Chapter 4

"Let go!"

I screamed, my voice raw and cracking.

I clutched Mia desperately against my chest.

"She has a fever! She has myocarditis! We have to get her to the hospital right now!"

Julian froze, his eyes instinctively darting to Mia.

"Julian, don't listen to her lies," Chloe pleaded immediately, stepping between them to block his view.

"Mia was completely fine just minutes ago. She even ate two cupcakes! Nora is just jealous. She came here on purpose to cause a scene."

"I'm not!"

Tears streamed down my face.

"The hospital just called! She is really sick!"

My mother shoved through the crowd and slapped me across the face with all her might.

"You home-wrecker! Chloe finally has a happy day, and you come here cursing a child with illness! What kind of monster are you?!"

The blow split the unhealed wound on my forehead wide open.

Fresh blood cascaded down my temple, dripping onto Mia’s pale cheeks.

"Mommy..."

Mia fluttered her eyelids, whispering weakly.

"Don't be scared, baby. Mommy is taking you to the hospital."

I squeezed her tight and tried to bolt for the exit.

"Stop her!" Julian barked.

Several security guards rushed forward, tackling me to the polished marble floor.

Julian stepped over, pried my fingers apart with brutal force, and ripped Mia from my grasp.

"Nora, you are completely hopeless."

"To ruin Chloe’s party, you’d invent a lie like this? Myocarditis? Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Julian, give the baby to me," Chloe offered softly, reaching out.

"Nora probably suffered mental damage in jail. Don't be too hard on her."

Julian handed Mia to Chloe, then turned to the guards with cold disgust.

"Throw her out. Don't let her filthy presence stain this venue."

Two guards dragged me backward across the floor.

A smear of crimson trailed behind me on the white carpet.

I stared fixedly at Mia in Chloe's arms. The little girl had gone completely unconscious.

"Julian Hayes!"

I screamed his name with every ounce of breath left in my lungs.

"You will regret this! You will regret this for the rest of your life!"

"Shut her up!" my father shouted in disgust. A foul-smelling, dirty rag was shoved into my mouth.

Freezing and broken, I was dumped like garbage by the dumpster in the hotel’s rear alleyway.

Freezing rain pelted my face, washing blood into my eyes.

The ringing in my right ear escalated into a piercing whistle.

And then, complete, absolute silence fell over the world.

I could no longer hear the rain.

I fumbled frantically for my phone. The screen was shattered. My bloody fingers slipped several times before unlocking it.

I wanted to call 911.

I wanted to crawl back into that ballroom and tear Mia back into my arms.

But the agony throbbing in my skull robbed me of the strength to stand.

My vision faded to black. Summoning my final shred of consciousness, I pressed record on SnapChat and sent a voice message:

"Save Mia... the myocarditis diagnosis is on the coffee table... please save her..."

The moment the message sent, I dragged myself forward an inch, reaching a trembling hand toward the heavy steel door.

"Mia..."

Endless darkness swallowed me whole.

My hand fell limp into the muddy puddle, tightly gripping a shard of bloody glass.

Meanwhile, back inside the ballroom.

Julian held a glass of champagne, chatting with business partners.

"Julian, who was that woman earlier...?" a colleague asked cautiously.

"Just an unstable relative," Julian brushed it off smoothly, yet an unexplained dread gnawed at his chest.

That look of sheer despair in my eyes haunted his thoughts.

"Julian!"

A bloodcurdling scream shattered the room. Chloe ran toward him in utter panic, holding Mia.

"Mia... Mia isn't breathing!"

Julian spun around.

Mia’s lips had turned a terrifying shade of blue. White foam bubbled from the corners of her mouth, and her small limbs were stiff.

"Call an ambulance! Call an ambulance now!"

Julian's mind went blank. He snatched Mia from Chloe's arms, frantically trying to perform CPR, only to realize he had no idea what he was doing.

Whenever Mia fell ill in the past, I had stayed up whole nights tending to her.

He didn't even know what medications she was allergic to.

"Nora... Where is Nora?!"

He scanned the crowd like a madman, looking for the woman he had just discarded.

Chloe shivered nearby. Julian shoved her aside and pulled out his phone.

The screen lit up, revealing the voice message I had sent ten minutes earlier.

With trembling fingers, he tapped it. My faint, choking plea echoed from the speaker.

A chilling wave struck Julian to his core, plunging him into an abyss.

Looking down at the dying child in his arms, my final, blood-soaked curse echoed in his ears like a thunderclap.