Seven years of marriage. The love I had sacrificed my career, my family, my dignity for. What a magnificent joke.
Fighting waves of dizziness, I hailed a taxi and dragged myself to the hospital alone.
The examination was a death sentence.
The doctor explained that a simple scald could have healed. But the tea had been laced with toxins. My vocal cords were chemically burned. They would never recover.
My voice—the voice that had won the Magnolia Drama Award, the voice of a generation—was gone.
My legs gave out. I slid to the cold hospital floor. Tears fell in heavy, silent drops.
Just then, my phone buzzed. The manager from the café.
"Ms. Chapman? We reviewed the surveillance footage. The water on the floor that caused you to fall... the lady sitting across from you splashed it deliberately."
My grip on the phone tightened.
That morning, Faith had threatened me. She said if I didn't meet her, she would send a sex tape of her and John to my father. My father, who suffered from severe heart disease.
I thought it was just a meeting. I thought I could handle her.
When I slipped and fell earlier, I suspected she had a hand in it. But this? This wasn't a prank. This was attempted murder.
My chest heaved violently, air rasping through my ruined throat.
I found out she was admitted to the second floor of the same hospital. Clutching the printed divorce agreement, fueled by a rage that burned hotter than the poison, I stormed toward her room.
I reached the doorway, ready to throw the truth in their faces.
Slap!
Before I could take a step inside, a heavy hand struck my face. The force whipped my head to the side, stinging tears springing to my eyes.
John stood there, chest heaving, eyes bloodshot and terrifying. His lips trembled with fury.
"Michelle, if you can't tolerate Faith, fine. But why did you have to harm the child?" He loomed over me, his voice a low, dangerous growl. "Do you know you nearly caused a miscarriage? You drugged her!"
He grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. "We've been married seven years, and you never gave me a child. She's carrying my firstborn, and you can't even tolerate that?"
The sheer audacity left me paralyzed.
I shoved the divorce papers against his chest. Since I couldn't speak, I pulled out my phone and typed furiously, fingers trembling.
Are you blind? I never touched her! What does her child have to do with me?
She killed my child!
She destroyed my throat!