The Night Her Heart Stopped Twice

Rose sat frozen on the floor, her silk nightgown soaked in tears, her hands trembling as they clutched Eli’s tiny, cooling body. His head rested limply in the crook of her arm, the same way it had when he was an infant. But now, his chest no longer rose. No heartbeat. No warmth. Just stillness.

“Eli… please, please, wake up,” she whispered, her voice hoarse, her throat raw from screaming. “You promised... You promised you’d never leave Mama…”

Her fingers brushed his cheek again, but even her touch couldn’t bring him back.

Then something inside her *snapped*.

She reached for the phone.

Her hands shook so violently she could barely dial, her vision blurred by tears and fury. The blood vessels in her eyes throbbed, bursting red, but she didn’t care.

She called Duke.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Each time, the call connected.... Then ended.

Disconnected.

Canceled.

Her scream tore through the room. “ANSWER THE FUCKING PHONE, DUKE!”

She tried again. And again. Each time she heard the faint click, then silence until her tears turned to rage.

“Coward!! YOU ARE A FUCKING COWARD!” she whispered, voice trembling. “You coward… You were supposed to protect him… You promised me... You swore on your life...”

On the other side of the city...

In a lavish suite draped in champagne silk, Lisa Zhou sat cross-legged on Duke Sallow’s bed, her hair spilling over his bare chest as she smirked down at the glowing phone in her hand. The name "My Woman” blinked across the screen like a dying light.

Lisa pressed decline without hesitation.

 

“She’s so desperate,” she said with a grin. “It’s almost sad.”

 

Duke stirred, groaning faintly. “Who’s calling?”

 

Lisa smiled lazily. “Your wife.”

 

He frowned, mumbling. “Rose?”

 

“Ex-wife soon enough,” Lisa purred. “Don’t worry, I handled it. You need your rest.”

 

But the phone buzzed again. The sound grated in the silence.

Duke’s brow furrowed as he whispered, “It’s late. Maybe something’s wrong with Eli-”

 

Lisa laughed under her breath. “That kid? He’s probably crying over a toy. You spoil him too much. Just like you spoil her.”

 

“Lisa, watch your mouth.”

 

“Duke,” she interrupted sweetly, pressing a finger to his lips, “don’t ruin the mood. You know how she gets, tears, drama, guilt trips… always pretending to be the perfect wife when she can’t even keep your attention.”

 

The phone rang again.

Lisa sighed sharply and rolled her eyes. “Enough of this.”

 

She swiped the phone up, thumb hovering over the power button. “I’ll just shut this off before she ruins your night any more than she already has-"

 

But before she could press it, Duke’s hand clamped around her wrist.

 

“Lisa,” he said quietly.

Too quietly.

 

She froze.

His voice had changed, low, dangerous, stripped of warmth, as if he were finally awake.

 

“What,” he said, “What are you doing with my phone?”

 

Lisa tried to smile, but her voice wavered. “I-she kept calling. I was just helping-”

 

“Helping?” His voice cut through the air. “When you say helping, do you mean that you answered my wife’s call?”

 

Her lips parted. “I thought-”

 

The next moment, his fingers tightened around her wrist so hard she gasped, pain shooting up her arm as his nails dug into her tender flesh, drawing blood. The phone slipped from her hand, landing on the bed with a thud.

 

“Say it again,” he said through clenched teeth. “You answered my wife’s call?”

 

Lisa’s breath came fast. “Duke-you’re hurting me-”

 

“HURTING YOU?” His voice cracked like thunder. “You have no idea what pain is.”

 

He let her go, the disgust on his face colder than fury. “You forget your place, Lisa. Too easily.”

 

Her chest rose sharply. “My place?”

 

“Yes,” he spat. “You think you’re her? You think sleeping in my bed, touching what’s hers, makes you anything like Rose?”

 

Lisa’s face went pale.

 

“You’re the bastard child,” he hissed. “The one her mother took in because she pitied you as her brother's only daughter. You were nothing. You are nothing.”

 

Lisa flinched. “Don’t-”

 

“Your father didn’t want you, your mother died, and it was Rose’s family that raised you like a charity project. Don’t you dare think that makes you equal to her.”

 

Tears welled in her eyes, but he didn’t stop.

 

“Rose gave me everything,” he snarled. “Everything you could never offer. She runs the company, carries my name, raised my son-our son, while you sit here pretending to be important.”

 

Lisa swallowed hard, whispering, “And yet, you came to me.”

 

He froze for a second.

 

Lisa’s voice trembled, but her anger burned through her tears. “Why do you get so defensive of her when you came to me, Duke. You said she was cold. You said she stopped being your wife long before I ever-"

 

“I said I needed a distraction!” he shouted. “Don’t twist my words, you selfish, delusional woman! You were never anything more than a distraction!”

 

Her face crumpled. “You!!”

 

He stepped closer, fury trembling in his voice. “Do you even realize what you’ve done? Rose stepped down yesterday. She handed over her position as chairlady... gave me everything... so she could be home with Eli, raise him to take over one day.”

 

He jabbed a finger at her chest. “And you thought tonight, while she’s home with my son, was the right time to play your filthy little game?”

 

Lisa’s voice broke. “I didn’t know-”

 

“No,” he said coldly. “You never know. You never think. You destroy. That’s all you’re good for.”

 

He turned away, running a hand through his hair, his voice trembling now, not from pity, but from the sick twist of guilt starting to bloom in his chest.

 

He grabbed the phone, his thumb hovering over the call log, and froze when he saw the time stamps.

Dozens of missed calls.

Each one is a second apart.

 

And the first one... answered.

By Lisa.

 

His stomach dropped.

A cold sweat broke over his skin.

 

“God…” he muttered. “What did you do?”

 

Lisa’s lips parted. “Duke-”

 

He looked up at her with eyes gone wild. “What did you say to her?”

 

Her silence was answer enough.

 

He shoved past her, dialing back immediately.

 

Once. Twice.

On the third ring, the line clicked open.

Static.

And then, breathing.

Broken, uneven, gasping breaths, like someone trying to hold the world together with their lungs.

“Rose?” he breathed, his voice cracking. “Rose, baby, it’s me-”

The silence stretched for a second that felt like forever.

Then he heard her voice.

Barely a whisper.

But it carried a pain that didn’t sound human anymore.