Chapter 36 Chapter 36. A Mother’s Despair
The stench of blood hit Zoria head on. Her eyes flew wide, terror flashing through them. She stumbled back a step and screamed, "No!"
But Zephyr had already seized the back of her neck. She could not retreat. Instead, he shoved her closer and closer, forcing her to stare straight into the basin.
The bloody smell burned her eyes. Tears spilled over and streamed down her face. Zoria shook her head frantically. In that moment, it felt as if her insides were being torn apart, her heart sliced open by a blade.
Impossible… this was not her baby…
Zoria could not believe her baby had become this. Her vision blurred, and she teetered on the edge of madness.
A crazed light flooded Zephyr’s eyes. With his other hand, he grabbed Zoria’s chin and forced her to look, his voice low and chilling. "Didn’t you want to see it? Then look a few more times. Otherwise, you won’t even have time to look later."
Why… Zephyr, why are you treating me like this? Why?
Zoria seemed to lose her mind, covering her burning eyes with both hands.
That was her baby. The baby she had carried for four months. Her support, her life, her family, her reason to keep going. Now, there was nothing left.
Her tears blurred everything. Zephyr released her neck. Zoria collapsed completely, falling to the floor and crying out hoarsely. "Why… Zephyr, what did I do wrong? Why did you have to treat me like this?"
Zephyr sneered and shot back, "You had a three month old bastard in your womb, and you still ask me what you did wrong?"
"Bastard… three months…" Zoria repeated dully. Then she lifted her head and burst into laughter. Her body shook uncontrollably as shattered sobs echoed through the room, growing louder and more agonizing by the second.
"Zephyr, from beginning to end, you never once believed me!"
"Believe you?" Zephyr let out a contemptuous laugh. "Believe you? I’d rather believe my own eyes and ears."
Zoria suddenly raised her head. In her soaked eyes, a vivid red flared with hatred. She staggered to her feet and lunged straight at Zephyr.
She looked exactly like a wild beast driven into a corner, throwing itself forward in a desperate attempt to drag its enemy down with it.
But Zephyr had already seen it coming. The instant Zoria charged, he lifted his leg and kicked straight at her knee. He used so much force that she was slammed hard onto the floor.
Her knee felt as if it had shattered, but Zoria could no longer feel the pain. The pain in her heart was thousands of times worse.
She curled up on the cold floor like a corpse. For a long time, she did not move. Tears overflowed from her eyes, dripping onto the floor and pooling into a small puddle.
"Zephyr… I was wrong… I was wrong…" Zoria sobbed, her voice choking. "I was wrong to stubbornly love you. Wrong to believe that if I were honest with you, I could earn even a shred of your mercy…"
Only when she reached complete, painful clarity did she finally understand that the dreams of her youth were nothing more than a shadow pressing down on her, something she would never escape for the rest of her life.
At that very moment, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door. A male nurse rushed in from the hallway. The instant he took in the scene in the room, he froze in shock. He was about to shout at them to get out, but then he recognized Zephyr. An Alpha with money and power like Zephyr was not someone he dared to offend. He quickly lowered his head, slipped past them, lifted the basin containing the dead fetus, and left in haste.
Zoria collapsed to her knees on the floor, staring at the male nurse carrying away the basin of blood. Her body, already exhausted to the brink, seemed to be pulled up by a faint thread of strength. Her pupils dilated, and she screamed hoarsely, “Give my baby back! Where are you taking my baby?!”
The male nurse held the basin, his body trembling uncontrollably. The fetus was so tiny now that it was dead. Could it really be called a baby?
“Where is it going?” Zephyr, standing not far away, let out a mocking laugh. “Of course it is going to be cremated. Something that filthy, should it be left here to pollute the air?”
According to hospital regulations, once the family signed the confirmation, a stillborn fetus would be handed over to the hospital for disposal. The result was cremation. For a fetus that was only four months old, there would hardly be any ashes left after that.
The male nurse looked at Zoria kneeling on the floor, crying until her face was a mess, and felt a trace of pity. He silently shook his head, carried the basin, and hurried out of the room.
Cremation.
“Do not go. Do not cremate my baby. Give my baby back to me.” Seeing the nurse disappear through the door, Zoria let out a piercing wail. She struggled to get up and chase after him, but her legs had completely given out. Cold sweat soaked her skin, her hair was in disarray, and blood was still seeping from the incision in her abdomen.
“Do not take my baby away. Give my baby back to me.” Her pale fingers clawed at the tiled floor as she dragged herself toward the door. Blood from her abdomen soaked her hospital gown and streaked across the white tiles in a glaring red trail.
The male nurse had long since vanished. Zoria could not catch up. She turned her head to look at Zephyr, dragged her aching body to his feet, and reached out to clutch his ankle.
With a broken, hoarse voice, she begged, “Zephyr, give my baby back to me. I am begging you.”
Her voice shook until it nearly shattered. She choked, lifted her head, and spoke incoherently. “Do not send my baby to be cremated. It is my baby. It is my life.”
She cried until her throat felt torn apart. The pain and grief surged to an unbearable peak, making her want to vomit. Zoria collapsed forward, retching while tears streamed down her face. Her abdomen cramped violently, the pain carving straight into her bones, a pain she had never known before, like countless arrows piercing her heart.