“Oh my god! Poison?”
“Maybe something to cause a miscarriage!”
“She hates Kelsey and everyone knows that!”
“She’s jealous!”
“She’s sick!”
I stared at Kelsey, speechless, because she looked so damn believable.
“That’s not true,” I said quietly. “I didn’t touch her—”
Before I could finish, Owen grabbed my arm and shoved me so hard I fell onto the floor, my knees slamming into the tiles.
“You think this is fucking funny?!” he roared. “If anything happens to her or my kids, I swear your life will be the price!”
I didn’t even try to stand. I just sat there on the cold marble, feeling the last piece of me crumble.
The murmurs around us were venom.
“That’s her? She’s disgusting.”
“She wants Kelsey dead because she can’t have kids anymore.”
“Jealous women are dangerous.”
“She’s evil.”
Mrs Ashford clutched her pearls dramatically.
“Owen, take Kelsey to the hospital. NOW. We don’t know what this woman did!”
Owen didn’t hesitate. He scooped Kelsey into his arms and ran toward the exit while she whimpered and held onto him like her life depended on it. The moment they disappeared, the guests turned on me like a pack of wolves.
Someone threw a glass. It shattered near my leg.
“That’s for hurting your pregnant sister!”
A splash of wine hit my face.
“That’s for being jealous!”
A plate of food slammed into my shoulder.
“You monster!”
Someone actually threw a sandal that hit my face and it bled.
“You don’t deserve to breathe the same air as her!”
I didn’t shield myself. I didn’t scream. I didn’t defend anything.
I just sat there, letting them hit me, throw things at me, spit their words like poison. Because for the first time…
I finally accepted it.
…
The night finally died down, the house dark and silent, but my ears were still ringing with every insult, every broken plate, every splash of wine against my skin.
I locked myself inside the upstairs bathroom and leaned over the sink. The mirror showed a woman I barely recognized—hair tangled, cheeks streaked with dried tears, and a thin line of blood dripping from where the sandal hit my forehead.
I pressed a towel to it, but the bleeding didn’t stop right away.
“Happy anniversary, Owen,” I whispered at my broken reflection. “You finally destroyed everything… and somehow, you set me free.”
My phone buzzed on the counter.
I didn’t want to answer it but when I saw the name, my heart stopped.
Kleve.
I picked up with a trembling thumb. “Hello…?”
“I’ll be there tomorrow night. You’re leaving that house. And tell me… Is the divorce done?”
My throat tightened. I stared at myself in the mirror... at the bruises forming, at the dead look in my eyes.
“Yes,” I whispered. “It’s done.”
“Good. I want our marriage settled the moment I arrive. I don’t wait, Laura.”
The line went dead.
I stared at my reflection again. At the bruises.
The cut… The emptiness.
...
The next morning.
I woke up to heavy footsteps pounding outside my room. Before I could even sit up, the door slammed open. Owen stormed in, flanked by two burly guards, his face cold as ice.
“Grab her,” he barked.
“Wait—Owen, what are you doing?!” My voice cracked, panic clawing at me.
He didn’t answer. The guards were on me in seconds, yanking me off the bed. I screamed, tried to fight, begged him, but he just stood there, unmoved.
“Stop! She’s faking!” I yelled.
“Silence,” he said flatly. “You’ve put my babies in danger. That’s enough.”
I realized in a sickening moment what he meant—Kelsey, his precious twins, were somehow “at risk,” and I was the villain. I didn’t even touch them, didn’t even step near Kelsey’s drinks last night but it didn’t matter. In Owen’s eyes, I was the threat.
The guards threw me into the back of a black SUV, my limbs banging against the cold leather seats. Rain streaked the windows as the car roared through the streets.
“Kelsey… it’s all fake!” I screamed, my voice raw. “She’s faking! She’s fine! You’re being cruel!”
Owen didn’t even glance at me. He sat rigid, hands clenched on the wheel. “Shut up. You’re coming with me. Now.”
At the hospital, the scene was already set. Nurses stepped back, eyes wide, as Owen’s voice boomed:
“Draw her blood. NOW. Kelsey’s twins are in danger. She’s the reason.”
“Mr. Ashford! She’s barely stable—”
“I don’t care! Do it!” Owen snapped.
“I can’t! If we take more, she could collapse—”
“DO IT!” he shouted, deaf to reason.
My body shook violently as the nurse restrained me, straps digging into my wrists and arms. I clawed at them, thrashing, screaming, every word guttural.
“No! Stop! Kelsey, you’re faking this! It’s all lies! She's fine!”
But Owen didn’t listen. He stood back, arms crossed, watching me as if I were nothing. His jaw was tight, his eyes hard, his voice sharp when he barked at the doctors.
“Take her blood. She’s the reason my babies might be hurt.”
I screamed louder, struggling against the straps, my lungs burning.
“Silence, monster,” Mrs. Ashford’s voice cut through behind me, mocking. “Look at you. The woman who killed her own child. Do you think your jealousy will ever end? My Owen is smart to keep you tied down. You’ll never touch my grandkids.”
I froze, my chest tightening as the nurses forced the needle into my arm. Cold metal, sharp pain, the red creeping into the transparent bag—it was stealing pieces of me. Every gasp, every twitch, every drop of blood was another part of my life leaving.
Kelsey, or at least the twins she carried, were safe but only because I suffered. And Owen… he held her hand, stroked her hair, murmuring soft comforts that should have been mine once.
“I’m sorry, Owen… this is all my fault,” Kelsey cried. “It’s not your fault, Laura is just being dramatic as always,” Owen said coldly.
I shook violently, whispering through the tears and the pain: “Owen… please… make it stop…”
He didn’t turn. He didn’t care. The last thing I saw before the darkness swallowed me was Mrs. Ashford smirking from the corner, nodding toward Owen, as if she had orchestrated my torment all along.
And then I let go.
