The Other Mrs. Cole

Chapter 5

Hadley's voice softened, and it overflowed with tenderness. "You are so sweet to us," she said. "To me and the baby."

"Silly," Weston chuckled as he pinched her cheek. "You are my wife, and you are carrying my child. Who else would I treat well if not you?"

"The baby is almost three months now, and I am terrified," she said. "I am already anemic. What if Mrs. Cole has to give me blood during delivery?"

Weston answered after a beat. "She is here, is she not?" he said. "You share the same blood type. I will not let anything happen to you."

No one saw the tears I could not hold back.

A year ago, Weston had brought Hadley into our lives as my live donor out of concern for me.

Now I had become hers.

The irony cut deep.

When I woke again, I was lying in our bedroom.

If not for the needle marks on the back of my hand, I might have believed that the night before had been just a nightmare.

I wiped my dry eyes, but there were no tears left to shed.

Perhaps out of guilt, Weston took me to an auction that evening.

The auctioneer's hammer came down again and again as he snapped up pieces worth millions without blinking, and he showered me with each one.

The crowd whispered behind their hand fans, and they were green with envy.

"Everyone says Mr. Cole adores his wife beyond reason," one person murmured. "Today proved it."

"Right?" another added. "Most people throw money around, but he dropped a fortune just to see her smile."

"Mrs. Cole truly has it all."

Their gushing praise left me numb, and my heart felt like a stagnant pool.

Later that night, after the auction, a high-profile charity soirée took place.

That was when I caught sight of Hadley.

"She is a new assistant," Weston said, and his tone was smooth as silk.

I nodded, and I kept my face blank as if she were a stranger.

Hadley stuck to Weston like glue after that.

We trailed beside him, and we looked like a mismatched pair.

Some guests who had never met me even mistook her for Mrs. Cole.

"Oh no, I am only his assistant!" Hadley said, flustered, as she waved her hands.

After saying this, she threw me a nervous glance.

My lips twisted into a bitter smirk, and I turned on my heel to leave. "I am going to the restroom," I said.

When I stepped out, I saw them standing together. The girl flashed a smile that was too sweet to be real, and the man hung on her every word. They looked like they belonged together.

I did not approach them. Instead, I turned away.

But Hadley quickly caught up to me. "Ma'am, it is not what you think," she said. "I have never been to an event like this, so I pleaded with Mr. Cole to bring me."

"I am sorry for causing trouble," she continued. "I mean it. Please do not be angry with him."

Then, out of nowhere, her ankle gave way. She lost her balance and crashed into me.

Behind me, a steep and endless flight of stairs yawned open.

Weston was there in an instant.

I reached for him instinctively, but he pulled Hadley into his arms instead.

My hand brushed his sleeve, just a ghost of a touch. He did not so much as look my way.

All his panic and all his fear were not for me.

The world dropped out from under me, and my tears were whipped away by the wind.

Then I was falling and tumbling down, with white-hot pain lancing through my body until I sprawled at the bottom and blood spread beneath me.