"This is the price you pay for making Faith suffer."
I stared into his eyes—eyes that were once my entire world, now sharp as blades. There wasn't a trace of the man who had once loved me.
I wanted to scream that I didn't do it. I wanted to demand a divorce right then and there.
But the tea Faith had tricked me into drinking had been scalding. Agony seared my throat, a relentless, stabbing fire that choked off my words.
Suddenly, Faith's face drained of color. She clutched her abdomen and crumbled to the floor.
"John... save our baby... it hurts..."
He didn't hesitate. Didn't even look at me. He scooped her up and rushed toward the car, his only focus on getting her to the hospital.
Pain radiated through my body, so intense I nearly blacked out. I stumbled after them, needing medical attention for my throat, hoping he would at least drive me to the emergency room.
But the engine roared to life. As the car sped away, the side mirror clipped me, sending me sprawling onto the pavement.
From beginning to end, John never glanced in the rearview mirror.
A laugh bubbled up in my chest, but when it tore from my throat, it came out as a grotesque, rasping croak. The sound was alien. Broken.
Seven years of marriage. The love I had sacrificed my career, my family, my dignity for. What a magnificent joke.
Fighting waves of dizziness, I hailed a taxi and dragged myself to the hospital alone.
The examination was a death sentence.
The doctor explained that a simple scald could have healed. But the tea had been laced with toxins. My vocal cords were chemically burned. They would never recover.
My voice—the voice that had won the Magnolia Drama Award, the voice of a generation—was gone.
My legs gave out. I slid to the cold hospital floor. Tears fell in heavy, silent drops.
Just then, my phone buzzed. The manager from the café.
"Ms. Chapman? We reviewed the surveillance footage. The water on the floor that caused you to fall... the lady sitting across from you splashed it deliberately."
My grip on the phone tightened.
That morning, Faith had threatened me. She said if I didn't meet her, she would send a sex tape of her and John to my father. My father, who suffered from severe heart disease.
I thought it was just a meeting. I thought I could handle her.
When I slipped and fell earlier, I suspected she had a hand in it. But this? This wasn't a prank. This was attempted murder.
My chest heaved violently, air rasping through my ruined throat.
I found out she was admitted to the second floor of the same hospital. Clutching the printed divorce agreement, fueled by a rage that burned hotter than the poison, I stormed toward her room.
I reached the doorway, ready to throw the truth in their faces.
Slap!
Before I could take a step inside, a heavy hand struck my face. The force whipped my head to the side, stinging tears springing to my eyes.
John stood there, chest heaving, eyes bloodshot and terrifying. His lips trembled with fury.
"Michelle, if you can't tolerate Faith, fine. But why did you have to harm the child?" He loomed over me, his voice a low, dangerous growl. "Do you know you nearly caused a miscarriage? You drugged her!"
He grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. "We've been married seven years, and you never gave me a child. She's carrying my firstborn, and you can't even tolerate that?"
The sheer audacity left me paralyzed.
I shoved the divorce papers against his chest. Since I couldn't speak, I pulled out my phone and typed furiously, fingers trembling.
Are you blind? I never touched her! What does her child have to do with me?
She killed my child!
She destroyed my throat!
He slapped me again. Harder. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
"Stop making excuses! You called her to the café. She drank the water you gave her. Are you suggesting she tried to kill her own baby?"
From the bed, Faith let out a weak, hiccupping sob. She looked fragile, the picture of innocence.
"John... don't blame Michelle." She wept softly. "She did it because she loves you. She's just jealous. I'm the one who upset her. If hurting me makes her feel better, I'll bear it. I don't want to come between you two."
As the last word left her lips, she went limp. Unconscious.
"Faith!" John rushed to her side, pressing the call button like a madman.
Only after the doctor confirmed she was stable did he turn back to me. His expression was cold. Devoid of any humanity. He signaled his bodyguards.
"Hold her down."
He pointed to the floor beside Faith's bed.
"Kneel. You aren't leaving this room until she wakes up and you beg for her forgiveness."
