The Brink of a Marriage

I saw my daughter get killed before my eyes, but my husband did not believe me. What broke me more was the fact that the person who took her away from me was no other than his mistress’ child.

It was then that I knew my life would turn upside down.

A few minutes before it happened, Lily stood beside me, clutching my fingers with her tiny hand as we watched the hill. But the moment I blinked, she was nowhere to be seen.

She hadn’t tripped. She hadn’t stumbled.

She was pushed.

I saw it. I saw him do it.

A kid… someone I did not recognize, pushed her off the railing and sent her plummeting down the rocky, slope that led directly into a ditch. 

My heartbeat halted when the boy’s smirk grew the instant Lily’s small body hit the stony ground.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

Then, my entire soul shattered.

"Lily!" My scream tore through the grand hall as I ran to the porch, watching my daughter roll down the rocky hill below. Her head snapped back, her little arms twitched—then she went terrifyingly, deathly still.

The hall froze almost instantly. I shoved the boy away, desperately trying to jump over the porch until a hand grabbed me.

“Ma’am—”

“Get away from me!”

I pushed my husband’s secretary aside and leaped, paying no attention to the twigs and rocks that tore into my skin. The feeling of losing my daughter overpowered me more than the pain. Lily was face down, screaming and groaning, until a few seconds later, her timid voice grew silent. I crawled toward her small figure, gently scooping her into my arms.

“L-Lily? Baby?”

She was bleeding heavily. Her limbs were twisted past recognition, her head arched at an unnatural angle, all painted in that thick, fresh crimson. She was no longer responding.

"No, no, baby, stay with me!" I sobbed, pressing my shaking fingers against her wrist. Her pulse was fading.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. But no one moved. No one rushed forward to help. No one cared.

Except for the boy who did this.

I snapped my head up, rage choking me. The little boy stood there, smirking—as if my child’s suffering was a game.

"You—" my voice trembled with fury.

Before I could move, a familiar figure stepped in front of me.

"Careful," she murmured, smiling sweetly. "You wouldn’t want to accuse my son of something so… unspeakable, would you?"

I stared at her, my blood turning to ice.

“Selene… what are you doing here..?”

This woman…!

Selene Evergreen. My husband’s first love. She had been married to another politician, but from what I had heard, her husband had died. And now, suddenly, she was here?

I turned desperately to Damian Hail—my husband on paper. He, too, was staring at Selene with enchanted eyes, as if the sight of her angelic presence erased the image of our bloody daughter. As if Selene mattered more than his own flesh and blood.

"Damian!" I shouted, making him snap back to reality. "Call the doctor! She needs help!"

Damian’s conflicted eyes shifted to Lily and me. His lovestruck expression darkened into something sour.

“Lily?!” He rushed over and snatched my child from my arms as if he had not already taken everything from me. “What happened?! Why didn’t you watch her?!”

Before I could even open my mouth to speak, Selene chimed in.

“What kind of unfit mother would leave their child unattended?! She’s bleeding so much! Here, let me help you!”

Selene shoved me aside and pretended to shake Lily awake. But the more she did, the more Lily convulsed.

“Stop it! You’re making her worse!” I pushed Selene away, and instantly, murmurs spread through the onlookers.

“Did she just push her?”

“I didn’t think the madam would be violent like that.”

“She’s so incompetent. Selene’s right—why didn’t she watch over her?”

I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to stay silent. “Lily? Mommy’s here, don’t worry… you’ll be okay, sweetie…”

“Lily… Daddy won’t let anything happen to you.” Damian placed his palm over Lily’s mouth and nose. His demeanor of mafia emperor completely dissolving into the looks of a worried father.  “She’s not breathing… she’s not breathing! Where the fuck is the doctor?!”

Panic seized me. Tears streamed down my face.

“No, Lily… stay with me! Stay with Mommy!”

Lily… my poor baby. What has she done to deserve this?!

A few seconds later, the doctor arrived. He inspected Lily before shaking his head. “She shouldn’t have been moved after she fell! It’s causing further pressure in her brain! We need to get her to the hospital fast!”

“I told you!” I yelled at Selene, who only lowered her head in a mock display of guilt.

“I-I’m sorry, I only tried to help…”

“Help?! You’re going to kill her now!”

A tight choke caused me to shut my mouth. Damian’s fingers wrapped across my neck, his fingers leaving bruises in my skin. He then bellowed, “Shut up! Don’t raise your voice at her!”

Damian’s furious voice roared in my face, making everything worse.

“B-But I’m your wife—”

“This wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for you!”

I froze.

This was the first time he had ever raised his voice at me like that.

“This is all your fucking fault, Kierra.”

I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to stay calm.

It’s okay. Calm down.

“Ahhh!”

A sudden scream rang through the air.

Damian and I both turned—just in time to see Selene’s child falling from the porch. He plummeted down, rolling for a bit causing everyone to gasp. Damian immediately turned his attention, completely letting go of our daughter.

Selene rushed to her son, her expression twisting into one of pure horror.

Bleeding bursts from his arm and soon enough her kid’s cry blares into the air.

“Damian! You have to help our son too!”

There was a deafening silence, before the crowd tore their eyes off my daughter and into the new victim.

Son?

And just like that, my world finally crumbled into dust.