t the cut on my temple, noting the swelling with a concerned frown. "You took quite a fall, dear. We'll need to r

the waiting area, tuned to a local news channel, suddenly blared. My name, followe

eport an uninvited guest, Flora Small, identified as the ex-fiancée of political strategist Hoyt Myers, caused a d

villain, the crazed ex. A wave of nausea washed over me, a sickening m

burst open. Della Myers, Hoyt' s mother, stormed in, her face a mask of furious co

Trying to ruin my son's career! Attacking poor Bella!" She lunged forward, her hand re

s, her voice firm. "Ma'am, please! This

he's a danger to herself and others!" The two men swiftly moved pa

feet barely touching the ground, out of the emergency room, through the hospital corridors, and into a

ate darkness of an abandoned warehouse district. The air was cold and damp, reeking of rust and deca

pping with venom. "Hoyt? Yes, it's me. That pathetic ex of yours is safely... contained. She's still spinning her

ripped me! She orchestrated all of it! They're lying to you!" I screamed, hop

s just trying to cause trouble. You know how she is." She said something else, too low for me to catch, then ended the call. Her e

eved them. He had abandoned me, completely and utterly. A wh

old seeped into my bones, a physical manifestation of the desolation in my soul.

like anything I had ever felt. I gasped, clutching my stomach. A hot,

stained my dress, pooled on the dusty floor

se! Someone help me!" I stumbled to the broken win

ounding on the grimy glass. "M

nce of the abandoned warehouse. I w

voice cracking with desperation.

erent silence of the night. They

. I don't know how long I lay there, curled on the cold floor, the life slowly b

y body wracked with pain, my clothes soaked in blood. I was rushed to another h

ld void where life had once pulsed. My baby was gone. The

my hospital room, my phone bu

y sorry. Maybe it's for the

Tears, hot and bitter, streamed down my face. My body shook with silent so

The final divorce decree. Signed, sealed, delivere

w-eyed and broken. But beneath the surface, a cold, hard resolve began to form. They h

ey had

scrolled through my contacts. I found the name I was look

w but steady. "It's Flora. I need your help. I n

ou? Are you okay?" His voice was f

"No, Kasen," I said, a chilling calm in my voice. "I'm not ok

ll me where," he said, his voi