The ambulance siren wailed through the night, sharp and relentless, as if it were tearing straight through my skull.
My vision swam in and out as I was wheeled inside the hospital.
"Miss! " The doctor caught my face gently, forcing my unfocused gaze to hers. Her voice cut through the haze, steady but urgent.
"Listen to me. If you can hold on for one hour, we can save the baby. But I need to give you this injection right now."
One hour.
I latched onto those words like a drowning person clutches debris
She uncapped a syringe quickly.
"This will stabilize you. If I don’t administer it, your heart will fail before labour finishes, your body can’t handle both shock and blood loss. "
My hands trembled as I clutched my belly, terror clawing its way up my throat.
"Do it. "I whispered. "Please…do it. "
The needle had barely touched my skin
BANG!
Guards flooded in and behind them, Zyan strode forward, his arms holding Victoria trembling like a wounded lamb.
Zyan’s gaze landed on the syringe before something ugly twisted in his eyes.
He strode forward and slapped the doctor’s hand away.
The syringe…my last chance..flew through the air and shattered against the floor, the life saving medicine spilling out uselessly.
"You! No! "the doctor screamed. "That shot was her only chance! The baby won’t make it! Even Lianna’s heart-"
"There is a limit to shamelessness! You found Victoria was getting her treatment here and hired all doctors faking your illness! "Zyan didn’t let the doctor finish.
"Get her out and prepare for Victoria’s treatment immediately! "he ordered coldly.
The nurse interjected quickly. "Sir, Miss Victoria seems fine, its Miss Lianna-"
The doctor was taken away despite resistance and the door slammed shut.
Silence crashed down before a thunderous sound echoed.
SLAP!
My head whipped sideways, the taste of blood bursting across my tongue. The room spun as my ears rang from the force.
For half a second, Zyan gaze faltered when he saw my state before Victoria’s cry echoed, making his guilt disappear completely.
"You have crossed every limit, Lianna! " Zyan snapped, his eyes burning with rage.
“ Victoria was perfectly fine until you brought that food! What the hell did you mix in it? ! "
"Nothing "I said hoarsely. "It was her who mixed the peanuts-"
"Nothing? " His eyes darkened, voice dropping to ice. "You still dare lie!"
"Today I will teach you a lesson you will never forget, I, Alpha Zyan Gray strip you, Lianna Rose of your luna title!
From now onwards your status will be reduced to an omega unworthy to lead the pack.
Apologise or else this won't be it!” he commanded, expecting me to rush to him with tears.
Instead I lifted my head unbothered by his disgusting status, my body shaking after being drained hollow.
"No" I spat.
"What did you say? "His eyes sharpened into ice, a tinge of shock at my calmness.
"I said no! "My voice cracked like broken glass. "I will not-"
He reached into his pocket.
And the world…stopped.
Hanging between his fingers was a small, tarnished locket belonging to my mother. The very locket I had given Zyan as a promise when we were thirteen-’If you keep this, you keep me.’
"You shouldn’t be so stubborn Lianna. "His thumb traced it lazily.
"Apologize now or this disappears for ever." A chill crept into his eyes, his tone leaving no room for refusal."
My vision blurred. Not from weakness, but from grief so sharp that it crushed me.
I got up with the last of my breaths, my knees hitting the cold floor. Pain ricocheted up my spine.
I could barely breathe, barely stay upright.
Slowly…painfully…I lowered myself until my forehead touched the cold floor.
"I am sorry" I whispered before looking up at Zyan, and the moment our eyes met, his entire being faltered.
Broken, destroyed and utterly ruined.
The red-rimmed eyes that once held an ocean of love looked at him with raw despair…empty.
This time, he hesitated, his expression complicated.
It was then Victoria sniffled delicately, wiping a perfectly timed tear.
"Oh sister…I didn’t want this." It was then she gently took the pendant from Zyan.
"Here, sister…I will give it to you."she murmured, stepping toward me with a gentle, angelic smile.
My fingers shook as I reached out, bloodshot eyes only focused on it, but before I could grasp it…the pendant fell.
Clink.
The glass center shattered like a small, dying cry, breaking into millions of pieces.
"No! "I screamed, a raw sound that rippled through the ward.
My knees scraped the floor, pain burning through bone as I scrambled on my palms across the broken glassed as I desperately tried to gather the tiny fragments.
"Lianna, stop it. "Zyan looked momentarily at a loss but still hardened his expression.
"NO!!"I shouted, my voice unrecognizable.
Victoria jumped at the sound, then instantly clutched her stomach dramatically, gasping.
"Z-Zyan…sister is scaring me…I am sorry…I didn’t mean to drop it…please don’t be angry…"
A flicker of pity rose in Zyan but the moment he thought of Victoria, that it disappeared.
His eyes turned cold, flat.
"Stop this pathetic tantrum. "he said to me, voice low with disgust. "If you were so concerned about it then maybe you shouldn’t have tried to kill your sister! "
I stared at the ground, my chest rising violently, my hands still digging through glass.
And yet he didn’t see the wounds on my hand, the tremors racking my body as I went paler each passing second.
He only saw Victoria.
"You can always buy another trinket. "he snapped. "Why destroy your dignity over something useless? "
Useless.
My throat closed.
The pendant that survived the night my father poured kerosene on my mother’s belongings and burned her from our lives.
Useless.
The only proof my mother ever existed.
The only reassurance I had that she still watched over me.
The only thing I thought would protect my daughter in my womb.
Something inside me fractured so fatally that I forgot to breathe.
"If you understand your mistake, go home and wait for me, this pendant…I will compensate you after our wedding tomorrow. "
He turned away, guiding Victoria out as the door slammed shut behind them.
Silence settled, heavy as ash.
I remained kneeling on the floor, fingers trembling over the bloodied shards.
Then a warm wetness trickled down my thigh.
Slow, heavy and dark red.
Spreading like a quiet massacre beneath me.
At first I stared at it blankly as if it belonged to someone else, as if it couldn’t possibly be my baby.
My daughter.
But the crimson blood keep blooming beneath me.
My throat closed so tight I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t scream. Couldn’t move.
It felt like watching my entire life drain out onto the floor as nurses rushed inside, holding my head before it hit the ground.
"She is going into shock labour! move, now! "
