But they soon grew tired of her and started reminiscing about what they’d lost with me.
Queenie made mistakes at work and lost her medical license. To make things worse, the Langston family’s hospital was caught in a scandal over her selling counterfeit medications, causing a serious medical incident.
Now, all three of them were being prosecuted.
Desperate, she had come begging, hoping I’d use my connections to help.
“Yvonne, I’ve seen the error of my ways. Please get Mr. Blackwell to help me. It should be nothing for you, right?”
She tried to grab the hem of my gown, but before her hand even brushed them, the bodyguards had already dragged her out.
Joseph arrived moments later, panic written all over his face as he checked me over and over to make sure I wasn’t hurt.
Seeing him so flustered, I couldn’t help but laugh.
He didn’t get mad. Instead, he cleared the room and then gently pinned me against the vanity.
His breath warmed my cheek…
News of Joseph’s wedding dominated the headlines. However, the top story was of Joseph’s visibly swollen lower lip at the altar.
Three months later, I found out I was pregnant.
Joseph was grinning like a fool as he rested both hands on my still–flat stomach.
When I ran into Nigel again, it was on the day of a prenatal check–up.
He couldn’t get into the Blackwell residence, so he waited at the hospital.
He looked nothing like the dashing heir he once was–disheveled, cheeks sunken, and haggard.
“Yvonne! I was wrong! Shawn is in prison because of Queenie. You were the only one who truly loved us! Please, give me another
chance!”
After ten–plus years of childhood friendship, he was just now realizing I wasn’t some gold digger? Wasn’t that a little too late?
I didn’t even bother replying and walked straight past him.
He suddenly lunged at me, grabbing me tightly.
“Yvonne! After all these years, you’re just going to forget everything? Grandpa is still waiting for you at home! I even got a new
turtle for you! Won’t you come back and see it?
“I don’t care about the baby. You can come back. Just come back to me, please!”
The bodyguards rushed over, yanked him off me, and began pummeling him with fists and kicks.
Even now, he tried to use Mr. Langston Senior to guilt–trip me. Why should I care?
I turned to leave without looking back.
+15 Bonus
But suddenly, Nigel broke free from the bodyguards, pulled out a knife, and stabbed himself in the abdomen right in front of me.
“This is what I owe you! I’m paying it back now! Please–don’t be mad anymore!”
As the blood soaked his shirt, I barely blinked.
The thick, metallic scent in the air made me nauseous.
I picked up my pace.
After all, when I collapsed, seizing outside the office, they’d left me there without a second thought.
‘I figured he’d be just fine.
His screams faded behind me, but all I could see was Joseph waiting for me at the hospital entrance.
All I wanted… was to bury my face in the comfort of his herbal scent.
So, I ran into his arms.
The past had blown away like dust in the wind, and the pain had been replaced with sweetness.