The doctor’s voice from earlier still echoed through the fog left behind by the anesthesia, each word cutting through the numbness in my body.
“We tried everything, Mrs. Jones, but there was nothing more we could do. The toxin had already spread too far. Your placenta detached… I’m sorry.”
Even in my dazed state, memory dragged me back to lunchtime.
Victoria.
Nathaniel’s oldest friend—the woman who had been around so long she practically felt like part of the family. She had shown up carrying a thermos, smiling like she always did.
“It’s my grandmother’s herbal soup,” she’d said warmly, unscrewing the lid. “It’s good for pregnant women. Helps keep the baby strong.”
I hadn’t wanted to drink it. The smell alone turned my stomach; it was bitter and strangely metallic. But Nathaniel had rested a hand on my shoulder and given it a reassuring squeeze.
“Come on, Audrey,” he’d urged. “Vicky went through all that effort just for you. Don’t be rude.”
So I drank it.
Two hours later, I collapsed on the bathroom tiles, blood pooling beneath me.
Darkness kept swallowing me whole, only to spit me back out again. Consciousness came in brief, disjointed flashes. A deep ache pulsed through my lower abdomen—heavy, hollow, unbearable. It felt as if something vital had been carved out of me, leaving behind nothing but emptiness.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to break apart and mourn the child stolen from me.
Then voices pierced the silence.
“Why did you save her?”
The voice was unmistakable—sharp, furious, trembling with anger.
“Aren’t we supposed to get rid of her?” Victoria hissed. “That was our plan, Nathaniel. She loses the baby, spirals into grief, and eventually kills herself. Then we’re free to be together. But instead, you called an ambulance.”
Every muscle in my body locked.
My lungs stopped working.
Then Nathaniel spoke.
His voice was calm. Irritated.
Not remorseful. Not horrified.
“You know perfectly well I can’t let her die yet.”
The coldness in his tone sent ice through my veins.
“The merger isn’t finished,” he continued. “Her father’s logistics company still hasn’t signed the final transfer documents. If Audrey dies before the paperwork is completed next month, her shares go to David. And David will kill the deal.”
A stunned silence followed.
Then Victoria spoke again, her anger melting into wounded accusation.
“So that’s why you’re upset?” she said, voice trembling. “Because I killed your baby? Is that it? You actually want her? You want to play happy family with Audrey?”
Nathaniel gave a dismissive laugh.
The sound hit harder than a slap.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “I don’t care about the baby. It was a fetus.”
Something inside me shattered.
“The only issue is my grandfather,” he continued casually. “He was excited about having an heir. Losing the pregnancy complicates things. Now I’ll have to manage his expectations.”
“But you saved her,” Victoria insisted.
Nathaniel exhaled impatiently.
“No. I protected an asset.”
Asset.
Not wife.
Not mother of his child.
Asset.
“And because she miscarried, I can’t abandon her right away,” he went on. “I’ll need to play the grieving husband for a few months. Filing for divorce while she’s recovering would raise too many questions.”
“A few months?”
Victoria’s frustration sharpened. I heard the tap of her heels against the hospital floor as she moved closer to him.
“I can’t wait that long, Nathaniel. I need you now. I did all this for us.”
“Vicky, stop.”
“No.”
Her voice lowered, thick with seduction.
“Show me you don’t want her. Show me I’m the only one. Make me believe you’re mine. Sleep with me. Right here. Get me pregnant, or I swear I’ll walk away.”
Silence.
Then Nathaniel answered.
“All right.”
Two simple words.
Two words that destroyed whatever remained of my heart.
Fabric rustled.
Breathing changed.
Muted moans followed.
The sounds were soft, but to me they were deafening—wet, obscene reminders that my husband was betraying me with the woman who had killed our child, only a few feet from my hospital bed.
I stayed perfectly still.
I didn’t flinch.
I barely breathed.
Tears slipped from beneath my closed eyelids, hot and relentless, soaking into my hair.
The grief that had consumed me moments earlier began to mutate.
It hardened.
Darkened.
Turned into something cold and merciless.
Rage.
I waited.
I waited until the sounds stopped.
Until clothes were straightened.
Until Nathaniel said he’d go get coffee.
Until Victoria laughed about their “little secret.”
Only after the door shut behind them did I open my eyes.
My hand shook violently as I reached for the phone on the bedside table.
I dialed the one person who had never trusted Nathaniel.
The call connected.
“David?” My voice cracked.
“Audrey?” My brother sounded panicked. “Oh my God—I’m coming. Nathaniel called. He said you lost—”
“Nathaniel lied.”
I cut him off.
The words scraped against my throat, raw and painful.
“Listen carefully. I need you to file a case. Right now.”
He went silent.
“For what?”
“Attempted murder.”
The words tasted bitter.
“Victoria poisoned me. She killed my baby.”
An hour later, the hospital door didn’t open gently.
It burst inward.
Nathaniel stormed into the room like a man on the verge of violence. He stopped at the foot of my bed, gripping the railing so hard his knuckles blanched.
“Have you lost your mind?” he hissed, his voice low but trembling with fury.
I looked at him without emotion.
“Nice to see you too, Nathaniel.”
“Don’t do this,” he snapped. “My lawyers just called. David filed criminal charges? Attempted murder against Victoria? What the hell were you thinking?”
I held his gaze.
“She poisoned me, Nathaniel. She killed our son.”
“She didn’t do it on purpose!”
He shouted the words so fast he didn’t even realize what he had admitted.
“It was an accident! The herbs caused a bad reaction—nothing more. But you escalated everything! You sent the police after her?”
“She killed my child.”
“She’s family!”
His palm slammed onto the tray table, rattling the water pitcher.
“We grew up together! You don’t send family to prison over a mistake!”
His face twisted with panic.
“Do you understand what this scandal could do to the merger? My grandfather will collapse when he sees the headlines.”
I stared at him.
“That’s what matters to you?”
My voice came out calm.
Deadly calm.
“The headlines?”
“I’m trying to protect our future!”
He leaned closer, his shadow swallowing the bed.
“I need this merger, Audrey. If this lawsuit continues, investors will walk. Everything falls apart.”
He inhaled sharply, visibly forcing himself to calm down.
Then his voice softened.
That familiar tone.
The one he always used whenever he wanted something from me.
“Listen,” he said gently. “I know you’re grieving. You’ve been through trauma. Your hormones are all over the place. You’re not thinking rationally.”
I said nothing.
“Victoria feels awful,” he continued. “She’s devastated. But we deal with this privately. We don’t drag family matters into court.”
“You want me to withdraw the case.”
It wasn’t a question.
His jaw tightened.
“I need you to.”
He emphasized each word.
“Call David. Tell him you misunderstood. Tell him grief made you irrational. Fix this, Audrey.”
His eyes hardened.
“Or I swear to God…”
I stared at him.
Really stared.
I looked at the man I had loved for five years.
And in that moment, I understood something horrifying.
The man I loved was gone.
Or maybe he had never existed at all.
Here stood a husband looming over his wife—his wife who had just lost their child—threatening her, all to protect his mistress.
I didn’t tell him I knew about the affair.
I didn’t tell him I had heard every word of their plan.
That truth would remain my weapon.
For now.
I slowly closed my eyes.
“Fine,” I said quietly.
Relief flashed across his face too quickly.
Then I finished.
“I’ll drop the lawsuit…”
I opened my eyes and met his.
“…if you agree to divorce me.”
