I woke up in pain after severe complications during C-section. It was a massive blood loss and doctors were saying I was lucky to be alive.
“Joseph?” My voice came out weak, cracked. “I need you. Are you—are you going to leave me?”
He wasn’t beside my bed. He was at the foot of it, stuffing clothes into a leather bag with brisk, impatient movements. His back was to me.
“I’m just going to check on Danica,” he said.
“Danica?” My eyes widened, disbelief washing over the painkillers fogging my mind. “Your ex-wife? Why would you check on her when your wife almost died giving birth to your child?”
Joseph exhaled sharply, like I was exhausting him. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re alive, okay? That's what matters. And the baby is also alive.” He gestured vaguely toward the door. “My mother is here. Danica is alone. She’s sick.”
“I’m your wife,” I said, tears spilling down my temples. “She’s just your ex-wife.”
But he was already zipping the bag. He didn’t look back when he walked out. The door hadn’t even finished closing when his mother stepped forward.
Jana stood near the window, arms crossed, her lips curled in thin disgust. She hadn’t moved closer to me once. Hadn’t touched my hand. Hadn’t asked if I was in pain.
“Can you cut the crap?” she snapped. “You always want people to pity you. That’s how you got my son to marry you, isn’t it? Playing the victim. Seducing him.” Her eyes narrowed. “You’re the reason he broke up with Danica.”
“That’s not true,” I cried. “I wasn’t—Danica cheated on him. That’s why they ended. Everyone knows that—”
The slap came out of nowhere. My head snapped to the side, pain exploding across my cheek. The monitors spiked, beeping wildly, but Jana didn’t even flinch.
“Don’t you dare badmouth Danica,” she hissed. “She may be the ex-wife, but she is also Joseph’s best friend. They knew each other even before you came into the picture! I don’t even know why he married you, of all people?”
She leaned closer, her voice dropping into something poisonous.
“You’re just some lowlife girl he picked up in a filthy bar.”
I sobbed, my body trembling, stitches screaming as I tried to curl in on myself.
“If you weren’t carrying an heir,” Jana continued coldly, “I would have killed you a long time ago.”
She grabbed the glass of water from the bedside table and shoved it into my face. Cold liquid splashed over my cheeks, my mouth, my gown.
Then she turned and walked out like I was nothing.
I hugged myself, shaking uncontrollably, the pain too much, the exhaustion heavier than the grief. My tears soaked into the pillow as my body finally gave in.
“My baby,” I whispered hoarsely. “I need to see my baby.”
I fumbled for the call button, my fingers weak but determined. When the nurse hurried in, concern flickering across her face, relief flooded me.
“I want to see my son,” I said, voice breaking. “Please. I need to see him.”
The nurse hesitated. “Mrs. Rivera… you’re not cleared yet. You lost a lot of blood. The doctor ordered rest.”
“I don’t care,” I cried. “Just one minute. I’m his mother.”
Before the nurse could answer, the door opened again.
Jana walked in. Her gaze flicked to the nurse first, then settled on me with open contempt.
“No,” she said flatly. “She will not see my grandson.”
The nurse stiffened. “Ma’am, she’s the mother—”
“She doesn’t deserve him,” Jana snapped. “After everything she’s done. Don’t confuse biology with worth. I will not let my grandson know her as his mother.”
I stared at her, disbelief crushing my chest. “Please,” I begged. “What do you mean by that? Just let me see him. I carried him. I almost died—”
The room began to spin.
Jana turned back to the nurse. “She’s exhausted. Sedate her if you have to.”
The nurse hesitated again, torn, but the buzzing in my ears grew louder, drowning everything out. The ceiling blurred. My limbs felt impossibly heavy.
The last thing I felt was the weight of my own sobs collapsing inward—
Then darkness took me whole.
When I woke up again, the room was dimmer. Evening light filtered through the blinds. My head throbbed. My throat burned.
I was alone.
I stared at the ceiling, trying to convince myself that what had happened wasn’t real. That I hadn’t imagined the cruelty. That Joseph would come back and apologize. That he would hold my hand and tell me I mattered.
Then I heard voices.
Faint. Outside the door.
I held my breath. Joseph’s voice came first.
“So how long will it take for her to die once you administer the pills in her drink?”
My heart stopped.
Another voice—hesitant, nervous. “Sir… you know this is illegal. You’d be killing your wife.”
“I don’t care,” Joseph replied casually. “That was the plan from the start. I just needed an heir.”
My fingers dug into the sheets.
“She gave me a son,” he continued. “Now she’s useless. Especially since Danica is back in my life and we’re fixing things already. Danica can’t have a child,” Joseph added lightly. “So this works out. That son will know Danica as his mother.”
Then Jana laughed softly.
“Good,” she said. “I never wanted that bitch in our lives forever. I’m glad you finally woke up from that nightmare.”
Joseph laughed with her.
“Come on, Mom,” he said. “Do you really think I’d want a bitch from that filthy bar to be my wife forever?”
My entire body went cold.
“She didn’t even know our marriage was fake,” he added. “She was just a placeholder… that will soon be buried ten feet underground.”
