A Debt Repaid In Blood, A Marriage Paid In Silence Chapter 02
Maybe it’s motherly intuition, but suddenly the baby started crying for no reason at all.
No matter what I did, she just screamed her little lungs out.
Quick footsteps thundered down the stairs from upstairs.
Lila was wrapped in my bath towel, staring at me with a pitiful look on her face.
“You just can’t stand to see me happy, can you? You’re purposely making the baby cry to ruin our time. I could handle it, but she’s your own flesh and blood—how could you be so cruel!”
My body went stiff, a wave of humiliated anger washing over me.
I’d carried this baby for nine months, and I’d almost died from blood loss during childbirth.
No one loved her more than I did.
I refused to deal with Lila’s nonsense. I picked up Nola and turned to leave.
But she lunged at me, trying to snatch the baby from my arms.
“You don’t deserve to be a mother!”
Her movements were rough, and the baby’s cries grew even more desperate. My heart ached so badly it felt like it was being squeezed to death.
My head spun, and I raised my hand and shoved Lila hard. She let out a shriek and fell to the floor.
“Wren Hale, what the hell are you doing! Lila’s pregnant!”
Julian charged down the stairs in a blind rage, throwing himself in front of the sniffling Lila.
Lila bit her lip and looked up at him with teary eyes.
“Julian, the baby wouldn’t stop crying, so I tried to help her. But she just hit me out of nowhere. I don’t know what I did wrong. Maybe I’m just destined to be the bad guy…”
Lila sobbed uncontrollably. Julian didn’t let me get a word in edgewise. He stormed over to me and snatched the baby from my arms.
I swallowed my heartache and begged in a low voice.
“Don’t hurt her. I’ll give her to you, just please be gentle.”
As the baby let out a hoarse, pitiful wail, Julian tossed a stack of cash at my feet.
“Go buy a cake. An apology for Lila.”
The baby’s tiny hands flailed wildly, reaching for me, as if begging me to save her.
Julian ignored my red, teary eyes and snapped, “HURRY UP!”
Lila held the baby like a trophy, shooting me a smug smile.
“Hurry back, Wren. I’ll take good care of her for you.”
My daughter’s helpless cries stabbed at my temples like a knife. I looked at her, my heart bleeding.
I bit down hard on my tongue to keep from breaking down, then stumbled out the door with my head spinning.
I floored the gas pedal, rushing to the bakery to buy the cake.
I was back in less than thirty minutes, gasping for breath.
The second I pushed the door open, the room was deathly silent. My heart dropped into my stomach.
I stumbled into the nursery.
Lila was walking out, and her face flashed with guilt when she saw me.
But it was gone in an instant. She smiled and took the cake from my hands.
She called up the stairs to Julian.
“Darling, come down for cake!”
I looked down at Nola. She was sleeping quietly, and I let out a small sigh of relief.
But then I noticed something was wrong. Nola’s cheeks were bright red, and she lay completely still, even though she looked miserable.
Panic shot through me. I called her name softly, shook her gently, but she didn’t move a muscle.
