03
After Edmund checked my pulse, he administered an injection, and consciousness quickly returned to me.
As my eyes fluttered open, Gawain’s face was a canvas of panic. He leaned in, asking with urgency, “You’re not actually pregnant, are you? There was no miscarriage. That was just Edmund’s misdiagnosis, wasn’t it?”
I also wished I had never gotten pregnant or suffered a miscarriage.
My heart felt like it had shattered into countless pieces, each fragment slicing through me with the sharp memory of pain.
Lying there on the ground, I felt my unborn child slipping away from my womb.
I had never loathed anyone as deeply as I did now.
If Gawain had only believed in me, my child would still be alive. Elena would not be suffering a miscarriage.
With a gaze as cold as ice, I met his eyes. “As you wished, yes, I had a miscarriage.”
The color drained from his face, his lips turning ashen. His body trembled as if he might collapse.
Edmund, his expression grim, turned on Elena with a shout, “Are you spouting nonsense again, causing her so much stress that she miscarried?”
I cut him off with a sneer, “Dr. Spencer, keep your accusations to yourself. Elena has just suffered a miscarriage; she can’t bear your harshness right now. And don’t you dare try to stop us from leaving. You’ve already taken our child’s life. Do you want to take ours, too?”
Gawain trembled, looking deeply hurt. “How could you even think that of me? I’m your husband; I would never harm you.”
A bitter smile played on my lips. “You claim you don’t want my life, yet you abandon me at the racecourse. If you truly wanted me gone, would you order a horse to finish me off?”
Edmund, coming to his senses, grabbed Elena’s wrist to check her pulse. His voice was fraught with anxiety, “No, the baby has been stable for three months. Elena, you wouldn’t have miscarried. Madeline, you lied to get back at me for deceiving you.”
Elena, no longer tolerating deception, delivered a sharp slap to Edmund. “Lie to you? Are you even worth it? If you hadn’t refused to come to the racecourse to rescue Madeline, would I have had to carry her to find help? Only to run into a bandit and lose my baby?”
She pointed at the small monkey cradled in Rosamund’s arms. “This creature is more precious to you than our unborn children. I see it clearly now. I won’t be sending you messages to disturb you anymore; perhaps losing children is for the best, since none of you are worthy of being fathers, let alone husbands. Since you’ve all adopted the baby monkey, the life or death of our children means nothing to you.”
1:42
Edmund’s face mirrored Gawain’s pallor, both on the brink of emotional ruin.
Seeing their distress, Rosamund hurriedly tried to soothe them. “Gawain, don’t be too hard on yourself. You didn’t know about the pregnancy.
Edmund, don’t be upset. Mrs. Elena Spencer isn’t naive; she should’ve been more cautious knowing she was with a child. Everyone is accountable for their own choices; it has nothing to do with you.”
Her words seemed to absolve the brothers of their guilt.
With a fierce gaze, Gawain turned to me and frowned. “Madeline, you’re manipulative! You hid your pregnancy and then used the miscarriage to guilt me. That was a life, too. Even if you wanted to spite me, you shouldn’t have used our child!”
His eyes reddened, tears threatening to spill. His entire being was on the verge of breaking down.
“You know how much I love children, and yet you strike back at me in the cruelest way. You’re tearing out my heart. Not only mine but Edmund’s too. You’ve driven a wedge in their marriage, destined him to a lifetime of guilt for failing to preserve the Spencer family’s lineage. You’ve become terrifyingly calculating. When did you turn so cold?”
In his eyes, I, who had just lost a child, was now painted as the villain.
Rosamund bit her lip as her eyes reddened. With a feigned sincerity marred by tears, she spoke, “Gawain, I’m so sorry. If I had known about the pregnancy, I would’ve suggested a different celebration.”
Gawain, quick to console, replied, “It’s not your fault; you couldn’t have known.”
Elena, incensed, stepped forward and slapped Rosamund sharply. “You vile creature, stop playing the innocent! The bandit confessed it was you who sent him. Do you dare to deny it?”
A flicker of panic crossed Rosamund’s face, but she quickly masked it, tears streaming through her fingers like pearls on a broken string, winning the sympathy of the Spencer brothers.
“Mrs. Elena Spencer, I understand you’re upset about losing your child, but you can’t falsely accuse me like this. Gawain, Edmund, you both know me better than anyone. I could never stoop to something so utterly heartless.”
Gawain, wiping her tears, reassured, “Don’t cry, Rosamund. We know you’re incapable of such cruelty. There must be a misunderstanding.”
Edmund, taking Elena’s hand, stood protectively in front of Rosamund. “Elena, I know the loss is unbearable, but you can’t blame Rosamund. She’s just a frail woman performing with a monkey. How could she consort with a bandit? Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you, and we’ll have more children.”
Elena trembled with rage, not anticipating that Edmund would not only defend the perpetrator but also dismissively mention having more children after her miscarriage. She struggled for breath, her eyes welling up with tears of frustration.
I pointed at the Spencer brothers, cursing in anger, “Rosamund has the heart of a serpent, and you brothers are blind and heartless. You’re
well–matched!”
Taking a moment to compose herself, Elena announced, “You abandoned your own kin for her pet monkey; your brother ignored his pregnant wife for the same. She’s been nothing but a curse, bringing us nothing but miscarriages. You’re both weak, blind to the truth. From this moment on, keep to yourselves with this ‘weak‘ woman. Don’t inflict your poison on the rest of us any longer.”
At her taunts, Edmund’s face turned ashen. He tried to muster a defense, but his mouth opened and closed in a silent, futile dance, words failing to
form.
Elena, still seething, shook off his grip and deliberately stepped on his foot. “I was blind, too, but thankfully, my eyes are open now. From this day, we go our separate ways. Don’t acknowledge me if we cross paths.”
Edmund was visibly taken aback, clearly not expecting Elena to stand so firm. He had mistaken her earlier outbursts for mere anger.
In his shock, Edmund stammered, “Honey, I…”
Elena cut him off sharply, “We’re done. Don’t call me ‘honey‘ anymore.”
Turning to me, she said, “Let’s leave. No more time wasted on fools.”
I nodded, and together, we supported each other as we walked away.
Gawain suddenly grasped my arm. His face was etched with concern. “Madeline, please, don’t let anger consume you. You’ve just suffered a miscarriage; your body is still so weak. Edmund isn’t just any doctor; he’s one of the best. We need him to heal you. I was wrong this time. I shouldn’t have left you alone at the racecourse. I was wrong, truly wrong.”
His voice was tinged with the sound of a stifled sob, revealing that his heart was truly aching.
“Alas, regret that arrives too late is penniless, unable to buy back what has been lost,” I lamented inwardly.
I felt nothing but nausea.
Suppressing the urge to vomit, I eyed him with suspicion. “Are you really Gawain?”
Confusion and bewilderment crossed his face, and I sneered, “I told you I was pregnant, but you didn’t believe me, tying me to a horse like a tyrant. My face was drenched in cold sweat. I pleaded in your ear, but you refused to let me dismount. After you won the race, I was still reeling from my miscarriage, but you cast me aside for another woman. You tell me you’re swamped with military duties, being a general and all, but it seems you’ve got ample time to watch Rosamund’s performances, to deal with the rogues troubling her, to take her to horse races, and even to plan with her how to celebrate my birthday. Indeed, you ‘celebrated‘ my birthday by strapping me to a horse, which led to my miscarriage. When you left me there at the racecourse, I held onto the desperate hope that you’d come back. As long as you save our child, I could stay with you, disregarding everything else. But you never came back for me. Instead, you chose to remain with your beloved as she helped her monkey give birth. My child and I cannot compare to a monkey. You can accept a monkey as your adopted son, yet you’re unwilling to avenge your own child.”
I locked eyes with Gawain. “How could you be my husband? When has my hubby ever had time to care for my well–being? Are you an impostor?”
My questioning seemed to break him, his once straight back bending as if drained of all strength,
11:42 AM
Only then did he realize the multitude of wrongs he had committed against me.
