The Last Rope

After I gave in, Peyton Shepherd let out a knowing, cold snort.

"Serena, I knew you were just playing the victim! Same old tricks to get my attention. It's disgusting!"

He lifted his foot and kicked me hard in the stomach, trying to shove me away from the stretcher so that his secretary, Hannah Russell, could lie down on it.

I had just been crushed by a falling pillar, and now, I was experiencing that crushing pain all over again. The agony left me speechless. My body spasmed reflexively, and I curled into a trembling ball.

When no scream came from me, Peyton turned his back and sneered, "One kick was enough to make you shut up? You're truly pathetic!"

I felt blood flowing continuously from inside my body. Despair tearing at my heart.

My unborn child had already become nothing more than a stain beneath me. Meanwhile, the child's father was carefully and tenderly helping his secretary onto the stretcher.

"Hannah, be careful. Don't hurt yourself again."

Hannah sobbed uncontrollably, holding up her burned index finger like a wounded animal.

"Mr. Shepherd, I think my finger is going to fall off. I'm so scared! If I lose my finger and become disabled, will you stop caring about me?"

Peyton looked at her with heartache in his eyes, pursing his lips as he kept blowing air on her blistered finger. "I'll blow on it for you. There, it won't hurt now. Silly girl, how could I ever stop caring about you? Don't worry, I'll get the best burn specialist in the country to examine you right away. I won't let a single scar touch those beautiful fingers."

The firefighters stared in disbelief. One of them pointed at my bloodless face and reminded Peyton, saying, "Sir, this woman was in the fire the longest. She's the most severely injured!"

Only then did Peyton throw me an indifferent glance. He said to the firefighter with absolute certainty, "Mister, don't let this drama queen fool you! Serena is my wife. I know her better than anyone. Don't be fooled by how pitiful she looks right now. She's just acting! She's jealous and deliberately playing the victim to make me pay attention to her."

The firefighter's jaw nearly dropped. He could hardly believe that we were married. After all, how could my husband pull me off the stretcher to help another woman onto it?

After speaking, Peyton grabbed me from the ground and forced me to spin around for everyone to see. "Look, she's perfectly fine!"

My whole body ached to the point of numbness. Cold sweat covered my face and neck as he jostled me like a puppet on strings.

The nearby nurse stared in shock, stammering as she pointed at my blood-stained dress. "Don't you see? Your wife's dress is covered in blood!"

Peyton suddenly laughed. "Nurse, I can tell you're inexperienced. This is all fake blood that Serena smeared on herself for her little performance!"

He let go of me. Already exhausted, I fell straight to the ground. I cried out in pain, but it stirred nothing in Peyton.

He wiped his hand on my dress. The sticky blood covered his fingertips, yet Peyton just laughed. "Serena, tell us where you bought this fake blood. It looks pretty realistic."

Since Peyton had taken my protective mask and given it to Hannah earlier, the toxic smoke had damaged my voice.

Facing Peyton's humiliation, I could only shake my head, unable to say a single word. I struggled to crawl away from Hannah's stretcher.

If Hannah wanted to go, then I would let her. I needed to get as far away from these two people as possible.

I crawled on all fours toward another ambulance. The stones on the ground cut my hands and feet, leaving trails of blood on the black pavement.

Behind me, Peyton shouted, "Serena Snow, don't think putting on this big act will let you escape punishment! You have to apologize to Hannah today. Her hand got burned because of you!"

If I had heard those words before, my heart would have been pierced with pain. I would have cried and tried to explain, begging him to believe me. Yet now, I did not want to do that anymore.

I touched my increasingly flat abdomen and shook my head through my tears. This time, neither the child nor I owed Peyton anything.