All Chapters of Poisoned Devotion: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

Ruby's POV"Fine? You're telling me fine?"Sebastian Walker looked utterly stunned that I'd actually said the word."I cheated on you! Ruby! I have another child now, and even the vasectomy was fake, just a lie to keep you calm. How could you possibly say fine?"He dropped to his knees in front of my wheelchair, staring at me with wide, disbelieving eyes shot through with red.He grabbed my hand and held it tight, his voice choked, every word trembling."Ruby, hit me. Or scream, throw things, fight with me. Just don't go quiet on me, Ruby."The second he finished, I let out a mocking laugh and gave him exactly what he wanted."Then let's get a divorce."But Sebastian smiled. Something like excitement flickered in his eyes, mixed with a stubborn refusal to believe me, and he leaned in closer."See, Ruby? You still care about me. Otherwise, you wouldn't be threatening me with a divorce."Honey, you can yell at me, throw things at me, anything you want, but divorce is off the t

Chapter 2

I dragged my battered body and what was left of my dignity to the hospital to get checked, then went home. The moment I got home, I started packing away everything that had anything to do with Sebastian.Jewelry, necklaces, photo albums, journals, all of it. I didn't want a single piece.Then I saw what was in the glass jar and froze.It was a button from Sebastian's high school uniform.The day we took our graduation photos, every girl in class had been scrambling to grab a button off some boy's jacket, except me. I'd stayed in my seat and hadn't moved.Then, right as everyone posed for the class photo, Sebastian pushed through the crowd, held up his own button, and confessed in front of everyone."Ruby! Over the past three years of high school, not one guy in this entire school has dared to confess to you. I made sure of that."I didn't want to interfere with your studies, but I couldn't stand the thought of you even glancing at another guy. Exams were right around the corner,

Chapter 3

Sebastian's car never once slowed down to save me. There was only the freezing wind, cutting straight to the bone.By the time I'd dragged what was left of my legs back into the wheelchair, I finally managed to get him on the phone."Sebastian, what about me? You're just going to leave me here?" I screamed into the phone.There was nothing but silence on the other end. When he finally spoke, his voice was colder than the snow around me."The car's gone. If you want to come back, figure it out yourself.""What is that supposed to mean?" My voice shook, and it wasn't just from the cold."This is your punishment." He seemed to force the words out through clenched teeth. "I told you to hold it together until the baby was born, but instead you tried to push Tessa off the mountain and kill her and the baby both. Ruby, what happened to you?""I didn't do that!""Don't even try to lie to me!" Sebastian's temper broke. "Tessa cares about that baby more than her own life. If it wasn't yo

Chapter 4

Watching her stand there like she'd already made peace with dying, panic surged through me.Hadn't Sebastian said he was personally driving Tessa to the airport?Why was she still here?I wheeled myself in as fast as I could, but the second I saw the balcony, the blood in my veins seemed to run backward.Blood poured out from beneath Tessa, pooling across the balcony floor, the smell thick enough to choke on.She heard me and turned to face me.The instant I saw the blood-soaked infant in her arms, my pupils constricted.The baby was covered in thick, congealing blood, its cry so weak it still managed to pierce straight through me.Blood dripped from her, one drop at a time, hitting the floor, and Tessa's voice came out hollow and haunted, like some vengeful spirit."You promised me you'd leave. So why am I the one being sent away instead?"I frowned. "Sending you away was Sebastian's decision. It has nothing to do with me. So... are you trying to frame me again?"Tessa's sm

Chapter 5

Tessa wept her heart out in Sebastian's embrace, and he snapped back to reality with a sudden start."Mr. Walker, it hurts, it really hurts. I can't do this. I really can't live through this."He thought whatever he had felt a moment ago was probably just a hallucination brought on by too much stress.Tessa's wailing didn't let up."I'm so scared. What if I die on the operating table?"Listening to the soft, fragile girl reduced to tears in front of him, something in Sebastian's chest twisted painfully."You're not going to die. I'm right here. I promise you, nothing's going to happen to you."You just gave me a child. Not even the reaper himself would dare take you. I swear it, once you're through this safely, I'll take care of you for the rest of your life."Sebastian leaned over the bed, holding Tessa's hand tight, murmuring reassurances to her over and over as sweat beaded across her forehead.Tessa was wheeled into the emergency room amid her own cries of pain. Just befor

Chapter 6

The moment Sebastian saw Carl, his brow furrowed."Why aren't you with Ruby? What are you doing here?"Carl blinked, looking lost. "Everyone was busy saving Tessa. It looked urgent, so I tried to save the baby first. The doctor says the baby's fine, Mr. Walker."The second he said it, Sebastian's temples throbbed, an ominous pressure building behind his skull like it might split open.He kicked Carl into the wall, both fists clenched, his voice dropping low and dangerous."You left Ruby there alone?"You idiot!"His furious roar filled the entire hospital corridor, startling every doctor and nurse in earshot.But Sebastian felt nothing except pure rage. His instincts had never once failed him, and somehow the thought that Ruby might vanish had already lodged itself in his mind.Without wasting another second, he dialed the nurses' station outside her room."Mr. Walker, is there anything we can help with?" came the obsequious reply on the other end.Sebastian kept his tone fl

Chapter 7

"I know you might have gone through some hard things in the past, but I want your future to be happy. And I can be the one who makes you happy."I studied the handsome young man in front of me, my gaze lingering with meaning."Even if I don't have my legs, even if I might never be able to give you children, would you still want that?"Everyone online always says a woman shouldn't tell a new boyfriend about the pain she's already been through, because it just hands him the sharpest blade to use against her later.But love, even at its best, only works as a choice both people get to make.He deserved to know.So I told him everything.The cheerful, sunny boy got scared off, and he didn't come back for days after that.I pursed my lips. Honestly, that was fine by me.-Third-person POVMeanwhile, on the other side of the world, Sebastian had sent out everyone he had and called in every favor he was owed, searching every place he could think of that Ruby might have gone.Still,

Chapter 8

"But what about you, Sebastian? You're nothing but a selfish monster! You say you love her? If you really loved her, why would you lock her up beside you and strip away every bit of her freedom?"If you loved her, why would you keep sleeping with me over and over? Why would you take me into the Walker estate to humiliate her? You're the one who pushed me into her life and let her be ruined. You brought this on yourself!"Tessa surged up with a strength that seemed to come out of nowhere and shoved Sebastian back.She collapsed to the floor, laughing in a way that bordered on madness, while Sebastian staggered back a few steps, his face turning ashen.He hadn't imagined that Tessa would dare speak to him like this."You..."Sebastian jabbed a finger at her, fury choking off whatever he was about to say.All he could do was lunge at her throat again, his hands shaking with rage hard enough that the tendons threatened to tear through his skin, his voice a wild, animal snarl."You

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