Chapter 3

It was the middle of the night by the time they got me to the hospital.

When the doctor saw the wedding dress I was still wearing, even she couldn't hold her tongue as she set the IV.

"You got married today, didn't you, sweetheart? What kind of boyfriend leaves you like this? You're in a hospital bed and he can't even show up."

I only pressed my lips together and said nothing.

I don't know how long I lay there before my phone suddenly buzzed.

I glanced at it. A notification from the couples app.

Barret was getting closer and closer.

He was driving fast.

Fast enough that any second now he'd come tearing into the hospital.

When he was two meters away, he passed right by the door of my room.

And in his arms he was carrying a girl.

It was Angela.

"Doctor, her stomach hurts. Can you take a look at her?"

They brought Angela into my room.

The moment Barret walked in and saw me, he froze.

But only for a second. Then he pulled his eyes away.

Angela lay down on the bed, and the doctor examined her.

Then she turned with a smile and gave Barret's shoulder a pinch.

"Some boyfriend you are. She's this badly hurt down there and you didn't think to be more careful?"

"I'll write her a prescription for a few simple things. She'll stay one day."

"But she's pregnant now, so don't do this sort of thing again."

As she hooked up Angela's IV, she went on praising Barret.

"You've got a good one here, sweetheart. He knew you were hurt and brought you in himself."

"The woman in the next bed there, she got married and her own husband won't even look after her."

Angela glanced at me and let out a small laugh.

"Maybe she went off to be somebody's mistress."

"These days there's no end to women who'd steal another woman's husband."

She was nothing like the fragile thing Barret always made her out to be.

I looked at her and gave a cold laugh.

"A murderer's daughter. How do you have the nerve to walk into a hospital?"

One sentence, and Angela's eyes went red.

Barret, sitting beside her, slammed his hand down on the table and turned to me.

"Irma! When are you going to stop? Are you only happy once Angela's dead?!"

"She isn't the one who killed your parents. Do you have to go after her like this?"

With that, the doctor walked out.

Now it was just the three of us in the room.

Angela sniffled a couple of times, sat up, and looked at me.

"Irma, I can apologize for what my father did."

"If you hate me this much, then I'll go right now!"

And she really did get up to leave.

But Barret reached out and stopped her.

"After I left last night, Angela called me and said she wasn't well. I had no choice but to go be with her."

"You've had depression for years and you still pulled through, haven't you? What's one more time?"

"She was in a really bad way last night. I felt sorry for her, so I helped her."

"We've done it once already. I'm sure you won't mind a second time."

I gave a cold laugh.

Barret's eyes never lied.

Whenever he had a guilty conscience, he couldn't look at me.

This time was no different.

Angela got off the bed, pulled the needle out of her hand at once, and came to stand in front of me.

Her eyes were shining with tears.

Anyone who didn't know better would think I'd been the one hurting her.

"Irma, what happened before, that was my father wronging you, but he isn't me."

"I'm pregnant now. This is my first child."

"The doctor said if I get rid of it, I'll have a very hard time ever conceiving again. Just let me have it and then I'll leave, all right?"

Before I could say a word, she gripped my hand hard and threw herself backward.

She let out a scream, and every doctor came rushing in.

Barret shoved me hard, and my body slammed down onto the floor.

It hurt so much a cry tore out of me.

"Irma!"