Falling from Grace.

"Sister, you've finally woken."

Having fainted from shock, I opened my eyes on the hospital bed to find Sophia's pitifully innocent face staring back at me.

She seemed utterly hypocritical to me then. Fighting the urge to slap her, I snapped, "You have the nerve to call me sister?!"

"Sister, I'm sorry for what I did, but I truly love Brother Ross. I need him more than you do."

Sophia spoke the most nauseating words in the softest tone, "Sister Rory, we truly love each other."

If they truly loved each other.

What am I then?

What about the daughter I bore him with such struggle?

The thought made my eyes redden as I glared fiercely at Sophia. "You need Ross more than me? What about my daughter, barely three years old? What about me?!"

"I can be Jessica's stepmother. You're still young, Sister. You can find someone who loves you and have another child."

With that, Sophia dropped to her knees with a thud.

But as a mother, hearing such words made my blood boil. I lashed out, slapping her across the face.

Whether it was calculated or not,

the next instant,

the ward door swung open.

Ross entered, hearing the commotion. He helped Sophia up from the floor, then fixed me with a gaze as though I were his mortal enemy.

"Have you lost your mind?"

Gazing at the man I'd poured every ounce of my being into loving, tears betrayed me, streaming down my cheeks.

"Ross! Of course I've lost my mind! My husband's sleeping with my sister – how could I not be mad?"

I screamed like a shrew.

I leapt off the hospital bed, grabbed Sophia's arm, and demanded why he'd seduced my husband. "You shameless creature! How dare you call yourself Dad's daughter? How could you do this to him?!"

"Enough!"

Ross roared.

He clutched Sophia tightly to his chest and shoved me violently to the floor, my back crashing into the table.

The searing pain left me immobilised.

Lying on the cold floor, I reached out to grab Ross's trouser leg. "Save me, Ross. Save me, please."

Ross's brow furrowed slightly. He instinctively reached to help me up, but Sophia gasped sharply.

"Ouch!"

Ross instantly withdrew his hand, his tone of concern for Sophia unlike anything I'd ever heard from him.

"Still hurting? I'll take you to see a doctor."

This scene stabbed deep into my heart. A sharp cramp seized my lower abdomen, and I couldn't spare a thought for my anger towards them.

"Save me..."

"Ross, hurry up and call a doctor..."

I cried out to Ross incessantly.

Yet his eyes were fixed only on Sophia. My voice grew fainter and fainter until I saw him carry her away.

Overwhelmed by grief and fury,

a warm flow surged between my legs.

The floor stained crimson with blood.

"Ross... save me... I'm pregnant..."

As I slipped into unconsciousness, I dreamt.

I dreamt of my university days.

I was the undisputed campus beauty,

while Ross was the most sought-after heartthrob.

I fell for Ross at first sight. With the help of our mutual friends, we finally became a couple.

It was my first love.

I didn't know how to love someone.

I only knew to give him my very best.

My connections, my resources, even my savings.

To support his business venture.

I gave him everything I possessed.

"Rory, trust me. I'll give you a warm home and make you the happiest person in the world."

Those words still echo in my ears.

Yet,

he turned me into the most ridiculous woman

in the entire world.

A blinding light forced my eyes open, revealing I was back in the hospital ward.

"The baby... my baby..."

I bolted upright in the bed, seeing a room full of people, their faces heavy with sorrow and regret.

Father told me the baby was gone.

My in-laws urged me not to grieve too deeply.

My stepmother asked me not to blame Sophia.

As for Ross,

he hadn't even come to see me.

"Dad, I lost my baby because of Sophia and Ross! They ruined my child!"

I cried, clutching my father's hand,

hoping he would see justice done for me.

"Rory, neither Sophia nor Ross could have meant it. They're the people closest to you."

I wondered if I'd misheard.

"Dad... Ross cheated! How could Sophia seduce my husband? How could they be so disgusting!"

My stepmother wore immaculate makeup, showing not a trace of remorse. "Rory, have you forgotten? Ross never wanted to marry you in the first place. You forced him into it."

My mother-in-law, who had never liked me, chimed in from the side, "You've brought shame upon our entire family."

I trembled with rage,

yet found no words to counter them.

It was true Ross hadn't wanted to marry me. Only after I'd become pregnant with Jessica had he reluctantly agreed to wed me.

But could I be blamed for that?

If he didn't want to marry me, why had he touched me?

Why had he exploited my connections and resources, climbing step by step from a lowly clerk to become the billionaire CEO he was now?

"Get out! All of you, get out!"

At my furious shout, my in-laws and father assumed I was too enraged to reason with, and reluctantly left the hospital room.

I lay alone in the hospital bed.

Weeping until my tears ran dry.

Clinging to the last shred of hope.

I dialled Ross's number. Before I could ask where he was, an unbearable sound reached my ears.

"Ross big brother~"

"Do you like my new knickers?"