The End Before the Beginning
The door slammed open, cracking the silence like thunder. Rain poured behind him, soaking his clothes and leaving a jagged trail of water across the polished marble floor.
Yarik stood in the doorway—drenched, wild-eyed, like a ghost summoned not by grief but by rage.
Before Kierra could react, his hand struck her cheek with a sharp, blistering c***k. She stumbled back—not from the pain, but the shock. For months, he hadn’t stepped foot in their home. And now here he was: soaked, seething, eyes bloodshot, as if sorrow and fury had drowned him whole.
He stormed toward her, seizing her shoulders in a bruising grip. “Why?” he growled. “Why did you do it?”
Kierra blinked, dazed. “Do what?”
“You pushed Erika down the stairs?! For God’s sake, she’s pregnant!” Her breath caught. Her eyes darted to the side, replaying the confrontation in her mind—the moment she cornered Erika outside the OB-GYN. Kierra had just come from her own appointment, the test result still fresh in her trembling hands. She was pregnant. Her prayer had been answered. But then she saw Erika. Her innocent face. The gentle smile. The way she protectively cradled her belly while waiting in line. Something snapped. Heat rose to Kierra’s head. She dragged Erika aside, trying to stay calm—but the moment Erika spoke, Kierra slapped her. She didn’t mean to push her. Didn’t mean for her to fall. Didn’t mean for the worst to happen. Kierra said on low breath, "I...It was just an accident."
Yarik’s voice shattered the memory. "Accident?" her scoffed. "If I know, you've been so jealous that you pushed her. You've been wanting to get rid of her this whole time. But this time, not only her but our child!" Angrily said. As if totally convinced about the plot he told himself.
Well, yes! Indeed, I've been wanting to get rid of her. So that my husband would turn his way to me. But heck! I just found out I am pregnant with his child! And for a few weeks I've been feeling sick. I have no strength strong enough to push her. It was all an accident.
“Why do you keep ruining everything I build?” he shouted, voice cracking with anguish. “Why can’t you just leave me alone? Why do you always destroy the things that make me happy? Do you enjoy this, Kierra?! Do you enjoy making my life hell?!” Each word was a blade. And her heart bled with everyone. But she didn’t flinch.
Her gaze met his, calm and cold with resignation. “Happy?” she echoed. “Enjoy?”
“I’m your wife, Yarik,” she whispered. “You left me—on our wedding night. You didn’t even look back. But then I found from your mistress herself that you had built a home with her. You bedded her. You even got that b***h pregnant!”
His hand flew again—harder. The slap echoed through the house like a gunshot. “Don’t you dare call her a mistress nor a b***h,” he spat. “Erika is a hundred times the woman you’ll ever be. If there’s a b***h in this story, it’s not her—it’s you.” The word shattered something inside her.
She slapped him back. Hard. “How dare you compare me to her? She took you from me!”
“Stop being so childish, Kierra! She didn’t take me nor steal me away from you,” he hissed. “I was never yours to begin with. Because no matter how hard you try to break us apart, even with this stupid marriage you plotted. I will always go back to her. You know why? Because I love her. And we love each other. ” She stared at him, stricken. His words were poison, and they coiled through her chest. “She’s the woman I’ve always loved,” he said, each word deliberate and cruel. “You knew that, Kierra. You always knew. But you couldn’t bear to lose. So you lied. You manipulated everyone. I will never love you—not in this life, or the next. Erika was the only one who ever mattered. And if anything happens to her or my child…” He stepped closer. “I swear to God—I’ll kill you.”
Her knees buckled. “I gave you everything,” she whispered. “My love. My body. My life. I never even looked at another man. I only ever wanted you.”
He laughed—cold and hollow. “Then that’s your mistake. Falling in love with someone who never wanted you. You’re selfish, Kierra. Spoiled. And now you’ve gone too far.”
“I’m pregnant too, Yarik,” she said suddenly, breath catching. She looked at him in the eyes. Tried looking for of a hint joy in his face with the news she just brought him. “I’m carrying your child.” She reached for him—one last desperate attempt. But he shoved her. The force sent her crashing to the floor.
“That is not my child,” he said, his voice like ice. “You drugged me. You strapped me to a hospital bed. You stole my seed. That doesn’t make you a mother.” He turned his face away, sick with disgust. “You’re a mad woman, Kierra,” he said. “You’re sick!”
A sharp pain bloomed in her belly. She gasped, clutching at her stomach. “Please… this baby… I didn’t mean to—” she tried reaching for his leg but he backed out.
“The only child I have is Erika’s,” he snapped. “Not that...'thing' inside you.” Those words hurt more than any slap. More than his hatred. More than the rejection she received countless of times. She knew she have to be prepared for this reaction from him but it still hurt her deeply. His disgust—toward his own child. Her child.
He turned, storming toward the door.
But before he could leave, his phone rang. He answered. It took a few seconds before he suddenly dropped his phone crashing at the floor. His knees hit the marble with a sickening thud.
“No…” Kierra whispered. As if she herself heard the news from whoever he'd been speaking to on the phone.
“AAAAHHHH!!!” His scream tore through the room. Raw. Soul-deep. His entire body convulsed as if trying to reject the pain. “My son…” he sobbed. “He's gone! Why?! Why does my son have to die?!” He pounded the floor until his knuckles split open and bled.
Kierra couldn’t move. She hadn’t meant for any of this. She only wanted her husband back. She never meant to kill anyone. But now… Now, it was too late. The pain in her abdomen twisted. She curled in on herself, panic rising like bile. Then—hands. Rough hands. Yanking her upright. Yarik. Tears streaked his face, but something in his eyes had snapped. Broken beyond repair.
“You killed my son,” he growled. “You sick monster.” His hands closed around her throat. Her vision swam. Her lungs burned. Her baby… “No… not my baby…” Little by little, sharp pain hit her abdomen. She knew by then she had lost her child too. But she didn’t struggle. She didn’t fight. Because something inside her had already died. This time, she's done. She reached her last straw. She admits defeat. She acknowledges her mistakes. Because of her, her greed, her stupid attempts to choose this man over and over.
She did not only loose herself in the process, she lost everyone too.
Her parents—gone.
Her nanny—shot dead.
Yarik—shattered.
The children—lost.
And it was all her fault. She knew it was too late to regret everything but indeed, that's how she felt. She really was the villain in this story. She deserved this. She doesn't want to continue if it means living with all of this guilt inside her heart.
“Sorry…” she croaked, the words barely a whisper.
'If I could turn back time… I’d let you go…' she said in her thoughts.
One last tear fell.
And then—darkness.
