Chapter 4

The scalding water ran down my neck and left the skin red and burning.

Andy did not even seem to notice.

He gripped Rachel by the shoulders and tried patiently to calm her.

“Rach, take it easy. I know. I know how much pain you are in right now.”

Rachel, however, was not finished. She propped her phone on the bedside table and started a livestream.

“Everyone, meet the so-called compassionate doctor you all keep praising.”

Rachel shoved the camera close to my face, broadcasting me at my weakest and most disheveled.

“My name is Rachel Walser, and I’m publicly accusing Dr. Olivia Alonzi of deliberately knocking me down and causing my miscarriage. She did this out of jealousy because she’s been secretly trying to steal my boyfriend.”

She even uploaded a deceptively edited version of the security footage, keeping only the moment when I lost my temper and ordered her to leave.

The camera angle made it appear as though I had pushed her to the floor.

Within minutes, strangers had uncovered my personal information and flooded the internet with abuse.

[Oh my God, she is evil. Stealing another woman’s boyfriend wasn’t enough, so she used her position as a doctor to kill an innocent baby.]

[People like her are worse than animals. She should be stripped of her medical license for life.]

[I’ve memorized that face. I have nothing to lose, so if I ever see her, I’ll make sure she pays for what she did. Consider it my service to the public.]

Rachel was the one who had come between Andy and me.

They were the ones who had been carrying on behind my back.

I had been the victim.

Andy remained silent as thousands of people condemned me online.

An explanation from him would have been enough to prove my innocence.

Though from beginning to end, he said nothing in my defense.

I finally understood.

Whenever Andy had to choose between us, he would always choose Rachel.

I pulled out my phone and posted the video of Andy proposing to me, along with a caption.

[Everyone, this is the truth. I’m not the other woman who broke up a relationship.]

Unfortunately, before the post could gain any traction, Andy snatched the phone from my hand and deleted it.

“Olivia, you’re the one in the wrong here. You owe Rach this. You know firsthand what it’s like to lose a baby, so can’t you show her some compassion? How could you be this cruel? Just because you can never carry another child, does that mean you want to take motherhood away from everyone else too?”

His words tore open a wound that had barely begun to heal.

When Andy noticed the tears gathering in my eyes, he seemed to realize he had gone too far.

He sat beside my hospital bed and softened his voice.

“Olivia, the doctors said Rachel is extremely distressed after losing the baby. What happens if she becomes severely depressed and tries to hurt herself? I promise that once I have everything sorted out, I’ll give you the explanation you deserve.”

Even at that moment, Andy was dressing up his betrayal as though he were doing something noble.

Rachel cast me a triumphant look, but when she spoke, her voice was thick with grief.

“Andy, our baby is gone! I don’t care what it takes, I want her to pay! She has to pay for what she did!”

The comments on the livestream echoed her outrage.

[She absolutely deserves to pay. Imagine calling yourself a doctor while killing innocent lives. Someone like her deserves every terrible thing coming her way!]

The hatred closed in around me as one vicious comment after another raced across the screen.

I curled up in the corner of the hospital bed, feeling helpless beneath the relentless accusations and abuse.

“It wasn’t me! I didn’t hurt her or kill her baby!”

In the midst of my humiliation, the ward door suddenly swung open.

A man in a long midnight-blue overcoat strode into the room.

“Andy, looks like all of you have been thoroughly deceived. That pregnancy was never viable. She just wanted Olivia to be blamed for the miscarriage. More importantly, that baby was never even yours to begin with.”