### Chapter 3
Melanie's smile only deepened. "You think he'll believe you, or me? Want to put it to the test?"
And with that she snatched up the pot of boiling water beside her and flung it straight at me.
I never expected the woman to lose her mind like that. There was no time to dodge. The scalding water poured across my leg.
The heat was so vicious I could barely stay on my feet, and in an instant the skin bubbled into a row of blisters.
That was when Cyril walked in through the door.
"Julie, what happened?!"
"I don't know how it happened. She grabbed the hot water and poured it over herself."
Melanie's eyes went red, her voice trembling.
The pain stole my words, but I watched the alarm in Cyril's eyes cool, degree by degree.
"You're still not done playing the martyr?" His voice dropped low. "Let me guess. You're about to say Melanie threw it on you?"
"If you don't believe me, check the cameras."
I forced the words out through the pain.
Melanie broke into soft sobs. "My fingers got scalded. It hurts so much."
She lifted her hand. There was nothing on her fingertip but one tiny, insignificant red dot.
Cyril pulled her into his arms anyway, and when he turned back to me, his eyes nearly spat fire.
"Are you out of your mind? Are you trying to kill her?!"
"If I could, I wouldn't hesitate." My voice shook, but it held.
He froze. Seven years together, five years married, and he had never once heard me talk back. Every time we fought, I was the one who apologized first. Not anymore.
The disgust in his eyes thickened. "Julie, when did you turn this vicious? Look at yourself. Look how ugly jealousy makes you."
"Let it go, Cyril." Melanie's eyes brimmed with tears, her face all wounded innocence. "Maybe my sister didn't mean to. Don't fight over me..."
Cyril bent his head and kissed her fingers, as if kissing something fragile and precious, his own eyes red with the ache of it.
"You silly girl. It's because you're too kind that she keeps hurting you."
My pulse lurched, and a knot of fury swelled in my chest, ready to burst.
"Kind? You think I don't know how I lost my womb? Cyril, this is your doing, all of you!"
A flicker of panic and guilt crossed his eyes. His mouth opened as if to say something, then shut tight.
After a long moment, he said quietly,
"If I'd asked you, you'd never have agreed. This was the only way."
My breath felt as though an invisible hand had closed around it.
"So you admit it. You got her pregnant, and for her sake you made sure I could never be a mother!"
He looked away. "Melanie agreed to give you the baby once it's born. You can still be a mother."
I screamed at him, wild and ragged. "Keep dreaming. I will never raise this woman's child!"
Melanie's tears spilled down in streams, and she broke into great sobs against Cyril's chest.
"It's all my fault. On my birthday I got drunk, and I confessed by accident, and Cyril and I... Stop fighting, please. I'll just get rid of the baby."
But Cyril only held her tighter, glaring at me with disappointment.
"Melanie only wanted one birthday wish. What did she do wrong? You've already taken everything from her, and now you want to drive her to her death? If you ask me, that miscarriage was exactly what you deserved!"
I couldn't believe he could say something so cruel to me.
The blood froze in my veins, the room tilted around me, and I caught the edge of the bar behind me just to keep from falling.
Footsteps came from the doorway.
My mother rushed in and threw her arms around Melanie. "Did this ungrateful wretch bully you again? Sweetheart, is the baby all right?"
My father's gaze landed on me, hard.
"Julie, you couldn't even spare an unborn child? I truly regret bringing you back."
In that instant I felt myself burning, breaking apart, my lips trembling so hard I could barely speak.
"So you all knew... knew they were having an affair, knew about the baby, and every one of you kept it from me?!"
