Chapter 2

"This is a private VIP suite. Unauthorized visitors are not allowed."

Martha’s voice rang out from the entrance, sharp and unyielding.

"I am her husband! Who the hell do you think you are to block me?"

A familiar, furious roar echoed into the room. Derek.

Before I could even process it, the door was slammed open, banging violently against the wall with a deafening thud.

Derek stormed into the room, his face twisted in rage.

He had clearly rushed over the second he heard the news. He hadn't even bothered to change his wrinkled clothes.

Martha hurried in right behind him, visibly stressed.

"Sir, you cannot barge in! The patient needs absolute rest!"

Derek whipped around, thrusting a finger right in Martha's face.

"Get the hell out! You're just a hired hand paid by the hour. You don't get a say in my private family matters!"

Martha flushed red with anger, but she refused to back down, planting herself directly between him and my bed.

"I don't care who you are. Mr. Vance gave strict orders. No one is to disturb Evelyn."

"Mr. Vance? Which Mr. Vance? You must be out of your damn mind!"

Derek shoved Martha aside with brute force and marched straight to my bedside.

He loomed over me, looking down with cold disgust. Not a single word of concern. Only harsh accusations.

"Evelyn, how could you be so heartless?"

"That was our baby! A living human being! And you just threw its life away like that?"

I leaned against the headboard, my face pale as chalk. Breathing alone sent sharp pangs through my chest.

Looking at his twisted, ugly features, I felt nothing. No heartbreak. No grief. Only pure, unadulterated revulsion.

"When the surgeon asked you whether to save me or the baby, what did you choose?"

Derek glared at me, his eyes burning with resentment.

I parted my lips, my voice raspy like sandpaper. "I chose to save myself."

"And you have the audacity to say it out loud!"

Derek slammed his palm onto the metal bed rail, rattling the IV needle taped to the back of my hand.

"Leo had a burning fever! Hailey was crying and begging me to stay by his side! How could I just leave them?"

"You knew damn well how much I cared about our baby, but you just had to be petty and jealous of Hailey! You murdered our child with your own hands!"

Twisting reality. Flipping right and wrong. This was the man I had loved for three whole years.

"Derek Collins, are you even human?"

Martha couldn't stand it anymore. She shouted from the side, trembling with fury.

"Your wife barely clawed her way back from the edge of death! She nearly bled out on that table! Instead of caring for her, you barge in here and scream at her?"

"What kind of garbage excuse is that? Another woman's kid has a fever, so you abandon your dying wife to play hero? You call yourself a man?"

Hit where it hurt, Derek snapped around, glaring murderously at Martha.

"Shut your damn mouth! Who gave you permission to speak?"

He snapped back to me, the disdain in his eyes thickening.

"Look at the trash you hired, Evelyn. Completely undisciplined!"

"And look at you, lying there pretending to be dead. Who are you putting on a show for?"

"It was just a miscarriage! Do you really have to be this dramatic? Hailey had a child and she wasn't half as fragile or troublesome as you!"

I clutched the edge of the blanket, my fingernails digging into the fabric until my knuckles turned white.

"Nothing to say? Feeling guilty now?"

Seeing that I didn't snap back, Derek leaned in further, his index finger nearly poking into the bridge of my nose.

"Let me make something clear. Don't think for a second that staying in a VIP suite gives you leverage over me."

"Losing this child is entirely your fault! You better take a good hard look in the mirror and reflect on what you've done. Stop throwing these ridiculous tantrums. You're making a fool of yourself!"

I took a slow, deep breath and locked my eyes onto his.

"A tantrum?"

I repeated the word softly, a bitter, mocking smirk curving on my lips.

"Derek, did you conveniently forget what you were doing when the doctor handed you my emergency notice?"

Derek's expression froze. He clearly hadn't expected me to push back.

"Don't you dare bring that up!"

He looked away, momentarily cornered, before his arrogant self-righteousness flared back up.

"I had an emergency! Hailey needed me! That little boy is innocent!"

"Then what are you doing here right now? If you care so damn much about Hailey's kid, roll your ass back there and keep worshipping them."

My stare was cold enough to freeze blood. Every word sliced like an icicle.

Pushed past his limit, Derek raised his hand, ready to strike my face.

"You venomous bitch, how dare you—"

Martha screamed, lunging forward to throw herself over me.

"Sir! What do you think you're doing? This is a hospital!"

Derek's hand hung frozen in mid-air. He glared venomously at me, chest heaving, before finally dropping his arm.

"Fine, Evelyn. You think you're tough."

With a vicious curse, Derek slammed the door and stormed out.