So that was it. My daughter and I together couldn't outweigh one pouty request from his dear little sister.
I clutched my baby and tried to move. My legs screamed in protest.
The moment I shifted, something warm and wet gushed between my thighs. The white sheets bloomed crimson beneath me.
Ruth shrieked.
"EW! Oh my God, that's disgusting! Look at all that—that blood! It smells horrible!" She pressed a hand to her chest, staggering dramatically. "I'm going to have nightmares!"
She flung herself into Cyril's arms—and with one vicious swipe, ripped the blanket off my body.
Cold air hit my skin like a slap.
I lay exposed in nothing but a postpartum diaper. The eight-centimeter incision across my abdomen was still seeping, blood trickling down to join the mess pooling beneath me.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
The door was wide open. People walked past, glancing in.
I wanted to disappear. To sink through the floor. I felt like I'd been stripped naked and thrown into the street.
"Cover me." My voice cracked with humiliation. "Please."
Something flickered across Cyril's face—discomfort, maybe. He shifted to block the doorway and pulled the blanket back over me.
"Enough. You look like we tortured you." His jaw tightened. "Someone get a wheelchair. Move her to the general ward."
Ruth's head snapped up.
"Cyril!" Her eyes went wide with disbelief. "This woman cheated on you. In ancient times, adulteresses were drowned in pig cages! She should crawl out of here—let the whole hospital see what a shameless whore looks like. Let them see what happens when you betray a Sanchez."
"But she just had surgery—"
"Are you seriously defending her right now?" Ruth's voice pitched higher, cracking with accusation. "Her and her bastard?"
Tears welled in her eyes, perfectly on cue.
Cyril exhaled slowly.
And when he looked at her, his gaze softened into something unbearably tender.
"Fine, fine, fine. You're the Sanchez family's precious little princess, the only treasure in your brother's heart. Whatever you say goes."
Ruth let out a satisfied hum.
She sauntered ahead of me, clapping her hands as she broadcast my so-called "affair" to anyone within earshot.
"Everyone, come look! This shameless woman cheated on my brother and still expected him to raise another man's child! A cheap, worthless tramp—watch your husbands around her, or she'll sink her claws into them too!"
The stares came from every direction, each one a blade.