Chapter 4

The hall turned silent. So silent that you could hear a pin drop as everyone stared at Thalassa in shock, but the only reaction she cared about was Kris’s.

His nostrils flared, his eyes widening as if demanding to know if she was telling the truth.

“Yes,” she nodded earnestly. “It’s true. I found out yesterday. That’s why I called you so many times; I wanted to give you the good news, but you never picked up. And when I texted, saying I had something important to tell you, that’s what I wanted to share.”

Her breath caught as she gauged Kris’s reaction, anxiously waiting for his response. His eyes scanned her face as if looking for any hint of lying, his gaze turning conflicted.

Just as Thalassa began to think that he believed her, his mother appeared. “Son, you can’t possibly believe anything that comes out of this whore’s mouth after everything she has done. She’s lying! She’s obviously telling you this so that you won’t divorce her.”

“I am not lying!” Thalassa declared fiercely. “When I found out, I told Karen about it. She–”

“Why do you keep trying to involve me in your lies? You did not tell me anything,” Karen denied once again.

This time, Thalassa wasn’t surprised by the betrayal, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

At that moment, the look of conflict on Kris’s face transformed back into the hard, cold look as he gritted out, “Get out of here.”

Thalassa flinched, her throat tightening. “Kris, I just told you that I’m pregnant. Do you really want me to leave?”

“I am not falling for your lies anymore. I want you out of my life because I can’t stand you. I hate you, Thalassa Thompson.”

Tears brimmed in Thalassa’s eyes as she shook her head vigorously in denial. “You... You don’t mean that.”

Kris let out a chuckle so cold that it sent a shiver down her spine. “You’re right, I don’t mean that. Because I don’t hate you, Thalassa. I fucking despise you.”

The tears finally fell down her face. In that moment, the pain that went through her heart was so sharp and intense that it felt like a knife piercing through her. She had to wait a few seconds for the pain to subside.

“Fine,” she finally said, wiping furiously at the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Give me a pen, and I’ll sign the divorce papers.”

She was done. Done being humiliated. Done trying to prove her innocence to Kris. If he despised her, then so be it.

A pen was thrust in front of her. Without even bothering to see who was offering her the pen, Thalassa grabbed it and walked towards the center table in the living room. Squatting, she placed the divorce papers on top of the table and signed all the required spots.

Once done, she closed it and walked back towards where Kris was standing.

“Here,” she said, her voice and expression now devoid of any emotion. “I’ve signed them. Just like you wanted.”

Kris took the papers from her hand, his eyes never leaving hers. “Once you decide, let me know where you want your belongings to be taken to, and I’ll have them brought to you.”

And just like that, he turned and walked off, never looking back as he climbed the stairs.

Once he disappeared from view, Thalassa slowly turned to look at the people behind her. They all had victorious smirks on their faces, except for Karen who didn’t even have the guts to look at her.

“What are you still doing here, bitch? My brother has divorced you already. Tomas, take her away,” Kris’s brother, Tyler, instructed.

Just as the security guard grabbed her by the arm, Thalassa jerked herself free and coldly said, “I know my way out.”

With her head held high, she began walking towards the door, but just as she was passing by her ex-mother-in-law, the woman grabbed her by the arm and whispered for only her to hear, “Do you really think you’re going to have that bastard you’re trying to pass off as my grandson?”

When Linda Miller finally let her go, Thalassa didn’t respond as she continued her way outside. She couldn’t have responded even if she wanted to because she felt tired. Exhausted. Numb.

One year of enduring Kris’s suddenly cold attitude and his family’s humiliation, trying her very best to make her marriage work, and what did she have to show for it? Nothing. It had all been for nothing.

Once outside the Miller Mansion, Thalassa kept walking. She didn’t know how long she walked. Neither did she know where she was going. All she knew was that her whole world had come crashing down around her and she didn’t know how to pick up the pieces.

Her surroundings came sharply into focus when a hand suddenly grabbed her from behind and shoved her into a dark alley. As her heart skipped a beat, Thalassa let out a scream, but the person who had grabbed her quickly covered her mouth with his hand.

“Don’t you dare scream!” her attacker hissed. It was a man, and his face was covered with a mask.

Thalassa sucked in a breath, realizing how reckless she’d been for wandering alone at this time of night.

No, she couldn’t let anything happen to her. She’d been through too much to add this on top of it.

With all her might, she clamped her teeth on his hand, biting him fiercely. The man shrieked, letting go of her, but before she could use that opportunity to run, he grabbed her by the neck and slammed her into the wall before violently jamming his knee into her belly.

Thalassa gasped as pain shot through her abdomen, and her eyes widened with dread. Her baby!

“Don’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt me,” she pleaded. “You can take everything I have on me, but please don’t hurt me. I am pregnant.”

The man laughed callously. “Who says I care?” Leaning forward, he whispered into her ear, “I’ve been sent to give you a message; next time, don’t mingle where you don’t belong.”

Then he jammed his knee into her abdomen again, this time more fiercely than before. Thalassa let out a groan of pain, her body going weak as she sank to the ground.

She clutched her abdomen as she lay on the ground, her voice weak as she pleaded, “I beg you. Please don’t hurt me. I am pregnant. Why are you doing this? Please have some mercy. Please.”

But all her pleas fell on deaf ears. The man began kicking her in the abdomen, over and over again. The more she begged him, the more he kicked.

By the time he stopped, Thalassa had tears streaming down her face as she groaned repeatedly in pain. It took her several seconds to realize that her attacker had left.

Her whole body hurt as she braced her hand on the ground and forced herself to sit up, but she froze when she realized she was bleeding. Blood was soaking her panties and pooling around her thighs.

Panic shot through her. No! Her baby! Her baby! She needed to save her baby.

With the last bit of strength she had, she crawled out of the alley, weakly calling out, “Help me. Please, help me.”

She tried getting up to her feet, but it hurt too much, so she just kept on crawling as she continued calling for help.

She saw a woman approach and stretched out her hand. “Please...help me.”

The woman looked freaked out and quickly ran off without even turning back to look at her.

“No...please, don’t go. Help me.”

She was feeling too weak. The whole world spun in front of her eyes before she collapsed on the floor, and everything went black.