CHAPTER 1: LEFT TO BLEED
1350 Words
Audrey's POV
I tried to push myself up from the cold marble floor, but my arms gave out. Pain ripped through my abdomen, sharp and merciless. Something warm spread beneath me, soaking through the silk of my dress.
Blood.
"Alex," I whispered. My voice came out broken. "Alex, please. Something's wrong."
He stood five feet away, adjusting his cufflinks. The tuxedo fit him perfectly, tailored to emphasize his broad shoulders. He did not look down at me. Instead, he checked his Rolex.
"You are not even trying anymore, Audrey." His voice sounded bored. "Lucy would never stoop to this."
"I am not lying." Each word took effort. The pain was getting worse. "Please. I need help."
"You need attention." He finally glanced at me, and the disgust in his eyes made me wish I had not asked. "There is always something with you. Always some drama right when I have somewhere important to be."
"I am bleeding." My hand moved to my stomach. The cramps were unbearable now. "Alex, I am pregnant. I took a test this morning. I was going to tell you tonight, but then this happened and I need to go to the hospital right now."
For a moment, just a flicker, something crossed his face. Then his phone buzzed. He pulled it out, read the screen, and his expression hardened.
"Lucy is waiting." He slipped the phone back into his pocket. "Her birthday dinner starts in twenty minutes."
"Did you hear what I said?" Tears burned my eyes. "I am pregnant with your baby. And something is very wrong."
"Enough." The word cut through the air like a blade. "I am done with your games."
I tried to reach for him, but my vision blurred.
Three months ago, Lucy had walked into our lives. Alex introduced her as a business consultant, someone brilliant who would help expand his company. She smiled at me that first day, her hand lingering too long on his arm.
"Your husband speaks so highly of you," she had said. Her eyes told a different story.
Within weeks, she was everywhere. Late-night meetings. Weekend conferences. Business trips that Alex never invited me to anymore.
"She understands the industry," he said when I asked. "You would not get it."
Last week, at the gala, I had watched her descend the staircase wearing the Whitmore family heirloom necklace. The sapphires caught the light, the same sapphires that were supposed to be mine as Alex's wife.
I had stood there in shock and was unable to move.
Alex had appeared beside her, his hand on her lower back. He saw me staring and leaned close to whisper something that made Lucy laugh. Then he looked directly at me.
"She is the true princess, not you."
The words rang in my ears even now, lying on this cold floor.
I forced myself back to the present. My hand shook as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the pregnancy test. The two pink lines were clear, undeniable.
"Look," I held it up. "Please, just look at it."
Alex crossed the distance between us in two strides. He snatched the test from my hand, glanced at it for half a second, then crumpled it in his fist.
"Pathetic." He threw it across the room. "Even your lies are getting lazy."
"It is not a lie." My voice broke. "Why would I lie about this?"
He pulled papers from his jacket pocket and dropped them on the floor beside my head. The letterhead almost made me throw up. Divorce papers.
"Sign them." His tone was final. "I want you gone before I get back from Lucy's birthday dinner."
"Alex." I could barely breathe through the pain. "Please. Our baby."
"There is no baby, Audrey. There never was."
He turned toward the door. I tried to grab his ankle, but my fingers would not close. Everything was getting fuzzy around the edges.
"Someone get her to the hospital," Alex called out.
Judith, our maid, rushed forward. She dropped to her knees beside me, her face pale with shock. "Mrs. Whitmore, oh God, there is so much blood."
George, the driver, appeared in the doorway. "Sir, should I cancel your dinner reservation? Your wife needs you."
"She is not my wife anymore." Alex's voice was ice. "She just needs to sign the papers."
Judith looked up at him, her eyes wide. "Sir, she is your wife. She is hurt. We should call an ambulance right now."
"Do you still want your job?" The question hung in the air like a threat. "Get her to the hospital. I don't care if this is real or another performance. Just handle it."
Judith's hands trembled as she tried to help me sit up. I could not hold my weight. The pain was everywhere now.
"George, help me," Judith said. Her voice shook. "We need to move her carefully."
"I will get the car." George was already pulling out his keys.
Alex walked out without looking back. The sound of the door closing echoed through the penthouse.
"Stay with me, Mrs. Whitmore." Judith's voice seemed far away. "George is bringing the car around. You will be okay. You have to be okay."
But I was not okay.
The ceiling lights blurred into streams of white. Voices overlapped. Hands lifted me, but I could not feel them anymore. The car, the drive, the emergency room entrance passed in fragments..
"We need consent for emergency surgery. Where is her husband?"
I tried to answer, but the words would not come. A nurse leaned close, her face kind.
"We need to contact your husband. What is his number?"
"Gone." The word scraped out of my throat. "He is gone."
The nurse's expression shifted. She squeezed my hand. "Okay. We are going to take care of you. Just hold on."
They wheeled me down a hallway. Doors opened, bright lights overhead and I saw masked faces.
Then nothing.
When I woke, the fluorescent lights were softer. A hospital room with beige walls stared at me.
A woman sat beside my bed, still wearing scrubs. Her name tag read Lauren. She was not my nurse before. I did not recognize her.
But she was holding my hand.
"I am so sorry, honey." Her voice was gentle. Full of a sadness that told me everything before she said the words. "The baby did not make it."
The baby did not make it.
I stared at the ceiling. I should cry. I should scream. I should feel something.
But there was only emptiness.
Lauren reached for a folder on the side table. "The staff said your husband dropped off some papers. He said you knew about them." She hesitated. "Do you want me to keep it away for now?"
The divorce papers.
I took them with numb fingers. My hands did not shake anymore. There was nothing left to shake for.
I signed my name on every line that needed it. The pen moved across the paper like I was signing grocery lists. Like I was ending nothing at all.
Tears fell, but I did not feel them until they hit the paper, smudging the ink.
"You know there are domestic violence resources," Lauren said quietly. "If you need help. If you are afraid."
"He never hit me." I set the pen down. "He just stopped seeing me."
Lauren nodded like she understood, maybe she did.
I lay back against the pillows. The room was too quiet. My phone buzzed on the table beside the bed.
Lauren reached for it. "Do you want me to check that?"
I nodded.
She unlocked the screen, then went very still. "Audrey." She turned the phone toward me. "There is a message from an unknown number."
I forced my eyes to focus on the screen.
~The DNA test you requested on Lucy Michaels. Results attached. You need to see this.
My fingers would not work. I trie
d to tap the screen, but my hand was too weak. Before I could process everything, my phone slipped from my grasp and clattered to the floor.
- Writer
