The lights were too bright. I couldn't think. Everything hurt. I could feel my insides tearing apart as the doctor instructed me to push harder, I knew something was off, something was terribly wrong especially when I heard the doctor ask my husband to sign a form and asked who should be saved in a situation where only one of us could come out alive.
"Save my child" Ethan said coldly in an instant with no hesitation
"Sir, are you sure? In most cases the wife has a higher chance of survival" the doctor still tried to persuade but was cut off by Fiona's shrilled voice
"My sister is already suffering so just end it peacefully, she would be happy that her child is safe" she said feigning Innocence
"Okay" The doctor signed and continued giving out instructions as he met my shocked filled gaze but a sharp pain overrode me making every other thing a blur in that moment as I struggled to stay awake.....
___
Hearing my little girl's wailing as I smiled.
Faint. But clear.
"She's weak," Fiona's voice whispered through the chaos. "We might not even need to kill her. Once the baby's out, all we will need to do is have her sign the guardianship papers. The grieving husband and the heartbroken aunt. It's perfect."
My heart skipped. My eyes wided open, heavy with pain, just in time to see Ethan step forward from the shadows, his face stilled in stone, the same face I had once loved more than life itself.
"Tell me it's a lie tell me it's all a lie," I whispered, my voice barely a breath.
Ethan knelt beside me, brushing a damp strand of hair from my face with a tenderness that now felt like mockery. "No unfortunately it's not, if you had just stop getting in our way then maybe you would have lived" he said, his voice like ice. "But no. You had to play the perfect daughter. You had to separate us. You took everything from her. From me."
Tears blurred my vision, not only from the pain of childbirth but from the pain of betrayal. "I loved you, I gave you and Fiona everything, so why…"
"Gave us what, your petty charity," he sneered. "well don't bother anymore because, it's our's now."
The baby's cry rang out soft making me turn my head towards her, she is beautiful, and most importantly alive. I reached for her, but Fiona was already moving, syringe in hand. Panic ran through my spine like fire. With a scream, I tried to reach for her, but Ethan held me down.
"Don't you dare touch her!" I cried, my voice cracked.
Fiona's eyes flared with rage. "No she was suppose to be Mine and Ethan's baby, now she will have to grow up miserable and motherless maybe I will end her mistake of a life when she turns 18!"
" Ethan please she is your baby too, please" I pleaded as he held me down for Fiona. My breath shorten as I struggled to move away from him and then blood. My voice rang out in shorten gasps, black spots covering my eyes.
I looked up at Ethan, the man I gave my world to. Not with fear but with hatred. Hatred for him. Hatred for myself for believing him.
And then — darkness.
__
"Madam! Madam, please wake up!" Clare's voice broke through the fog. I blinked, gasping for air, my body drenched in sweat. My chest heaved as I sat up, eyes wide.
"Where… where am I?" I croaked.
Clare's eyes filled with tears. "You're home, madam. You've been unconscious for two days. You almost drowned… Ethan said you jumped into the lake to find Fiona's pearl necklace"
My breath caught.
That was six years ago.
Six years before the wedding.
Six years before the betrayal.
Six years before I was murdered.
I stared at my hands smooth, unscarred. I rushed to the mirror, touching my face, my skin, my body. The softness. The glow. The beauty I had lost trying to please Ethan. The curves I'd starved away to be the perfect wife. I was back.
Back… and alive.
This time, I wouldn't beg.
This time, I wouldn't break.
This time, I would burn them all.
I turned to Clare, my voice calm but still slightly shaking. "Where are my parents?"
"In the lounge, madam," she said, hesitating. "They're… discussing your engagement to Kane Smith."
I froze.
Kane.
The only man who searched for me after my death. The only one who mourned me when no one else did. Seven days. Seven nights. He never stopped looking.
This time, I would love him but first, I would make them pay.
"Sister!" Fiona's voice rang out behind me, sweet as syrup and twice as fake. "I'm so sorry you got sick because of me. I didn't mean to drop the necklace. Ethan just wanted to help, and I can't swim, so…"
I turned slowly, meeting her eyes with a smile so calm it made her flinch.
"It's okay," I said, trying fucking hard to hide the hatred in my voice "I understand. Ethan sees you as his baby sister. Naturally, he'd protect you."
Fiona blinked, caught off guard by my understanding. "Y-yes… exactly."
I leaned in, my smile wide. "And since you're his baby sister… you two always stay together. Forever you will be a perfect addition to my family if we get married ."
I walked past her, leaving her frozen in place.
But as I reached the top of the stairs, I paused, my hand on the railing, and whispered to myself:
"Let the games begin".