The Message I Sent To Test Their Love

Chapter 4

I spent seven days in jail. The day I was released, the police had already called my family 3 times. No one came.

The only thing waiting for me was a text Nicole had sent half an hour earlier, along with the location of a wedding venue.

Nicole: Sharon, Mom and Dad are throwing Stanley and me a proper wedding. You have to come.

I stared at the screen for a long time. In the end, I went.

By the time I arrived at the hotel, they were exchanging rings. Stanley stood at the altar in a perfectly tailored suit, his head lowered as he slipped a ring onto Nicole's finger.

Nicole spotted me almost immediately. Her eyes lit up, and she waved at me.

"Sharon! Come up here!"

Every head in the room turned toward me at once. Hundreds of eyes turned toward me.

Nicole hurried over, linked her arm through mine like we were the closest sisters in the world, and pulled me toward the stage.

"Everyone, this is my sister. If it weren't for Sharon, I never would've met Stanley in the first place."

Then her tone shifted. Her eyes slowly reddened. "But Sharon, I know you've struggled with depression for years. Still, the rest of us have lives too. You can't keep using your illness to hold everyone hostage and expect the whole world to revolve around you."

Whispers rippled through the crowd.

I opened my mouth to defend myself. Before I could get a word out, a deafening boom erupted behind us. Thick smoke rolled into the ballroom.

"Fire!"

The crowd exploded into chaos. People screamed and surged toward the exits.

In the confusion, Stanley instinctively took one step in my direction.

Then Nicole screamed from behind him, her voice trembling with fear. "Stanley!"

His footsteps stopped. Almost instantly, he turned around.

He grabbed Nicole and pulled her close. The only thing he said to me was, "Sharon, stay close!"

As Nicole passed me, she suddenly reached out, as if she were trying to take my hand.

I started to reach for her. Then, without warning, she hooked her foot around my ankle.

I lost my balance and crashed sideways into a catering cart being pushed past us.

The metal edge slammed straight into my lower abdomen. Pain exploded through me.

I doubled over and dropped into a crouch, gasping as my vision flickered black.

The fire was quickly contained. But when the emergency responders saw the blood soaking through the bottom of my dress, their expressions changed immediately. They helped me into an ambulance and rushed me to the hospital.

The ER was packed.

A nurse hurried over. "We only have one critical care bed left!"

The paramedic was wheeling me toward the trauma area when Stanley stepped in front of us.

Stanley.

Nicole stood beside him, coughing nonstop as he held her protectively against his side.

"Wait." Stanley blocked the doorway. "Nicole inhaled a lot of smoke. She's having trouble breathing. She needs to be seen first."

The nurse frowned. "This woman is actively bleeding. Her condition may be more urgent."

"She's fine." Stanley looked at me. "She's just making a scene because she wants attention. I know how she is."

Every drop of blood in my body seemed to turn cold. The pain in my lower abdomen came in stronger and stronger waves. Then something hit me. My period was 2 months late.

My whole body started shaking. I reached out and grabbed Stanley's arm.

My voice came out broken, almost begging. "Stanley, I think I'm pregnant. Please. Help me. Please save our baby."

Stanley snapped his head toward me. There was no concern in his eyes. Only irritation.

"Sharon Howard, are you seriously still doing this? Look at what's happening, and you're still putting on an act? Do you really have to compete with Nicole over everything?"

He ripped his arm out of my grasp. Then he turned around and followed Nicole into the treatment room.

Tiffany, Peter, and Wyatt went in right behind them. When they passed me, not one of them even slowed down.

I stood there alone. The pain in my abdomen grew worse by the second.

Blood ran down my legs, soaking through my clothes before dripping onto the floor. Bright red stains spread across the tile beneath my feet.

My vision darkened. The voices around me grew farther and farther away.

I couldn't hold myself up anymore. My knees gave out. My body slammed onto the freezing hospital floor.

And in the final second before consciousness slipped away, only one thought remained.

If I'd jumped from that rooftop 3 years ago, maybe I wouldn't have had to suffer through any of this.

*****

One week later, on a beach in the Veloria Islands, Nicole ran along the shoreline in a sundress, laughing as she chased the waves.

Tiffany and Peter sat beneath a beach umbrella, smiling as they watched her. Wyatt stood nearby, taking pictures of them.

Stanley leaned back in a lounge chair. But for some reason, he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his chest.

He kept thinking about that day at the hospital. After Nicole finished getting checked out, he'd stepped back into the hallway. Sharon was gone.

He'd been about to ask where she'd gone when Nicole wrapped both hands around his arm and leaned against him.

"She probably ran off because everyone realized she was lying. She must've been too embarrassed to stay."

Something about it had bothered Stanley. But when he saw Nicole smiling so brightly, he didn't say anything else.

Now, lying beneath the tropical sun, Stanley casually pulled out his phone and started scrolling through the news. Then one headline stopped him cold.

"Pregnant Woman Jumps From Hospital Roof After Massive Hemorrhage, Family Still Unreachable"

Below the headline was a surveillance image from the hospital rooftop.

A thin figure stood alone near the edge. Stanley recognized her instantly.

Sharon.

All the color drained from his face. In a single second, his blood turned to ice.