Chapter 4

Alaina POV

I didn't need his signature anymore. His name, meticulously written at the bottom of that final love letter, was all the legal leverage I needed. The prenuptial agreement, cleverly disguised as a romantic pledge, explicitly stated that any fundamental betrayal would grant me an immediate divorce. And what he had done? It was the most fundamental betrayal imaginable.

I spent the morning in a haze, my mind a whirlwind of facts and legal jargon. I added my demands to the signed letter: no money, no property. Just my freedom. I wanted nothing that was tainted by him. The only currency I cared about was my life back.

By afternoon, I walked into the law firm, my new lawyer, a sharp woman named Ms. Davies, already briefed by Eleanor. The air felt heavy, charged with the weight of my past and the fragile hope of my future. Ms. Davies looked at the letter, her eyebrows raised in surprise, then a flicker of grim admiration. Gregory had been too clever, too sentimental, and ultimately, too careless. He had signed his own undoing.

Leaving the law firm, the sky had turned a bruised purple, and a cold drizzle began to fall. Each drop felt like a tiny pinprick on my skin, a stark contrast to the burning rage inside me. I walked aimlessly, the legal documents clutched tight in my bag, a strange mix of relief and emptiness washing over me.

My mind was still reeling from the past few days. The lies. The surgeries. The calculated cruelty. I was so lost in my thoughts, so disconnected from the world, that I didn't see it. The screech of tires. The blaring horn. A white flash of a truck, swerving wildly, hurtling towards me.

A guttural cry tore from my throat, but it was too late. The impact threw me backward, a sickening crunch of metal and bone. Then, only darkness.

I woke to the familiar antiseptic smell of a hospital. White sheets, hushed whispers, the rhythmic beep of a monitor. My vision was blurry, but I could make out Gregory's face, hovering over me. His eyes were red-rimmed, his hand trembling as he clutched mine.

"Alaina? My love? Don't be afraid. I'm here. Everything's going to be alright." His voice was choked with what sounded like genuine fear.

I believed him. For a split second, the old Alaina, the one who trusted him implicitly, almost believed him. I was weak, disoriented, my body throbbing with a dull ache.

"You lost a lot of blood, sweetheart," he murmured, gently stroking my hair. "But you're stable now. Just a few transfusions, and you'll be good as new."

A wave of relief washed over me, a fragile peace in the midst of the chaos. I closed my eyes, letting out a shaky breath. Thank God, I thought. It's just the accident.

Then, the door burst open. Brianna. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with a frantic energy.

"Gregory! Her condition is worse! Massive uterine hemorrhage! We have to operate now. It's critical!" Her voice was shrill, urgent.

Gregory's head snapped up. His eyes, fixed on Brianna, flickered with a raw, undeniable hesitation. Just a fraction of a second, but I saw it. The mask of devoted husband slipped, revealing a flicker of agonizing doubt.

"Her uterus...?" he started, his voice barely a whisper.

Brianna cut him off, her urgency bordering on desperation. "It's gone, Gregory! Irreparable damage. We have to perform a total hysterectomy immediately to save her life!"

My eyes flew open. The words hit me like a fresh, brutal blow. Hysterectomy. My uterus. The last vestige of my womanhood, my ability to be a mother. They were going to take it. And Gregory was hesitating.

His eyes darted from Brianna to me, then back again. The internal battle raged across his face. Then, his jaw tightened. His hesitation vanished, replaced by a cold, resigned resolve.

"Do it," he said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion. "But this is the last one, Brianna. The very last time."

A raw, strangled gasp escaped me. My body tried to fight, to scream, to push them away, but I was too weak. The pain, the drugs, the sheer terror held me captive. Through blurry eyes, I saw Brianna. A slow, triumphant smirk spread across her face, her eyes glinting with malicious glee.

The harsh lights of the operating room blinded me as they wheeled me in. The sterile smell, the cold metal. My consciousness swam, a desperate struggle against the encroaching darkness. Just before the anesthetic took hold, I heard Brianna's voice, clear and chilling, right above me.

"Her uterus is completely gone, Gregory. No chance of saving it. We' ll just remove the whole thing, make sure she can never bear children." Her voice was a triumphant whisper.

Gregory' s response was a low, almost inaudible mumble. "Alright. Do it. Just... make sure she's alright."

The words echoed in the fading light of my mind. Alright. Do it. He had sanctioned it. Again. He had given them permission to take away my future, my very essence. His "love," his "care," his "devotion"-it was all a grotesque performance, a cruel mockery. He was complicit. He had betrayed me, not once, but countless times.

A single tear escaped, tracing a hot path down my temple, before my world dissolved into a black, endless void. This wasn't just a betrayal of my trust; it was a violation of my body, my soul, my future. He had taken everything. And in that final moment of fading consciousness, I knew one thing: he would pay. He would pay for every lie, every surgery, every broken piece of me.