He Ignored Mom, I Quit Our Marriage

Chapter 4

When I opened my eyes, Hunter was sitting right beside my hospital bed, watching me. A flicker of guilt flashed across his face.

He curled his fingers around my hand, his voice rough and gravelly, "Tiffany, our baby is gone. But from now on, any child that Eugene and I have will be yours to raise."

I wrenched my hand out of his grip with a sharp, sudden jerk, staring at him in utter disbelief. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Hunter dropped his gaze, too ashamed to meet my eyes. "You had a miscarriage. You lost too much blood, and your uterus is completely necrotic. You'll never be able to carry a child again."

My brain went completely blank for a beat, and then my whole body started trembling uncontrollably.

Tears poured out before I could stop them, one heavy drop after another soaking through my pillowcase.

Hunter just stood there awkwardly, staring at me and wringing his hands, completely lost in what to do.

Then suddenly, the shrill ring of his phone cut through the heavy silence of the room.

He hurried to explain himself, automatically. "Tiffany, it's the company—"

Before he could finish the sentence, I cut him off, "Just go. I want to be alone."

He set a bouquet of flowers down on the bedside table. "Tiffany, I'll come back to stay with you as soon as I'm done." With that, he hurried out of the room, his footsteps quick and eager.

Not even a minute later, Eugene strolled in like nothing had ever happened.

She waved her phone in the air, smug satisfaction dripping from every word. "I just mentioned offhand that I wanted a warm croissant from the bakery across town, and Hunter went all the way there himself to buy it for me."

After she finished talking, her eyes drifted to the bouquet by my bed, and she snickered, pressing a hand over her mouth to fake a shocked gasp. "Oh, this is the bouquet I didn't want! I said it was ugly, and Hunter said he'd throw it right away for me. Who knew he'd just dump his trash here with you?"

When I didn't react at all, she sauntered right up to my bedside, a nasty, malicious grin spreading across her face.

"That little embryo was already starting to look like a real baby, you know. What a shame it ended up getting flushed down the drain."

I stared daggers at her, my gaze sharp enough to cut.

She rubbed a hand over her own flat stomach, her grin growing even bolder and crueler. "Actually, your uterus isn't really necrotic! Hunter heard my uterus had some problems, so he cut yours right out and gave it to me!"

I swung my arm as hard as I could and slapped her right across the face. "You two are going too far!"

Instead of getting angry, she just laughed. She reached behind the door and pulled out a ceramic jar.

My heart leaped into my throat, and my voice shook so bad I could barely get the words out. "Give that back to me!"

I lunged at her as hard as I could, but she tripped me before I could reach her.

She tossed the jar high into the air, and I screamed, "Don't!"

My mother's ashes spilled across the floor, scattered into every c***k and crevice.

"Mom..." I lunged like a madwoman, scrambling to scoop the ashes back into my hands, but they slipped through my fingers faster than water. I couldn't save a single grain.

Eugene stood off to the side, giggling maliciously. "What do they say? Grind the bones and scatter the ashes. This is exactly it, isn't it?"

My vision blotted red with rage. I launched myself at her and locked my hands tight around her throat, snarling, "You won't even let my mother rest in peace after she dies. I'm going to kill you!"

Eugene had been ready to shove me off, but she went limp all of a sudden. The next thing I knew, I was thrown backward and slammed hard onto the floor.

Tears sprang to Eugene's eyes instantly, and she turned to Hunter, sobbing, "Hunter, I only came here to apologize to Tiffany! I never thought she'd try to kill me! I'm so scared!"

Hunter pulled her straight into his protective arms, and the look he shot me was ice-cold enough to freeze my blood.

Eugene pointed a trembling finger at the ashes on the ground, her voice thick with false hurt. "Tiffany even forced me to eat this weird powder. Who knows if it's poisoned? I heard there's a dog training facility near the hospital. Why don't we let a dog test it, just to be safe?"

When Hunter saw me scrambling across the floor, scooping up my mother's ashes like a madwoman, a flicker of hesitation crossed his face.

Eugene immediately moaned, doubling over, "Hunter, my stomach hurts so bad!"

Hunter snapped an order without a second of hesitation. "Go get a dog."

It didn't even take a full minute before a bodyguard dragged a huge black dog into the room.

I was held down so tight I couldn't move, and I could do nothing but watch, helpless, as the black dog lowered its head and lapped up my mother's ashes, one slow, horrible lick at a time.

"Stop! Hunter! That's my mother!"

Suddenly, Eugene shrieked and bolted for the window ledge. Her eyes streamed with tears as she held up her phone toward Hunter, screaming, "Why are so many of my videos leaking online again?! You all lied to me!"

Hunter's brow furrowed sharply. "Eugene, don't do anything stupid. Just calm down."

He snapped at his assistant to look into it immediately.

A moment later, the assistant turned toward me, his face ashen. "S-Sir, we traced the IP that leaked the videos. It was sent from Madam's phone—"

Hunter lunged and wrenched my jaw up in a bruising grip. "Tiffany! This was you again, wasn't it!"

I watched in horror as every last speck of my mother's ashes vanished down that black dog's throat.

Then I threw my head back and laughed maniacally, my gaze burning into the two monsters standing before me. "If you say it's me, then it is me! Hunter James, Eugene Adams, you both will rot in hell!"

Hunter's grip on my jaw tightened so hard I thought he'd crush the bone.

He ground out through clenched teeth, "Tiffany, you brought this on yourself. You forced my hand!"

He hurled me straight into the arms of the waiting bodyguards behind him, his voice ice-cold enough to freeze blood. "Take her to the dark web for a live stream. I want her video posted all over the internet within an hour."

They tossed me into an iron cage, cameras trained on me from every direction.

One masked man after another entered the cage, pawing at me like I was just a canvas for their sick work.

I was barely clinging to life when a deafening explosion shook the dim room, and a sliver of bright light sliced through the darkness.

A tall shadow swept me into his arms, and everything went black.

End of Tiffany's POV

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Hunter darted a distracted glance at his phone for the tenth time.

Finally, he snapped at the bodyguard hovering behind him, irritable and on edge. "If she still won't apologize, just keep her locked up, but don't let those men touch her again."

The bodyguard stammered, his whole body shaking. "S-Sir... it's too late—"

Right then, the hospital called.

A flat voice came through the line, "Mister James, please accept our condolences. The remaining medical fees have been refunded to your original account."

Hunter froze mid-breath, and just then his secretary came barreling through the door, pale as a sheet.

"Bad news, Sir! The Garrison family just pulled all their investment out of the blue. The company's stock has completely crashed..."