CHAPTER 4

~Emily

I peeled my eyes open to the soft hum of machines around me and the subtle smell of antiseptic and something sterile.

The fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling attacked my eyes, causing me to close them briefly, and when I reopened them, I wished I hadn’t, as the memories flooded back: my cries, Caroline’s words, the blood on the tiles…

I gasped out loud, my hand flying over to my stomach. My heart sank. I couldn’t feel my child inside me anymore.

“My baby.” A sob broke from my lips as I heard the door open and footsteps rush inside.

Martha came into my line of sight. Her eyes were red, and there was a solemn expression on her face.

“Where is my baby, Martha?” I asked, my voice shaking slightly. “Where is my little Tatum?”

“I’m so sorry, Emily.” She shook her head, her voice cracking. “Tatum… he couldn’t make it.”

“The doctors tried their best…”

Martha’s voice grew distant as tears quietly fell from my eyes while I stared into the void, my mind rewinding everything that had happened before the restroom incident.

The masked server…

My breath hitched as I realized the strange stomach pain started after I took that drink. Someone had clearly targeted my baby, and I just couldn’t suspect anyone but Caroline. Maybe I was wrong, but the way she had looked at my belly refused to leave my mind.

My fingers dug into the sheets, my knuckles turning white as more tears ran down my cheeks.

“Where is Henry?” I looked up at Martha. “Has he left already?” That’s what he was good at anyway, leaving me.

“He’s yet to come.”

Confused, I frowned at her reply.

She said, “Mr. Anthony actually rushed you down here.”

“Anthony Kingston?” I asked with a deep frown, confused.

I had heard tales of how cold and ruthless he was. Why would he concern himself with my situation?

“Yes. He also called me,” she added quickly. “But I have called Sir Henry, and he is on his way.”

Right after Martha finished speaking, the door opened and Henry walked in, flooding the whole place with a feminine scent, undoubtedly Caroline’s, making my stomach curl with disgust.

“I will be outside if you need anything.” Martha dismissed herself, leaving the room.

“Now you come?” I rasped, my voice cold, causing him to frown.

“I came immediately I received Martha’s call,” he replied defensively.

“How about my calls?” I huffed, barely containing my anger as my eyes betrayed me, turning glossy as I remembered my desperate attempts to reach him.

“I didn’t see them on time.” He said it in a way that almost made me believe him. “I was in the middle of something with Caroline’s grandfather.”

I inwardly scoffed.

I wondered how many lies he had told me and I had been stupid enough to believe them. Like the lies that made me believe he loved me.

This whole marriage had been nothing but a lie because I was never the one he wanted. It had always been Caroline. I was just a replacement. His second option.

Henry approached the bed with slow steps, probably thinking my silence meant I had stupidly believed him again.

“Don’t. You. Dare. Come. Close. To. Me.” I shot him a glare, my eyes red from holding back tears and anger.

“Are you chasing me away now?” He scowled, his voice tinged with annoyance.

“Because you caused this!”

My voice trembled with rage as something snapped inside my chest. “You left me for Caroline. You made me lose Tatum!”

His gaze moved down to my stomach, and I noticed guilt flash in his eyes, albeit for a second as he stood there, letting silence hang in the air.

I stared at him with tears in my eyes, thinking he had realized how his actions had broken me, and something inside me hoped he would say the words.

“You know what?” His voice was cold, not what I expected. “This is all your fault. Not mine.”

I quietly gasped as if his words had hit me like a bullet. They practically did. My voice came out small and shaken as I said, “My fault?”

“You could’ve just stayed home and not stressed yourself over coming to the party. But no, you wanted to be there because you are so insecure about Caroline!”

Those words were like knives, sharp, cutting, and bleeding pain through me as fresh tears fell from my eyes.

“Because you never gave me any benefit of the doubt!” My voice came out stronger than I felt.

“Benefit of the doubt?” He scoffed sharply. “How many times do I have to tell you that Caroline is just a friend?”

I could literally smell the lies in those words as my anger rose to the surface. Gaslighting me into doubting myself wouldn’t work this time, not after that call.

“Just a friend?” I chuckled bitterly. “A friend whose shower you preferred to use while your wife nearly bled to death?”

Shock crossed his expression at my words. No, not at the nearly bled to death part, but at her shower. He was surprised I knew he cheated, not the fact that I almost died, and in that moment, something shifted inside me.

Why hold onto this marriage when the only thing keeping me strong and sane was gone? My little Tatum was gone because of his emotional negligence, and he thought it was all my fault?

A single tear slipped down my cheek, a feeling of resignation overwhelming me. I was tired of chasing a lost cause. It was time I chose myself, and I would make sure he regretted ever treating me this way.

“You know what?” I smiled painfully and reached for my finger, twisting off the gold ring. 

“I won’t bother your little friendship with her anymore.”

I tossed the ring. The metal clinked against the tiled floor before stopping at his feet.

Henry looked up at me as though I had suddenly gone crazy.

“What the hell is…”

“I need a divorce!”

I cut him off coldly.