Chapter 2

Tyler jumped in to explain.

"Oh! That's my cousin! I hired her to help with the deep cleaning."

"She just moved here from a small farm up north. She's extremely shy and doesn't know much about the city, so she probably got scared of the cameras and hid. Apologies, everyone."

The crew nodded, but their eyes were filled with disgust as they looked at my stained, vomit-covered clothes.

The man who needed the bathroom grabbed my arm and dragged me out impatiently.

"Come on, cousin. Get out of here. Were you planning on watching me pee?"

"God, she made the bathroom smell awful..."

His look of sheer disgust made me want to shrink into the floor. I looked at Tyler, begging for help with my eyes, but he looked away, completely ignoring me.

I crawled into the darkest corner of the kitchen to hide.

The interview wrapped up quickly. Tyler invited the media crew out for dinner. Clutching my aching back, I decided to just slip away and go home.

But Chloe's eyes locked onto me.

"Why don't you come with us, cousin? Don't be shy. You've probably never been to a French bistro before. The bathrooms there are lovely."

A few crew members snickered.

I wanted to say no, but Tyler gave me a hard, pleading look, begging me to play along.

Remembering our five years together, my stupid heart softened, and I nodded.

But when we reached the entrance of the upscale restaurant, the manager blocked me.

His eyes scanned my stained clothes with utter disdain.

"Excuse me, miss, but we have a strict dress code. Smart casual or formal attire only."

"Your... current state might disturb our other guests. I must ask you to leave."

Chloe gasped dramatically, pretending to be apologetic.

"Oh, I totally forgot about the dress code! Sorry, cousin. I guess you'll have to head back."

Her eyes gleamed with triumphant mockery as she looked down her nose at me.

Everyone was staring. I clutched the hem of my dirty shirt, burning with humiliation.

Then, Tyler stepped toward me. Everyone held their breath, expecting him to defend me.

Instead, he gave me a harsh shove.

"Didn't you hear Chloe? Stop embarrassing me. There's some leftover chicken rice back at the kitchen. Go back and eat that."

I lost my balance and tumbled backward down the concrete steps. My stomach hit the edge of a step hard. A sharp, blinding pain shot through me, and the bleeding that had briefly stopped gushed out again.

Tyler didn't even look back. He wrapped his arm around Chloe’s waist and walked into the restaurant.

I lay on the cold pavement for a long time before a kind stranger finally called 911.

At the hospital, the doctor gave me the devastating news: the baby was gone. The combination of forced overeating, physical trauma from the fall, and stress had caused a miscarriage.