Daniel immediately took off his coat, wrapping it around her, then turned his murderous glare back to me. “I gave you a chance. You chose to waste it.”
“Looks like you won’t understand rules unless I teach you a lesson!”
Daniel Miller stormed toward me like a lit firecracker, towering over me as he clenched his fist so tightly his knuckles turned white. When his punch came down, I could almost hear my bones crack under the impact.
“Vivian climbed the stairs until she was drenched in sweat, her ankle swollen, and you wouldn’t even apologize?”
He cursed as he kicked me in the side. “I’ll ask you one last time—will you admit you were wrong?”
Collapsed on the freezing ground, my bones felt shattered, and a metallic taste rose in my throat. My belly clenched in sharp spasms, each wave of pain worse than the last. I forced out three words through gritted teeth: “I… was… not… wrong…”
“Then die!” The last trace of warmth vanished from Daniel’s eyes. He raised his boot, the air hissing as it came down hard against my stomach.
“Ah—!” The pain crashed through me like a tidal wave. Curling into a ball, I felt something warm gush down my thigh.
Looking down, I saw the pale fabric of my dress soaked through—my water had broken!
“My water… my water broke!” I screamed, clutching at his pant leg in terror, my voice trembling.
“Daniel! Take me to the hospital! The baby’s coming!”
But Vivian Lee rushed in first, carrying the empty bucket they had used to drench me earlier. Before I could react, she slammed it down onto my swollen belly.
The jagged ice shards still clinging to the bucket pressed cruelly into me, the chill cutting through my soaked clothes. My amniotic fluid mixed with the freezing water, spilling across the floor.
“What are you doing?!” I shoved her away with the last of my strength, my vision blurring with pain.
Vivian staggered back two steps, her eyes welling up as she pouted innocently. “I… I thought since you looked like you were in so much pain, an ice compress would help… I just wanted to relieve it for you…”
“Emma, are you insane?!” Daniel pulled Vivian protectively behind him, his eyes blazing with rage.
“Vivian was only trying to help, and you pushed her? You think only your pregnancy matters? What about when Vivian was forced to climb stairs while pregnant? Did you care about her then?”