CHAPTER THREE

"I promise to be back. It's just something urgent I need to fix," I said quickly over the phone before hanging up.

Robert came in just as I dropped it. His eyes moved from the phone to my face, studying me. For a second, I thought he might ask who I was talking to, but then he looked away like he had decided not to care.

"Jasmine needs me, but I’ll be back before noon," he said, giving me one last look before walking out.

I would rather count individual grains of rice than count the lies Robert had told me in the past six years.

Robert never came to the hospital for the rest of the week.

A nurse walked in to run a check-up on me, and for some reason, she started grinning so widely it felt like she was mocking me.

"Mr. Robert looks so good with Miss Jasmine. They are so lovely. Everyone on the internet can’t even get over them. Just take a look," she said, holding her phone close to my face.

It was a video of Jasmine and Robert on a yacht, all loved up. He was rubbing her stomach, kissing her, touching her like I had never existed. The caption underneath read, "A soft life for my queen and our little miracle."

“Everyone in the comments is just all over them,” the nurse added, still grinning like it was the best news ever.

My stomach twisted, but I managed to say nothing.

***

I got discharged and was ready to leave. As I walked past the gynecology department, laughter echoed from the hallway. I paused. It sounded like Jasmine’s voice. And it was. The same set of nurses surrounded her again.

"Mr. Robert is madly in love with you. He hardly leaves your side. I really wish for a marriage like this," one of them said with a giggle.

Robert stood next to Jasmine, looking at her with eyes full of softness.

I brushed my hand over my stomach, remembering the last time I had been pregnant. I had gone to tell my dear husband, only to walk into his study and find Jasmine on her knees in front of him.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Mia, I just…" she had stammered, tears streaming down her face.

"How dare you not knock before entering my study? Can't you see you're upsetting Jasmine? Close the door and get out," Robert had shouted at me without hesitation.

He cuddled Jasmine, lifting her up as she cooed around him like a child. My stomach twisted as I rushed out of the room, clutching the pregnancy test. But then, I felt it—warm blood trailing down my legs. I lost the baby that same day. He never got to know.

“Mia? What are you still doing here?”

Robert called out.

“Nothing, I’m just…” I started to say.

“She looks so weak like she might die,”

Jasmine said, clinging to Robert.

“You don’t need to worry about her. I’m sure she’s fine,”

Robert replied, his eyes scanning me briefly.

“I think we should just take her home with us. She donated some parts of her liver for me. The least we can do is give her something to eat so she doesn’t pass out from weakness.”

“You’re so lovely, Jasmine, and thoughtful,”

he said, planting a kiss on her forehead.

“Why are you still standing there? Get into the car and don’t waste Jasmine’s time,”

he snapped.

I didn’t want to go with him, but I had a few original documents like my medical records and some personal identification papers that I needed to pick up before leaving. So I followed them into the car.

I went into Robert's library. I needed to hurry out because Robert hated seeing me in his library and had warned me never to enter it again. But I had to take the documents. I rushed over, checking the boxes, and found the papers, including our marriage certificate and some medical files. I also wanted to pick up my wristwatch, but instead, my hand brushed over some used condoms on the table.

Robert hated having anyone in his library, yet now he did this here?

“Oh, help me throw that away. I forgot to,” Jasmine said from the door.

CHAPTER 4

“What are you doing in my library? You know I hate people in it.”

Robert’s voice came low and sharp as he walked in behind Jasmine, his presence filling the room like a storm.

I froze, still holding the condom between my fingers, then quickly dropped it and lifted the box I had grabbed the one with the documents.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice quiet. “I just wanted to grab some personal things.”

Robert scoffed and stepped forward, snatching the box from my hands. His eyes swept over it with disgust.

“Personal things?” he sneered. “You have personal things?”

He laughed, but there was no humor in it. Just ice.

“Everything you have is mine. My money paid for it. You don’t deserve to own anything, not even a pen. You should throw it all away.”

He started rifling through the box, careless, like the contents meant nothing.

“That’s our marriage certificate, Robert,” I said softly, watching him.

He barely glanced at it before shoving the box toward the corner of the table. Papers slipped out and scattered to the floor.

“I don’t care what it is,” he snapped. “None of it matters to me.”

I bent down slowly, gathering the scattered papers and placing them back into the box. My hands trembled, but I held on tightly, refusing to let anything else slip from my grasp. Without saying a word, I turned and walked toward the guest room.

Behind me, Jasmine suddenly let out a sharp cry.

“Ouch... I’m in pain... all over my waist,” she whined dramatically.

In an instant, Robert rushed to her side and scooped her up like she was made of glass. He carried her into the main bedroom without a second glance at me.

I was bent over in the guest room, picking up a few of my things I hadn’t realized were still there. My framed photo and a couple of old certificates were lying close to the edge of the table, almost smashed to the ground. I reached out quickly to gather them before anything else could break.

The door burst open behind me, slamming against the wall.

“Jasmine has requested that you make her something to eat. She said it would help with the pain,” Robert said coldly.

I turned, startled. “Me?” My voice came out before I could stop it.

“There are housekeepers all over this place—”

“She insisted it be made by you,” he interrupted, his tone sharp. “Please hurry up.”

And with that, he turned and left.

I stared at the door for a moment, then at the box in my hands.

I had no choice. So, I headed for the kitchen.

Once I stepped into the kitchen, Jasmine strolled in right behind me, her arms folded and a sneer playing on her lips.

“At this point, Mia, I swear you should be nominated for an award. I mean, you deserve to be a paid actress,” she said with a mocking scoff.

“What do you mean, Jasmine?” I asked, my voice low, but the anger rising fast in my chest.

“Oh, please. Don’t act dumb,” she said with a dry laugh. “You don’t see how I bully you, how I mock you, and yet you stay calm like some saint. It’s pathetic.”

My fists clenched.

“I think you should leave the kitchen, Jasmine.”

“Ooh! That reminds me,” she added with exaggerated surprise, pressing a finger to her lips like she had just remembered a juicy secret. “I never needed that liver transplant from you. I was never sick. I just wanted to see how far your stupidity would go.”

She broke into a hard, wicked laugh that bounced off the tiled walls.

My heart twisted.

Before I could think, I shoved her hard towards the gas stove behind her. Her elbow hit the metal knob and it snapped. Gas hissed out. A second later, the entire kitchen erupted.

Flames exploded, throwing me into the far wall. The blast deafened me. I hit the ground hard, the room spinning, smoke choking my lungs.

“Jasmine!” Robert’s voice rang out. He burst into the kitchen and swept her into his arms, not even glancing at me lying barely conscious by the burning counter. He jumped over my body and ran out with her.

The fire roared louder, swallowing the house in seconds. It took the firefighters hours to bring it under control. Chaos swallowed the property, but by then, I was gone.

Gone without a trace.

Robert kept asking for me, calling me nonstop. But I was never found—not even a burnt piece of clothing.

At the airport, I turned off my phone one last time, then smashed it into pieces against the bench beside me.

I was never going back to him.