Chapter 10
Emily’s POV
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My body was heavy, weighed down as if submerged in a thick, dark tide. The faint creak of
the door barely registered and I wanted to see who
it was. My mind screamed to react, to open my eyes,
to ask who was there, but my body refused to obey. I
was trapped in my own skin, helpless.
Footsteps shuffled closer, deliberate and slow.
A shadow fell acress me, and I felt the invasive grip
of fingers prying my mouth open. The bitter taste of
something vile flooded my tongue, and I gagged, my
throat spasming against the intrusion. My stomach
churned violently, sending sharp, agonizing waves
of pain rippling through my body.
Panic surged, cutting through the fog of
sedation. A damp, warm sensation spread beneath
me, and I knew something was wrong–terribly
wrong. I wanted to cry out, to fight back, to see the
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face of whoever was doing this, but darkness
dragged me under once more.
***
“Emily!”
Louis’s voice pierced through the haze, shaking
me roughly by the shoulders. My head lolled to the
side as consciousness returned in hazy fragments.
When my eyes finally fluttered open, the harsh
light above me burned, and the pungent, metallic
scent of blood filled my nostrils. My senses
sharpened, and dread crept in as I took in my
surroundings. The sheets beneath me were soaked,
the vivid red turning brown, stark against the white
fabric. My hands trembled as they grazed my lower
abdomen, where the dampness confirmed what my
mind refused to accept.
Louis stood before me, his face a twisted
canvas of grief and fury. Beside him, our family
dantor otared at ma with a rim unrandahla
MA
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doctor stared at me with a grim, unreadable
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expression. Louis covered his face with his hands,
his voice breaking as he let out an anguished cry.
“Emily…” His words were raw, choking on
unspoken pain. He dropped his hands, revealing
red–rimmed eyes filled with something bordering on
madness. “Do you really hate me this much?”
The accusation hit me like a physical blow.
Confused, I tried to speak, but my voice failed me.
My gaze dropped to the blood pooled beneath me,
and my stomach flipped. There was so much pain.
Louis grabbed my shoulders, his grip hard and
unyielding. “How could you do this?” he shouted, his
voice trembling with hurt. He gestured toward the
bedside table where small, scattered pills glinted.
under the light.
“Those…” His voice cracked. “Those pills…
Emily, you killed our child. Our child!”
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I froze, his words rebounding in my mind. Mv
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I froze, his words rebounding in my mind. My
heart thundered in protest, and I shook my head
weakly. “No,” I managed, my voice barely audible.
Louis’s breath hitched. His hands fell to his
sides, trembling. He stared at the blood–stained
bed, his eyes hollow. “The child we’ve waited ten
years for,” he whispered, his voice thick with
despair. “How could you? I don’t understand, even if
you were angry at me… you… you took it out on our
innocent child.”
“I didn’t…” The words spilled from my lips, but
they felt fragile, as if they might shatter under the
weight of his disbelief. My fragmented memories
clawed their way to the surface, and I grasped at the
one solid thread. “It’s Maya,” I blurted out.
Louis stiffened, the confusion overtaking the
pain in his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“I saw her,” I insisted, my voice growing
stronger as desperation fueled me “When I was
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stronger as desperation fueled me. “When I was
half–conscious, someone came in. It had to be
Maya…” I swallowed hard, willing him to see the
truth. “It had to be her. Why would I take abortion
pills? Why would I hurt my own child?”
Louis’s expression darkened, a storm of
conflicting emotions brewing behind his eyes. He
stepped back as though my words physically
repelled him.
The doctor cleared his throat, breaking the
charged silence. Louis, I must be candid,” he began,
his voice steady but grave. “Emily mentioned seeing
an intruder, someone tampering with the TV, but I
found no evidence to support her claims. No sign of forced entry, no missing items, nothing.”
He turned to me, his gaze scrutinizing. “Emily,” he said carefully, “You’ve been under immense stress. It’s possible that these are delusional
thoughts stemming from depression. I’ll prescribe
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some antidepressants and closely monitor your
condition.”
“No!” I protested, my voice rising in panic. “I’m
not delusional. It was Maya! She-
“Enough, Emily!” Louis roared, silencing me. His
eyes burned with an intensity that made me shrink
back. “Do you hear yourself? Blaming Maya,
accusing her without proof? You’re spiraling, Emily,
and it’s destroying everything.”
His words struck like daggers, each one lodging
deep in my chest. “You don’t believe me,” I
whispered, my voice trembling. “You, who cheated
with the murderer of our child, you who hold me
here like a prisoner…”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” He
interrupted, dismissing me. He ran a hand through
his disheveled hair, his composure crumbling. “But I
know one thing.” He turned away, his shoulders
rigid. “I’m keening Mava’s child.”
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rigid. “I’m keeping Maya’s child.”
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The air left my lungs as if he’d physically struck
- me. “What?”
“That baby,” he said, his voice steady but devoid of warmth, “Is my responsibility now. The only child I
have left.”
His words echoed in the room, each syllable a
cruel reminder of the chasm that had grown
between us.
“You’re wrong,” I choked out, tears streaming down my face. “Maya did this. She wanted to replace my child with hers.”
Louis turned back to me, his expression
unreadable. “You need help, Emily. Rest. Heal.
Whatever happened… we’ll deal with it later.”
Without another word, he left the room, leaving
me surrounded by the suffocating stench of blood
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and betrayal.
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As the door closed behind him, my tears fell
freely. My mind raced, replaying the shadowy figure,
the bitter pills, and Maya’s manipulative smile. She
had done this. I knew it as surely as I knew my own
name.
But no one would believe me.
The doctor’s words lingered like a curse:
depression, delusions. Was that what they thought of me now? A broken, unstable woman grasping at fantasies to make sense of her unraveling life? I
desperately wanted out, to get away.
I clenched my fists, the sticky warmth of blood
smearing against my palms. Through the haze of despair, a spark of determination ignited. If no one would fight for me, I would fight for myself. And I would uncover the truth–even if it destroyed me.
