[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":10},["ShallowReactive",2],{"viewer-data-2603222E6F78-104":3},{"id":4,"number":5,"name":6,"content":7,"isLocked":8,"price":9,"hasRead":8},104,6,"Chapter 6: The Stillborn Verdict","\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Rose Harrison woke in a fog. A sharp, rhythmic throb deep in her abdomen made her hiss, her breath hitching in her throat. She stared at the ceiling with dead, unfocused eyes. Everything was white—the walls, the sheets, the fixtures. It felt like a tomb.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She sat up, her movements sluggish. A nurse stood over her, pushing a clear, viscous liquid into the IV line.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Rose watched the fluid snake through the plastic tubing, drop by drop, entering her veins.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"What are you pumping into me?\" she rasped.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The nurse didn't look up.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"I'm talking to you,\" Rose snarled, her voice raw. \"What is that?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Your body is weak, Mrs. Anderson. Stay calm, or you'll risk going into shock.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Rose gripped the bed rail, desperation clawing at her throat. \"The baby... is my baby still there? Tell me. Please, he’s still with me, right?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The nurse paused, her expression unreadable. \"The fetus is still there, but...\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"But what?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"It’s a stillborn. This drip will help your body pass the tissue. It’s for your own safety. If you keep it in your womb, it will poison you.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"No,\" Rose choked out. \"You're lying.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Poor thing,\" the nurse sighed, shaking her head as she pushed her cart toward the door.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The silence that followed was deafening. Memories of Delilah Kelly surfaced like bile. They’d met as roommates, back when life was simple. Then Delilah had left for a lover, only to resurface after Rose had already married Maximus Anderson.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She had been the blind fool, the one who didn't know her husband had been pining for her best friend the whole time.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Ah!\" A violent cramp ripped through her lower abdomen. The drug was working.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She mashed the call button. The nurse returned quickly to escort her to the surgical suite for the procedure.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">*I'm so sorry, little one,* she thought, tears hot and stinging against her temples. *I couldn't even give you a life.*\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">As the anesthesia began to cloud her mind, she stared at the sterile tiles above. Any sliver of hope she had held for Maximus Anderson evaporated, leaving only a cold, hollow shell.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Was this the price for being the \"other woman,\" even when she hadn't known it?\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She remembered the Anderson Group’s tenth-anniversary gala. One look at Maximus had convinced her that he was her future. She hadn't known then that Delilah was already obsessed with him. The web of lies had only grown tighter until this.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She watched through a haze as the surgeon prepared the instruments. It was all so clinical, so cruel.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">*His own flesh and blood.* She closed her eyes, two lines of tears carving paths through her pale skin. *How could he be so monstrous? Even a beast doesn't devour its own young.*\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The love she once held for Maximus Anderson had curdled into a hate so pure, so sharp, it was the only thing keeping her alive.\u003C/p>",false,0,1774272921194]