I turned just in time to see her stumble. Grandma’s hand went to her chest, her face turning white. Her knees buckled, and she fell hard onto the sidewalk.
Everything around me stopped moving for one terrible second.
“Grandma!” Anna shouted again, running to her. I dropped to my knees beside them, my heart pounding so loud it drowned out the crowd.
“Grandma, can you hear me?” I said, shaking her arm. She didn’t answer. Her lips were turning blue.
No one came to help. They just kept recording, their phones pointed at us like we were entertainment.
My hands were shaking so bad I could barely pull out my phone.
“Please, please,” I cried into the receiver. “She’s not breathing. Please send an ambulance, please! She’s not breathing!”
Anna was sobbing beside me, covering Grandma with her jacket, whispering through tears, “Please wake up, please wake up…”
Someone from the crowd laughed.
“Look at her acting again!” a man yelled. “Her whole family’s full of scammers!”
“Yeah, cry for the camera, lady!” another shouted.
I ignored them and pressed down on Grandma’s chest, counting under my breath, praying she’d gasp, move, anything.
“Come on, Grandma, stay with me,” I whispered, my tears falling on her shirt. “Please… please don’t leave me too.”
Behind us, I heard Victor’s voice. Calm. Cold. Almost bored.
“That’s enough for today,” he said. “She has no face left anyway. Let her save her pathetic grandma.”
Ivy tugged on his sleeve like she always did, her fake voice soft and innocent. “Victor, are you sure you should just let her go like that? After all the trouble she caused?”
He didn’t even blink. “We’re done here,” he said, wrapping his arm around her. Then they walked away like royalty, the crowd parting for them, cameras following like they were the heroes walking off the stage.
When the ambulance finally arrived, the sirens were the only sound that didn’t feel cruel. Paramedics pushed through the people shouting for space. I helped lift Grandma onto the stretcher, my clothes sticky with eggs and dirt.
Anna clung to my arm, crying so hard she could barely breathe. “Marielle, she’s gonna be okay, right? Tell me she’ll be okay.”
I couldn’t answer. I just nodded even though I didn’t believe it.
Behind us, the crowd was still talking, still streaming. “Serves her right,” one woman said. “Karma’s fast.”
We climbed into the ambulance, the doors slamming shut, cutting off the noise but not the ache.
In the hospital hallway, I sat there. My hair stuck to my face. My body felt cold, but my mind was still burning. Every insult from that crowd replayed in my head like a loop I couldn’t stop.
A nurse came out after what felt like forever. “She’s stable for now,” she said softly. “But she had a major heart attack. We’ll need to monitor her closely.”
I nodded and whispered, “Thank you,” but my voice barely came out.
....
That night, I sat beside Grandma’s bed. Her face was pale, her breathing shallow, the heart monitor beeping slow and steady.
I took her hand and whispered, “I’ll fix this, Grandma. I’ll make them pay. I’ll prove it was them.”
My phone buzzed on the table. My name was still trending. Still being cursed.
I opened the screen. Hateful comments. Fake stories. Videos of me crying edited with dramatic music and lies.
[Scammer wife caught pretending again!]
[She even used her grandma now!]
[What kind of monster is she?]
My throat burned. I wanted to throw the phone, but I didn’t. I just stared at it until the tears blurred the words.
Then I whispered, voice trembling but sharp, “They wanted to bury me alive. Fine. Let’s see who ends up buried first.”
Right then, my phone rang.
I looked at the name.
Gideon.
My ex. The man I once loved for four years before I married Victor.
I stared at the screen for a long time before answering.
“Marielle,” his voice came through, calm but serious. “I saw everything.”
I swallowed hard. “Then you know,” I whispered.
“I know,” he said quietly. “And I’m coming.”
