Chapter 3A Love Made of Scars

When I opened my eyes again, my face was wrapped in thick gauze. A dull ache spread from my lower abdomen. I remembered the surgery, the floor slick with my blood.

That tiny life, snuffed out by its own father.

Tears welled up. A young nurse rushed over. “You’ve just had extensive facial reconstruction. You can’t get emotional. What if your face heals crooked?”

My sanity shattered. I clawed at the bandages on my face. My fingernails filled with blood, and a searing pain shot through my skin, but I didn’t stop.

The door opened. I saw Sabrina’s sickeningly perfect face. She watched my breakdown with a smug satisfaction, even taking out her phone to record it.

I ripped the IV from my hand and stumbled towards her, grabbing her shoulders. “Why? Why are you doing this to me? I already agreed to give up being his wife, I don’t want anything! Why couldn’t you just leave my child alone?”

Sabrina looked at my bloodied face and laughed. She held up her wrist, dangling a bracelet I had lost long ago.

“Sister, aren’t you curious why Alistair is suddenly so madly in love with me?”

My heart hammered against my ribs. I stared at her, frozen.

She smiled, a perfectly innocent, harmless smile. “It’s because I told Alistair that I was the one by his side when he was blind after his accident. I switched the names in the drawing. I didn’t just want to steal the man you love, Seraphina. I wanted him to hate you for the rest of his life. I wanted the very mention of your name to make him sick!”

A roar filled my ears. Two streams of tears traced paths through the blood on my cheeks.

Sabrina had taken my place. She had made Alistair believe that she was the one who had stayed with him, who had never given up on him.

I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood and dragged my broken body towards the door. I had to tell Alistair. Now. The person who sat by his bed day and night, who told him stories to help him sleep… that person was me!

But Sabrina blocked my path, her hand clamping down on mine. She smiled maliciously. “Sister, let’s make a little bet, shall we? Let’s see who Alistair really cares about.”

A sharp pain shot through my wrist, and I instinctively pulled my hand back.

Sabrina closed her eyes and fell backwards stiffly. “Ouch… you hurt me…”

A blur of motion, and Alistair was there, scooping her into his arms. “Doctor! Get every doctor in this hospital in here now!”

I rushed forward and grabbed his arm, my heart pounding. “When you were blind after the accident, the one who took care of you was me! Sabrina stole my bracelet…”

“Enough!” Alistair shoved me away, his eyes filled with pure hatred. “I was blind in my eyes, not in my heart! I know who was with me! If a single hair on Sabrina’s head is harmed, I will make you pay a thousand times over!”

Doctors and nurses scurried after him. The bodyguard at the door kicked me hard in the chest, then grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall. A series of gruesome, bloody imprints stained the pristine white paint.

“I’ve never seen a woman as shameless as you,” he spat. “Stealing Miss Sabrina’s marriage, and now trying to steal the credit for saving Mr. Vaughn’s life. I’m going to teach you a lesson on her behalf.”

A sweet, metallic taste filled my throat as I choked, spitting up mouthfuls of blood. The gauze on my face began to unravel.

Catching a glimpse of my reflection in the window, my breath hitched.