Chapter 4

When I woke up in the hospital, Megan was holding my hand tightly. She had aborted our baby.

"Henry, I was told our baby would cause problems for Bruce. So, I had an abortion." She looked at me apologetically.

I broke down and yanked my hand away.

"Megan, how could you? The baby was already seven months along! His hands and feet were already formed. The doctor said he was perfectly healthy!" I screamed at her.

Megan's eyes flickered. She let me rage as she slowly injected a sedative into me.

"Henry, you're emotionally unstable right now. Just sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up."

When I woke up again, Alan and Pauline were by my side.

Pauline saw the hollow look in my eyes and sighed. "Henry, do you think your child is the only one suffering?

"Ten years ago, on your birthday, Megan was already pregnant with Alan's child.

"They registered their marriage the very next day. But Alan felt he owed you his life, so he begged Megan to have an abortion."

Alan's eyes turned red, pooling with tears.

Pauline looked at him with sympathy, then turned to me and said, "Henry, if you hadn't threatened to kill yourself all these years, Alan wouldn't have had to sit by and watch you take his place as Megan's husband for ten whole years.

"He was never the other man. You were."

I stared blankly at the ceiling, laughing through my tears. I finally knew why everyone kept me in the dark. To them, I was the one who had forced this relationship from the start.

I was the shameless intruder who invaded their happy relationship. Yet, none of them ever tried to tell me the truth.

They just stood by and watched me sink into depression after catching Megan cheating, letting me slash myself all over until my whole body was covered in deep, bone-exposing gashes.

When Alan saw me breaking down, he leaned in closer with a smile. "Actually, you didn't have to go through that torture and captivity four years ago. But I suddenly passed out from heatstroke," he whispered.

"Megan was rushing to take me to the doctor, and she forgot to call the police or send anyone to rescue you. When she finally remembered you, you were half-dead."

My eyes widened in shock.

I grabbed his arms so tightly that my nails dug into his flesh. "Alan, what did you say?"

He pried my fingers away, still smiling. "What's wrong? Can't take it?

"I was the one who arranged your kidnapping four years ago. I arranged your vasectomy too. You'll never be able to have children for the rest of your life.

"As for the baby that you lost, you'll never ever hear that child call you 'Dad.'"

I totally lost it.

I grabbed Alan by the hair and slammed his head against the wall. "You bastard! Go to hell!"

Alan's blood splattered across the room as he screamed in pain.

Pauline screamed for Megan in panic.

Megan rushed in and hurled me violently into the corner.

The next second, I heard the crack of my own bones.

"Henry is insane! He attacked Alan out of nowhere!" Pauline shrieked. "Megan, you can't keep enabling him! Send him to the mental hospital now."

For four years, Megan never gave up on me and kept taking me to see a therapist. She would even fight anyone who called me crazy.

Now, she called the mental hospital without a single second of hesitation.

She didn't even notice I was barely clinging to life on the floor. All she was concerned about was Alan.

I dragged myself with all the strength I had left. "Do you know what people go through at the mental hospital?" I asked Pauline and Megan.

"Electric shocks. Beatings. Fighting dogs for food," Pauline sneered. "But you deserve it."

It turned out they knew what I would suffer if they put me in the mental hospital.

However, to protect Alan from getting hurt, they would rather destroy my life.

Megan wrapped her arms around Alan, who was trembling. I saw hatred in her eyes.

"Pauline is right. Four years ago, I shouldn't have stopped you when you tried to jump off that building."

That night, after they left, memories flashed through my mind. The last image that flashed through my mind was Megan walking away.

The last flickering flame of hope inside me died out as I lay on the hospital bed.

In the dark, I flicked on the lighter and tossed it toward the curtain.

As the fire swallowed the room, I heard the nurse shouting in panic, "Ms. Fisher, the room is on fire! Mr. Sullivan is still inside."