to breathe.
Just as I hung up and prepared to run away, the sharp sound of high heels approached.
Sandra, dressed in a champagne-colored haute couture suit, walked in with a smile, carrying a thermos. "Macie, shall we make peace? Look, I personally went to the kitchen to cook some soup for you."
She opened the lid to reveal thick seafood soup. That woman knew that I was severely allergic to seafood. She was doing this on purpose.
"Eat it yourself!" I snapped, angrily slamming the thermos open. With a loud "clatter," the container tumbled to the floor, splashing seafood soup everywhere.
Sandra immediately clutched her hand, pinching it hard with the fingers of her other hand.
Instantly, she appeared to be in pain, her eyes brimming with tears as she cried out and stepped back. "I came here to apologize to you. Why do you still want to hurt me?"
Cedric rushed into the room. The moment he saw the red marks on the back of Sandra's hand, he didn't even stop to think before raising his hand and delivering a harsh slap to my face. "You malicious woman! You brought this on yourself!"
My cheek stung with a burning pain and my ears rang. Before I could even react, a group of people in white coats swarmed into the room and reached for me.
"What are you doing? Let me go! Cedric! You can't do this! This is your child!" I screamed.
An unprecedented terror swallowed me whole. I struggled wildly, crying and shouting. Alas, I was like a moth caught in a spider's web and all resistance was in vain.
Sandra snuggled into Cedric's arms, looking at him with a dependent and sorrowful expression. But when she turned her gaze toward me, a victorious smile played on her lips.
"Madam, we are just giving you a checkup. Please do not get too excited," the lead doctor said, averting his eyes.
"Liars! You are all murderers!" I cried.
As they pinned me down and pushed me toward the surgical gurney, I used every ounce of my strength to grab the hem of Cedric's coat. "Cedric, I beg of you ... for the sake of these twenty-five years."
He looked down at my fingers, which had turned white from gripping so hard. Even so, there wasn't a hint of emotion in his eyes. Then, one by one, he pried my fingers away.
The last bit of warmth vanished as his fingertips detached from mine.
As I was pushed toward the operating room doors at the end of the hallway, desperate tears blurred all the light around me.
