A Heart Adrift and Bereft of Love

All at once, memories of my happiest year with Harrison came rushing back.

Back then, my parents had tried to send me abroad against my will. At the airport, Harrison held my hand tightly, refusing to let go. His touch was warm, and his words rang with sincerity.

I believed every one of them. For him, I cut ties with my parents without looking back.

Harrison and I were like a fire. He lit the match, but I was the one left burning long after he was gone.

Staring at the divorce certificate in my hand, I let out a long breath. Tears flowed freely down my face.

The summer I gave up everything for love belonged to the past. Along with it, the decade I had shared with Harrison drew to a close.

I unlocked my phone and booked a plane ticket. Before long, it was noon the following day.

Just as I was preparing to leave, Kate and Harrison arrived home.

The moment Kate walked in, her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Cradling her barely noticeable belly, she looked at me with a smug smile.

"Thank you for your generosity, Ms. Kershaw. Harrison and our child will always be grateful that you stepped aside."

A smirk crept onto my lips.

"Have you forgotten you're just a mistress? Do you really believe your child has a future worth hoping for?"

With Harrison out of the picture, Kate dropped every mask she wore.

No longer hiding behind a veil of innocence, her eyes blazed into mine.

"So what if I'm the mistress? Even if you stayed with Harrison through his struggles, he ended up falling for me. In this game, you're the one who lost."

She was right.

I was defeated in every way.

After ten years of loving Harrison, all I got was the painful news that another woman was carrying his child.

"So what if I'm the loser?" I retorted sharply. "That doesn't make you the winner."

A sly smile curved Kate's lips. "Then I suppose I'll have to wipe away the last bit of love Harrison still holds for you."

Before I could react, she crumpled to the floor.

Her white dress darkened as blood seeped through the fabric.

Lifting her gaze to mine, she begged, "Ms. Kershaw, please don't hit me. I'm still pregnant!"

Behind me, Harrison hurried over, alarmed by the sudden commotion.

Before I could brace myself, his kick landed squarely in my stomach. "You witch, Daisy! I've given you more chances than anyone should. When you agreed to the divorce, I thought you'd finally owned up to your mistakes.

"I never imagined you were capable of such cruelty. How could you stoop so low just to deceive me? Mark my words. If anything happens to Kate, I will never forgive you!"

Harrison's kick came without mercy, hurling me against the edge of the coffee table.

The blazing pain in my stomach drowned out everything else. Blood sprang from my lips. I curled on the floor, clutching my stomach in agony.

Harrison didn't even look at me. Panic took over as he fumbled for his phone and called an ambulance.

Without a word, he lifted Kate into his arms, holding her as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

The ambulance arrived in no time.

Without a second thought, he carried her away, acting as if I wasn't even there.

He didn't notice my frail body lying on the floor, barely clinging to life.

Summoning what little strength I had left, I forced myself to sit up and reach for my phone.

I no longer had the energy to move my fingers properly. All I could manage was to press the emergency call button.

It was the number Harrison had set up himself long ago.

He had told me back then that I would always be his only emergency contact.

The phone rang on and on until someone finally answered.

Before I could get a word out, a barrage of accusations rained down on me.

My voice was lost in Harrison's furious rant.

He didn't hear a single word I said.

When I tried to speak again, the line suddenly went dead.

A faint smile appeared as relief swept through me.

From the moment we first met until now, the past kept cycling endlessly through my thoughts.

Through countless days and nights, our lives had been intertwined. I once truly believed we could last forever. But in the end, we couldn't be happy.

All those beautiful memories had vanished like smoke.

All that was left was the image of Harrison's back as he carried Kate away.

I had once followed my heart without question, even at the cost of my relationship with my parents.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I reflected on the past.

Harrison had once asked me if I ever regretted being with him.

Back then, I always said no.

But now, regret was all I felt.