Chapter 1: Blood on the Wedding Dress
926words
Mona Ellis lay curled on the cold bathroom floor, waves of excruciating pain washing over her one after another. She bit her lower lip to keep from making a sound, but tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks.
"No, no, no..." she trembled as she reached to touch her abdomen, where a new life should have been growing, the embodiment of her love with Gavin. But now, everything was dissolving in a pool of blood.
The phone rang in the living room, but Mona had no strength to answer. It might be Gavin, or it might be Sophie, the woman who had taken everything from her. Three hours earlier, at the Fraser Group's charity gala, Sophie had announced in front of everyone that she and Gavin had rekindled their relationship, while Mona was merely a "temporary replacement."
"Did you really think he loved you?" Sophie's voice echoed in her ears. "Poor Mona, you were just a consolation prize while I was away."
Then there was that glass of champagne, handed to her by Sophie herself. "To celebrate your breakup," she had smiled, her eyes glinting with malice. Mona hadn't thought twice then, drinking it all at once, only wanting to numb her pain.
Now she understood—something must have been added to that drink. Her child, her only hope, was slipping away with her blood.
"I'm sorry, baby," Mona whispered through her sobs. "Mommy couldn't protect you."
The bathroom door suddenly burst open, and Lily's scream cut through the silence: "Oh my God! Mona!"
What followed felt like a dream. The wail of the ambulance siren, the harsh hospital lights, the doctor's grave face.
"I'm sorry, Miss Ellis," the doctor's voice seemed to come from far away. "You've lost the baby."
Mona felt an unprecedented emptiness, as if her soul had been torn from her body. Her child, hers and Gavin's child, was gone forever. And Gavin didn't even know this child had existed.
"We need to notify the father," the nurse said softly.
"No," Mona shook her head firmly, her voice weak but determined. "Don't tell him. Don't tell anyone."
Lily squeezed her hand. "Mona, Gavin has a right to know."
"He chose Sophie," Mona said bitterly. "He's made his choice."
Just then, the hospital room door was flung open, and Gavin Fraser stood in the doorway, his face ashen. His tall figure loomed imposingly in the doorframe, his body tense as a drawn bow beneath his tailored suit.
"How dare you," his voice was low and dangerous. "How dare you kill my child."
Mona stared at him in shock, not understanding what was happening.
"Sophie told me everything," Gavin continued, each word sharp as a knife. "She told me you were pregnant, but you chose to have an abortion because you didn't want my child."
"What?" Mona couldn't believe her ears. "No, Gavin, I didn't—"
"Enough!" Gavin cut her off, anger blazing in his eyes. "I've had enough of your lies. You know how much I wanted a family, a child, yet you made this decision on your own?"
Lily stood up, confronting Gavin furiously: "Are you insane? Mona just experienced a miscarriage, she lost the baby! And you're here accusing her?"
Gavin sneered: "Miscarriage? Yes, a 'natural miscarriage' after taking abortion pills. Sophie already told me, she saw Mona going to a clinic after the gala."
"Sophie?" Mona finally understood, her voice trembling with anger. "Sophie drugged me. That champagne... she knew I was pregnant, she wanted to kill my baby!"
Gavin's expression flickered with doubt momentarily, but quickly hardened again: "Do you really think I'd believe such an absurd accusation? Sophie loves me, she would never do something like that."
"And I don't love you?" Mona asked painfully, tears flowing again. "We were together for five years, Gavin. Five years! And you deny everything we had because of one word from her?"
Gavin's eyes were cold as ice: "We're done, Mona. You not only betrayed me, but you killed our child. I will never forgive you."
He turned and left, leaving Mona trembling on the hospital bed.
"He'll regret this," Lily said angrily, gripping Mona's hand. "He'll pay for every word he said today."
Mona wiped away her tears, an unprecedented calmness enveloping her. She had lost everything—love, child, dignity. But she still had herself, and her talent.
"No, Lily," she said calmly, her voice carrying a new resolve. "I don't need his regret. What I need is to start over, away from all this."
She looked out at the New York skyline, this city once full of hope, now holding only painful memories.
"I'm leaving," Mona decided. "Going somewhere where nobody knows me, to start again."
Lily looked at her with concern: "Are you sure? Your work, your life, everything is here."
Mona gave a bitter smile: "My work? At a company invested in by Fraser? Do you think I could continue working there after all this?"
She closed her eyes, feeling a new determination rising within her: "No, I need a completely fresh start. A place where I can prove myself, without Gavin Fraser's shadow, without Sophie Winters' malice."
In that moment, on the hospital bed, having lost everything, Mona Ellis made the decision that would change her life. She didn't know what the future held, but she knew one thing: someday, she would return, strong enough to face everything from her past.
And when that day came, Gavin Fraser would realize he had made the biggest mistake of his life.
