Tempest Awakening

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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The dark room turned bright when the light suddenly came on.

“Wake up!”

Someone shook the little girl’s shoulder rather impatiently until she showed a sign that she had woken up from her deep slumber.

She rubbed her sleepy eyes with her stubby fingers before opening them. In the dark, her hazel colored eyes stared at her father, questioningly. Why did he wake her up when it was still dark outside?

“It’s still night time,” she said peevishly and was ready to hit the pillow again, but her father pulled her hand instead. “Why?”

.....

Her protest was drowned in the commotion coming from the outside. The sound of howlings and screamings pierced through the serene night. People cursed so loud while begging for their lives.

“Dad, what is happening?” she opened her eyes wide when she noticed that fire had engulfed this house. They were surrounded by fire.

The little girl saw how the flames danced on the walls as the heat suffocated her, while dark smoke disrupted their vision.

“Dad!” The little girl was now screaming at her father since he didn’t answer her. He was busy dragging her across their living room and kitchen.

Her small feet couldn’t catch up with his, thus her father picked her up without slowing down at all.

Fear coursed through her veins and her heart began beating so fast when her father didn’t answer her question. Her mind wired to the worst thing that could possibly happen to her pack. Her lovely small pack...

The little girl closed her eyes tightly and hugged her father’s neck as he rammed his back against the burning door, covered with flames, before they stepped outside of the house and the cold night wind hit her face, along with the screams and howls. The sound became very clear now.

The little girl whimpered when she glanced at her scalding hand, she blew on her hand, so the pain could subside a little, though she knew that she would heal soon, since she was a shifter, but still, it hurt.

Her father didn’t want to waste even a second and put her down when he slammed his back against the door. He didn’t stop when he dodged his attacker and turned blind eyes to the dying people around him, as he did his best to avoid them. He needed to save his daughter.

“Close your eyes, little one,” her father whispered to her when the gruesome scene entered her vision under the bright moon light.

The little girl obediently closed her eyes, while licking her hand. She hoped it could heal sooner.

Gradually, the screams and the heat subsided until it became a faded background sound behind them. Even so, her father didn’t slow down his pace. The ground beneath him thumped loudly against his barefoot.

And only when silence engulfed them and he was pretty sure that he had created a great distance between him and the slaughtering back at home, did he slow down his pace. He briskly walked through the trees.

“Can I open my eyes now?” she asked. She could feel her father’s heart beating so fast and his breath was labored.

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