The Substitute Bride’s Revenge

CHAPTER 3

Jasmine's Pov

I had no idea how long I cried that first night. At some point, my throat grew raw from screaming and my hands became too weak to keep pounding on the door. A few hours turned into an entire night. The second day arrived without light because there were no windows in the attic. I could only tell time by the way my body reacted. Hunger twisted my stomach painfully. My lips grew dry and cracked.

The second day passed. Third day. On the morning of the fourth day, I heard the faint sound of keys. At first, I thought I was hallucinating but then the door creaked open slowly, and light flooded the attic so suddenly that it burned my eyes.

It was not Alexander, it was one of the maids.

She gasped when she saw me. “Miss…” I tried to respond, but my voice came out hoarse and broken. She rushed forward and helped me sit up. “I didn't know you were still in here. Sir told us not to interfere.”

Of course he did. She supported my weight as I struggled to stand. My legs trembled violently beneath me, and black spots danced at the edges of my vision. I had not eaten or drunk anything for almost four days.

“Thank you,” I whispered weakly.

Each step toward my bedroom felt like walking through water. When I finally reached my door, I pushed it open slowly.

I froze. The room was not mine anymore. Everything had been changed, and in the center of the room, on the floor, shattered into dozens of glittering pieces, was my snow globe. My heart stopped. Inside that snow globe had been a picture of me and my late best friend, Lila. She had given it to me the year before she passed away in a car accident. It was the last gift she ever gave me. I have always kept it on my bedside table every night since. Now it lay broken, glass scattered everywhere, water soaking into the rug, the photograph inside torn and warped.

Standing over it was Gianna. She looked down at the mess with a hand covering her mouth. “I didn't know it was this fragile. I had no idea it'd break.”

My vision blurred.

“What did you do?” I asked, my voice trembling.

She looked up at me, eyes wide. “I was just moving my suitcase and it fell. I’m so sorry.”

“It was the last thing my friend gave me before she died. How dare you touch it?!” I said, my hands shaking violently.

“Why are you overreacting, Jasmine? It's just a cheap globe. Besides, you're going to be nothing here soon, why don't you just pack up your things and leave? Save yourself the trouble. Stop being a slut.” Gianna leaned in and whispered furiously, her eyes dancing in amusement. Her attitude did a one hundred degree change but I was too angry to care.

“You… How dare you?!” I screamed, raising my hands to slap her, however, before I could move again, Gianna stepped backward and screamed. She fell onto the floor, her hand and thighs scraping against the shards as she landed. Blood quickly started dripping down her legs and hands.

Alexander rushed forward, conveniently appearing at this moment. “Gianna!”

“A… Alex.” Gianna cried, her eyes turning red. “She pushed me. I broke her globe by accident and apologised but she… She pushed me.”

"What?! I didn't even touch…"

My voice cut off as Alexander’s eyes met mine. I had never seen him look at me like this. There was no remnant of the man who used to kiss my forehead every morning; there was only anger. As Gianna let out a pained, fragile whimper, showing him her blood stained palms, Alexander lunged.

He shoved me away with such force that I went flying backward. My hip collided with the sharp edge of the mahogany vanity table with a sickening thud. The pain was immediate, radiating through my side and down my legs. I gasped, clutching the furniture to keep from collapsing.

“A… Alex…”

"Shut up!" he roared, his voice shaking the walls. He scooped Gianna into his arms as if she were made of precious porcelain. He turned his head slightly, shouting toward the door. "Someone!"

Two men in black suits appeared instantly.

"Don't let her leave this room," Alexander commanded, his voice dropping to a deadly, low vibration. "I’ll be back for you, Jasmine. Don't think for a second you're getting away with this."

He carried Gianna out, her head resting against his shoulder. Over his arm, for a second, she opened one eye and looked at me. There was no pain in that gaze, only a triumphant smirk. I was left in the room, the door locked from the outside. I slumped against the floor, my waist throbbing where I’d hit the table. I was truly terrified. I had seen Alexander angry before, but this was different.

A few hours later, the door was unlocked. But it wasn't Alexander who entered; it was the guards.

"Get up," one said, his face a mask of indifference. They dragged me downstairs and into the courtyard. Cold rain had begun to fall. In the middle of the driveway, they stopped. One of the men grabbed the collar of my shirt.

"No! What are you doing? Stop!" I screamed, struggling, but I was too weak from the days of hunger. They stripped me, my clothes were torn away until I stood shivering in nothing but my thin lace undies, then, they kicked the back of my knees.

I fell. But I didn't land on the ground, instead, I landed on crushed glass that was poured on the ground. The shards bit into my kneecaps instantly. I let out a piercing shriek, my blood mixing with the rainwater.

"Ack!" I sobbed loudly, looking up.

Alexander was standing under a large black umbrella held by a servant. Beside him, Gianna sat in a wheelchair, wrapped in a thick cashmere blanket, her hands neatly bandaged. She looked pale, small, and utterly satisfied.

"Alexander, why are you doing this? I didn't do anything to her! I didn't even touch her!" I begged, my body racking with violent tremors.

He didn't even flinch. He looked down at Gianna, his voice hauntingly gentle. "Is this punishment sufficient for what she did to you, Gianna? Or should I have her stay out here longer?"

Gianna coughed, a weak, rattling sound. She leaned her head back, looking like she might faint. "I... I don't want to be the cause of more pain, Alex. Even if she hates me... but my hand hurts so much. I'm so dizzy..."

Alexander’s jaw tightened. He looked back at me, his eyes full of pure loathing.

"Stay here," he barked. "If she moves, break her legs." He turned the wheelchair around and walked back into the house without a single glance. I knelt there in the glass, I don't know how many minutes or hours passed. I just remember the cold seeping into my bones, a strange sharp cramping in my lower abdomen, and then, everything went dark.

*********

The smell was the first thing I noticed. Bleach and antiseptic. I opened my eyes to figures in scrubs. A sharp prick in my arm, it was an IV.

"She's awake," a voice said.

A doctor leaned over me, his expression grim. "Ms. Jasmine? Can you hear me? A driver found you collapsed and brought you in. You were suffering from severe hypothermia and blood loss from the lacerations on your knees."

I tried to speak, but my throat felt like it was filled with sand. "My stomach… It hurts.”

The doctor sighed, exchanging a look with a nurse. He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a compassionate tone. "I'm so sorry, Miss Jasmine. We did everything we could, but because of the physical trauma and the prolonged exposure to the cold... you've had a miscarriage.”

The world stopped. My heart, which had been beating so fast, seemed to simply stop beating.

“What? What do you mean? A baby? I was pregnant?!”

“Yes.” The doctor nodded. “You were six weeks pregnant. I'm sorry.”

A baby. I had been carrying his baby. And he… He had used his own hands to kill our baby.