Chapter 4

Watching her stand there like she'd already made peace with dying, panic surged through me.

Hadn't Sebastian said he was personally driving Tessa to the airport?

Why was she still here?

I wheeled myself in as fast as I could, but the second I saw the balcony, the blood in my veins seemed to run backward.

Blood poured out from beneath Tessa, pooling across the balcony floor, the smell thick enough to choke on.

She heard me and turned to face me.

The instant I saw the blood-soaked infant in her arms, my pupils constricted.

The baby was covered in thick, congealing blood, its cry so weak it still managed to pierce straight through me.

Blood dripped from her, one drop at a time, hitting the floor, and Tessa's voice came out hollow and haunted, like some vengeful spirit.

"You promised me you'd leave. So why am I the one being sent away instead?"

I frowned. "Sending you away was Sebastian's decision. It has nothing to do with me. So... are you trying to frame me again?"

Tessa's smile twisted. "It's not a frame-up. It's the truth!"

My temples pounded the second she said it, and I instinctively turned the wheelchair to leave the room.

But Tessa was faster. She lunged forward and yanked me down into the blood with brutal force.

I hit the floor hard, blood soaking through my clothes, flecks of it splattering right into my wide-open eyes.

No.

I couldn't stay here.

I already knew what Tessa was setting up to do again, so I clawed my way toward the door without caring about anything else.

A smear of blood trailed from the balcony all the way to the edge of the bed, but the next second, she dragged me right back.

"Get off me! Let go!"

I fought her with everything I had, but Tessa's smile only sharpened, her eyes blazing with something close to pure satisfaction.

"You bitch! Everything that's happened to me is because of you! You hate me, don't you? Then I'll make sure he sees you cutting a baby out of me with his own eyes. Do you really think Sebastian will still love you after that? He'll hate you for the rest of his life!"

In that moment, I hated my own broken body more than I'd ever hated anything, but my voice still came out sharp.

"Keep dreaming. Sebastian will never believe you."

"Then let's find out."

She shoved the weakly whimpering baby into my arms, and its crying grew louder.

The next second, hurried footsteps sounded in the hallway.

Tessa pulled out a knife and threw it down in front of me, then climbed up onto the balcony railing, wailing.

"Mrs. Walker! Why would you cut my baby out of me? Why would you try to kill us both?"

"What is going on in here?" Sebastian's voice roared as he burst through the door, and this was the exact moment he walked in on: Tessa, streaked with blood, teetering on the railing high above, and me with my hand around the baby's throat, blood smeared across my face like some monster that fed on children.

Tessa looked at Sebastian, her expression the picture of despair.

"Sebastian, I got to give you a child in this lifetime. That's enough for me. Meet me first in the next one."

She let the last word hang in the air, and the next instant, she jumped without a moment's hesitation.

"No!"

Sebastian screamed and lunged onto the balcony like a man possessed, catching her arm in the final second before she fell.

Every bodyguard in the building surged forward to help, and Tessa was finally pulled back to safety.

Sebastian carried her off to find a doctor, and that was when his eyes finally met mine, blazing with a fury hot enough to burn.

"Ruby! I told you to leave her alone, out of sight, out of mind! Why would you hurt her and her baby? You'd better pray Tessa and that child are both fine, or else..."

He didn't finish the sentence, but I already knew: he believed every word Tessa had said.

Countless legs stepped over me where I lay. Someone lifted the baby out of my arms, but not a single person reached down to help me up.

Sebastian left. Everyone left.

Tears mixed with blood blurred my vision, and I'd never looked more pathetic in my life.

"Sebastian, I guess this is where we end."

It was time. Time for me to go.

In the end, it was a young nurse who couldn't stand to watch anymore who finally helped me onto my wheelchair.

I changed into clean clothes, called for a ride, and had myself taken straight out of the hospital.

From there, I went directly to the courthouse, paying for everything in cash along the way.

Even after the avalanche, the divorce papers had stayed safe in my bag the whole time. Sebastian had never found them.

So there I sat, finally, inside the courthouse.

The clerk glanced at the empty seat beside me and asked, one more time to be sure, "Ms. Baxter, are you certain about this?"

"Yes. I want the divorce." The second the stamp came down, something in my chest felt hollowed out, but relief outweighed it by far.

Before I left, I threw away my phone and boarded a flight straight to Lynji.

-

Third-person POV

Meanwhile, in the hospital.

Sebastian's temples throbbed, a sharp, aching pain, like he was about to lose something.

Had he gone too far with what he'd said? An inexplicable tightness gripped his chest, and he decided to go check on Ruby.