From Wife to Blood Bag

Chapter 10

The sharp ringtone sliced through the silence.

Xavier Thorpe pressed the speakerphone button, and Natalie Reynolds' frantic sobs burst through the room.

"Xavier! You have to save me! Assistant Liu broke in with his men... They dragged me to the hospital... They're going to kill our baby!"

I watched coldly as Xavier tapped his fingers on the desk, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Natalie," he said, his voice dangerously calm.

"I know about the drugs you slipped me that night."

The line went dead silent.

"And about those nasty posts you made about my wife's fertility..." Xavier turned to me, his gaze softening. "I've erased them all. Forever."

Natalie's breathing turned frantic, her words stumbling over each other.

"For punishment," Xavier drawled, "they won't give you any anesthesia during the procedure. And, by the way, you'll never conceive again."

"No! Mr. Thorpe!" Her scream was so shrill it felt like it could burst eardrums.

"I was wrong! I swear! Please—AHH—!"

I winced as the sound of her shriek echoed.

Xavier cut the call.

He grabbed my hand and gently pressed it against his cheek.

His skin was feverishly hot beneath my palm.

"The video should be arriving soon," he murmured, his eyes red-rimmed. "After you see it... could you maybe... forgive me just a little?"

I pulled my hand away, wiping it on his suit jacket.

"St. Mary's has an excellent psychiatric ward."

He grinned like a child who'd just been given candy.

"Anything you say."

Three days later, St. Peter's Cathedral.

As I walked down the aisle in my flowing wedding gown toward Patrick Evans, the church doors suddenly burst open.

Xavier staggered inside just as I was about to say "I do."

"Sophia!" He collapsed onto the red carpet, his suit covered in dirt and grime.

"Don't marry him... Please don't abandon me..."

Looking down at him, I casually remarked, "Old Mr. Thorpe sent me a red envelope. I'll overlook this little wedding interruption."

Xavier ripped open his shirt in one swift motion, revealing a bloody crescent moon tattoo.

"You're my moon..." His voice cracked. "I can't live without you..."

Gasps rippled through the pews.

I couldn't help but chuckle, turning to wink at Patrick.

"Darling, we've got ourselves an uninvited circus act."

Xavier trembled violently before grabbing a cake knife and plunging it into his chest.

"See..." Blood bubbled from his lips. "My heart... has always loved you..."

Linking arms with Patrick, I sighed.

"Psychos are terrifying. Let's elope."

As our sports car roared away from the church, I glanced in the rearview mirror to see Xavier kneeling in a pool of his own blood—a broken man, a crumbling statue of despair.

[THE END]