After leaving Frederick Martinez's estate, I went straight to the hospital to hand in my resignation. The plan was to get the divorce finalized, then move abroad, focus on my pregnancy, and start the new life I was so desperate for.
Paperwork done, I'd just stepped outside when a sleek black Jaguar screeched to a stop right in front of me. Before I could even react, a brutal grip clamped around my wrist.
"Emely Ford. When did you find out?" Eugene Martinez's eyes were blazing with fury, his grip so tight I thought my bones might snap.
I flinched, frowning. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"No idea?" He scoffed, throwing a business card in my face. "Take a good look! Whose card is this?"
"Eugene, how could you be this vile? Wasn't it enough that you made me lose our first child—now you've gone and terminated another!"
The card fluttered to the ground—it was the same one Kenna Jenkins had swiped last night. She'd known who I was all along. Every word she said, every move she made, was deliberate.
I stayed silent, and Eugene grabbed my chin, hard. "Emely Ford, are you proud of yourself? Did you get that same rush of accomplishment when you—"
"Eugene, shut up!" I slapped him, cutting him off. "She fell and lost the baby on her own. It had nothing to do with me!"
His voice turned to ice. "I looked into it. She fell, yeah, but the pregnancy could've been saved. You manipulated her, walked her right into that procedure room, and took my child."
"That's sick!"
A whole night's worth of hurt and resentment crashed over me, and I started pounding on his chest. "Eugene, you were the one who cheated first! You're the one who got involved with her! How dare you accuse me?"
He sneered. "How dare I? Because when I was at rock bottom, when I needed you most, when I begged you not to leave, you heartlessly aborted our child and left the country. And then, once I'd picked up the pieces, you came back and used Grandfather's influence to marry me. Emely Ford, did you really think I married you because I still loved you? Let me spell it out for you—I married you, I treated you right, all so I could one day get my revenge."
"Do you have any idea how disgusted I've been these past three years? How badly I wanted to turn away every time we were close..."
My face went sheet-white, tears burning my eyes. "Eugene, I ended that pregnancy to save your—"
"Mr. Martinez, it's bad! Ms. Jenkins is hemorrhaging—they've rushed her to the ER!" The assistant's panicked shout drowned out my voice.
Eugene's expression shifted, and he spun to run but then stopped, yanking me by the wrist. "You're coming with me!"
"Let go of me! I don't... ah!" I tried to fight it, but he jerked me forward. I slammed hard into a lamppost, and a sharp, searing pain tore through my lower belly.
But Eugene didn't so much as pause, dragging me toward the hospital. Every step sent another wave of agony through me.
I wanted to speak, but the words wouldn't come.
At the ER, he shoved me aside and was immediately in the doctor's face. "Doctor, how is she? How the hell is she hemorrhaging?"
The doctor adjusted his glasses. "The procedure wasn't completed properly. That's what's causing the heavy bleeding."
Thrown against the wall, I felt a hot rush of liquid slide down my legs. Staring in horror at the trail of blood, I gripped the wall, trying to get away, but I was snatched back as an enraged voice boomed over me.
"Emely Ford! It's not enough you aborted my child—now you've botched Kenna's treatment too? Are you asking for trouble?"
My face went ghostly pale. I had no fight left in me. All I could think about was saving my baby. I'd already failed one child. I couldn't lose another.
"Ma'am! You're bleeding!" the assistant suddenly cried out.
Eugene looked down, his eyes tracking the blood soaking through my clothes, and his face went gray. "Emely, you're pregnant?"
My heart lurched, and before I could answer, madness flared in his eyes as he seized my jaw again.
"Emely Ford, how dare you? How dare you have the nerve to carry my child again!"
