Chapter 3

The moment the door shut, the smell of blood grew thicker.

I gasped for air, clawing at the door like a madwoman.

"Gerard, it's real, I'm bleeding!"

"The baby, please, save the baby inside me…"

But my cries died against the walls of that room.

Through the thick glass, Myrtle met my chalk-white face and covered her eyes as if in fear.

"Gerard, she must hate me now."

"It's all my fault, I couldn't keep my footing…"

One door between us.

Gerard's back was to me as he carefully tore open a bandage strip.

He didn't see the corner of her mouth curl up in secret delight. He only crouched down and spoke coldly.

"You did nothing wrong."

"Hailey brought this on herself. She has no one to blame."

"Besides, she's healthy and strong. What could happen from being shut in a room?"

My knocking hand went still.

I thought back to half a month ago, when a chill left me burning at a hundred and four, aching all over and too weak to move.

The housekeeper happened to be off that day.

It took everything I had to reach my phone and get through to Gerard.

"You've always had a strong constitution. You used to chew a couple of cold pills and be fine. What's the matter today?"

"Myrtle's about to give her acceptance speech. I need to take pictures of it."

"Handle it yourself. Stop calling."

That day I cried under the covers for a long time, and I accepted a fact I could no longer deny.

The boy who once treasured me was long gone.

Yet now I couldn't even cry.

I only heard Myrtle's sweet, coaxing voice outside.

"Gerard, I'm a little hungry. I want that spicy crawfish place in Northgate."

Gerard refused without a second thought.

"No. You have a wound. You can't eat spicy food."

"I remember you love the sweet dessert from that shop too. I'll go get it for you."

Two hours round trip. He was more than willing.

The assistant beside him glanced at the room where I was locked and spoke hesitantly.

"Mr. Gilbert, I recall the ma'am only had a bowl of sweet cream soup before she left the house."

"The adult can go without food, but the baby inside her…"

At that, I pounded on the door harder.

Forcing down the tearing pain, I dragged a bloody finger across the door and wrote three fast words.

"BLEEDING DOWN THERE."

Gerard, just turn around and look. One look…

The three of them heard the noise and slowly turned their gazes to me.

Not a flicker of a reaction.

Myrtle's eyes glinted.

She shook Gerard's arm, cutting off his hesitation.

"Gerard, maybe just let it go this time."

"When you get down to it, she only hurts other people because she loves you too much…"

She pressed a hand to her bandaged arm and let a faint, bitter smile show.

Gerard's face stayed cold as he looked away.

"If she wants to eat, she can go collect deal-app coupons and scrape together the money herself."

Then he turned and gently patted Myrtle's hand.

"Wait for me." He walked off without looking back.

I watched his figure disappear around the corner.

In the end he still chose to go buy Myrtle her food.

But Gerard, our child is really dying…

Covered in blood, I sank to my knees in despair.

I could feel the little life inside me draining away, bit by bit.

As my mind blurred, the door opened and shut again.

A basin of ice-cold water hit me in the face, and I shuddered from the cold.

But the moment I moved, my lower body screamed with a tearing pain.

Myrtle's expression had shed all its usual sweetness and fragility. She covered her nose in disgust.

Her eyes shifted away from the bloody words on the door.

She looked down at me with cold contempt and sneered.

"I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Turns out you really are bleeding."