Natasha.

My four-year marriage to Gregory was like a status on paper that burned and turned to ashes, as my husband ignored the safety of my life at the hands of the kidnappers and chose to go with my sister and his first love, Wilma Clarkson, who had contractions at the hospital.

Gregory couldn't even believe that I'd been kidnapped and lost our baby in my womb due to the toxins from the heavy metals that had weakened my body.

Dozens of waiting tones sounded, and repeated calls were made, but there was no sign that Gregory would pick up the phone from the kidnapper standing right in front of me.

The photos and videos of me with my hands and feet bound, mouth gagged, and body covered in wounds that the kidnapper sent him were not enough to make him pay the slightest attention to me.

My body shattered, and I whimpered in pain as the kidnapper roughly untied and gagged my mouth, then pulled my hair hard until my head looked up and our eyes met.

"Why isn't your husband picking up his phone?"

It's also a question that keeps creeping into my heart, and I only answer it with tears.

One side of my heart hoped Gregory would pick up the phone and save me, but the other said otherwise.

"He'd better pick up this phone in 5 minutes, or you'll die!"

Along with the threat, the kidnapper handed me back my phone, which was still ringing for Gregory. At the same time, his other hand put a knife to my neck, ready to kill me at any time.

I held the phone with my hands shaking violently.

I quickly wiped away the tears that kept falling and tried to hold back my sobs by clenching my lips as hard as I could.

I tried to brace myself.

I strengthened my heart and gathered my hope in Gregory, but it was dwindling as the phone call went unanswered.

"Please pick up the phone, Greg! Pick up the phone for a second!" I softly said while looking down very deeply.

My hopes slowly faded and vanished.

I was beginning to resign myself to the fact that Gregory had completely ignored my call and left me to die at the hands of this kidnapper when I finally heard my husband's voice.

"Gregory!" I shouted.

"Jesus, Nat, are you out of your mind to call me dozens of times?" He scolded in an annoyed and disgusted voice.

I pressed my phone hard and tried to speak quickly.

"Greg, please come! I've been kidnapped, and I could die if you don't come-"

I hadn't finished speaking when I heard a very familiar female voice speaking behind my husband.

"Who called you, Greg?"

'Wilma?'

My throat tightened as I realized my husband was with my sister.

"It's nobody, Wilma. You rest!" Gregory replied.

He gently spoke to Wilma, making my heart feel squeezed tightly.

I bitterly smiled, realizing how much different Gregory's attitude was.

"Do you have to go?" Wilma's question whipped my feelings again.

I fell silent. My mouth was locked with eager curiosity, waiting for my husband's answer.

"Of course not! I'll be here with you," Gregory said.

My heart is broken.

I was devastated, and my chest felt incredibly tight.

My hands were clenched tightly into fists, holding back the pain, anger, and disappointment that had piled up together and simultaneously ate my heart and soul.

I begged him to come with tears. But Gregory made sure he would with my sister.

Maybe he realized our phones were still connected, so Gregory returned to talk to me.

"Look, Nat... Wilma just had a contraction and is now in the hospital! You should be ashamed of yourself for making up disgusting theatrics to get my attention!" Gregory scolded.

My tears rose again, and my whole body trembled at his words.

My heart sank as I realized that my condition did not bother my husband at all.

"But... I've been kidnapped, and if you don't come, they'll kill me, Greg!" I begged once again.

My hopes were slim as I heard Gregory take a deep breath and sound annoyed.

"Then just die, Nat!" he shouted. "I'll prepare a funeral for you if you die!"

Without waiting for my answer, Gregory immediately hung up and could no longer be reached.

With my feelings getting increasingly shattered as if sliced by a knife, my tears continued to flow without being able to stop, I tried to keep pressing the phone number again while holding my hands that were violently shaking.

"So you're worthless to your husband?"

The kidnapper's words sounded very demeaning to me and broke my heart even more.

Another man then approached and stepped on my head until I whimpered in pain and hissed.

"So what should we do now?" he asked the other man.

He glanced at me sharply with a fierce face ready to skin me alive.

I surrendered.

My body felt crushed, crumpled, and sore to the point where it was difficult for me to breathe properly or move freely anymore.

Even when the knife they carried sliced my neck. There was nothing I could do but cry and wait for the time of my death.

I closed my eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

My lips trembled, and my body violently shivered.

Gregory's indifference and choice to accompany my sister shattered every part of my body and mind.

But suddenly, a large beam of light came through the gap in the room's window and dazzled my vision.

At the same time, the door to the room was forced open, and several people with guns entered, raided the room, and arrested the kidnapper.

They pulled the violent-faced men away from me.

I cried again.

My dry and sore throat made it difficult for me to scream, and I could only let out a small groan as Nicholas, my childhood friend, appeared among the many others with a panicked face and immediately pulled me into his arms.

"Nats! Oh my God!" Nicholas squealed.

He looked at me, examining the wounds all over my body through his eyes, and shedding tears.

"We're going to the hospital now!"

He rushed to untie all the knots on my body and carried me out of there.

Meanwhile, my vision began to blur and slowly get darker.

"Hang in there, Nat. Stay with me."

I lost consciousness, and only Nicholas' voice repeatedly calling my name was the last thing I remembered at that time.

**

Miscarriage.

I hadn't even realized that I was pregnant when the doctor gave me the shocking news of my miscarriage.

I swallowed my saliva and tried to wet my throat, which felt hot and dry at the same time.

My heart was pounding, so I patted my chest repeatedly.

"There are harmful toxins deposited in your blood, resulting in a weakened body as well as a miscarriage."

Doctor Andrew's statement surprised me even more.

"Poison in my body, Doctor?"

I looked at him and demanded an explanation through my gaze as Nicholas reached for my hand to hold and patted my shoulder a few times.

"What kind of poison, Doc?" Nicholas asked.

Doctor Andrew took a deep breath and looked at me worriedly.

"Chromium-6. A type of poison that is odorless and tasteless, but so dangerous that it can cause death."

He said again.

"Your baby didn't die because of the kidnapping, ma'am. It was because of the Chromium-6 poison."

***

Natasha.

A cold chill spread throughout my body, and I was sitting on the bed with my mind blank, barely remaining conscious.

My heart broke when I heard what the doctor said about the cause of my miscarriage. I never expected this to happen to me.

I was stunned, trying to digest every word Doctor Andrew had mentioned earlier about the poison he had found in my body.

So many questions are running through my mind right now, but none of them can be spoken.

I was disoriented and scared.

My goosebumps bristled at the thought of me unconsciously introducing the poison myself with my hands all this time.

This poison obviously couldn't have gotten into my body suddenly or been consumed consciously.

All the prejudices about how the poison had eaten away at me all this time and taken my son's life made my heart ache even more, as if it was squeezed tightly and filled with anger.

My tears fell once again while my lips were locked because there were too many things I couldn't understand.

My reverie was only broken when Nicholas sighed loudly and sat on my bed.

Chromium-6 is a kind of poison that has no odor or taste. It can be found in soil, rocks, animals, and plants."

Nicholas was seen reading one of the articles on his phone, and then glanced at me concernedly.

"I thought about it, Nats!" Nicholas said. "It's too strange that you didn't even realize there was poison in your body."

Nicholas was right.

I didn't feel the reaction or effects of the poison at all, not even if its presence was detected.

"Did your Family Doctor never mention this?"

I looked at Nicholas, swallowed my saliva, and shook my head.

"I-I don't know, Nich!" I stammered. "I-I don't know."

Nicholas patted my shoulder lightly.

His hand touched my chin and asked me to look at him.

"What do you want to do now, Nats?" he asked.

Slowly, I touched my stomach again and hugged it tightly.

I cried, lamenting my failure to keep the baby I had so dreamed of due to that strange poison.

All the problems that came along with my current loss made me even more devastated. My heart is like being slashed by thousands of knives at the same time, until the pain cannot be described in words.

I was devastated.

It's like half of my soul was forcibly pulled out and disappeared with the lost baby.

"Can you find out how the poison got into me, Nich?" I asked and looked at him expectantly.

Nicholas seemed to take a deep breath once more and nodded.

"I'll do everything I can."

He left after assuring me he would help me find the cause, including telling Gregory about my situation.

I looked again at the back of Nicholas, who had appeared to save me yesterday.

Unexpectedly, the kidnapping incident at my house last night was seen by Nicholas, so he moved quickly to bring help.

His profession as a lawyer gave him many police connections, which enabled him to move faster to find where I was hidden.

It was even Nicholas who got the approval for my operation here.

All the things that Gregory, my husband, who is famous for owning the largest mineral water distillery business in America, should be doing and has been named one of the most influential entrepreneurs over the past few years.

I should be proud of his achievements.

But the other side of my heart always screams disgust and anger at him for always leaving me and choosing to live in a studio apartment that Gregory claims is closer to the office, making it easier for him to get work done.

I realized my existence was worthless before him when Gregory again ignored me, who was in danger.

It was as if losing me wasn't a big deal, and he was capable of hurting me.

Thoughts about everything made my anger rise again until I unconsciously clenched my fists.

My teeth chattered to hold back the raging feelings of disappointment, sadness, anger, and devastation, which were forming a huge storm in my heart and mind.

I sighed loudly and tried to get off the bed with a limp.

I needed some fresh air to relieve my chest, which felt increasingly tight.

But just a finger's breadth away from opening my room door, I was startled by Gregory's ringtone coming from outside.

I quickly opened the door and looked for the voice.

"Gregory!"

I can't be wrong. The ringtone with Gregory's voice made him more recognizable.

I decided to follow the sound of Gregory's phone even though the pain in my stomach was still pressing. My eyes widened to see my husband hugging and kissing Wilma, my sister.

They embraced and exchanged spit passionately in one corner of the deserted hospital hallway.

Gregory gently rubbed Wilma's 7-month pregnant belly like a husband and wife.

"You took so long!" Wilma protested in a spoiled voice.

My eyes suddenly felt wet, and my vision blurred as tears began to well up at this painful sight.

My husband and my biological sister.

Are the two people I loved so much betraying me?

My feelings felt strange again.

My breathing was so labored that I opened my mouth wide, searching for fresh air to help me breathe.

I was transfixed.

My body froze, and my voice could not come out.

"Sorry, Honey, I just met an important client."

Honey?

I suddenly looked away and smiled with a pierced heart at Gregory's soft voice.

It's very different from the way he spoke to me yesterday.

Wilma clung to my husband's burly arm.

She also pulled Gregory to sit beside her.

"What did the Doctor say?" Gregory asked Wilma.

"Fine!" Wilma replied with a happy twinkle in her eye. "The doctor even said I can have a normal birth if there are no problems until the due date."

I saw Gregory smile and kiss Wilma's forehead.

"Thankfully, I'm glad you and our child are doing well."

When I heard Gregory's words, my head felt like it had been struck by lightning.

'So the baby is theirs? Not Wilma's child with her husband, Abraham?'

"Shush...! What if someone overhears, Greg?" Wilma asked.

Gregory furrowed his brow and flicked my sister's forehead with a crisp laugh.

"Were you afraid Natasha would find out about our relationship?" Gregory said.

"Isn't that right?" Wilma asked back. "We've been hiding our relationship because we didn't want Natasha to know, right?"

Gregory shook his head.

He pulled Wilma into his arms.

"I held back because you were still with Abraham. But I didn't care if Natasha knew about us."

"Really?"

Wilma's eyes blinked.

"She's not important, Wilma! Only you and our baby are important now."

I turned around and closed my eyes tightly as they kissed again.

My legs wobbled, and my body wavered as I tried to turn around and escape. I tried to hold back and suppress the pain in my heart that was deepening.

I quickened my pace to return to the room.

But the voices of several people made my head turn back to see Gregory and Wilma, who were intimately walking while embracing each other and attracting the surrounding people's attention.

"Look! So intimate!"

"Wow... what a couple, handsome and beautiful! How will their baby be?"

The compliments must have been heard by those smiling broadly and nodding occasionally.

While I just stared at them with my broken heart.

***

Natasha.

I took a deep breath as I tightly closed the door to my room and closed my eyes, leaning my back against the wall.

My tears rushed back.

The immense pain and shock I was feeling right now made me unable to see or meet the two of them.

I held back my sobs by closing my mouth. But now I let them fill every corner of this room.

Anger, disappointment, and pain.

All those feelings stirred my heart and mind, and even my stomach felt queasy when I remembered all their intimate gestures.

I pulled out the IV attached to my hand and walked quickly to the bathroom.

I washed my face repeatedly so I could stop crying, and the traces of my tears from last night would be erased.

I looked at my messed-up face in the mirror.

My breath hitched as I tried to hold back my cries and pain once more until I went back to washing my face more roughly and throwing a tantrum of my own.

I shouted.

I tried to release all the weight in my chest that was pressing too deeply until my clenched fist finally slammed into the mirror.

My ring cracked the mirror. The blood from my hand was left there and left a wound and sting on my current finger, but I didn't care. I pull off our wedding ring.

I walked out of there with shaky steps and dialled Nicholas' number quickly.

I catch my breath and suppress my emotions while waiting for him to pick up the phone.

But Nicholas's soft voice shattered my defences. I hid my bleeding hand so as not to be questioned.

"Hello, Nats?"

Both my legs suddenly went limp, and I collapsed into a sitting position, crying numbly once again.

"Nats, what's wrong?" He asked again.

This time, Nicholas' voice changed and sounded anxious.

"I..." I took a deep breath and wiped away my tears. "I want a divorce from Gregory, Nich! I want a divorce from him!"

**

The next day, I came home from the hospital after pleading with Doctors Andrew and Nicholas to give their consent.

I don't want to be here in a weak and helpless state.

I wanted to be stronger and fight against all the unfair actions and hurtful affairs of my husband and sister.

I plan to return to our house today and pick up everything there. I will also hand over the divorce papers Nicholas brought last night for Gregory to sign immediately.

I don't want to delay.

I wanted to escape Gregory and the shadow of his betrayal all this time, but when I arrived at the house, a crazy scene greeted me again.

I saw a pair of Wilma's shoes arranged on the shoe rack in front of our door, parallel to Gregory's shoes.

Understood the situation, I rushed in and searched for their whereabouts.

I opened the door to my room on the second floor and was wide-eyed to see Gregory standing behind Wilma, sitting in front of the vanity mirror, styling Wilma's hair in such a way.

"Gregory!" I yelled.

They turned around, but Gregory threw his anger at me first.

"Natasha? Can't you knock first?" he said with a deep frown.

Unconcerned by his words, I retorted even harder.

"What are you guys doing here, huh? What are you doing, Gregory?" I stare at Gregory with a piercing gaze as if I'm ready to skin him right now.

My anger intensified when I saw Wilma standing behind my husband's back and grabbing his arm.

"Greg, I'm scared...!"

Her whining made me sick, and I wanted to spit in my sister's face.

Her expression was so horrifying that I didn't even feel sorry for her.

"Have you forgotten, Nat? Wilma just had a contraction after being hit by Abraham!" Gregory scolded. "I brought her here to stay and calm her down."

"What?"

I took a deep breath and looked at them in turn.

"You brought her here, even into my room, without my permission. And then, did her hair like that?" I clucked. "You think I'm stupid, Greg?"

It wasn't Gregory who answered my words, but Wilma, who started to venture out.

"Don't get me wrong, Nat. I've just asked Gregory for a favour, and I stayed here temporarily because I'm taking care of my divorce from Abraham," Wilma said.

I watched their hands increasingly intertwine until I looked away and loudly sighed.

"Wilma's right!" Gregory said. "So don't overreact, Nat! I'm the one who should be asking, where were you when Wilma needed your help? You were playing out that disgusting kidnapping charade, weren't you?" he snapped.

"I don't-"

"Shut up, Nat!" Gregory interrupted my outburst and stood between me and Wilma.

"Stop being so childish and attention-seeking, Nat! You'd better prepare too, because I have a birthday party tomorrow. Get everything ready, and stop making so much noise!"

My hands were tightly clenched again, and my heart felt like it was being squeezed after my anger was suddenly restrained.

My lips fell silent while my heart screamed aloud as Gregory left me with Wilma in the room just like that.

My whole body shook with anger and tears that were ready to burst.

I must not cry in front of Wilma. I must not show my brokenness in front of her.

I repeatedly said that I needed to strengthen myself at this time.

I looked at Wilma's face. She gave me a strange look and then suddenly curved her strange smile at me.

"Does it hurt, Nat?" She asked, walking towards me.

My forehead furrowed, and I watched as her expression changed again.

"It's a pity you survived the kidnapping, right?"

Wilma's words surprised me, and she immediately pulled her arm.

"You? How could you-"

Wilma shrugged her shoulders and smiled again.

"You should have died! So you wouldn't have to see me with Gregory, Nat!" Wilma repeatedly tapped my head with her forefinger.

"You planned the whole thing? You planned the kidnapping!" I shouted.

But Wilma didn't answer.

She pulled my hand and glanced up briefly before making my hand touch his big belly.

I was stunned and tried to understand the meaning of her actions until she suddenly pushed me out of the room quickly and pushed me up against the wall.

"I am Gregory's first and last love. So you should get out of the way before you get hurt more deeply."

It happened so fast.

I hadn't had time to react to Wilma's words when she grabbed my hand and pushed me down the stairs.

I rolled over and stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

My body felt so crushed and broken that I could hardly breathe.

My chest ached as I tried to breathe and regain consciousness.

My vision blurred, and my consciousness also began to fade as I felt blood coming out of my mouth and nose.

Everything was getting darker, and Wilma's screams were the last I heard.

***