Chapter 4
1000 Words
The entrance of the hospital was in complete chaos.
Reporters and crazed fans swarmed outside, their phones and cameras raised high as they pushed forward, desperate to get inside.
Security struggled to maintain order, but the crowd’s madness had already spiraled out of control.
"Janette, did you really steal Eugenia’s work?"
"Rumor has it you don’t even know who the father of your baby is. Care to explain?"
"You killed your sister—how does it feel to have blood on your hands?"
The questions were relentless, cutting through me like a thousand blades.
My hands instinctively cradled my stomach as I tried to navigate through the mass of bodies.
I kept my head down, moving carefully toward the hospital doors. Then, without warning—
A hand shoved me. Hard.
"Get out of the industry, you fraud!"
I stumbled backward, my foot slipping off the edge of the stairs.
My heart seized as gravity yanked me downward.
"Ah—!"
I heard my own scream, the gasps of the crowd, and someone yelling for a doctor.
But the only thing I truly felt was the unbearable pain that tore through my abdomen.
My baby.
Warmth spread down my legs. Blood. So much blood.
The world around me blurred as my vision darkened.
My arms curled around my belly in one last desperate attempt to protect what was left.
Then everything faded into blackness.
When I woke, the sharp scent of disinfectant filled my nose.
Sunlight streamed through the hospital window, but it did nothing to warm the hollowness inside me.
My hand drifted to my stomach.
Flat.
I froze.
No.
No, no, no.
"My baby… where’s my baby?" My voice came out cracked, barely more than a whisper.
"Janette…"
A familiar voice. My mother.
My head snapped up.
She and my father stood at my bedside,
their faces carefully composed, but their eyes… their eyes held nothing but indifference masked as pity.
"What did you do?" My voice wavered as my fingers clenched the hospital sheets.
My mother sighed, reaching for my hand. "Janette, the doctors did everything they could, but the baby didn’t survive. You were reckless. You shouldn’t have run like that."
"No! That’s not true!" I jerked away from her touch, my eyes darting between them. "You planned this, didn’t you?"
For a split second, her face stiffened before she quickly smoothed her expression.
My father spoke next, his voice eerily calm. "Janette, Eugenia’s condition was critical. We had no choice. You lost the baby, but at least your cord blood was able to save Eugenia."
A deafening silence filled the room.
Then my world shattered.
"You…" My ears rang, my chest heaving. "You used my pregnancy—my child—just to harvest cord blood for Eugenia?"
"Calm down." My mother’s voice turned sharp. "Eugenia is your sister. She was dying. We couldn’t just let her waste away."
A bitter laugh escaped me, filled with nothing but raw, unfiltered agony. "And my baby? He was disposable?"
"He was never supposed to exist in the first place." My father’s words were emotionless, as if he were discussing a business transaction. "Luca abandoned you. That child would have been a burden."
Cold.
So cold.
"You… you’re monsters."
My mother sighed, rubbing her temples. "Janette, you have to let this go. You’re being overly dramatic. Eugenia still needs time to recover. You shouldn’t be causing unnecessary stress."
"Stress?" My body trembled violently. "You murdered my child, and now you want me to just accept it?"
"He was nothing but an inconvenience." My mother’s voice was ice. "Eugenia is the true future of this family."
My head spun. My breath came in ragged gasps.
Then the door burst open.
The room’s temperature seemed to drop instantly.
Dominic stood at the threshold, golden eyes burning with unrestrained fury.
"You. Are. Dead."
His voice was lethal.
My mother paled, instinctively stepping back. "Alpha, this is a hospital. You need to control yourself."
Dominic let out a cold, humorless laugh. "Control myself? You killed Janette’s child, and you expect me to stay calm?"
"It was an accident," my father stammered, but fear had crept into his voice.
"An accident?" Dominic moved faster than I could track. One moment, he was by the door.
The next, he had my father by the throat, lifting him clean off the ground.
"Gah—" My father’s face turned purple as he clawed at Dominic’s wrist.
"Dominic, stop!" My mother screamed.
Dominic ignored her. With a flick of his wrist, he sent her flying into the wall. She collapsed onto the floor, coughing up blood.
"Aah—!" She clutched at her legs, her eyes widening in horror as realization set in. "I… I can’t move my legs!"
My father gasped for air, his own legs twitching uncontrollably beneath him. Then—nothing.
Dominic released his grip, letting my father crumple to the ground beside her.
"You will spend the rest of your pathetic lives in those wheelchairs." His voice was void of mercy. "Consider it a fraction of the pain you’ve caused."
Silence. Cold, suffocating silence.
Then—
A frantic knock at the door. A nurse rushed inside, her face stricken with panic. "It’s Eugenia—she’s gone!"
My heart lurched. "What?"
"She was in her hospital room, but she vanished. Security footage is wiped. We… we don’t know where she is."
Dominic’s expression darkened. His smile turned razor-sharp. "Seems like she’s smarter than I thought."
My hands clenched into fists, nails digging into my palms.
Eugenia had escaped.
She knew the truth. She was responsible for my child’s death.
And now, she was out there somewhere, running from her sins.
Dominic moved closer, tilting my chin up to meet his gaze.
His touch was surprisingly gentle, but his words dripped with bloodlust.
"Do you want to hunt her down yourself?"
I exhaled shakily, my grief hardening into something else.
Vengeance.
Tears slipped down my cheeks, but my voice was unwavering. "I want her to pay."
- Writer
