Chapter 3

3

The physical pain finally dragged my consciousness back to the surface.

I could hear the staff talking outside the door.

"Josie is really the favorite. The Boss hasn't left her side since the scare."

"I bet she'll be the lady of the house soon. One word from her, and the Boss drugged his own wife."

"The Missus just doesn't get it. Why fight over a title? Now she's punished and hated."

Hearing them, my heart felt like it had turned to ice.

Everyone knew I had been discarded.

I touched my swollen belly, but there was no movement, no heartbeat.

I tried to knock on the door again, but my hand was too weak.

"Please… the doctor… my baby…"

The heavy door didn't budge.

I realized then that Preston had finally gotten what he wanted.

My child would never stand in the way of Josie's son.

As I felt myself slipping away again, the door finally creaked open.

A servant looked at me lying in a pool of blood and water, covering her nose in disgust.

"Ma'am, the Boss said if you stay quiet until the mistress gives birth, he'll send a midwife."

I couldn't wait. My baby was already gone.

I grabbed the servant's hem with trembling fingers. "Save my baby… call the doctor…"

The woman pulled away. "The Boss said the medicine is safe. Just wait a few days."

"The doctor is busy with Josie. He doesn't have time for you."

The door shut again, and my hand hit the floor with a dull thud.

I felt the coldness spreading through my abdomen and closed my eyes for the last time.

Suddenly, I heard hurried footsteps.

The family doctor entered with his medical bag, looking relieved when he saw me.

For a second, a spark of hope flickered. Maybe there was still a chance.

But the doctor didn't check my pulse. He just started laying out his tools.

"I'm glad I'm not too late. Josie is still in trouble, and the Boss said he'd have my head if I didn't save her baby."

He held a scalpel over a flame.

My eyes widened in horror. "What are you doing?!"

But I was too weak to move.

He sliced into my abdomen without hesitation. I was so far gone that the pain felt like it belonged to someone else.

The baby was pulled out, purple and limp. The doctor let out a chilling laugh.

"Good, the body is still warm. I might actually live through the night."

"You're really helping us out, Ma'am. Josie needs the heart-essence of a full-term infant as a ritual cure. The Boss said her life is the priority."

Heart-essence? Preston was using our child's life to save Josie's?

How could he be so monstrous? This was his own blood!

I tried to scream, to stop him, but I had no strength left.

I watched as he plunged a needle into my baby's chest.

Blood filled a small vial, and the doctor immediately tossed the tiny body onto the floor like trash.

He hurried out with the vial, leaving me bleeding out on the floor.

My stomach was a gaping wound. I could see my own insides through the jagged cut.

With my final ounce of strength, I reached out and pulled my baby into my arms.

I tried to cover the wound in his chest with my thumb, trying to stop the bleeding that had already stopped.

The coldness finally consumed me, and I stopped breathing with my eyes wide open.