Alyssa's POV
My mom didn't even blink. She stepped forward and slapped Regina across the face, open palm, full force.
"You nasty woman, how dare you falsely accuse us!" my mom shouted.
In an instant, Luke lunged at my mother and kicked her hard. She flew backward ten feet away like a rag doll and slammed into the wall with a sickening thud.
Clutching her cheeks, Regina burst into tears. "Luke, I told you not to marry a good-for-nothing scum like her! Now that they found out you're a billionaire, they're trying to bleed us dry! Look at what the woman did. She hit me!"
Just like that, Luke's rage vanished. The switch flipped.
He turned to her, soft as ever, like she was made of porcelain. "Regina, don't make a scene. Alyssa passed the test. She's my wife now."
Regina's tears stopped instantly like a faucet being shut off. But when Luke turned his back, she shot me a look that could have pierced through steel.
Still, Regina sent a doctor in to treat my leg.
It was a small mercy, but it felt like tossing a bandage on a gunshot wound.
...
Later that night, I lay in bed, my leg throbbing, eyes too tired to cry. My parents were asleep in the corner, snoring softly. Their presence was the only thing holding me together.
Then, someone yanked the curtain around my bed.
Regina.
She leaned in so close I could almost smell the peppermint on her breath. "Don't even think about becoming Luke's wife, you worthless woman."
I didn't flinch.
She moved even closer, her lips almost touching my ear. "You've been warned. Don't say I didn't tell you if you stay after knowing the truth."
Somehow, I curled up in the shadows, silent. 'The truth?'
Then came the sound of footsteps in the hallway.
I recognized them instantly.
"Regina?" Luke's voice drifted closer. "You in here?"
Regina gave me one last smirk, pulled open the curtain, and slipped out, her tone switching on cue.
"Luke," she cooed, "it's just us now. You can be honest with me."
She dropped her voice an octave. "You love me, don't you? You promised me that night on Valentine's Day."
I sucked in a breath. 'That night...'
I remembered it all too well.
That night, I had clutched the coins I'd saved for two weeks and rushed through a thunderstorm to deliver one last food order.
As the blinding headlights closed in on me, I was still thinking I might be late to give Luke the rose gift box I'd picked out.
The doctors said I lost over 2,000 cc of blood. They issued the death notice three times.
To save my battered, unconscious body, my parents, both frail, donated 800 cc each. Both of them, already frail, nearly didn't survive.
And Luke? He was in a hotel suite with Regina.
I heard his voice, cutting through the cold night with a sharp truth. "That night, I hired someone to hit her. Told you I'd spend Valentine's Day with you."
My body went completely numb.
"As for everything after that…" Luke paused as if he were deciding whether I even deserved the truth. "I asked the hospital to keep her admitted a few extra days. That way, I could stay with you longer."
He laughed a little. "And if I said anything emotional that night? Don't take it seriously."
Regina's face crumpled like she'd been slapped. "But Luke, I'm pregnant with your child. You'd really let him grow up a bastard?"
'A child?' I asked myself.
God.
We once had a child, too.
I remembered the day I showed him the two pink lines. Luke picked me up and spun me around in the living room, laughing like we'd just hit the jackpot. He even went to every checkup, holding my hand and talking to my belly. The doctor joked that he was the most intense dad-to-be she'd ever seen.
Even though I knew all that tenderness was just a lie, the memory of him resting his ear on my stomach, listening for the baby's movements—his trembling eyelashes and star-filled eyes—still made my heart ache.
'What a pity…'
After a period of silence, Luke's voice returned. "Have the baby, Regina. Alyssa and I will raise him together. He'll be the heir to the family."
Regina gasped, then lashed out like she'd been betrayed. "You want my child to call me her Grandma? Seriously, Luke? What if Alyssa had a baby of her own, Luke? What then?"
He didn't hesitate. "She can't get pregnant."
