How twisted!
He had been poisoning me, preventing me from
ever having children!
And his idea of “adoption” was me raising
Lacey’s bastard child!
Rage surged through me. My hand clenched
around Lacey’s wrist, my fingers digging into
her flesh.
“Ow! Josh, you’re hurting me!” Lacey
screamed, desperately trying to pull away. Her
nails raked down my arm, leaving bloody trails.
Reason crept back in.
Slowly, I released her, my eyes fixed on her swollen stomach. Judging by the size, she was seven or eight months along.
A wave of bone–deep cold washed over me.
<
Memories flooded in.
Six months ago, I went to see Lacey and she
was eating like crazy. She was noticeably rounder. I mentioned: “Lace, it’s not healthy to
overeat. You need to be careful.”
She was eating tiramisu, with cream on her face. She flashed a smile and said “Liv, curvy is in! Besides, having a big appetite is a blessing!”
I wanted to encourage her, but Josh suddenly appeared and wrapped his arms around me. “Liv, Lacey is in college. She’s not a child. You can’t be bossing her around all the time.”
The discussion ended and I never gave it
another thought. Looking back, how naive I had been. I hadn’t even noticed when Josh pushed a bowl of preserved plums toward Lacey.
She was already pregnant. And me, the gullible fool, was lost in a fake world…
<
“Josh? You’re acting strange today. You
grabbed me so hard,” Lacey complained, rubbing her wrist.
- ))
I gritted my teeth, suppressing the fury boiling
in my chest. My knuckles were white. “Lacey… why do you hate her so much?”
Lacey’s head snapped up. Her eyes blazed with jealousy.
“Of course, I hate her! Everyone knows Liv Baker is a high–achieving graduate, a talented and beautiful heiress. Who sees me, an ordinary girl?”
“Growing up, adults always compared me to her. They told me I wasn’t good enough and
that I should learn to be gracious – why should I back down?”
“Just because I don’t come from money? Just because I’m a few years younger?” She
89
<
grabbed my sleeve, her eyes pleading for
recognition. “Don’t you hate her too, Josh? That woman has been married to you for five years and never let you get close! She knows
you’re in the running for a promotion… yet she
guards her family’s secret recipe like her life
depends on it. Her dad was a fool, not revealing
a single word about it before he died.”
She smirked. “But it doesn’t matter, because
I’m winning. You’re mine… Aah!”
Her laughter stopped. My hands were wrapped
around her throat. Her makeup twisted from
terror.
“Le… let go…” she gasped, her legs kicking. Just a little more pressure and it would all be over. But as her consciousness began to fade, I released her.
She collapsed to the floor. “Cough, cough…” She curled up, coughing, her face streaked with
<
tears and smeared makeup.
