Chapter 4

Zoe's POV

When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed in a psychiatric hospital. All four of my limbs were strapped down, and I couldn't move at all.

Panic hit me at once.

"Why am I tied down?" I yelled.

Jayden's voice came from the glass observation room in front of me. "Zoe, what you did earlier was far too dangerous. The doctor recommended electroshock therapy. It might cure you right away."

My blood boiled.

"I'm not crazy! My body won't be able to take that!

As soon as I said that, Mindy appeared beside my bed in a white coat. She was holding the remote for the electroshock device.

"If I say you're mentally ill, then you are. Jayden and I have been close for years. Of course he believes me," she said. "He even believed me when I told him the blood on you was your period blood."

Only then did I realize that there was a little life growing inside me, one neither Jayden nor I had known about.

I looked down at my abdomen, tears welling in my eyes.

"Don't give me that look. If I cure your depression, you can thank me afterward," Mindy said.

As she spoke, she pressed the remote for a large screen.

I was hit with a wave of shock.

The screen began playing security footage of Mom taking her life in the bathtub. She lay in the tub full of water, calling my name into the camera.

"Zoe, don't ever let a man put you through what I went through."

Mom's face was filled with despair as she slowly pressed the blade into her pale wrist.

"Mom, no!" I screamed.

The pain in my chest became unbearable. I fought against my restraints with all my strength and broke down sobbing.

Mindy's sinister laughter rang in my ears. "Can't take it already? This is only the first step of exposure therapy. There's still a second step."

In the very next moment, Mindy raised the remote and turned on the electroshock device.

As the current intensified, my body gradually went numb, but my mind was still clear for brief moments. The lights blurred together, and the physical and emotional torment left me staring blankly.

Jayden's voice came from the room next door, sounding panicked, "Isn't that enough? Let her out."

"The psychiatrist said the electroshock needs to last for 20 minutes. Just wait a little longer," Mindy replied.

Jayden stepped back and said nothing more.

In the enclosed room, the pain in my lower abdomen grew more intense. I looked down and saw a horrifying amount of blood. The baby had to be gone.

I couldn't take it anymore. Tears streamed down my face as I begged, "Jayden, let me out. I'm pregnant!"

"Just hang in there a little longer. If this really cures you, we can finally have a normal life," Jayden said. "Didn't you want a child? As long as you listen to me, I'll make that wish come true."

Just a few days ago, he had held me in his arms in bed and said he wanted to have a child with me.

He said, "Our baby will probably take after you more. They'll be smart and beautiful."

That baby was gone forever.

I let out a bitter laugh and shook my head as I watched Jayden and Mindy laughing and chatting in the room next door.

Then, I freed myself, yanked out the burning-hot wire beside my bed, and drove it into my body.

In an instant, a searing jolt of pain shot through me, bringing a sense of relief unlike anything I had ever felt.

…

Third-Person POV

On his way back with dinner, Jayden saw a young nurse hurrying in one direction.

"The new patient, Ms. Statton, tried to kill herself! Notify her family right away!"

Jayden's heart skipped a beat, and for some reason, he followed the nurse to see what had happened. He anxiously pushed through the crowd, then froze at the sight of the pool of blood.