Chapter 4

The fever left me weak all over, drifting in and out for who knew how long.

Then the door slammed open and Rod stormed in, seething.

He threw his phone down in front of me.

# Disabled mistress moves right in #

# Jade Fox deserved to lose that limb #

The pictures were close-ups of Jade's amputated limb, along with a few shots of the two of them embracing.

The comments were nothing but abuse, vicious beyond words.

Then he pulled up a video. Jade's face in it was ghostly white.

"It's all my fault. I'm the one who wronged Glennie."

"I'll pay for this with my life. Please, everyone, stop."

The video cut off, and Rod jabbed a finger in my face.

"Glenda, happy now?"

"Jadie slit her wrists. She's in the emergency room right now."

"If anything happens to her, that's two lives, and I'll make you pay for it in blood."

My head was spinning, but I braced myself and tried to sit up.

"It wasn't me."

"If not you, then who?"

Rod's eyes looked ready to devour me.

"You're the only one who's seen her stump, and the only one who hates her."

"If you didn't leak it, what, she did it herself?"

I wanted to explain, but I didn't have an ounce of strength left.

Rod grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the door.

"You're coming to the hospital with me!"

"When she wakes up, you apologize in front of everyone and set the record straight!"

By the time we reached the hospital, Jade lay quietly in the bed.

Rod was called away to pay the bill, and Jade slowly opened her eyes.

"You posted the photos yourself, didn't you?"

She let out a soft laugh and rested a hand on her belly.

"I didn't have a choice. Roddy keeps clinging to the old feelings. He won't bring up divorce with you."

"So I just had to give him a little push."

"You're not afraid the smear campaign will destroy you?"

She smiled, her eyes full of calculation.

"Afraid of what? Roddy will protect me."

Then she suddenly curled up, clutching her stomach, and started to wail.

"Glenda, I'm begging you!"

"Spare my baby, he's innocent!"

"I already promised I'd leave once he's born. Why are you still hitting my stomach?"

Rod strode over and shoved me hard to the side.

My lower belly slammed into the sharp corner of the nightstand.

Pain tore through me, and something warm ran down my leg.

In the haze, it came back to me that my period was already two months late.

I clutched my stomach, unable to stay on my feet, and grabbed at the leg of his pants.

"Rod, save our baby."

Before I could finish, Jade let out a low moan.

"Roddy, my stomach hurts so much. Will our baby be okay?"

Rod kicked me aside. "Glenda, you're despicable."

Then he scooped up Jade and ran out.

The pain was more than I could hold up against, and I passed out.

When I came to, I was in a hospital, and the nurse looked at me with contempt.

"You lost the baby."

My hand went to my lower belly on instinct.

A little life had been there once, one I had waited eight years for.

And its own father had pushed it out of existence with his own hands.

The phone on the pillow kept buzzing.

A flood of calls from unknown numbers and messages full of abuse.

It turned out Rod had posted a long statement online, saying our marriage had fallen apart long ago and we were already going through a divorce.

Saying I'd turned love into hate, maliciously exposing a disabled girl's privacy and driving her to slit her wrists, that I was rotten to the core.

Saying he and Jade were truly in love.

And to back it up, he'd added two videos.

In the first, my mother sat facing the camera.

"This daughter of mine, she's been trouble since she was little. Loose and shameless from a young age, always chasing after men."

"I warned her long ago, but she never listened."

Then my stepbrother, slouching and smug.

"I'm not too ashamed to admit it, she once threw herself at me, no shame at all."

"A woman like that, nothing she does would surprise me."

I felt like I was breaking apart.

The people closest to me had betrayed me, one after another.

They'd even torn open the scars I'd hidden away and laid them bare for everyone to see.

The whole internet was in an uproar, calling me a whore, calling me heartless.

The young nurse giving me my injections aimed the needle off the mark on purpose, again and again.

The back of my hand was one big bruise, and she never offered a word of apology.

Pinned at the top of my messages was one Rod had sent half an hour ago.

"Once you're awake, quit playing dead. Apologize to Jadie publicly."

"And find the time to file the divorce papers. I don't want my child born branded a bastard."

I stared at the screen, and the pain spreading through my chest slowly sank away.

I'd meant to leave without a sound, so neither of us owed the other a thing.

But they had to press for the kill, grinding me into the dirt.

Then fine.

We had a score to settle now.

"All right. I'll apologize."

Three days later, Jade was discharged.

The hospital entrance was packed with bloggers and reporters.

The moment I appeared, the jeering rose from every direction.

I let it wash past me, calm-faced.

"Today, I'm here to apologize to Jade Fox."

"On the screen is the apology letter I prepared carefully. Please, everyone, watch."

The screen lit up.

The smile froze on Rod's face.

And Jade's face went white as paper in an instant.