She kept talking, bright and amused, completely untouched by what was happening to me.
“Is she still crying over there?” Aurora laughed lightly. “Childbirth doesn’t even hurt that much. Honestly, I feel perfectly fine. I could probably walk around the room if I wanted to. Aria is just trying to get attention again.”
Something inside my chest caved in.
Of course Aurora wasn’t suffering.
She was resting in a luxurious private suite, wrapped in soft blankets while armed guards stood outside her door. Doctors catered to her every need. Nurses hovered nearby, smiling politely, treating her like she belonged on a throne.
Meanwhile, I was sprawled across a filthy concrete floor, bleeding in a heater room like broken machinery nobody cared enough to fix.
Dante let out a quiet breath, the familiar one he always gave whenever Aurora spoke, like hearing her voice settled something inside him.
“You hear that?” he said dismissively to his mother. “Aurora’s completely fine. Aria just loves making everything dramatic.”
The moment Aurora interrupted, his choice was already made. It had always been her.
Any trace of hesitation disappeared from his voice.
“Seriously, Mom, use your head,” he snapped impatiently. “Nothing’s going to happen to Aria. She’d never actually put herself in danger. This whole thing is just another stunt because she wants sympathy.”
The words hit harder than the contractions.
“She’s pretending so you’ll let her out,” he continued coldly. “Don’t let her manipulate you.”
Then the call ended.
Just like that, I was discarded.
Helena remained outside for a moment. I could hear her breathing through the door, sharp and irritated.
Then she laughed.
Gentle. Elegant. Cruel.
“Well,” she murmured, “look what you’ve done. My son raised his voice at me because of you.”
The heat in the room kept climbing, thick enough to suffocate. Sweat blurred my vision while the roar of the machines vibrated through the walls around me.
Then she stepped closer.
My stomach dropped the moment I saw what she was holding.
Curled lazily in her arms was her monitor lizard, pale-scaled and unnervingly beautiful beneath the orange glow of the heaters. She stroked it affectionately like it was something precious.
“You enjoy causing scenes so much,” she said softly. “Maybe this will finally give you a real reason to scream.”
Before I could move away, she tossed it at me.
I shrieked as the creature landed heavily against my chest, claws digging into my skin while its body wrapped around my arm with horrifying ease. Its scales felt icy against my overheated flesh.
Panic exploded inside me.
I tried to throw it off, but my body was too weak, my movements clumsy from the contractions tearing through me. My hands instinctively shielded my stomach instead.
The lizard snapped suddenly.
Agony burst through my arm.
I cried out, recoiling violently as blood welled from the bite. Terror rooted me in place after that. I couldn’t even force myself to touch it again.
I curled around my stomach on the floor, protecting my baby the only way I still could.
Tears streamed into my hairline and down my neck, mixing with sweat. I was trembling so hard my teeth rattled.
The pain kept spreading—through my abdomen, my back, my ribs—until it felt like my entire body was splitting apart from the inside.
Then the lizard bit me again.
And again.
Sharp. Intentional.
The room blurred around me.
Heat. Fear. Pain. Everything melted together until I couldn’t separate one from the other anymore.
For a brief second, I thought I saw light somewhere far away. Soft and warm. Peaceful.
Then a whistle sliced through the haze.
The monitor lizard immediately released me and slithered away obediently.
Helena crouched beside me, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and slammed my face against the scorching metal floor hard enough to make my vision flash white.
“You disgusting little liar,” she hissed. “What happened to all that screaming earlier?”
I couldn’t answer her. My body barely responded anymore.
She clicked her tongue in disgust.
“What is it now?” she mocked. “Finally realized Dante isn’t coming to save you?”
She straightened with a dramatic sigh, as if my suffering was inconveniencing her.
“You’ve always been selfish,” she muttered. “You’d never willingly endure real pain.”
Then her eyes shifted toward the lizard.
Blood stained parts of its pale scales.
Her expression twisted instantly.
Without warning, she drove her foot into my stomach.
Pain detonated through me.
My entire body arched off the floor as a scream tore from my throat.
“You idiot!” she shrieked furiously. “You hurt my baby!”
She pointed at the lizard with shaking hands.
“If anything happens to her because of you, I’ll personally make sure Dante throws you out for good. Aurora is the woman he actually wants. You were never anything but an obstacle.”
Then she leaned down close enough for me to feel her breath against my ear.
“And don’t get any ideas about keeping that child,” she whispered viciously. “A woman like you doesn’t deserve to be a mother.”
She stood, turned the heater dial higher, and the machines roared louder instantly.
The room became unbearable.
The air thickened until every breath felt like inhaling fire.
Then she walked out and slammed the door shut behind her.
Not long after, my body started shaking uncontrollably.
Violent tremors wracked through me as consciousness slipped in and out like a tide.
Somewhere through the haze, I heard crying.
A baby crying.
“Mommy…”
The sound came again, faint and distant.
“Mommy…”
I broke apart completely.
Sobbing against the burning floor, I apologized over and over to the child I hadn’t even gotten the chance to hold.
I had been so close.
Today should have been the day I met my baby.
Why did it end like this?
What kind of family destroyed its own blood so easily?
I screamed until no sound was left in my throat.
Not loud screams anymore. Just broken noises dragged out by despair. The kind someone makes after realizing nobody is coming.
The contractions became unbearable, worsened by the scorching heat beneath my body. My skin felt burned raw against the metal floor. Sweat stung my eyes while pain twisted through my stomach relentlessly.
With trembling fingers, I cradled my belly gently.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered weakly. “I tried so hard.”
If another life existed after this one, I prayed my child would never choose me as a mother again.
I hoped they’d find parents who truly loved each other.
A father who wouldn’t abandon the mother of his child in a room built to suffocate her.
My breathing turned shallow.
Each inhale felt heavier than the last, the heat slowing my blood until it felt thick inside my veins.
Then—
A sharp click echoed.
Light poured into the room.
The heater room door swung open.
A man stood frozen at the entrance, staring at me lying there in blood, sweat, and exhaustion like something already half dead.
Using the last bit of strength left in me, I dragged myself forward across the floor, nails scraping weakly against the metal.
“H-help…” I rasped.
