Chapter 1

I never could have imagined that on my wedding day, the secretary of my husband, Steve York, would suddenly have a miscarriage. To top it off, she burst into the chapel wearing her wedding dress, bouquet clutched tightly in her hand, her body soaked in blood.

The entire room gasped in shock while I stood frozen, staring at her, my legs glued to the ground.

Quinn Fable collapsed at the foot of the stairs with a thud, still stubbornly crawling toward me. Her tears and blood left a horrifying trail on the marble floor.

“Summer… Why? I ate the candy you gave me… Why would you hurt my baby like this? Steve… Steve, please… Save me… Save our child…”

She grabbed onto my ankle, her blood soaking the hem of my gown. Desperately, I looked back over my shoulder to see Steve shouting Quinn’s name with heart-wrenching anguish and pushing past me to reach her.

I lost my balance as Quinn yanked me down. My shoulder slammed hard against the stair railing, pain shooting through me. Still, I stubbornly lifted my head to find Steve in the chaos.

We had been together for eight years and had known each other for fifteen, so I always believed I was irreplaceable to him. However, when he scooped Quinn into his arms without hesitation and kicked me aside, sending me crashing into the champagne tower, something inside me shattered completely.

The Steve who once stood before my parents’ grave and promised to love me for the rest of his life… was gone.

“You monster! Quinn fought so hard to have this baby. How dare you hurt her?”

Steve’s accusation cut through me like a blade, each word sharper than the last. My body screamed with pain, but even worse was the disbelief twisting inside me.

Quinn whimpered in his arms, her face pale, her lips trembling. “Quinn, don’t blame Summer. I… I shouldn’t have come between the two of you… But the baby… The baby is innocent…”

I didn’t…

I wanted to scream, to defend myself, but no sound came out. Instead, I opened my mouth and tasted blood, thick and metallic. I watched, heartbroken, as tears streamed down Steve’s face and he stroked Quinn’s belly with trembling hands, devastated. That was when I knew he loved her.

They didn’t say another word after that. They just looked at each other, raw and full of grief, their connection so intense it burned like a fire.

Steve didn’t care about me or what our family and friends thought. Wearing the tuxedo I had personally designed for him, he carried away the woman who had destroyed our marriage.

In that moment, eight years of love and loyalty crumbled into dust. The physical pain faded beneath the overwhelming agony in my heart.

When the ambulance arrived, I was still lying there alone in a pool of blood. Broken glass from the champagne tower pierced my skin, but no one stayed by my side. They all rushed toward Steven and Quinn, crowding around the ambulance.

Some pulled out their phones to film the spectacle; some others, who were longtime business partners of Steve’s, whispered eagerly about how maybe it was fate that Steve and Quinn were meant to be.

Meanwhile, I, who had no family to stand up for me, was left forgotten among the shards of glass and spilled champagne.

“Help me…”

I finally managed to choke out the words, my voice hoarse and broken, like an old accordion struggling to breathe. It wasn’t until I had called out multiple times that Steve finally turned around.

Our eyes met, and for a second, I thought maybe he would remember; maybe, out of guilt if nothing else, he would save me.

Instead, he shouted, “Quinn’s in critical condition! Get her to the hospital, now!”

His words cut into my already bleeding heart.

I closed my eyes in despair. Tears slid down my face, mixing with the blood and wine staining my skin.

Maybe… I should never have loved him.

In the depths of my sorrow, the last thread connecting me to my baby began to snap. I could feel my life draining away along with my blood.

Through the haze, I heard Steve’s desperate voice again.

“Are you the best gynecologist here? My girlfriend’s losing the baby. Please, I’ll pay whatever it takes. Just save her!”