Tainted Sanctuary

Chapter Six

The air hung heavy with the scent of chrysanthemums and a hint of anguish. The funeral was a twisted mockery. I had invited Gia, my husband’s lover, under the guise of closure, but the truth was, I needed her to feel my pain, the whole left in my heart. She had taken everything from me, and today, I would reclaim my power.

I stood beside Marcos’s grave, waiting patiently, a twisted sense of satisfaction growing within me until Gia walked in my direction. "I’m so sorry for your loss, Maria." "He was such a lovely man", her voice laced with mockery as she lowered ger gaze to Marcos'

grave. "I can’t imagine how hard it is for you," she smirked, rubbing her visible bump. At that point, I could feel the anger washing over me.

I forced a smile and reached out to hold her arm, "Thank you Gia, your support means so much to me."

"I know how much you helped my husband, especially in the bedroom you whore." I grabbed her and forced her to her knees.

Standing over her felt so f*****g empowering.

"You can cut the f*****g act, you didn’t come here to mourn, did you?!" Her face was a mixture between confusion and shock, like she never expected me to know, which pissed me off further. My body was shaking with rage, I was done playing the nice quiet wife. "Cat got your tongue?" I slapped her so f*****g hard that the sound echoed between the headstones.

"Maria, I never wanted this. I’m sorry...." the sweetness of her voice clashed with the bitterness that consumed me.

"Is that my f*****g husband's baby?" She wouldn’t look at me. She pressed her hand to her stinging cheek whilst the other instinctively protected her bump. "You took every f*****g thing from me!" I screamed, slamming Gia closer to my son's grave. "Look, what you did, you better f*****g tell me if that parasite is my son's sibling?" I laughed manically.

"Fine..." she choked. "My son is his sibling, just please spare my son?" she pleaded. You could smell the fear in her. Her eyes were wide as I gripped onto her throat.

"You want f*****g mercy?"

"You want me to spare you the grief you carelessly inflicted on me?!"

"You see, I lost my son because of you. I know how it feels. I know the suffering."

Her hands flew to her stomach. "You’ve been lucky so far that you’ve never had to see your own flesh and blood cold, limp, lifeless, unable to even hold him, unable to say goodbye, but you know what you did!"

"So why didn’t you expect a comeback? Did you expect me to never find out?"

"Did you really think he was going to run off with you?!" I seethed.

"He never wanted you!" she gasped. I let go in an instant. Her words left me reeling.

"You were never enough for him," she spat, coughing slowly rising as my hands trembled at my sides, not with fear, but with blacked-out anger.

"You think he loved you or that bastard child?" she yelled, taking a slow step closer. "You're just a placeholder, a mistake and that’s why your son is dead!" That’s when I saw red.

My fist flew, crashing into her jaw, sending her stumbling, but before she could recover, I lunged, tackling her to the ground. She tried to push me away, but I dug my nails and dragged them across her face, drawing blood. Her screams went through me. I couldn’t

stand the sound. I rained punches on her. How dare she f*****g scream? She caused this. I shoved mud in her mouth to muffle her cries as I started kicking and

"This comeback isn’t for you, it’s for Marco."

"It's for me to make things right!" I crossed myself, as I yanked Gia’s hair and pulled it, slamming the back of her head against the floor. A sharp gasp tore from her throat as I pulled Mauro's gun from the holster.I was standing at the edge of my son’s fresh grave, the dirt still raw, still unsettled as I leaned over the woman who had destroyed everything, which made my fingers curl tighter around the cold steel pistol.

"You aren’t worthy enough to carry his blood," I mocked, my voice shaking with anger. The gun was steady, aimed directly at her stomach. She clutched her belly protectively - the audacity to claim she was pregnant with his child, their child - a boy, no less.

"You wouldn’t dare -" she muttered.

"Wouldn’t I?" I cut in, my voice low and deadly. "You think you can come into my f*****g life and take everything from me without consequences?"

"You think you can replace my son?" her eyes widened.

"You’re insane, you are a f*****g monster!" she barked, but I just shook my head and giggled.

"Monster?" "I am the f*****g monster you created, b***h!"

"Put the gun down. Please." She pleaded as tears fell down her face, but I didn’t feel sorry.

"If I can’t have my own son, why should you?!"

"You wanted a baby. You’ll have one, but not the way you think," I cackled. Then the gun went off.

The shot echoed.

Gia’s body lurched backwards as the bullet tore through her abdomen.

A cry escaped her lips as she crumpled to the floor, blood pooling around her, soaking her dress, staining her skin as she gripped at her stomach in terror, trying to stop the inevitable.

"My baby…" she whimpered. I leaned over her, staring at her right in the eyes with a shuddering breath.

I whispered "Welcome to my world b***h! Now you know how it feels," I whispered.

"You never forget what you’ve done." I smirked.

Her sobs turned into sharp gasps. Her body shivered violently, her life slipping away with every drop of blood that soaked into my son's grave.

"Get away from her!" Aria screamed, rushing forward.

"Let her die, she deserves it!" I mumbled.

"You’ve proved your f*****g point Maria, but death?" she gasped, disbelief etched across her face. "You’re destroying yourself, you i***t!"

Gia, barely breathing but her voice raw, "You think you can just take everything from me?"

"Not everything," I said, my voice low. "Just the one thing that mattered most."

"You destroyed a family, a son for a son, it’s only fair!"

"The sins of the father will always be met with the rage of the mother!"

"Maria, we need to leave," Aria said urgently, her eyes darting around.

"Leave?" I laughed, bitterly. "No." "This is just the beginning."

"Just f*****g stop it! You’re being careless think about Marco!"

I turned back to Gia, who was still clutching her stomach, terror etched across her face. "You’ll remember this moment. Every single day. Every moment you think about that child you’ll never have."

"My name is Maria Rovina. I hope my face will haunt you and linger in every moment!"

"Maria!" "We have to go!" Aria grabbed my arm, pulling me back as the mourners began to notice the scene.

"No. This is what I wanted. This is what I need."

"Think about what you’re doing for God's sake!" she roared.

But I was beyond reasoning. I had crossed a line, a path I could never return from. And as I stood there, watching Gia’s world unravel before her, I felt a disturbing satisfaction.

"Maria!" Aria shouted, pulling me back once more, but I reveled in the suffering I had caused.

The darkness wrapped around me like a cloak as I turned to leave, knowing that I had unleashed a storm that would never settle. And as I walked away, I realized that revenge had its own price - a price I was willing to pay to feel something, anything, after the loss that had ended me.

When the paramedics arrived, Gia was still alive but barely. The bullet had done more than take the life growing inside her. It had shredded her womb beyond repair.

She would never carry another child again.