I opened my eyes, but the world didn't make sense. The ceiling was a sterile, blinding white, and the air smelled of bleach and old blood. My body didn't feel like mine anymore; it felt like a heavy, broken thing pinned to the mattress.
Then I saw him.
Adrian was standing at the foot of my bed. For two years, I had called him my husband. For two years, I had defied my parents, walked away from my inheritance, and stripped myself of the name Harriet Walter, the youngest CEO of the Walter empire, just to be his Olivia. I had given up everything for this man.
Standing right beside him was Victoria. She was the woman he had introduced as his cousin the day she moved into our home. Her hand was wrapped firmly around his bicep, her fingers tracing the fabric of his sleeve with a familiarity that made my stomach turn.
"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant with our child?" Adrian asked.
His voice wasn't soft. There was no grief in his eyes. He sounded like a creditor demanding payment.
I tried to swallow, but my tongue felt thick and useless. "Wha... what do you mean?" I managed to whisper. The words felt like they were tearing my throat.
Adrian stepped closer, his shadow falling over me. He looked down at me with a coldness I had never seen before; not even during the nights he had turned his anger on me. He reached out, not to comfort me, but to bunch the collar of my hospital gown in his hand. He pulled it tight, nearly choking me.
"I'm asking you a question!" he hissed. He glanced toward the door, then lowered his voice to a dangerous growl. "Why the fuck did you keep it from me? You almost made me lose every single thing I've worked for."
"Babe, you have to stay calm," Victoria said. She didn't move her hand from his arm. She actually leaned her head against his shoulder. "You've worked too hard to let your temper ruin things now. Besides, isn't it actually better this way? Now that the child is gone, we can start our own family properly. Once she's out of the way, of course."
Babe.
The word echoed in the quiet room. My mind raced back through the last two years. Every meal I had cooked for Victoria while she sat on my sofa. Every time Adrian had beaten me because Victoria complained the house was too cold or the food was too salty. I had been a servant to my husband's mistress, and I had done it all because I thought I was being a good wife to a man who loved me.
"If she dies before the paperwork is right, I get nothing," Adrian muttered, letting go of my gown with a shove. "The foolish woman was so desperate to marry me that we never even went to the registry. She thought a ceremony was enough because I 'treated her well' in bed."
They didn't even look at me as they spoke. They discussed my life and my death as if I were a business deal that had gone sour.
I lay there, paralyzed or should I say partly because I could utter words slowly but right at that moment nothing came out of my throat. I thought about the tiny velvet box hidden in my dresser at home. Inside was a positive pregnancy test and a pair of knitted socks. I had been so excited. I thought a baby would finally make Adrian happy. I thought it would stop the beatings. Instead, those beatings were exactly what had killed the life inside me. He had used a baseball bat on me just because Victoria accused me of hurting her with the broken cup , hitting me until the world turned red, and then he had looked the doctor in the eye and said I fell down the stairs.
"Why did you even bother with her for this long?" Victoria asked, her voice light and curious. "Was it just because you couldn't get over our breakup, or was there something else?"
Adrian laughed, a dry, hollow sound. "I needed the Walter money, Victoria. She was Harriet Walter. The youngest and richest CEO in the country. Before she became this pathetic 'Olivia,' she had brands, real estate, everything. I married her to fund my company. But the bitch was so 'in love' that she let her family disown her for me. She gave me her life savings, which was enough to get started, so I kept her around. Then I found you again. I thought you were dead, but since you're back, she's just a burden."
He leaned down and kissed Victoria. It wasn't a quick kiss. It was deep and slow, right there at the edge of my hospital bed. I couldn't believe they were making out right in my hospital room as I battled for my life after loosing our baby, I forced my eyes shut, but I couldn't shut out the sound of their breathing. My bruises stung. My heart felt like it was physically breaking. Tears streamed down my eyes and just right then,
The door handle turned, and the two of them snapped apart. The doctor walked in, holding a chart.
"We have good news, Mr. Miller,"I was really surprised because that wasn't his name, I wondered who the doctor was talking to and the doctor said something looking at Adrian. "She's stabilized. Her vitals are much better. In about four days, she should be ready to go home."
Adrian's face transformed. He put on the mask of a devoted, worried husband so quickly it made me dizzy. "Oh, thank God. Thank you, doctor. But... she isn't moving. Why can't she move her hands?"
"That's a common side effect of the trauma from the fall," the doctor explained. "The impact caused some temporary nerve issues. She won't be able to walk or move much for a while, but we'll monitor her."
"Please, doctor, do everything you can," Adrian pleaded, his voice cracking with fake emotion.
The doctor nodded and left. The moment the door clicked shut, the grief vanished from Adrian's face. He turned and punched the hospital wall with a muffled thud.
"Why won't the bitch just die?" he snarled.
"Don't worry," Victoria said, reaching into her bag. She pulled out a small, clear vial. "I have a solution for that. One shot into her IV. Just a little of this will lead to 'complication' which will lead to her death."
"What about her parents?" Adrian asked, his voice shaking. "Even if they disowned her, they're still the Walters. They'll want an autopsy if it looks suspicious."
"Then you should call them now, besides they haven't seen her in years so if you call them now they will come running," Victoria whispered, her eyes gleaming. "Tell them she's dying and the doctor asked for family members. Call them so they can get here just in time to see her go. I'll do the injection while they're on their way."
I tried to scream, but my lungs wouldn't take in enough air. I tried to twitch a finger, to kick the bed, to do anything to alert a nurse, but my body was a cage.
"Open your eyes, baby," Victoria hissed, leaning over me. She used her cold fingers to pry my eyelids open. "I want you to watch. I want to see the light go out of your eyes when this hits your heart."
I watched as she tilted the vial. But then, she looked toward the door and asked, "Will one be enough?"
I strained my eyes toward the entrance. A figure stood there, draped in shadows. As she stepped forward, my heart stopped.
It was Haley.
My twin sister. The girl who had gone missing ten years ago, the one my parents had spent millions trying to find. She wasn't a victim. She was standing there, dressed in expensive silk, watching me with a satisfied smile.
"Give her as much as you need to," Haley said. Her voice was identical to mine. "This is exactly what I paid your husband for."
The room began to spin. My husband was a fraud he was actually paid to ruin me, ghaaad tears kept streaming down from my eyes . his cousin was his real wife. And my sister, my twin—was the one who had orchestrated my end.
"Action," Adrian whispered as he rushed in, checking his phone. "The parents just pulled into the parking lot."
"I'll hide in the bathroom until the timing is right," Haley said, blowing me a mocking good bye kiss.
Adrian ran into the hallway, his voice erupting into a frantic wail. "Doctor! Doctor, please! Something is wrong! My wife... she's not breathing right! Help her!"
The room swarmed with nurses. A moment later, my mother and father burst through the door. My mother fell to the floor, her screams piercing the air. "Harriet! No! My baby, please stay with us!"
My father was white as a sheet, holding onto the bedrail, while my foster brother Charles sat on the floor, his face buried in his hands. I wanted to scream to them that Adrian did this. That Haley was right there. But the cold fluid from the syringe was already moving through my chest.
Just as my vision began to fade into gray, Haley rushed out of the bathroom, sobbing and screaming my name. "Harriet! My sister! I finally found you and now this?"
My mother looked up, her eyes widening in shock. "Haley? Is it really you?"
They reached for her, pulling my murderer into a hug, sobbing over her "miraculous" return while my heart monitor slowed to a crawl. I saw them holding her, and then, I saw nothing at all.
"Time of death," the doctor said quietly, "3:30 PM."