Chapter 2

Alisa POV:

A searing pain ripped through my chest, pulling me back from the brink of unconsciousness. I gasped, a pathetic, wheezing sound that did little to clear my lungs. The dust, thick and suffocating, continued its relentless assault. My heart hammered, each beat a painful thud against my ribs, irregular and frantic. My body was screaming, a symphony of agony. I was dying, slowly, painfully, and alone.

"I can' t breathe," I choked out, a raw, desperate whisper. It was less a plea and more a statement of fact addressed to the empty, crumbling space around me. My oxygen supply was dangerously low, a precious commodity now gone, diverted to Bria, who merely feigned fragility. My heart medicine, tucked into my purse, was unreachable, probably crushed beneath the debris.

A cruel irony. This wasn't the first time my body had betrayed me, or that a life-or-death situation had revolved around my heart. I remembered lying in a hospital bed years ago, preparing for Jax' s birth. The doctors had warned me. The pregnancy was high-risk. My heart, already weakened by a congenital defect, was struggling.

"You might not make it through this, Alisa," the specialist had said, his face grave. "You could choose to terminate. It would save your life."

But I couldn't. I loved Jonas, then. I loved the idea of our family. I wanted that baby, even if it meant risking everything. I chose life, for Jax, for us. I almost died on that operating table, my heart failing, my body stretched to its limits. I had sacrificed my health, my very self, for a family that now, in my darkest hour, had abandoned me without a second thought.

The bitter taste of that memory mingled with the dust in my mouth. My son, the child I nearly died for, had just wished for my death. My husband, the reason I risked it all, had chosen another. The universe had a cruel, twisted sense of humor.

Jonas' s voice, though fading, still echoed in my ears. "Bria' s much more fragile. You always bounce back."

Bounce back? From this? My body was convulsing, my vision blurring again. The darkness was calling. I had to fight it. I clawed at the air, trying to find an anchor, anything to hold onto.

"Jonas!" I tried again, a desperate, guttural cry. "Please! I' m... I' m really sick. My heart... I' m pregnant! Our baby needs you!"

The words seemed to pierce through the fading sounds of evacuation. He reappeared at the edge of my blurry vision, Bria still clinging to him, Jax by his side. He looked at me, a strange mix of shock and irritation on his face.

"Pregnant?" he whispered, his voice thin. A flicker of something, maybe genuine surprise, crossed his features. It was a fleeting hope, quickly extinguished.

Jax, his face still streaked with tears from Bria' s earlier "panic attack," stepped forward. "Mommy' s lying, Daddy! She' s always lying to get attention! She' s just trying to trick you so you won' t help Aunt Bria!" His high-pitched accusation cut through the smoky air, more painful than any physical injury.

Bria, still draped dramatically over Jonas, sniffled pitifully. "Oh, Jonas, don' t listen to her. She' s just being... dramatic. I really feel faint. My anxiety, it' s just completely overwhelming." She let out a small, artful sob, pressing her face into his chest.

That was all it took. Jonas' s gaze hardened. He pushed my hand away, his touch cold and decisive.

"Alisa, stop this. This is not the time for your games." His voice was laced with disgust. He turned his back fully on me, shielding Bria and Jax with his body, and moved decisively towards the exit.

I watched them go, a silent scream trapped in my throat. The betrayal was complete. He had chosen them. Again. And this time, he had taken my unborn child with him.

The dust swirled around me, thicker now, heavier. My coughs wracked my body, each one a fresh wave of agony. My chest tightened until it felt like a vise. The medicine. The oxygen. All gone. My life was draining away, carried on the dust-filled air.

A profound weariness settled over me. It was over. I had fought so hard, for so long. For a man who never loved me, for a child who hated me. What was the point?

My eyes closed. The world tilted, then plunged into darkness. I was tired. So, so tired. Let it end. Let the pain stop.

A cold, bitter resentment, thick as the dust that choked me, began to coalesce in my heart. It was a dark, venomous thing, growing with each fading beat. They had abandoned me. They had chosen her. And if I survived this, if by some miracle I lived, they would regret it. Every single one of them.