Chapter 2

Ethan kicked the glass doors open.

My parents and the paramedics rushed in right behind him.

Ethan saw the blood soaking my skirt, and his eyes went red.

"Who's stopping her from leaving?"

He lifted me onto the stretcher, careful with every motion.

But Mrs. Adams threw herself over the cash box and screamed at the top of her lungs:

"She can't leave!"

"She counted the gift money, and now some of it's gone. Her family barges in like this, who knows if they're planning to grab the money while everyone's distracted?"

The veins stood out at Ethan's temple.

"My sister and her baby are dying. Who wants your lousy money?"

Mrs. Adams called the police right there.

When the officers arrived and heard the doctor's explanation, they ordered her released at once.

"If there's a dispute over the money, pull the security footage."

"Right now a life comes first. No one blocks a medical transport."

Mrs. Adams was forced to step aside.

I thought we could finally go.

But the second the stretcher rolled out of the banquet hall, the paramedics stopped.

The main doors were sealed off by the wedding cars.

The side door was piled with floral arches, and the entrance to the underground garage was blocked by the wedding motorcade too.

The ambulance was right outside, and we couldn't find a single path wide enough for the stretcher.

Susannah stood in the center of the red carpet in her wedding dress.

"Wait a little longer."

"I haven't done the family toast yet, and we haven't taken the group photo."

Ethan pointed at her.

"Your sister-in-law and her baby could die any second. Move!"

His shout made her shoulders flinch. She turned and grabbed Abraham's arm.

"Ethan, I only get to get married once in my life."

"Why does she have to cause a scene today of all days?"

"What's the harm in waiting a little longer?"

Abraham immediately pulled her behind him.

"Don't cry. The wedding will go on, I promise."

The contractions came closer and closer together.

One wave of pain hadn't fully passed before the next one bore down.

I curled up on the stretcher, cold sweat sliding down from my temples without stopping.

"Give the folder to my dad."

But Abraham took a step back.

"Settle the accounts first."

The obstetrician cut in sharply:

"She's very likely got a placental abruption, and you're still talking about money?"

Abraham's face twisted with impatience.

"Of course the doctor makes it sound serious. Otherwise, who takes the blame if something happens?"

"She's been like this since she got pregnant. The slightest discomfort and the whole family has to revolve around her."

I stared at the folder in his hand.

"Your sister bought a house, and you took our renovation money."

"Her business failed, and you used the bride price my parents gave to pay off her debt."

"After I got pregnant I wanted a place with an elevator, and you handed the savings over for her engagement party."

"Even today's banquet, a hundred thousand of it came from us."

I dragged in a breath.

"I gave up the house. I gave up the bride price. I gave up my baby's money too."

"And now, do I have to give her my life as well?"

Abraham's face went completely dark.

"You really have to drag up old scores on Susannah's wedding day?"

"It's family money. What's the point of counting it this precisely?"

The paramedics started dismantling the floral arch at the side door.

Susannah shrieked and threw herself at them.

"You can't take it apart!"

"My in-laws had this custom-made for tens of thousands. If you wreck it, how am I supposed to have my wedding?"

Abraham blocked the paramedics at once.

"Once we've taken the photos, it'll get moved."

I looked at his back as he stood guarding the floral arch, and I finally stopped begging him.

I pulled the monitoring lines off the back of my hand and pushed myself up on the stretcher.

"Ethan, don't wait anymore."

"Smash the arch."

"Let them keep their wedding. I'll go have this baby on my own."

Ethan grabbed the fire axe off the wall.

The first swing came down, and the arch split with a crack.

The big screen in the banquet hall went black along with it.