SILLAGE

While I Was Bleeding Out, He Lit Lanterns For Her

Katie Oettgen

As I lay on the floor of our manor, bleeding out from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, I used my last ounce of strength to call my husband, Cole. I begged him for help, my vision blurring. But the only thing I heard was the clinking of champagne glasses and his mistress's giggle in the background. "Stop the drama, June," Cole snapped, his voice cold. "We're about to go on stage. Don't call again." He hung up, leaving me to die alone on the Persian rug while he accepted an award with another woman on his arm. I woke up in the hospital days later. My baby was gone. They had removed my fallopian tube. Cole finally arrived, smelling of expensive scotch and his mistress's perfume. He didn't hug me. He didn't cry. Instead, he leaned over my hospital bed, pressing his knee into the mattress until my fresh stitches tore open and bled. "You embarrassed me by calling an ambulance," he hissed. "My mistress, Alycia, says you're faking it. Clean yourself up." He left me bleeding again to go announce a $10 million donation to Alycia's "groundbreaking" medical research. I stared at the TV screen, numb. The research Alycia was taking credit for? It was mine. I wrote that patent years ago under a pseudonym. They thought I was just a poor, orphan housewife who needed Cole's money to survive. They had no idea I was actually a billionaire scientist hiding my identity. I pulled the IV needle out of my arm. A drop of blood fell onto the divorce papers I had been hiding. I didn't wipe it off. I signed my name right over it. Then I walked into the bank, reactivated my dormant account with $128 million, and bought the penthouse directly overlooking Cole's house. The mourning widow is dead. The avenger is born.

Romance Crime Revenge Pregnancy Enemies to Lovers Pregnancy Personal Growth

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"Irene, let's break up."

Irene Xiao remembered how his words hit her like tons of bricks. "What?" she uttered, lost for words.

The man pinched his nose as if it was draining for him to even explain it to her. "Here's the thing. We just don't fit. I mean, I love eating all kinds of things, and you," he continued, wrinkling his nose. "You can only cook noodles, and don't get me started on the... You get what I mean, right? Here's 200,000 dollars. Think of it as a compensation for the time we've spent together."

Irene Xiao sat on the side of the road, hands gripping over the edges of the pavement as she thought back to the moment he broke her heart. She took another swig of the beer she was holding, sniffling.

What the heck happened?

She remembered how in love she and Jonny Jiang were. They had been together for three years. Except for her body of course, she was willing to give everything to him. But what happened? She just got dumped!

Irene Xiao wailed.

However, it was only right that he did so...at least. Jonny Jiang's parents were government officials, and his family background was outstanding to say the least. As for her, her mother had a lowly job, and she had an equally troublesome sister.

They had different social statuses, so maybe it was just right that they broke up.

But still...

She blinked back the tears, wiping the ones that slipped down her cheeks.

Why the hell was he like this?

She remembered how much he loved her noodles, and how he'd said that he'd eat them for days if he wanted to. He'd even said that they'd go through all of his parent's disapproval and her family's background. "It'll be all right," he'd said, wrapping his arms around her.

It took three years for all those words to go to waste.

One can never really trust a man's word.

Her heart clenched. As much as she tried to hold back her tears, the barriers around her started to break. She found herself sobbing in the streets.

'200,000 dollars! As if that could buy back the time I wasted on you!' Irene Xiao thought, taking another swig of her bottle.

It couldn't,

but she found herself taking it out of cold blood in the end.

'This is my money anyway.

Wasting my time on that asshole!'

Just as she took another sip, a car stopped at the side of the road a few meters behind her.

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