I used to have a rule: never get attached. He was a college boy, a conquest. I broke his heart and never looked back. Years later, after my family went bankrupt, he found me. By then, he was Cole Hayes, a man who had built an empire from nothing. He married me. Everyone said I’d hit the jackpot. What they didn’t know was that every night, Cole brought a different woman to our home. I never cried, never made a scene. My silence seemed to drive him madder than any tears could have. So he escalated, planting his seed in the belly of Chloe, the girl he could never forget, his first love. When I remained placid, he finally cornered me, slamming his hand against the wall beside my head. “Stella, don’t you love me? Do you feel anything at all?” Tonight, Chloe and I both went into labor. As my water broke, I fell to my knees, finally telling him the words he wanted to hear. I begged him, told him I loved him, pleaded with him to take me to the hospital. He pulled me into a fierce hug, a triumphant smile on his face. “I knew it,” he whispered. Then he shoved me away. “You’re a liar.” He lifted Chloe into his arms and walked out without a backward glance. “A little later,” he called over his shoulder, his voice laced with ice. “The pain of childbirth is your punishment, Stella.” 1 His retreating back was the last thing I saw. My abdomen seized, a brutal fist clenching inside me, stealing my breath and my strength. I collapsed onto the cold marble floor. The amniotic fluid gushed from between my legs, pooling beneath me in a dark, spreading stain. I lifted a trembling hand toward the housekeeper, Maria, who stood frozen by the doorway. My voice was a raw whisper. “Get me to a hospital… please.” Her face was a mask of conflict. “Ma’am, Mr. Hayes gave specific orders. I have to wait for him to return. I can’t…” “You can’t?” The pain was a jagged knife, and my voice shook with it. “If anything happens to me or this baby, do you really think Cole will spare you? Take me. Now.” Fear finally broke through her paralysis. She scrambled for the door, but Cole’s personal assistant, Mark, blocked her path. “Mark, she’s in labor. We have to get her to the hospital,” Maria said, her voice small. Mark’s gaze flickered from the fluid on the floor to my contorted face. His tone was unnervingly calm. “Mr. Hayes was clear. We wait. He believes Mrs. Hayes is merely using the pregnancy to create drama. Help her back to her room.” “The baby will die if you wait! Do you want that on your conscience?” I summoned every last bit of my strength, pointing a shaking finger at him. Mark offered a practiced, empty smile. His eyes were devoid of warmth. “Ma’am, Mr. Hayes is at the hospital with Ms. Summers. He’s ensuring her pregnancy is stable. He said to wait for him. You know his temper. No one disobeys his orders.” “I’m in labor! The baby can’t wait!” Another contraction ripped through me, more violent than the last. It felt like a drill boring into my womb. I curled into a ball on the floor, a guttural sob escaping my lips as cold sweat soaked through my dress. “What are you waiting for? Get her to bed,” Mark commanded sharply. Two maids rushed forward. Ignoring the agony in my belly, they hooked their arms under mine and began to drag me toward the bedroom. That’s when I felt it—a new, terrifying warmth. I looked down. It was blood. “Blood! I’m bleeding!” I screamed, grabbing one of the maid’s arms with a desperate strength. “Take me to the hospital! The baby is in danger, don’t you understand?” “Ma’am, it’s not my decision,” the maid whispered, her eyes filled with a useless pity as she pried my fingers from her arm. “I’ll… I’ll call the family doctor.” “I don’t want the doctor, I need a hospital!” “Please, ma’am, don’t get agitated. I’ll go speak to Mark again right now.” She fled the room as if escaping a fire. The pain was bone-deep now, a relentless, grinding agony. The plush velvet carpet beneath me was soaked with a grim cocktail of sweat, blood, and amniotic fluid. Minutes stretched into an eternity. No one came. I dragged my bleeding body across the floor, inch by painful inch, until I reached the bed. Maria had just re-entered the room. I clutched the hem of her uniform, my voice breaking. “Maria… please, check on them. I can’t hold on much longer…” She gave a small, pained nod. “I’ll go hurry them, ma’am. Just try to breathe.” She turned, only to be stopped by Mark at the door. He walked slowly toward me. His eyes flickered to the blood-soaked carpet, a hint of hesitation in their depths, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by cold resolve. “Let Dr. Evans take a look first.” On cue, the doctor entered with his medical bag. The maids moved in again, pinning my thrashing limbs to the bed. “Let me go! I need the hospital!” I twisted wildly, tears and sweat streaming down my face. “My baby can’t wait!” Dr. Evans examined me with a blank expression, then produced a small vial of white pills and handed them to Maria. “What is that?” I shook my head frantically. “I won’t take it! Are you trying to kill my child?” “It’s to delay labor,” he said, his voice monotone. “It will ease the contractions.” “No! It will cut off the oxygen! The baby will suffocate!” He remained silent, his face a stony mask. “Dr. Evans,” I gasped, clutching at any shard of humanity I could find in him. “Your wife is pregnant, isn’t she? If she were the one lying here, would you give her these pills? Aren’t you afraid of karma, of what you’re doing?” I turned my desperate gaze to Mark. “Mark, if anything happens to us, you will be the one responsible. Cole will not let you get away with this!” Dr. Evans and Mark exchanged a look. For a moment, I thought I’d broken through. They were about to agree when Mark’s phone buzzed. It was Cole. He answered, his voice instantly deferential. As he listened, the last flicker of doubt on his face was extinguished. “You heard, ma’am,” he said, his tone now laced with a chilling finality. “Mr. Hayes insists that we wait for his return. It’s not that I won’t help you. It’s that I can’t.” He gave Maria a sharp nod. The maids seized my shoulders, forcing my jaw open. Maria shoved the pills into my mouth. I gagged, trying to spit them out, but they slid down my throat.
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