003

ARYNA

My pulse stuttered, and the air in the room thickened as a cold sweat broke out across my back—whatever hope I had slipped through my fingers in that instant.

"Ryan!" I screamed, tears streaming down my cheeks. 

How could he do this to me?

He texted me. He said he was sorry and this?

He was never sorry, he only wanted me to come down home to witness this scene— this sinful moment with his best friend.

"Hah." He groaned, pulling away from Gina. Quickly, he threw the quilt over her body and stood, wearing his boxers in a rush.

I looked up at him as he moved closer. His eyes glowed red, beaming with anger.

"What are you doing here?" He grabbed my arm tightly, pinning me to the wall. "I thought I warned you never to step into my room. Why do you choose to be disobedient?"

"R…. Ryan…." My lips quivered, "how dare you? You're cheating on me with your best friend and you have the guts to bring her home and worse, on our matrimonial bed? Having fun at her place wasn't enough and the only sane way you thought could help was bringing this slut down here?"

He stroke me hard on the face and I fell to the floor, hitting my leg on the bedside table.

"Gina isn't a slut!" His voice was shrilling. "You're the gold digger here."

I whimpered in pain but my husband never cared about me being injured, instead, he went to console Gina who claimed she was scared by my presence.

"Help me, Ryan. Hah, the headache won't stop until she leaves." Gina cried, fake tears welling in her eyes.

Ryan scrambled her closer, placing her head on his chest.

"Gina, don't worry. You don't have to be scared, I'm here."

Ryan had never held me that way. He had never spoken to be with such tenderness. All he was good at was blaming me for every of his misfortunes.

Now, I regretted ever getting married to him. 

I was simply blinded by my love for him, hence he treats me like a dummy.

Like I worth nothing.

My face fell. My hands clutched my stomach.

This was the height of it. I'd protect my baby and go far away from him.

"Hey!" Gina snapped, stepping down the bed. She squatted in front of me, a smug smile on her lips. "Would you ever learn? Ryan doesn't want you, don't you get it?"

A scoff escaped my lips as I brushed the damp strands of hair away from my forehead, "you're nothing but a cheap slut, Gina. Ryan is my husband and nothing can change that fact!" My voice was thick with determination but Gina's smirk soon washed it all off.

With a glint in her eye, she leaned in and whispered something that made my cheeks burn—and not with embarrassment. It was fear.

Her words always made me feel inferior. Gina always had her way, more with my husband.

She chuckled, low and slow, she knew exactly what button to press next.  

"I sent that text, Mrs Moore." Her words dripped with hatred. "I know you love Ryan so badly and you'd always be willing to give him a second chance. So this is it, Aryna. This is what you get for being so adamant and not giving up. 

Whether you like it or not, I'd make your life miserable and make Ryan hate you and cherish me more." The corners of her lips twitched with a grin she tried—and failed—to suppress.  

Gina used my weakness against me. It hurt how they knew just every way to break me.

I looked at Ryan who was standing at the edge of the bed.

He turned away sharply, disgust etched in every line of his face, his jaw clenched so tight that he looked ready to shatter.  

Seconds passed. Gina's gaze burned on me. Suddenly, she pulled me to in a way that I found myself hovering over her.

Then, she screamed, "Ryan! Save me, she's choking me!" She wailed.

I gasped, shock ripping through me.

When did I ever do that?

Just as I had expected, Ryan to see to his feet in a sharp motion, rushing to pull me away from his precious best friend — his childhood sweetheart.

"Oh my, Gina. Are you okay?" He asked, checking her body for bruises which I obviously didn't cause.

"No, I'm not okay. She pushed me so hard, I broke my ankle. Now I can't walk." 

Ryan gasped, turning his eyes on me. 

He carried Gina bridal style and placed her on the bed gently before coming back for me.

He towered over me, his chest heaving with anger.

"How dare you touch her? Are you jealous that I love her and hate you because you're worthless?!" He seethed, spitting those venomous words.

I cringed beneath him, every inch of me crumbling.

I couldn't bring myself to believe I had actually fell in love with someone like Ryan.

He was a monster.

"Ry...Ryan…." I called, breathless.. "I did nothing to her, she's lying! Can't you see?!"

He stared at her like I was filth beneath his boots.

Slowly, his lips curled into a devilish grin and he gripped me, caging me between his muscular arms as he once again, hammered me to the wall.

"I'd teach you a lesson you'd never forget! I'd make you regret ever hurting my Gina."

My chest hammered with a wave of pain.

He called her mine…. He just called her mine.

"Please, Ryan.." I begged as he dragged me out of the mansion but he turned dead ears to my pleas.

"This is what a gold digger like you deserves. I regret ever agreeing to marry you in the first place! This is all my grandma's fault!" 

He wouldn't stop cursing under his breath. 

Gina leaped behind, a sneer on her lips.

She was satisfied to see how Ryan was treating me. It made her happy.

As he continued to drag me, a sharp pain stung below my abdomen. 

Slowly, I was losing my breath. I struggled to breath.

I was dying but Ryan was blind to all of these.

We were almost outside when Ryan received a call. He dropped me to the floor and went to a corner to pick it up.

Gina motioned closer, her arms folded across her chest.

"I'd start from where he stopped." A mischievous grin spread over her face.

"D…. don't.." I mumbled, my breath wavy and unsteady. The pain heightened.

My baby's life was at stake. 

She pulled me up from the floor, dragging me along as she walked out.

"Leave me alone…" I tried to struggle with her but her strength overcame mine.

She left me on the road. I didn't have energy to move. My knees were weak, my whole body numb.

My brow widened as I saw a car approaching. I struggled to move away but my legs couldn't carry me.

"Gina, help!" I screamed but it was too late. 

My body rolled along the road as the car hit me. I felt a sharp pain between my thighs and then I saw it— my nightmare.

Blood.

I had just lost my baby.

I whimpered, clutching my stomach as blood kept trickling.

My lips shook."My...baby…"

I vowed to protect my child but I couldn't. Now, I had lost what I had been waiting for, for three years just within the blink of an eye.

Amidst the chaos, I heard Gina's voice laced with hatred to the core.

"Bye, bye, Aryna. Say hi to the devil."

"What happened to her?" Ryan demanded as he stood by Gina's side.

"She ran into a car all by herself. She was so tired of life that she committed suicide." Gina replied, faking sniffs. "How could she do this to herself?

The world closer in on me, everywhere turned black.

Blank and void — I was and at that moment, I lost my breath and gave in to darkness.

I had just lost everything.