Chapter 4

I didn't return home that night. I went to the place where the car crash happened instead—the place where my unborn child died. She was so tragically small that no one was able to collect any remains—not even a handful of ash.

I was just standing there, looking at the road, when a pair of headlights suddenly flashed from a distance. It was then that the car screeched to a stop before me, and Felicity stepped out, leading Lillian by the hand. She then raised her head arrogantly and asked, "You must have already figured it all out, haven't you, Whitney?"

I merely gave her a cold, fleeting glance and then turned away, remaining silent.

Felicity scoffed and said, "I was right, then. You should do yourself a favor and divorce Henry now before he leaves you for good. It's going to be so much uglier if he's the one to do it, Whitney."

Lillian chimed in, exclaiming, "You should just drop dead, Whitney! You're getting in the way of me being with Mommy and Daddy!"

I looked coldly at the furious mother-daughter duo before bursting out in laughter. "You think I'll be dumped, huh? I believe Henry just said that he'd never abandon me, Felicity. You two wouldn't have chased after me if you were so sure of yourselves, right?"

"Why, you!" Felicity's face flushed, her expression betraying the agitation of someone whose weakness had just been exposed.

I didn't want to deal with her anymore, so I got up to leave. It was then that I heard the sound of the car suddenly roaring to life behind me. I instinctively stepped aside just in time to see the vehicle barrel crazily toward me and then swerve, crashing violently into a massive concrete obstruction on the curb.

In a blinding flash of fire and a thunderous explosion, Felicity—her face covered in blood—sobbed into her phone as she called Henry. "P-Please come save me and Lillian, Henry! I-It's Whitney! S-She's trying to kill Lillian!"

Felicity wept as she spoke, her eyes flashing with defiance toward me, utterly disregarding Lillian, who was barely breathing at this point.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had never imagined that she was capable of such a thing just to have Henry for herself.

Felicity let out a shriek before hanging up the phone, her eyes gleaming with malice. "If you refuse to leave of your own accord, then I'll just have to force Henry's hand."

I paid her no mind, rushing to pull Lillian out of the wreckage. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're endangering your daughter's life!"

Felicity burst into laughter instead of rage. "What of it? It's not as if she's the first child I've ever gotten rid of."

I froze for a moment, then lunged forward and grabbed her collar, my voice trembling with a mix of fury and disbelief. "What did you just say?"

Felicity offered no response to my question, merely letting out a laugh that grew into a hysterical cackle.

I barked, "You'd better answer me right now, Felicity! What do you mean by that? What do you mean, Lillian's not the first?"

I nearly lunged to choke the woman before me, my eyes turning bloodshot from rage. I didn't even have the chance to act on it, though, as Henry suddenly rushed forward and shoved me to the ground, exclaiming, "Have you lost your mind, Whitney? Felicity is your sister, for goodness' sake!"

I landed heavily on the ground, and through the flickering lights of the ambulance, I saw Henry tenderly pull Felicity into his embrace, comforting her. "It's alright, sweetheart. I'm here now."

They flaunted their love openly, not bothering to hide it when faced with death. That day, when the accident happened, I had pictured Henry coming to me like a knight in shining armor, rescuing me and our unborn child. Yet, all I got was nothing but a string of calls that went unanswered.

I closed my eyes in despair, and with what little strength I had left, I turned and walked away.

I heard Henry's low, menacing roar coming from behind me. "If anything happens to Felicity and Lillian, we're getting a divorce, Whitney!"

I kept moving forward, merely choking out a single word of acknowledgment to Henry's threat. I felt like our marriage didn't matter to me anymore. I was dying soon, and I was going to reunite with my unborn child, which was truly a relief.

…

Felicity's plan worked out perfectly; both she and Lillian were in stable condition. Henry never once called me as the days went by. He was too busy tending to Felicity and Lillian in the hospital, after all.

I was completely indifferent to it, though. I simply wandered around the city like a ghost, walking through the familiar streets and places where I had once lived. I also met up with my friends and former classmates to bid them farewell, while deliberately leaving out my family and Henry.

It was seven days later when Felicity and Lillian were discharged from the hospital.

It was coincidentally Christmas, and the snow was falling heavily. They were all sitting together by the fire with Mom and Dad, cheerfully talking about their plans for the new year.

I wasn't even mentioned once, as if they had all tacitly agreed to erase me from their lives.

Henry, on the other hand, kept looking out the window, as if he were waiting for someone.

It was then that a police officer suddenly knocked on the door. "Are you perhaps Henry Graham?"

Henry replied, "Yes, I am. What's going on here?"

Then, the police officer held out his hand, revealing a diamond ring with Henry's name engraved on the inside.

Henry stared at the ring, a terrible feeling settling in his chest. "What's the meaning of this?"

It was then that the police officer sighed heavily and replied, "You see, approximately three hours ago, we recovered the body of your wife beneath a bridge."