One Ring, The End of Us

The night before my fiance and I were supposed to sign the marriage certificate, the wealthiest man in the capital's elite circle demanded that my family send a daughter to honor an arranged betrothal with his comatose son.

The moment my fiance Randolph Delgado heard the news, he ripped the diamond ring off my finger and slid it onto the ring finger of my fake-heiress sister, Nanette Fox.

Then he made it official online for the whole world to see:

"She's taken."

When I confronted him, shaking apart at the seams, Randolph barely furrowed his brow. His voice was calm, as if what he was saying made perfect sense.

"Nanette's never had a hard day in her life. Marrying a vegetable would destroy her."

"You're already pregnant. The Gilberts would never want damaged goods. This is the best solution for everyone."

I stared at the man in front of me as though seeing him for the very first time. My eyes burned.

I had loved Randolph Delgado for seven years. I'd taken a knife for him. I'd drunk myself into a hemorrhaging stomach at business dinners for his sake.

Just weeks ago, I'd gone through IVF to carry his child, and only then had he proposed.

But the love I thought I'd earned could never compare to his childhood bond with Nanette Fox.

Everyone waited for me to scream, to cry, to make a scene. Instead I swallowed the tears and managed a tired smile.

"Okay. I understand."

Randolph nodded, satisfied. He pulled Nanette close and started discussing the sham wedding with her, saying if they were going to put on an act, they might as well go all the way.

He assumed I would do what I'd always done: swallow every indignity and never leave.

But what Randolph didn't know was that the moment he walked out the door with Nanette to shop for wedding gowns, the Gilbert family came knocking.

"The Gilberts aren't the kind of people who force anyone's hand."

"Miss Fox, if you're willing to marry into our family, I'll give you half of my son's personal fortune, plus two properties in prime American real estate."

I rested my hand on my stomach, still flat enough that no one could tell. I nodded.

"I'll marry him."

Then, without a second of hesitation, I scheduled the termination.

Isabel Gilbert took me to get the marriage certificate that very day.

I watched Nanette's social media posts, one after another, showing off the lavish wedding gowns Randolph was buying her. I didn't waver. I signed the papers.

The process went through without a hitch. When the red booklet landed in my palm, I felt almost dazed.

Isabel's voice was gentle. "From this moment on, you are the young Mrs. Gilbert."

"Sidney Gilbert is receiving treatment in America. When can you come with me?"

I touched my stomach.

"Give me ten days."

"There are a few things I still need to take care of."

Isabel placed an intricately crafted ring in my hand, her tone warm.

"Marrying into the Gilbert family, you may never have love, and you won't have a normal marriage."

"But everything else you could ever want, you will have."

I looked down, my fingertip tracing the ring. Something loosened in my chest, faint but unmistakable.

"I'll treasure it."

Three full days passed before Randolph bothered to come home.

"I've got it all arranged. The wedding with Nanette is in a week."

"When the Gilberts come asking, just tell them you're pregnant. If they have any pride, they won't force the marriage."

"Once the dust settles, I'll take you to sign our certificate."

He reached for me the way he always did, pulling me into his arms, having decided my entire future without asking.

I looked up at him. My stomach twisted with a dull ache.

"So on paper, Nanette is your wife?"

"It's just a title. It doesn't matter. As long as I know in my heart that you're my real wife, isn't that enough?"

He said it like it was obvious. Like he was doing me a favor.

As if this arrangement was the best I could ever hope for.

It never once crossed his mind what people would call me if Nanette became his public wife and I was the one pregnant and unmarried.

Being abandoned on the eve of signing the certificate had already made me the biggest joke in our circle.

After a long silence, I let out a hollow laugh.

How had I not understood until now? In Randolph Delgado's eyes, my feelings, my reputation, none of it mattered.

But Nanette? She deserved the grandest wedding. The most spotless reputation.

"Tomorrow night at the banquet, I'll announce the wedding date to everyone."

He informed me, not asked. "Just tell people we broke up a long time ago."

"...Fine."

My nails bit into my palms, forcing down the bitterness rising in my throat.

In seven days I'd be gone. It didn't matter what I said anymore.

I'd already booked the procedure for two days from now. The baby inside me, I was letting go of that too.

Only then did Randolph look satisfied. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

"Crystal, if I hadn't insisted the Fox family take you back ten years ago, you'd still be in that orphanage."

"As long as you behave, I'll always give you a home."

A home?

Randolph believed that a girl starved of love her whole life would put up with anything to build a home with him. That no matter what he did, I would never leave.

What he didn't know was that in seven days, while he was playing groom to another woman, I would be on a plane to America as the young Mrs. Gilbert, with a fortune that dwarfed everything the Delgado family owned.

By then, I would never have to beg anyone for a home again.

The banquet began at eight sharp.

Randolph walked in with Nanette on his arm, both dressed in matching formal wear. He kissed her amid the applause and announced their wedding in seven days.

Nanette swept her hair back with a flick of her wrist, and the diamond caught the light so sharply it stung.

It was a new ring. A three-million-dollar pink diamond Randolph had bid on at auction, because Nanette hadn't liked the old one. He'd replaced it without blinking.

Every socialite in the room flocked to Nanette like moths.

"Nanette and Mr. Delgado are so much more suited for each other. Crystal Fox only latched onto the Delgado family by clinging and refusing to let go. Guess she finally got dumped."

"Think she'll show up crying, begging to be his mistress?"

The whispers sliced through the air. I pretended not to hear.

That was when Nanette turned to me.

"Crystal, since you two have already broken up, you won't keep going after Randolph, right?"

Seven years of memories flashed before my eyes. I drew a slow breath.

"No. It's over, and I'll leave with my dignity."

Quiet laughter rippled through the crowd.

No one believed me.

Randolph included. He assumed I was putting on an act.

"Then shouldn't you hand over the keys to Randolph's properties?" Nanette smiled, and there was nothing kind about it.

"I'd hate for you to lose control and find some excuse to get close to him again. It would be so embarrassing if you showed up at his place and threw yourself at him."

My expression hardened. I opened my mouth to say I would never do something like that.

But before I could speak, Nanette moved where no one else could see. She grabbed my wrist and forced the juice in my hand up into her own face.

"Oh! Crystal, if you didn't want to give them up, you could have just said so. Why did you have to splash me..."

She turned to Randolph with wide, wounded eyes as he rushed over.

"Crystal Fox!"

His face went dark. Without a moment's thought, he hurled his wine glass at me.

I threw my hands up on instinct, but the shattered glass sliced across the back of my hand.

"Who gave you permission to bully her?" he snarled. "Apologize to Nanette. Now."

He didn't want to hear a single word from me. The verdict was already in.

The way he looked at me, you'd think I was something vile.

The murmurs around us erupted:

"See? She couldn't handle being dumped. She finally snapped."

"Crystal Fox just didn't want to give back the keys. She was probably planning to sneak into the Delgado house, sleep her way in, get pregnant, and claw her way to the top. Unbelievable."

I stood there. Blood ran down the back of my hand, mingling with the dark stain of red wine.

Randolph didn't so much as glance at it. He was too busy dabbing Nanette's face with painstaking care, his expression full of tender concern.

I thought of a day years ago, when I'd been shoved to the ground by bullies at school. He had been the one to help me up, cleaning each scrape with gentle hands.

All that tenderness, I realized now, had only ever been a fraction of what he saved for Nanette.

My eyes burned red, but I forced the tears back.

I didn't argue. I didn't lose control.

Instead, under the gleeful stares of every person in that room, I reached into my bag, pulled out every single key to every property I shared with Randolph Delgado, and dropped them all at Nanette's feet.

"You're right. I should have done this sooner. These keys belong to the real lady of the house."

"Your home. I won't set foot in it again."

Randolph's eyes snapped up to mine.

Nanette was still clutching that bundle of keys and access cards, momentarily frozen, as if she'd forgotten which expression to put on.

I looked at Randolph, my voice steady.

"You got your wine thrown back, and she got the keys she wanted. Are we done here?"

Randolph's throat bobbed. He reached for me, his lips parting like he wanted to say something.

But in the very next instant, Nanette let out a soft hiss and pressed her fingers to her temple.

"Randolph, I think I might have caught a chill. My head hurts..."

He pulled his hand back without a second of hesitation and turned to her.

His suit jacket came off and settled over Nanette's shoulders. He leaned down to adjust her collar, his movements careful, tender.

"Don't just stand here. Go back to the room and change. I'll have someone bring hot water."

The expensive fabric was already blooming with ugly juice stains, but he didn't spare it a single glance.

Just like he hadn't spared one for me.

I turned and walked away from a place that had never been mine to begin with.

I didn't notice that Randolph's gaze followed me from the moment I turned around, trailing after me until I was gone.

I took a cab back to the small apartment I hadn't lived in for ages. I practically stumbled into the bathroom, gripping the edge of the sink, and threw up for what felt like forever.

Bitter acid surged up in waves, scorching my throat raw.

When I finally lifted my head, the person in the mirror stopped me cold.

Colorless face. Hollow eyes.

She looked almost identical to the girl who had walked out of that orphanage ten years ago.

I was sixteen that year, fighting tooth and nail for a chance at an education in an orphanage where every kid was clawing for the same thing.

In the end, someone locked me in the boys' bathroom, and I missed my entrance exams.

I pounded on the door. I screamed until my voice gave out.

No one found me until the next day, when Randolph came along with the Fox family to visit and heard me.

He draped his jacket over my shoulders, gentle as anything. "Your name's Crystal, right? Do you want to go home?"

That jacket was so warm. It carried a faint, clean scent I could still remember to this day.

And I did go back to the Fox family. I got my chance at school, got clothes on my back and food on the table.

The Foxes never liked me. They preferred Nanette. They said I was too withdrawn.

Randolph was the only one who was different.

He went out of his way to visit me at the Fox house. He helped me with homework. When someone picked on me, he stepped in without being asked.

I loved him in silence for three years before I worked up the courage to tell him, the day I got into college.

The day Randolph said yes, he kissed me like it was a vow. He told me he'd give me a home, that I'd never have to suffer again.

My first kiss was so sweet it made me cry.

Now the face in the mirror was streaked with bitter tears, and I couldn't even tell when they'd started.

I reached up and wiped them away, the motion clumsy and graceless.

Seven years. I was done waiting for Randolph to keep his promises.

I was rinsing my face when the bathroom door swung open without warning.

My heart slammed against my ribs. Before I could react, a familiar force pinned me against the wall.

Randolph's scent crashed over me, and then his mouth was on mine.

The instant I remembered he'd kissed Nanette the same way just moments ago, my stomach turned and I shoved at his chest.

He caught my wrists, his grip impossible to break.

"Why did you hand all your keys to Nanette? I thought you'd at least put up a fight."

I stared at him. The irony was almost funny.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" I said quietly. "We broke up. Giving your fiance the keys to your place seems pretty straightforward."

Something flickered behind his eyes, a trace of guilt he almost managed to hide, and his tone softened.

"I told you, it's all an act. There's nothing between Nanette and me. If there were, it would've happened a long time ago."

"Just be good for a little while longer. Everything that's yours will still be yours. You'll always be my wife, and the baby will always be my heir."

If not for the jasmine perfume clinging to his skin, Nanette's scent so thick I could almost taste it, I might have actually believed him.

I didn't bother explaining anymore.

I just nodded, going through the motions.

Randolph wanted to tend to the cut on the back of my hand. I felt too wretched to resist.

His touch was surprisingly gentle. When I flinched, he instinctively blew on the wound, the way he'd done a hundred times before, as if nothing had changed.

I watched his profile, and my heart clenched before I could stop it.

It reminded me of the car ride home from the orphanage, when he'd dabbed ointment on my scrapes with the same quiet care.

Then his phone rang.

Nanette's voice came through the speaker, trembling on the edge of tears.

"Randolph... I feel awful, I'm so dizzy... Where did you go? I'm scared being alone..."

His fingers tightened visibly, pressing harder against my wound without realizing it.

I sucked in a sharp breath. He didn't notice.

"I'm out. Just picking up some medicine for you."

Nanette's voice turned small, cautious. "Did you... go see Crystal?"

Randolph didn't miss a beat.

"No. I'm on my way back to you now."

It was spring, but I felt cold down to my bones.

The part of me that had softened moments ago felt pathetic.

Nanette was the one who got every ounce of his tenderness. How did I still not understand that?

To him, I was no different from an obedient pet.

I loved Randolph. But I needed love that was mine alone, not scraps tossed my way out of obligation.

The cut on my hand had split open again from the pressure, fresh blood seeping through.

I couldn't tell which hurt more, my hand or my heart.

He hung up and seemed to remember I existed.

"Crys, just hang on a few more days. Once this is over, we'll sign the marriage certificate."

I said nothing.

A few more days.

Then I'd never have to endure this again.

Randolph was about to leave when my phone buzzed.

A reminder from the OB-GYN popped up on the screen, confirming tomorrow's procedure.

His gaze drifted over to it. His brow creased, slowly.

"Why are you going to the OB-GYN?"

"Didn't you just go a few days ago?"

Until I was truly gone, I didn't want to stir up trouble.

"The morning sickness has been pretty bad lately. I'm going to the hospital to get it checked out."

Randolph visibly froze for a second.

As if it only just hit him that he hadn't spared a single thought for his pregnant girlfriend's wellbeing these past few days.

Something uneasy flickered in his eyes, and he hesitated, half-considering whether to stay.

But the next second, another message from Nanette lit up his phone, urging him to hurry.

That sliver of hesitation crumbled like it had never existed.

"Then go back to the house and rest. Don't stay out overnight."

He tossed out the instruction and was gone from the apartment before the words had settled.

His choice didn't surprise me. I was used to it by now.

But I did need to go back to the Delgado house. My personal documents were still there, and I'd need them for tomorrow's procedure.

The next morning, when the housekeeper led me through the front door of the villa, I stopped dead.

In barely half a day, the place I'd called home for years had been gutted.

The matching couple figurines that used to sit on the entryway table were gone.

The rug beside the sofa, the one Randolph and I had picked out together, had been swapped for something new.

The wedding portrait on the wall, the one we'd taken months ahead of schedule, had vanished without a trace.

Even knowing what I knew, my chest seized before I could stop it.

I forced the feeling down and headed for the stairs.

That was when the smell hit me. Acrid. Burning.

"Miss Fox, these things... they belong to the lady of the house, don't they? Burning them doesn't seem right..."

The nanny's voice carried from somewhere nearby.

Nanette's reply came laced with undisguised malice:

"Lady of the house? Get your facts straight. I'm the future mistress of this family."

"This junk was an eyesore. So what if I burned it?"

My brain whited out. I didn't think. I just ran toward the backyard.

Firelight danced against the stone.

A pile of belongings had been thrown into a bonfire, already half-consumed.

These were the director's things. The woman who raised me at the orphanage. Her keepsakes. Her last traces on this earth.

I lost my mind. I lunged at the fire without a second thought, bare hands reaching straight into the flames.

"Crystal, are you insane?!"

Nanette stumbled back a step, startled.

I didn't spare her a glance.

Fire seared my skin, the pain boring down to bone, but I couldn't feel it. I clawed everything I could reach out of the blaze, dragging it free with both hands.

Blisters rose instantly across my palms.

I gritted my teeth and smothered the flames with my body, shaking so hard I could barely stay upright.

When I finally looked up, my eyes were raw and burning.

"What is wrong with you, Nanette? Why would you burn my things?"

Nanette stared down at me from where she stood, untouched.

"They were an eyesore. So I burned them."

"Besides, who knows if this junk from some orphanage is even clean?"

"What if it carries diseases?"

One breezy sentence, and she'd insulted both me and the woman who raised me in a single breath.

The last thread holding me together snapped.

I swung my arm and slapped her across the face with everything I had.

The force knocked Nanette sideways. She opened her mouth to curse at me, but a voice cut through first:

"Crystal, what the hell are you doing?!"

Randolph's voice cracked through the air like a whip.

He stormed over and shoved me away without a heartbeat of hesitation.

I staggered backward, nearly falling into the still-smoldering fire pit.

He was already pulling Nanette into his arms.

"Why did you hit her?" His face was terrifyingly dark.

My voice broke. "She burned the director's things!"

Randolph knew better than anyone what those keepsakes meant to me.

He knew the orphanage director had been the closest thing to a mother I'd ever had.

In that moment, I still believed that just this once, he would take my side.

But Randolph only frowned, his tone clipped with impatience.

"It's just some old junk."

"Nanette thought it was trash and cleaned it out. She meant well."

"Why would you hit her over that?"

My heart stopped.

Right on cue, Nanette's eyes reddened, her voice going soft and wounded:

"I'm sorry, Crystal. I really didn't know those things meant so much to you..."

"I was just worried they weren't sanitary. I didn't want Randolph getting sick..."

"You don't need to apologize." Randolph cut her off, his voice hard as iron. "If anyone owes an apology, it's her."

He turned to me. His gaze went cold.

"Crystal. Apologize to Nanette. Now."

There is no grief greater than a dead heart.

I stared at the man in front of me, hollow with disappointment.

He looked like a stranger.

"I won't apologize." Each word fell from my lips, frozen solid. "I did nothing wrong."

"She did it on purpose. If you don't believe me, ask the nanny."

The nanny nodded quickly. "It's true, sir. Miss Fox, she..."

Randolph cut her off without looking. "A nanny's word means nothing."

"Randolph, my face hurts so much..." Nanette's tears spilled instantly. She cupped her cheek, sucking in a delicate breath.

His expression hardened.

"Since these things are causing this much trouble,"

he bent down and picked up the lighter from the ground,

"then get rid of them for good."

"Maybe then you'll stop acting like a lunatic."

The flame snapped back to life with a sharp pop.

Every muscle in my body locked. I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.

"Randolph, what are you doing?!"

The scream tore out of me raw, and I threw myself toward the fire.

But he caught me from behind, arms clamping around me like a vice.

I thrashed against him, my voice cracking apart:

"I was wrong... I was wrong, okay..."

"I'll apologize. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just put out the fire, please?"

"I'm begging you, Randolph!"

This was the first time I had ever broken down like this. The first time I had begged him on my knees.

Something clenched in Randolph's chest. His grip loosened, just barely.

I seized that split second, wrenched free, and threw myself into the flames.

Fire licked up my arms. The pain went past sharp into numb.

But in the end, the only thing I pulled out was a watch, blackened beyond recognition.

I knelt on the ground, hollowed out. Like someone had reached inside me and scooped out everything that made me whole.

The sounds around me faded to nothing.

I didn't register anything until Randolph hauled me to my feet.

He looked at me, and for one instant, regret flashed through his eyes. The recognition that he'd gone too far.

But then his gaze landed on Nanette's swollen cheek, and that flicker of regret vanished as cleanly as if it had never been there.

"Let this be a lesson."

"Now you'll know what's acceptable and what isn't. You're supposed to be the future Mrs. Delgado. You can't go around slapping people like some common shrew."

I didn't want to hear another word. I just stared at him, eyes bloodshot, looking at him the way you look at an enemy.

The look cut him. He flinched, glanced away. Then the flinch curdled into anger at my defiance.

"You still don't think you were wrong?"

He grabbed my arm and dragged me into the bedroom we used to share, locking the door behind him.

"Then sit in here and cool off!"

I couldn't fight him. All I could do was stand there, trapped, the scorched watch still clutched in my blistered hand.

My eyes burned. But not a single tear would come.

I stood against the door for a long, long time. My legs went numb before I finally managed to calm down.

Since I couldn't get out, I might as well start packing what was mine.

I threw every dress, every handbag Randolph had ever given me into the trash.

It wasn't until I was done that I realized.

All I could actually take with me was an ID card and my personal documents.

Nothing else.

Randolph didn't let me out until the following evening, for dinner.

He noticed the things in the trash. I saw him pause.

"What kind of tantrum is this?"

I just smiled faintly.

"They got old. I stopped liking them. So I tossed them."

That shut him up. He was quiet for a beat, and when he spoke again, it was in that tone of his, the one that made everything sound like charity:

"I'll buy you new ones in a couple days. Consider it an apology."

"Come eat. And be nice to Nanette. She's only staying a few days."

"Stop being jealous and picking fights with her."

He paused at the end, just slightly.

"Burning those things... I may have gone too far."

"But people need to move forward. The director's been gone a long time now."

I nodded. My voice was flat.

"Fine."

He'd gotten what should have been my forgiveness, but something about it made Randolph uneasy.

I was standing right in front of him, yet he felt like I was already far away.

Tomorrow was the last day of my arrangement with the Gilbert family.

My plan was simple: wake up, go through with the surgery, and leave.

But in the dead of night, the bedroom door slammed open. Before I could even register what was happening, Randolph hauled me out of bed and dragged me down the hall to the room next door.

His grip was brutal, like he wanted to break me apart. The moment he let go, I slammed into the wall. Pain exploded across my back and my vision went black.

Before I could recover, his voice came down from above, raw with fury.

"Crystal, is this how badly you can't stand Nanette? You're so jealous you'd drug her?"

My ears rang. My vision swam, then slowly focused.

On the bed, Nanette's cheeks were flushed, her clothes disheveled. She was practically draped over Randolph, whimpering and pressing herself into his arms.

"It wasn't me."

My voice was hoarse, but I forced the words out. "I didn't do anything like that."

The moment I finished speaking, Nanette flinched as though she'd been struck. The tears came instantly.

"Crystal... the only thing I ate tonight was the dessert you had the housekeeper bring me. I didn't touch anything else..."

"I had someone bring you dessert?" I stared at her, my expression ice cold.

"You burned the director's keepsakes, and you think I'd send you a treat? Nanette, do you really think that highly of yourself?"

My voice dropped lower, shaking with barely contained rage. "And what would I even gain from drugging you? If you're going to frame someone, at least come up with a believable story."

"Enough with the excuses."

Randolph cut in, irritation thick in his voice.

"The housekeeper already admitted you told her to do it."

"Witness and evidence, both accounted for. How am I supposed to believe you?"

The cold seeped into my chest, inch by inch. I hadn't imagined that in Randolph's mind, I was someone capable of this.

"What witness? What evidence?"

I bit down hard on my lip, the words grinding out between my teeth.

"This house has security cameras everywhere. If you really think I did it, then check the footage. One look and you'll know the truth."

I held his gaze, stubborn, refusing to bend.

I would not confess to something I didn't do.

Randolph hesitated. Just for a second.

But then Nanette let out a soft, shuddering gasp and clung to him tighter, her voice trembling and paper-thin.

"Randolph, it hurts so much... please help me, please..."

Her collar had slipped. Pale skin spilled into view.

Randolph's hand froze. Instinct told him to push her away.

But Nanette ducked her head and sank her teeth into her own arm without a moment's hesitation. Hard.

Blood welled up instantly.

Bright red, streaming down her skin. Impossible to look away from.

"I know you only see me as a little sister, Randolph. I know this whole marriage these past few days was just an act. It's my fault for letting myself get lost in how sweet it felt, for letting myself imagine you might care about me, even a little..."

Her voice shook. The tears fell harder.

"I'll handle it myself. Don't worry about me. I don't want to be a burden to either of you anymore..."

Randolph's expression changed completely. He grabbed her arm to stop her from biting down again, pulling her into his arms to hold her still. When he spoke, his voice was rough and strained.

"Stop hurting yourself. I'll help you."

I stared at Randolph, almost certain I'd misheard him.

But there was no guilt on his face. Only disappointment. In me.

"Crystal, I thought you were different from all those petty, scheming women. Above using dirty tricks to bully people. But I was wrong."

My throat clenched. It felt like someone was carving my chest open, one slow cut at a time.

"Since you're the one who drugged her," Randolph said, refusing to meet my eyes, "then the consequences are yours to bear."

Nanette nestled obediently against his chest, but her gaze found mine over his shoulder, bright with undisguised triumph.

A violent cramp tore through my lower abdomen, something twisting and churning inside me. The pain nearly buckled my knees.

I gritted through it, my voice cold and cutting. "Randolph, where is your brain? I drugged Nanette and then sent my own boyfriend to be the cure?"

"And when you could've just called a private doctor..."

Before I could finish, Nanette let out a soft whimper and pressed her hand to her wound.

"Randolph, just go. Don't worry about me. I'm afraid if you actually help me, my sister will hate me even more."

"And don't blame her, either. She just loves you too much. That's why she did something like this."

I'd already decided to let go of Randolph, but I still couldn't stand there and let Nanette spew lies that dragged my character through the mud.

"Nanette, have you no shame? You drugged yourself, then threw yourself at my boyfriend and pointed the finger at me. Were you raised by wolves?"

Crack.

The words barely left my mouth before Randolph stood and slapped me across the face.

The force whipped my head to the side. A high-pitched ringing flooded my ears.

"Crystal, Nanette never once said she wanted anything done to you, but you haven't stopped attacking her. Guess that's what happens when you grow up in an orphanage. Not an ounce of class."

"Since you love drugging people so much, tonight you're going to sit here and watch exactly what that costs."

Before I could react, he'd dragged me to a chair and bound me to it with strips of clothing.

As he pulled off his shirt, he left me with one last sentence: "You brought this on yourself. Don't blame me."

A bone-deep chill spread through me.

The entire night, I watched the man I'd loved for ten years sleep with another woman.

Panting. Wet kisses. The sounds circled my ears like a curse that wouldn't break.

And the whole time, my abdomen screamed with pain. Cold sweat soaked through every layer I wore.

I tried to call for help, but Randolph dismissed it as another ploy for attention. Moments later, Nanette's moans grew louder, drowning me out.

At first I still cried. Then the tears ran dry, and all that was left was numbness.

Every image seared into my eyes was the same reminder: this is what happens when you love the wrong person.

The last shred of feeling I had left died that night.

The moaning lasted until dawn. Only then did Randolph finally untie me.

"Learned your lesson?"

He looked down at me from above.

When no answer came, he glanced down and saw my face drained white, my consciousness slipping.

Panic flickered across his features. He checked beneath me and found a pool of red soaking through.

He bent to scoop me up, ready to rush to the hospital, but Nanette's voice drifted from the bed.

"Randolph, you were too rough last night. I think I'm bleeding down there. Could you come take a look?"

"If not, you could just send one of the housekeepers. That's fine too."

Her voice was hoarse, fragile. She looked utterly pitiful.

Randolph hesitated. His resolve softened. It had been Nanette's first time, after all, and he hadn't exactly held back.

So I watched him set me down, watched him tell me to wait.

But I was in so much pain.

I forced myself upright, called a car on my own, and staggered toward the door one lurching step at a time.

"Where are you going, sis?"

Just as I reached the top of the stairs, Nanette rushed over and seized my wrist.

"I'm so sorry, sis. This is all my fault. I'm the reason you and Randolph never got to sign the marriage certificate."

She tilted her face up at me, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Hit me, yell at me, I'll take it all. Just please don't break up with him over me..."

My head swam. A low buzz filled my ears.

"Let go." My throat was so dry it burned.

Nanette only gripped tighter, stepping closer, as if terrified I'd slip away.

"Please don't leave, sis. Randolph really does love you. He's just soft-hearted. What he feels for me is only habit. Don't misunderstand him..."

Love me?

The pain in my abdomen clenched like a fist. My legs nearly gave out, and a wave of nausea surged up with the irritation.

"Enough." My voice went cold. "Nanette, who exactly are you performing for?"

I yanked my hand back.

I barely used any force.

But in that instant, her body went limp and she tipped backward.

"Ah!"

Her shriek split the stairwell open.

I froze for a fraction of a second, then reached for her on instinct.

My fingertips grazed her sleeve, but she was already falling.

Weightlessness seized me.

Nanette's grip dragged me down with her.

The world flipped.

My back, my elbows, my knees slammed against the hard edges of each step, over and over.

Thud.

I hit the ground floor hard. My vision went black.

Then I heard footsteps, fast and frantic.

"Crys!"

Randolph's voice.

He came tearing down the stairs, steps uneven, more rattled than I'd ever heard him.

Through blurred vision, I saw him reach me.

But before he could get close, a hand caught his sleeve.

"Randolph..."

Nanette's voice, thin as thread.

"I lost my footing. It wasn't her fault. She grabbed for me and got pulled down too..."

"Go check on her first. She fell harder than I did..."

Randolph's movement stuttered.

He'd been about to come to me. But that pause was all it took. His eyes landed on Nanette's disheveled state instead.

Her collar had shifted, exposing the marks he'd left on her skin the night before.

His throat bobbed.

I thought, even if Randolph had no conscience at all, he'd at least check on me first. I was pregnant. I'd just tumbled down an entire flight of stairs.

He didn't.

I watched him gather Nanette into his arms.

Careful. Gentle. Like she was something precious and breakable.

"Let me take you to the hospital first. You're already fragile, and yesterday I... nothing else can happen to you."

Randolph didn't look at me once when he said it.

Nanette clutched the front of his shirt, her voice small. "But what about Crystal..."

"I'll come back for her."

He carried Nanette out without looking back.

His footsteps faded down the hall.

I was the only one left, lying on the cold floor.

I stared at the ceiling. My vision blurred, slowly, then all at once.

I laughed.

It came out hoarse and hollow.

My hand found my stomach. My fingers were shaking.

"Baby, did you see that?"

"Your daddy doesn't love Mommy. He doesn't love you either."

"How could Mommy... ever dare bring you into this world."

I don't know how long I lay there before my phone buzzed beside me.

The ride I'd called earlier had arrived.

I pressed my palms against the floor and pushed myself up, inch by inch. My body felt like it had been taken apart and put back wrong. Every movement sent tremors of pain through me.

But I stood up.

One step at a time, I walked toward the door.

Blood ran down my legs. I couldn't feel it anymore.

By the time they wheeled me into the operating room, my consciousness was already slipping.

Voices drifted in and out.

"Miscarriage... she needs a D&C..."

"Where's her family?"

"There's no family."

I don't know how much time passed before I opened my eyes again.

Before I could figure out where I was, the door slammed open.

"Crystal!"

Randolph stormed in, breathing hard.

He crossed the room in three strides and seized my wrist. His grip was so tight I thought the bones would splinter.

"You have the nerve to just lie here?"

His voice was low, but the fury in it was unmistakable.

"Nanette's spleen ruptured because you pushed her. Massive hemorrhaging. She's in emergency surgery right now. You're the same blood type. You're giving her a transfusion."

The fog in my head cleared instantly.

What he was accusing me of was so absurd that for a moment I forgot the pain entirely.

"I didn't push her." I wrenched my hand free, my voice raw and cold. "Randolph, have you lost your mind? You want me to give blood? I just had a"

"You're still denying it!"

He cut me off, his eyes darkening with something vicious.

"I saw it with my own eyes. You pushed her down those stairs. Nanette is the one covering for you because she's too kind, afraid I'd blame you. She protected you, and you won't even save her life?!"

I watched him construct his own version of reality and convict me with it. It was so ridiculous I almost laughed. "Who asked for her kindness? I didn't do it, and I didn't do it!"

"If something happens to Nanette, how are you going to keep your place in the Fox family? Is that what you want? For them to disown you? Would that make you happy?"

He wasn't listening to a single word I said. His brow furrowed like he genuinely believed he was looking out for me.

"You and Nanette have the same blood type," he said. "You're donating. Consider it your apology."

Something lodged in my chest. I couldn't breathe.

"I told you. I didn't push her." Every word was deliberate. "And I just"

"Stop pretending to be sick." Randolph's frown deepened, his patience visibly fraying. "Crystal, when did you become like this? You won't own up to what you did, and now you're playing the victim?"

I lost every last shred of desire to communicate with him.

When someone has already decided you're guilty, nothing you say will ever be the right thing.

Randolph grabbed me and dragged me off the bed, hauling me toward Nanette's operating room.

A doctor stood by the entrance. The moment he saw Randolph, he hurried over.

"Draw her blood." Randolph didn't waste a single word.

The doctor glanced at me, hesitation flickering across his face. "But this young woman's complexion..."

"She's fine." Randolph cut him off. "Draw it."

I was pushed into a chair. My sleeve was rolled up. When the needle pierced the vein, the cold spread up my arm like ice water filling my veins.

The blood left me drop by drop.

I'd just had a miscarriage. I had no strength to fight back. All I could do was let my head fall against the chair and stare up at the white light overhead, watching the halo pulse and expand, pulse and expand.

My consciousness began to drift.

Randolph suddenly took my hand. His voice softened.

"Crys, as long as Nanette pulls through, everything that happened these past two days... we'll pretend none of it ever happened."

I didn't look at him.

"I know you have a problem with her. It's because she has feelings for me."

"But I've told you so many times. What I feel for Nanette is the bond of growing up together. She's no different from a little sister to me."

"My wife will only ever be you."

"Once you're feeling better, we'll register the marriage. I'll give you the grandest wedding."

"So, Crys, be good. Stop making trouble."

A sister he'd slept with and still called pure?

What if Nanette got pregnant with his child?

Still a sister then?

But those thoughts barely flickered through my mind.

They were gone almost as soon as they came.

None of it mattered anymore.

I was leaving.

Seven years of propping Randolph up, plus this blood I was giving now. That was more than enough to repay the debt of him pulling me out of the orphanage.

After this, whoever Randolph loved, married, or took to bed had nothing to do with me.

When the transfusion was over, I could barely stay on my feet.

My vision went black. I nearly collapsed right there on the floor.

But Randolph didn't notice. He was already gone, checking on Nanette.

I pulled out my phone. My fingers trembled as I sent my location to Isabel.

"Can you come get me?"

The reply came almost instantly.

"On my way."

I turned and walked back to my hospital room.

I left the miscarriage report on the bed.

All I took was my ID, my personal documents, and the broken watch that had belonged to the orphanage director.

One step at a time, I climbed to the hospital rooftop.

A private jet was already waiting.

The cabin door opened. A doctor Isabel had arranged stood inside and rushed over the moment she saw me, checking my vitals.

Clouds churned outside the window.

When I arrived at the private hospital in America and saw my new husband lying there in his coma, the first thing I did was hold our ring-bearing hands together, take a photo, and post it to social media with a caption:

"Taken."

From that moment on,

Randolph Delgado had nothing to do with me.