I wrapped my trembling arms around my belly and locked myself in the en suite bathroom.
In that cramped space, I hugged my knees in the corner and let the tears fall in silence.
Three days passed. Theodore never let me out.
Hunger blurred my vision, the darkness closing in from the edges until I lost consciousness entirely.
When I woke again, the sharp sting of disinfectant filled my nose.
Theodore was sitting at my bedside, gripping my hand so hard it hurt.
He looked haggard, hollowed out, like he'd been there for a long time.
The moment he saw my eyes open, his turned red.
“Summer!”
He pulled me into his arms, his voice shaking.
“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry……”
“I had no idea the food the housekeeper brought you was eaten by the dog. I just wanted you to cool down. I never meant to starve you……”
I pushed him away, slowly, and turned my face to the wall. I had nothing to say to him.
Panic flickered through Theodore's eyes. He had never seen me like this, and it unsettled him.
He lowered his voice and tried to explain.
“Hilda's been diagnosed with depression. The doctor says she has a serious risk of self-harm.”
“She saved my life once. I can't just abandon her.”
I listened in silence.
Nothing stirred inside me anymore.
“Okay. Got it.”
Theodore's expression shifted, but he quickly reassured himself: I was just jealous, throwing a little tantrum. A few kind gestures and I'd come around.
Over the next few days, he transformed back into the husband everyone envied.
He fed me by hand, blew on the hot porridge to cool it, sat up through the night checking my temperature.
The nurses couldn't stop gushing.
“Professor Delgado is so good to his wife. I heard he even hired a private caretaker just for her.”
The next day, the so-called caretaker was nowhere to be found.
I kept my eyes down and said nothing under the nurses' awkward glances.
That caretaker was probably with Hilda.
It didn't matter. Ten more days and I'd be free. Whoever Theodore wanted to dote on after that was no longer my concern.
But someone wasn't content to leave me in peace. The following day, Hilda walked into my hospital room with her chin held high.
“Summer, do you know something?”
“The one who isn't loved is the real other woman.”
“If you had any dignity left, you'd walk away from Theodore on your own.”
“And here's something else you probably don't know. The baby in my belly? It's his.”
I looked at her, cold and flat. “Get out. You're not welcome here.”
Venom flashed behind her eyes. She hadn't expected that. She'd come here to watch me shatter, and I hadn't given her the satisfaction.
Faint footsteps sounded outside the door.
Hilda's face changed in an instant.
She snatched the bowl of porridge from my bedside table, turned her back to the door, slipped something into it so fast I barely caught it, then tipped the bowl back and drank.
The next second, the door swung open.
Hilda let out a piercing scream and crumpled to the floor.
Blood ran down between her legs.
“Hilda!”
Theodore's face drained of color. He rushed to her like a man possessed and gathered her into his arms.
Hilda clawed at his shirt, sobbing, her whole body shaking.
“Professor……”
“I don't know why, but after I drank the porridge your wife gave me, my stomach……it hurts so bad……”
Theodore's head snapped toward me. Rage burned through every line of his face, and before I could speak, he kicked me square into the hospital bed. “How could you be vile enough to drug her?!”
