She Stole His Gratitude, I Exposed Her

Chapter 3

When I fluttered my eyes open again, I was in a hospital.

Jonathan had been sitting by my bed for three whole days, carefully dabbing water on my chapped lips with a cotton swab.

The second he saw me awake, his face lit up with joy. "Queenie, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

The familiar heavy feeling in my body was gone, and a wave of crippling panic slammed into me.

My voice came out rough and hoarse, the question spilling out before I could even think. "Where's the baby?"

Jonathan's movements froze mid-air, his voice dropping to a low, heavy tone.

"We couldn't save the baby in time. But we're still young, we can have more kids later."

It felt like a thousand needles were stabbing straight through my heart, the pain so searing I went completely numb.

Maybe it's better this way. At least they won't end up like me, just some story material for Jasmine.

My eyes went empty, and I tugged my lips into a bitter, hollow smile.

"Jonathan, let's get a divorce."

Panic flashed across his face immediately. "Queenie, don't talk nonsense. I know you're devastated about losing the baby, but I'm hurting too. I won't agree to a divorce. This was my fault, I didn't get you to the hospital fast enough. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

With that, he seemed desperate to escape the conversation. "You're still weak. I'll go get you something nourishing to eat. Wait for me, okay?"

He leaned down to kiss my forehead, but I flinched away, cold and unyielding.

His face went even stiffer, and he left the ward looking totally deflated.

A few minutes later, the ward door clicked open again. Jasmine walked in, her face practically glowing with unmasked smugness and sneering contempt.

"Oh, you're awake. Must hurt real bad losing the baby, huh?

"But hey, thanks to you and that luckless kid, my exclusive report on the human trafficking ring k********g a wealthy socialite blew up way bigger than anyone expected. The editor made me a full-time employee on the spot, and I even won an award!

"Tell me, isn't your baby's death totally worth it?"

"Jasmine, you've gone too far!"

Staring at her smug, sneering face, the agony of losing my child was a physical, stabbing ache in my chest. I couldn't hold back any longer. I grabbed the fruit knife sitting on the side table and lunged straight at her!

"Ahh!" Jasmine yelped, completely caught off guard by the stab. The smugness on her face morphed into pure terror, and her abdomen quickly bloomed bright red with blood.

Just then, Jonathan pushed the door open, holding a crock of nutritious soup.

"Queenie, the soup's ready..."

His words cut off abruptly. The crock slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor with a loud crash.

"Queenie! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

His eyes were blazing with rage as he lunged at me, snatching the knife from my grip. His palm cracked hard across my face before he scrambled to hold up the staggering Jasmine, panic written all over his features.

"Have you lost your mind? You tried to stab her! She just came to check on you and comfort you! Why can't you stand Jasmine? Why would you want to kill her?!"

I had just gone through a massive hemorrhage and was still incredibly weak, and that single slap sent me crashing straight to the floor. A searing, sharp pain tore through my lower abdomen, and warm blood started gushing out between my legs.

My face drained of all color, and I let out a low, ragged groan of agony.

But Jonathan didn't even glance my way. He scooped Jasmine up in a hurry and sprinted out of the ward.

Once upon a time, Jonathan would dote on me and comfort me for ages even if I only cried a little.

Now, he'd slapped me so hard I fell to the ground for his childhood sweetheart. Even with blood soaking my clothes, I couldn't get a single flicker of concern out of him.

All he cared about was that I'd hurt his childhood sweetheart. He didn't even bother to ask why I'd done it.

My eyes burned red, but not a single tear fell from my deathly pale face for him this time.

I brushed my hand over my now flat stomach, my heart completely hollowed out as I called my lawyer.

"I want a divorce from Jonathan. Draw up the papers for me, please."

If whatever we had between us was already broken, I was going to burn it to the ground, no loose ends, no looking back.