The paper tore apart, and with it, the last scrap of hope I had left.
“Wallace, my stomach hurts so much……” Adeline's eyes brimmed with tears, her voice pitiful and thin.
Wallace scooped her up without a second's hesitation, didn't so much as glance at me, and strode toward the elevator.
Rachel spat at me as she passed.
“Can't even keep a bastard alive. Useless. Sign the divorce papers tomorrow—stop squatting on a seat you've got no right to!”
I lay flat on the cold tile floor, watching the three of them walk away together.
My phone screen was still lit, still showing that post on the online forum.
Seven years ago, I'd been in the comments, giddy, typing back：【He said today that our baby will be called Farley Nian-Wren—he picked a name that holds mine inside it. He said he'd give the whole world's best to the two of us, me and our child.】
I closed my eyes and let the tears fall onto the screen.
Wallace, your "everything" belongs to someone else now.
A nurse helped me back to my room.
This was a private hospital. Mine was the most ordinary single room.
Upstairs, Wallace had booked out an entire floor of top-tier VIP suites.
All so Adeline could have peace and quiet for her pregnancy support treatment.
The IV fluid ran cold into my veins, and I couldn't stop shaking.
Someone kicked the door open.
Rachel walked in flanked by two bodyguards, her face murderous.
“Throw all her things out!” She jabbed a finger at my bed.
I struggled upright：“What are you doing?”
“What am I doing? Addie doesn't like the way the rooms face upstairs. She wants this one.” Rachel's smile was ice. “A cursed thing who just miscarried—you think you deserve a room this nice?”
I bit down hard on my lip：“I paid for this room myself!”
“You paid? With what money that wasn't ours?” Rachel stepped closer and swung her hand up.
“Crack!”
The slap landed full across my face.
My ears rang. I tasted blood at the corner of my mouth.
One of the bodyguards ripped the IV needle from the back of my hand. Blood welled up instantly.
They dragged me off the bed like a dead dog and dumped me in the hallway.
The little baby clothes and bottle I'd just bought, the ones I'd chosen to welcome my child, lay scattered on the floor, covered in dust.
Adeline walked over slowly, leaning on Wallace's arm, in no hurry at all.
She looked at me on the ground, pressed a hand to her mouth, and let out a pretty laugh：“Oh my, Jacqueline, why are you sitting on the floor? It must be so cold down there.”
Wallace's gaze caught on my bleeding hand. His brow tightened, barely enough to notice.
But the coldness came right back：“If Addie wants this room, move to a standard ward.”
“Wallace, I just had a post-miscarriage procedure.” I stared at him, my voice barely there, ready to break apart at a breath.
“So what?” Not a trace of warmth in his tone. “Addie is pregnant right now. She can't be upset. You're Mrs. Farley—giving way to her is the least you can do.”
Giving way to her.
Seven years ago, a roommate said one unkind word about me, and Wallace charged downstairs to my dormitory lobby with a megaphone and cursed the girl out for half an hour.
He'd said his Jacqueline—no one was allowed to bully her.
Now he was the one crushing me underfoot, clearing the path for his first love.
Adeline walked over to me and pretended to bend down for the little clothes on the floor.
“Jacqueline, these are so cute. Too bad you won't be needing them anymore. Why don't you give them to me? They'd be perfect for……”
Before she could finish, her fingers loosened.
The white baby outfit slipped from her hand and fell to the floor.
Adeline screamed and let herself topple backward.
