He spun around and glared at Shannah. “What the hell is going on?!” he barked. “I told you to deal with her delivery! You told me she already gave birth yesterday! That the baby was in the nursery!”
He pointed at my belly, his voice rising. “Then why the hell is she still this big?! Why is she still bleeding?!”
For a split second, Shannah’s expression faltered. But then she blinked rapidly and quickly squeezed out tears, pulling out her phone with shaking hands.
“She did give birth yesterday,” she sobbed. “The baby’s been in the nursery since then! I knew she’d pull something like this, so I had the doctor take a video just in case—look!”
She handed him the phone. On the screen was a grainy, shaky video of a baby who clearly looked at least a month old. The footage was awfully fake beyond belief.
But Sullivan barely looked at it.
And he believed her.
His face twisted, rage overtaking panic. In the blink of an eye, he grabbed me by the arm and yanked me upright like I weighed nothing. Then he slammed me back onto the cold hard floor.
My head cracked against the tiles. A sharp snap—and then the warmth of blood, pooling fast behind my skull.
“You lied to me?!” he snarled. His voice was hoarse now, shaking with fury. “You faked a pregnancy?! Used fake blood to make me feel sorry for you?!”
He bared his teeth. “How disgusting can you get? You think I’d fall for it again? Dream on!”
Then his foot came down—hard—on my belly.
“No—!” I choked out, but it was too late.
Another kick. Another burst of blood.
Then another.
And another.
Each brutal stomp stole the air from my lungs. Each one sent a fresh wave of agony crashing through me. The floor around me turned slick with blood, but my limbs were going numb. My body was shutting down.
“Aah! Please… stop…”
My voice cracked. I tried to beg. But my throat was raw, and my mouth tasted like iron. Even the pain was fading now—just dull pressure, duller fear. I couldn’t even cry anymore.
I lay there in silence, curled up in a puddle of what was left of me.
Finally, he stopped. Breathing hard, he yanked off his bloodstained jacket and tossed it aside.
Then he turned to Shannah, all tenderness and guilt, like none of it had just happened.