Died Because of You

"You're all so stupid! I've said it over and over again to take care of yourselves! I don't care what you do if you don't cause trouble! Your brains can't even comprehend something as simple as this?!" Billy is furious and exclaimed. 

"You're the most foolish!" He glared at Max and shouted harshly.

"Can't you control yourself and stop sleeping with just any woman? You'll ruin your career if you keep getting involved with random women and getting them pregnant!"

"Who are you calling a random woman?!" Zoe snapped back equally loudly.

Zoe might have just destroyed her chances for a career. But Zoe didn't care. Billy had just belittled her.

"I'm his girlfriend. We've been together for years! I'm not a random woman! Iris is the random one! You saw it for yourself, didn't you?" Zoe shout angrily

Iris, the woman Max had met this morning, and by noon they were almost intimate. She's the random woman.

"But she's Iris White, and you're nobody! She can support Max's career to improve while you're just a burden dragging Max down to the bottom of the sea! Do you see the difference?!"

Zoe chest tightened. Zoe could barely breathe due to the words uttered by Billy. She couldn't argue. She also knew what burden she would bring to Max, so she had held back from revealing her pregnancy until today.

"Enough! Just terminate the pregnancy! Max doesn't need any more burdens right now!" Billy said without considering Zoe, whose heart shattered upon hearing that command.

"No!" Zoe immediately refused and clutched her stomach. She might not have planned the pregnancy, but Zoe would never kill the baby.

"Zoe, I'm begging you. Don't be stubborn."

The voice wasn't as commanding as Billy's, but it cut deeper into Zoe's heart.

Zoe slowly turned to look at the father of her baby, who had just asked her to abort her pregnancy.

"You... you want me to kill your child?" Zoe's lips trembled. Her suppressed anger towards Billy caused her tears to flow freely again.

"Zoe, my career..."

"This is your child! The one inside me is your child! Do you want me to kill it?"

Zoe repeated the question, hoping Max would have a different answer. But he remained the same. He shook his head while moving away from Zoe.

"Max..." Zoe tried to reach out to him, but Billy intervened again.

"Which will you choose? If you want to be with him, you must continue being his manager, not the mother of his child. If you want to keep the baby, then leave! Leave New York and never come near him again!" Billy issued an ultimatum.

"What... I can't... you can't do this! I... we love each other! Max, you can't be like this! I'm trying to preserve our child!"

Zoe tried to reach Max, who was almost hiding behind Billy, but Billy blocked her once more by pushing Zoe away.

The push was too forceful, and Zoe's body was too frail.

"MAX!" Zoe screamed, reaching out as her body was sucked downward. She hit a metal railing before tumbling down.

Zoe could feel the impact all over her body and hear Max's shouts calling her name before her world darkened.

***

Zoe regained consciousness, but she couldn't speak or move. She felt like living in a colourful dream with strange voices around her.

There was one constant voice she always heard. Zoe usually tried to look when her awareness came, but her strength wasn't enough, and she would drift away again.

Zoe would also sometimes hear conversations around her. Laughter and other things, but she couldn't understand—just faint alternating chatter. Until finally, she could hear clearly.

"You're still sleeping today."

Zoe struggled to open her eyes to see who was speaking to her.

"DOCTOR! The patient is awake!"

Zoe managed to open her eyes. She even saw someone running though everything was still blurry.

Zoe tried to raise her hand, but it was heavy. She could hardly move. So she focused all her energy on one thing, trying to clarify her vision.

Zoe blinked several times to dispel the hazy image before finally recognizing the hospital room. She was lying in a hospital bed. No wonder there was commotion calling for a doctor.

And the doctor arrived when Zoe was quite awake. She could move her eyes according to the light, but her hands and feet couldn't follow her brain's commands.

"Motor functions won't return immediately. It'll take time, given the duration of unconsciousness. But don't worry. It's not related to any injury. It's just because you haven't moved for several months."

"Hmm..."

Zoe was shocked and wanted to ask what the doctor meant by months, but she couldn't speak. Her tongue didn't move to form words.

"Take it easy for now. Listen to me." The doctor held Zoe's shoulder. He was asking her to stay calm.

"Do you remember the incident that put you in the hospital?" The blonde-haired male doctor asked softly.

Zoe was momentarily confused, but then her tears welled up. The memory returned. Billy had pushed her until she fell down the stairs.

"I'll take that as a yes." The doctor saw Zoe's tears and continued his explanation.

"You were seriously injured."

Zoe's eyes widened. "Mmm... Ghhh..."

She struggled again to say something but couldn't. Zoe then used her eyes to look down—at her stomach.

The doctor seemed to shake his head with a regretful look.

"I'm sorry, but your baby couldn't survive. The baby died in the accident."