Chapter 4

Fergus turned and walked out.

Just like that, he'd turned the page.

Fergus, when it comes to this kind of skill, I'm no match for you.

But this time, you killed your own child with your own hands.

I'll make you regret it.

I spent three days in the hospital.

Fergus never came once.

On the fourth day, though, Nadia came.

She brought a bouquet of white chrysanthemums.

She arranged them in the vase by the bed.

"Just came to see how you're doing."

"Don't read anything into it. I was only passing by."

"And while I'm here, I should mention. Next Saturday is Fergus's birthday, and I'm throwing a party at the house."

"Do you want to come?"

She tilted her head, watching me, and suddenly gave a dazzling smile.

"Though in your condition, I doubt you're really up for it."

"Having just lost a baby and all."

"For a woman about to become a mother, that has to be a terrible blow."

I closed my eyes and didn't want to deal with her.

But Nadia just kept going.

"Oh, right, Paige. Where are you going to live once you're discharged?"

"I heard you and Fergus are getting divorced."

"Your parents' house was foreclosed on ages ago, wasn't it?"

"So it seems you don't really have anywhere to go now."

Her eyes were full of laughter as she said it.

The kind of laughter meant to press right on a person's sore spot.

"How about I help you find a place?"

"I know an agent who handles those really cheap shared rentals."

"Five hundred a month, six people to a room."

"Think you could get used to that?"

I kept my eyes on the ceiling and said nothing.

"Come on, why won't you talk to me?"

Nadia leaned in closer.

"Paige, are you still holding a grudge against me?"

"What happened that day really wasn't my fault."

"Fergus actually knew the baby in your belly was no bastard. It was his."

"But he planned the whole game anyway. If you're going to hate someone, you should hate him."

I turned my head to look at her. "What did you say?"

She blinked.

"You didn't know?"

"That whole game that day, Fergus planned all of it. The lamb stew you drank, the drug in it, Fergus told me to put it there."

"It wasn't because he thought you were carrying a bastard."

"He said he just didn't want a child born from you."

"He wants to have one with me."

In that instant, all the blood in me froze.

If he didn't want this baby, why not say so earlier?

Why wait until I was six months pregnant?

Why not just let me lose it quietly?

Why did it have to be in front of everyone?

Why did I have to fall out of that tree?

Why did my baby have to die so horribly?

"Nadia."

I heard my own voice come out, almost shaking.

"You're a woman too."

"You'll have children of your own someday."

"Aren't you afraid it'll come back on you?"

Nadia paused for a moment.

Then she doubled over laughing.

"Karma?"

"Paige, you believe in that?"

"Let me tell you, there's no such thing as karma in this world."

"There's only who has what it takes and who doesn't."

"Fergus has what it takes. He has the family money, the resources, the connections."

"I have what it takes too. I can keep him happy."

"And you?"

"You have nothing."

"You can't even count on your own parents. What are you counting on karma for?"

Once she'd laughed her fill, she picked up her bag to leave.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot to tell you."

"Fergus said the divorce agreement is already drawn up."

"In the property division section, it says the wife walks away with nothing."

"He said you came into the marriage with nothing, no dowry, no assets."

"So naturally you leave with nothing."

"You won't even have a house to live in."

Nadia left.

I lay on the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling.

At some point the tears had started falling.

They ran down along my temple and into my hair.

The nurse came in to change my dressing, saw me crying, and hurried to wipe them away.

"Mrs. Summers, please don't cry."

"You just came out of surgery. Crying isn't good for you right now."

She handed me a tissue.

"You'll be discharged in a couple of days. Do you have family? Should I contact them for you?"

Family?

My parents had run.

My husband wished I were dead.

I didn't have a single relative left in this city.

"No."

I wiped my tears dry. "There's no one to call."

The day I was discharged.

Sure enough, Fergus was still off carrying on with Nadia.

He couldn't spare the time to come get me.

Not that I needed him anymore.

When the young nurse pressed me for the third time to finish my discharge paperwork.

I calmly dialed a number I hadn't called in a very long time.

"Come get me, and I'll divorce him and marry you."