He Saved Me to Steal My Marrow

Ashley's POV

"But Zack, do you think that Ashley will end up hating me if she finds out that you deliberately set the fire that killed her child? " asked my sister, Avril Holden.

She looked up at my husband, Zack Burton.

"You know how much she's suffered since she was a kid. Our whole family has been trying our best to make it up to her, and I've always wanted us to mend my relationship with her.

"If I weren't dying, I wouldn't ever have wanted to take her bone marrow for my treatment."

She leaned against his chest, her head bowed. A coy smile curled her lips.

"You're so kind-hearted, Avril. You're still thinking of others even in your condition," Zack said. "But if it weren't for Ashley, you wouldn't even be sick in the first place. She brought all of this on herself!

"Besides, she'll never find out. The doctors are all completely loyal to me. Once your surgery is over, no one will ever know what happened.

"I love you, Avril."

With that, Zack planted a tender, affectionate kiss on Avril's forehead.

Every word reached my ears, plunging me into an icy abyss. A chill ran through me from head to toe.

The thought of my baby lying all alone in the freezing morgue felt like a blade twisting through my heart. I clutched my chest, doubling over as I gasped for air, my tears falling in heavy, rapid drops onto the floor.

So the gas explosion wasn't an accident after all.

It was just a trap—a scheme orchestrated by the husband I loved and trusted most, all just to secure a cure for the woman he truly adored.

And because of a single remark from Avril, he had deliberately killed the baby I had carried for eight months.

"But Zack, Ashley's pregnant. All her nutrients are going to the baby. Won't her bone marrow be lacking in what I need?"

In Zack's eyes, both my child and I were nothing more than tools and resources to be harvested for the sake of his beloved Avril.

I fought back the urge to retch. Ignoring the searing pain in my injured leg, I fled. I limped back to my hospital room, feeling like a pathetic, wretched clown.

When Zack returned to my hospital room and saw that I had woken up, he froze for a moment. Then he kneeled by the bedside and took my hand gently. He looked at me with furrowed brows, his eyes filled with deep, aching concern.

"You're awake, Ashley. Why didn't you call for me? Are you still in pain?"

I stared at my now-empty belly, my mind drifting away.

After a long silence, I pleaded, "Can you let me see our child one last time? Just one look? Please?"

An unreadable look crossed his face, his voice choking slightly as he replied, "I was afraid it would only cause you more pain. I've already taken care of the body…"

With those words, the last shred of hope I held for him vanished, and with it, the final chance I had offered him.

I felt incredibly sorry for my unborn baby for failing to protect it. I didn't want it to hate me. But I could only hope that it could finally live a life free of pain in heaven now.