Chapter 7 - The Confrontation|
The tightening pain in my abdomen was so severe that I could no longer sit up straight. I gripped the edge of the table, my breathing becoming shallow and ragged. My mother lunged forward to support my shoulders, her face contorted in sheer terror.
"Claire! What's wrong? Oh my god, she is eight months pregnant!" my mother screamed.
She turned to glare at Ethan with a murderous intensity that looked as if she wanted to tear him limb from limb.
"Call an ambulance right now!" she commanded.
Ethan stood completely paralyzed, his phone in his hand but his fingers trembling so violently that he couldn't even dial the number. Madison backed away in absolute horror, rendered entirely mute by the unfolding chaos. My father roughly shoved Ethan aside, pulling out his own phone to immediately dial 911.
"Claire, take deep breaths, honey, Dad is right here," he constantly reassured me, though his own voice was tight with fear.
"I didn't mean to... Claire, I swear I didn't want things to turn out like this," Ethan stammered helplessly.
He took a tentative step closer, reaching out as if intending to touch my hand.
"Don't you dare touch me!" I screamed in agony, fiercely swatting his hand away with the last bit of strength I possessed. "You and that bitch... get out of my sight!"
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I felt a warm rush of fluid beneath my dress. My water had broken. The extreme emotional distress, combined with the psychological shock of the betrayal, had pushed my body to its absolute breaking point. The wailing siren of an approaching ambulance pierced the quiet morning air.
As the paramedics strapped me onto the stretcher, the final image etched into my mind was my father grabbing Ethan tightly by the collar, shoving him forcefully against the diner's wall. Even though my body was enduring flesh-tearing pain, my mind remained terrifyingly lucid. I had to keep this baby safe. I had to survive this ordeal so I could strip everything away from the traitors who had stabbed me in the back.
