Chapter 2 How Long Have You Been Pregnant?
1356 Words
Nasar wiped away her tears, her face full of sorrow.
Ellentt ignored her. His cold, indifferent gaze locked onto me as he asked, "How long have you been pregnant?"
I felt like a wilted flower, frail and lifeless. Pressing a hand to my cramping abdomen, I forced out a hoarse reply, "Three months..."
The air in the room grew thick, suffocating. A heavy silence settled over us, like an invisible weight pressing me down, making it impossible to stand tall, to even breathe properly.
Sensing something was wrong, Nasar grabbed Ellentt's arm, crying, "Ellentt, listen to me—"
"Was it you who wanted to get rid of the baby?" Ellentt cut her off, his deep, magnetic voice devoid of warmth. His piercing blue eyes stayed locked on me, ignoring everything else.
Pain shot through my stomach again, sharp and unrelenting. My fingers tightened instinctively over my abdomen.
I knew I must've looked awful—pale, drained, and utterly wrecked.
I wanted to ask him—no, demand—if he could even see my suffering. I wanted to know if, after five years together, he had ever truly cared about me.
I forced myself to look up at him, but before I could speak, Nasar's eyes shot me a silent, chilling warning.
I opened my mouth, hesitated, then swallowed hard. I took a shaky breath and whispered, "Yes."
Crash!
Ellentt's foot slammed into a metal cart, sending it flying. The sound echoed through the room as medical supplies scattered across the floor. His expression was pure fury, his sapphire eyes burning with rage.
Nasar flinched, clearly startled. She quickly stepped in, trying to soothe him. "It's my fault, Ellentt... I couldn't save your first child. Please, don't be mad. You and Alice will have children someday. Our Yeager family's bloodline isn't meant for some lowly little tramp like her!"
I trembled, the stabbing pain in my stomach growing worse. If I was a "tramp," then what was Nasar?
A murderer!
She was the one who killed my baby!
But I couldn't cry.
If I cried, they'd take it as guilt—as regret for something they did, not me.
I refused to let that happen.
Ellentt's voice turned ice-cold. "Aurora, you really are something."
A chill ran through me. My heart twisted painfully in my chest.
I wanted to tell him the truth.
I wanted to scream that this wasn't my choice, that I hadn't wanted to lose our baby.
But he didn't give me the chance.
Without another word, he turned and walked away, his tall, broad figure disappearing from sight.
The whole encounter had lasted less than ten minutes.
But it felt like a lifetime.
As soon as Ellentt was gone, Nasar's soft, motherly mask vanished. Her face twisted with hatred as she swung her hand at me—hard.
The slap sent my head snapping to the side. My cheek burned from the impact, but even that pain couldn't compare to the agony in my chest.
It felt like something inside me had been ripped apart.
Nasar grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked, forcing me to meet her furious gaze.
"Don't forget, Aurora," she hissed. "Your sister, Lucy, is still in my hands. Without me, she'll die in that hospital bed!"
A wave of fear shot through me. I clutched at her wrist, desperate. "I haven't forgotten! Please, Mrs. Yeager, let go!"
Nasar's lips curled into a cruel smirk. "So you do fear."
She released me with a vicious yank, tearing a few strands of my hair in the process.
As if that wasn't enough, her expression darkened again.
And then—her hands shot to my throat.
Her grip tightened, cutting off my air.
I gasped, clawing at her hands, my vision going blurry. I really thought I was going to die.
But at the last second, she let go, shoving me away like I was nothing more than garbage. I stumbled backward, crashing into the corner of a wooden table, pain shooting through my back.
Lying there, panting for breath, I forced out the question I was terrified to ask, "Mrs. Yeager... how's my sister? Is she... is she okay?"
Nasar looked down at me, disgust flashing across her face. She rolled her eyes.
"She's still alive. For now. As long as you behave—stop clinging to Ellentt, stop interfering with him and Alice—I'll keep taking care of her."
A wave of relief washed over me, but it was bitter.
So bitter.
"Don't you dare cry in front of me," she spat. "If you ever disobey me, your sister is dead!"
Her nails dug into my throat again, just for a second—a final warning.
"You know what to do next, don't you?"
I swallowed hard and nodded. "I know. I won't interfere with Ellentt and Alice."
I barely managed to choke out the words. My vision blurred.
I didn't need Nasar to remind me how much Ellentt loved Alice.
I already knew.
I had spent five years by his side, and not once had I been able to reach his heart.
Nasar pulled a bank card from her pocket and tossed it at me. It hit my face and clattered to the floor.
The humiliation burned.
It was a slap to my dignity, a reminder of what she thought I was worth.
Anger surged through me. I wanted to grab that card and hurl it right back at her, to show her that she couldn't buy my silence, she couldn't reduce me to nothing.
But I didn't.
I couldn't.
I had already lost my baby. I couldn't lose my sister, too.
"Take the money," Nasar sneered. "Consider it your hush money."
With that, she turned and strode out of the clinic, her posture regal, as if she hadn't just spent the last ten minutes threatening my life.
I clenched my fists around the bank card, my nails digging into my palms.
To people like her, dignity was a joke.
Ordinary people like me weren't even considered human.
I wanted to destroy that card—to shred it to pieces.
But I couldn't.
I needed the money too badly.
I was still bleeding.
There was no way I could trust that underground clinic. Fear gnawed at my gut as I rushed to the Riverport Hospital.
I was terrified the doctors would figure out what had happened, so I lied, saying it was a ruptured ovarian cyst.
Maybe I looked pathetic enough, maybe my voice trembled just right, because the doctor didn't question me. They treated me with care, gave me instructions for recovery, and admitted me for observation.
That night, standing by the hospital window, I placed a hand over my now-flat stomach.
Tears slipped silently down my face.
In less than a day, I had lost the baby I loved more than anything.
I never even got to see my child.
Never got to hold the baby.
"Move! Get out of the way!"
A sudden shove knocked me off balance. My shoulder slammed into a passing nurse, sending her and her medical cart crashing to the floor.
Blood smeared across my torn hospital gown. I was a complete wreck.
"Ellentt, are you okay?"
A gentle, worried voice cut through the chaos.
My mind went blank.
I turned my head slowly, like in a dream.
And there he was.
Ellentt.
With his fiancée Alice Miller.
Ellentt had shielded Alice so well that not a single trace of the chaos touched her. She leaned into him, untouched and immaculate, snug in his embrace.
Ellentt, cradling Alice, had a softness in his expression I'd never witnessed before. His gaze, his touch—none of it had ever been meant for me.
He had never looked at me that way.
So this was what love looked like.
I had imagined it so many times.
Now, I was finally seeing it for myself.
And it wasn't for me.
How pathetic.
It was crushing. My heart felt like it was being torn to shreds.
It ached... It ached like hell.
The agony in my chest overshadowed every physical pain.
- Writer
