CHAPTER 3

~Emily

My eyes watered, seeing that my husband couldn’t at least pretend to have my back. But I forced the tears back, refusing to break.

“Forgive her for my sake, Henry,” Caroline said, reaching for Henry and deliberately gliding her hand over his arm as she looked at me and said, “Pregnancy hormones sometimes make women say… insensitive things, right, Em?”

I scoffed, shooting her a glare, sharp words burning like fire in my throat. I nearly spat them out. Henry’s warning came to mind, forcing me to stay calm.

“She is a doctor and should know how to control that,” Henry said, speaking the most stupid words ever.

“Indeed,” Caroline agreed, and I cursed her beneath my breath. “Speaking of doctors, my grandpa has been having a medical issue lately, and I think you are the best person to help him out.”

“If your wife doesn’t mind, he’d like to see you right now. Alone.” She added, glancing at me to gauge my reaction, and I instinctively reached for Henry’s hand, stopping him from moving.

He raised a brow at me.

“You’re leaving me?” I implored.

“Stop being sentimental, Emily.” He firmly rebuked me. “This is strictly business.”

Henry gently pried off my hand, causing Caroline to beam a small triumphant smile. A heavy lump formed in my throat as I watched Caroline take Henry’s hand and lead him through the crowd of guests, disappearing out of my sight.

Maybe coming here was a bad idea after all. What’s the point? I couldn’t even make Henry choose me for once. He kept ditching me at every slightest chance, and here I was, probably looking lost like some stray dog.

“Care for a drink, ma’am?”

A server appeared beside me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

My brows furrowed at the sight of his mask. I brushed the weird feeling off, telling myself this was a party and anyone could wear whatever they liked. I picked a glass. A drink was exactly what I needed to keep myself from falling apart.

Bringing the drink to my lips, I took a generous sip and spotted Caroline’s grandfather over the rim of my glass.

Behind his wheelchair was Caroline’s cousin, the one who had orchestrated the car crash and was released from prison a month ago or so.

Anthony Kingston.

He wore the kind of look that said he would give up anything just to be somewhere else as he wheeled the chair past me and, against my will, I heard the old man scolding him to fix his face and use the opportunity to find someone to get married to within a month.

I didn’t pay any more attention to them as a thought urgently crossed my mind. Why was Caroline’s grandfather down here while Henry was supposed to meet him?

My eyes darted around, but I didn’t see them. Bile rose in my throat.

I stopped a passing server and dropped my glass, ready to go find Henry when suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my stomach.

I gasped quietly, putting a hand on my abdomen as I wondered what was happening.

My throat worked, the urge to throw up overwhelming me.

I spun around. Luckily for me, I came face-to-face with the server I gave my glass to earlier, and I urgently asked for the restroom.

“Upstairs. The last door down the second hallway.” She directed me, looking like she wanted to ask something but kept it to herself.

Maybe because I didn’t wait to hear it as I said a quick thank you to her and started toward the grand spiraling staircase with hurried steps, weaving through the crowd of guests.

By the time I found the restroom down the hallway, my breathing had changed, coming out in shallow gasps, and the pain in my abdomen had worsened to the extent that I could barely walk as I held onto the tiled wall, guiding myself into the restroom.

With each step, the pain grew worse. It was as if my stomach was caving in on itself. I managed to reach the sink and violently emptied my stomach.

I felt relieved, but it was only for a moment as I opened my eyes to the sight of blood in the sink.

The blood instantly drained from my face as I realized something was wrong. The ache returned, sharper and merciless, causing me to cry out in pain and fear.

I gripped the sink, holding myself from falling as I reached for my clutch, my hands trembling so badly I almost dropped my phone.

I needed to call Henry. Somehow, I managed to pull up his contact despite the blinding pain.

It rang and ended.

I tried again. Still no response.

While trying the third call, I felt something warm trailing down my thighs, causing panic to explode in my chest.

I sobbed hard. “Please, please, Henry, pick up the call.”

The call finally connected as if the heavens had heard my cries.

“Hello, sweetie.” A female voice came from the other end.

“Caroline?” Confusion filled my trembling voice.

“Right.” I could hear the smirk in her voice. “You should call later. Henry and I are quite busy with business. Have you forgotten?”

I clenched my teeth, pain and fury slicing through me. “Give. The. Fucking. Phone. To. Henry!”

“I would love to do that.” She chuckled softly. “But he’s in the shower right now.”

Shower?

Does that mean Henry…

I couldn’t bear processing it. The pain was just too much. It tore through my heart as the phone slipped from my hand and clattered to the tiled floor with a loud crash, right before my legs gave out.

I landed in my pool of blood, clutching my stomach as tears poured down my cheeks.

“Henry… my… b-baby.”

I couldn’t tell which pain was worse, the one splitting my heart open or the one caving in my stomach. It felt like I was going to explode from the inside out.

I let out a loud cry for help with the little strength left inside me as my vision began fading away. I crawled toward the door, blood smearing the white tiled floor.

My body gave up midway, going limp, and the last thing I saw was a pair of expensive black loafers right before my vision completely faded into pitch darkness.