chapter 3
694 Words
The sound of the slap quickly drew John to us.
I played the victim first, accusing Melinda of hitting me.
I thought he might hesitate, even slightly, but he didn't...
He strode towards me like a demon freshly crawled from hell, eyes blazing, teeth bared, and seized my throat.
I choked, my eyes filled with despair as darkness swallowed all light.
Suddenly, he released my throat and stumbled back two steps, his gaze dark and unfathomable.
I gasped for air, bending over and coughing violently.
The matching rings he and Melinda wore had gouged my neck, crimson blood dripping onto the floor.
Melinda seized the moment to wail:
"John, I need to go to hospital."
Her cries washed away all remorse from John's heart.
He hurriedly embraced Melinda and rushed off to the hospital.
Before leaving, he spat venomously:
"If anything happens to the baby, I'll make you pay with your life."
Those words left my heart utterly unmoved.
I was utterly disillusioned with him.
Hours later, he sent a message as if possessed: "The third cabinet on the right by the bed has iodine. Clean it yourself."
I deleted the message without emotion.
Presumably, the scan showed nothing wrong with Melinda's baby. With time on his hands, John's guilt resurfaced.
John sent a second message. My fingers froze mid-air.
“The doctor insists Melinda mustn’t be provoked. Reprint the settlement now.”
“Sign it.”
“If you refuse, I’ll cut off your father’s funding.”
“Remember that your father’s treatment runs on my money.”
I never imagined the boy I'd adored as a teenager could be so ruthless. After calling my father's hospital to cover all expenses with my own money, I switched off my phone to block all contact from John.
I packed my belongings, preparing to depart for the Pacific coast.
The day before leaving, I bid farewell to friends at a restaurant.
"Jane, I'll miss you," said Alice, my closest friend.
I smiled. "You can come visit me."
She asked again why I was suddenly heading to the Pacific coast.
I stated flatly that John had been unfaithful, and I needed space.
As she cursed John on my behalf, she clamoured to see Melinda's photo.
Being five years younger than me, I couldn't resist her persistence.
So I retrieved Melinda's photo from John's social media account.
Her eyes widened as she zoomed in and out on the image.
I watched her movements with puzzlement: "Alice, do you know her?"
She gasped:
"Bloody hell... she's my uncle's mistress."
She pulled out her phone and found a photo in her gallery:
"Jane, look—isn't that her?"
In the picture, Melinda stood in the lobby of the Vogel Hotel, her arm intimately draped around Uncle Xingxue.
There was also a video clip.
Before the lift doors closed, they kissed with frenzied urgency.
Our eyes reflected each other's stunned expressions.
Alice's gossip instinct flared instantly: "I took this photo three months ago at the hotel."
"Jane, did John cheat three months ago?"
I thought carefully and shook my head: "I don't know, but now Melinda's pregnant."
"Could this child be..."
She cut me off.
"Pregnant?" Alice's mouth fell open again.
Suddenly, the situation seemed intriguing.
What if this child truly wasn't John's? How would John react?
With a playful smile, I dialled a number:
"Look into when John actually started the affair."
Alice fiddled with her phone too, using her own connections to probe her uncle and Melinda.
Half an hour later, our respective findings were laid bare.
Alice's uncle had been keeping Melinda as his mistress for a year.
During that time, they'd checked into hotels countless times.
Melinda's first hotel visit with John
had been three months prior, on the day he'd stayed out discussing a project.
CCTV footage showed them kissing passionately outside a hotel room door.
Beyond that single instance, no surveillance across the city's major hotels captured them together again.
Moreover, prior to Melinda and John's first hotel visit,
Melinda had visited a chemist's. Records showed she purchased a pregnancy test kit.
Combining our separate findings,
the child within Melinda truly was not John's.
- Writer
