CHAPTER 3

I felt a wave of nausea so strong I had to clutch my stomach. My entire life for the last three years, the love I thought I had, the family I thought I was building, even the relationship with my mother, it was all a lie.

"So…" I choked out, the words feeling like I was eating glass shards and swallowing them. "I was just a body to take the hits meant for her."

"Exactly," Julian said, turning away to help Elena stand up. "And now that Elena is pregnant and the main threats have been cleared, I don't need a shield anymore. I have the real thing back."

Elena leaned into him, her face looking so much like mine that it made me want to scream. "Don't be too hard on her, Julian," she said in that sweet, fake voice. "She did a good job for us, didn't she?”

I stared at the back of Julian’s head, my heart cold and heavy. "What do you mean you don't need a shield anymore?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. "What happens to me now?"

Julian turned back to me, his eyes filled with a bored indifference that hurt more than the slap. "It’s simple, Anessa. I want a divorce."

He reached into his briefcase, pulled out a document, and threw it at me. The paper fluttered through the air before hitting my feet. I knelt down, my fingers trembling as I picked them up.

As I read the bold letters at the top—DIVORCE SETTLEMENT—a strange sound escaped my throat. I began to laugh. It started as a small giggle and grew into a full, hysterical laugh that brought fresh tears to my eyes.

"You're divorcing me?" I choked out between laughs. "After everything?"

Julian frowned, looking at me like I had finally lost my mind. He didn't understand. Julian was a man of status and wealth, but he wasn't well-versed in the world of business. For the last three years, I was the one who stayed up until dawn studying his contracts. I was the one who advised him on the mergers and the investments that took his company from a struggling firm to the top of the industry. Everything he had gained, every penny in his bank account, was because of my mind. And yet, here he was, throwing me away like yesterday's trash.

"I'm not signing this," I said, my laughter dying down. "I'm not divorcing you."

Julian’s face darkened, and he stepped toward me, his shadow looming over me. "You don't have a choice, Anessa. Did you forget about your younger brother? The one lying in a coma in that expensive private hospital?"

I froze. My breath hitched in my throat.

"I'm the one paying for his life support," Julian sneered, leaning down until his face was inches from mine. "One phone call from me, and the doctors pull the plug. If you don't sign those papers, your brother dies today. Is that what you want?"

"You monster! How dare you do this to me?? I'll kill you!" I screamed. The pain and the betrayal snapped something inside me. I lunged at him, my nails aiming for his lying eyes, but Julian was faster. He moved with a brutal efficiency I didn't know he possessed. He caught my wrists and shoved me back, then he raised his foot and kicked me hard in the stomach. I collapsed onto the floor, the air leaving my lungs in a silent gasp.

But he didn't stop. He kicked me again, and then again, his heavy dress shoes sinking into my ribs and my abdomen. I curled into a ball, trying to protect myself. I felt a warm, sticky sensation spreading between my thighs. A sharp, stabbing pain radiated through my lower stomach, a pain different from the bruises he was leaving. I realized then, with a horrific jolt of realization, that I was having a miscarriage. I had wanted to tell him yesterday. I had wanted to surprise him.

“I'll sign! I'll sign it. STOP HITTING ME!” I cried out. Acting stubborn wouldn't help me. I had to sign it.

I gritted my teeth, my face pale and sweat-beaded, as I reached for the pen that had fallen near the papers. With a hand that shook so much I had to hold it with the other, I wrote my name on the bottom of the page.

"There," I whispered. "It's done."

Julian snatched the papers away, not even glancing at the red stain beginning to bloom on the rug beneath me. He grabbed me by the collar of my dress and dragged me toward the door. Elena watched from the bed, a look of mild boredom on her face as Julian threw me out.

"Don't ever come back," he spat, slamming the doors shut.

I was alone. The air was biting, and every step felt like I was walking on broken glass. My vision was swimming, and the world felt tilted. I clutched my stomach, the warmth of the blood soaking through my clothes, and began to walk.

I don't know how long it took. My legs felt like they were made of lead, and my heart was beating slower and slower. Finally, the glowing red sign of a nearby hospital came into view. I stumbled through the sliding glass doors, my face ghostly pale and my clothes stained with the evidence of Julian’s cruelty.

A nurse looked up from the desk, her eyes widening in horror. "Oh my God! Someone help her!"

As she rushed toward me, the darkness finally won. My knees buckled, and I fainted before I could even say a word.

*******

The antiseptic smell of the hospital was the first thing that hit me. My eyes flew open, darting around the white coloured room. For a heartbeat, I didn't know where I was. Panic flared in my chest and I tried to bolt upright, but a pair of firm hands caught my shoulders.

"Stay down, honey, you need to stay down," a nurse said, her voice a low, soothing hum that did nothing to quiet the screaming in my head.

"I have to go," I rasped, my throat feeling like it had been scraped with sandpaper. I struggled against her grip, my movements jerky and weak. "I can't be here. I have to go back home."

"You aren't going anywhere," the nurse insisted, her expression softening into a look of deep pity. "You've been through a trauma. You’re not feeling okay, Anessa. You’ve just lost your baby, and you have to rest."

I stared at her, my eyes wide and unblinking. "What? What are you talking about? I don't... I don't understand what you're saying."

The nurse sighed, a heavy, tired sound. "You came in hours ago. You were bleeding heavily from a miscarriage, and then you fainted from the blood loss and the physical trauma to your abdomen. We did everything we could, but..."

Everything came back. I went limp in her arms, my strength evaporating. I slowly sank back into the bed, my hands trembling as they moved toward my stomach. It was flat. Empty. The tiny life I had carried, the only piece of "us" that was actually real, was gone. Murdered by its own father before it even had a chance to breathe.

I didn't even have a moment to let the first sob break through when the door to the room swung open violently. I flinched, expecting Julian, but the voice that filled the room was one I knew even better. It was sharp, high-pitched, and vibrating with anger.

"There she is!” My mother marched toward the bed. "Get up," she commanded, ignoring the nurse’s startled protest. "I’ve already spoken to the administration. We’re leaving this place. We are going home right now."

I stared at her, my mind reeling. “Home?" I repeated, my voice cracking. "Mother, I can’t leave. I... I just lost my baby. The doctor said I need to stay. I’ve lost so much blood, and the trauma…"

The moment the words "lost the baby" left my lips, my mother froze. Her eyes locked onto mine, and for a fleeting, desperate second, I thought I saw a flicker of shock, or even a shred of grief. I almost smiled. There was no way my own mother, the woman who raised me, could have been involved in a plot to use me as a human shield for Elena. There was no way she could have known Julian planned to marry me just to keep an outsider safe.

I opened my mouth to reach out to her, to tell her about the kicks, the bruises, and the divorce papers. I wanted her to hold me.

But then, the silence was broken.

My mother threw her head back and let out a sharp laughter of relief. "Oh, thank God!" she declared, her eyes shining with a terrifying brightness. "That is very good news, Anessa. In fact, it’s perfect! It’s very good that you lost it!”

“What?”