Soren tried to move, but his legs remained useless. He could barely drag the lower half of his body across the ground.
"Stay away from me."
Tahlia laughed. The sound sent chills down his spine.
"You really think you can escape." She twisted open the vial. "Come on. Take it. You won’t feel much pain. And everything will be over soon."
She squeezed his jaw and tried to force the liquid into his mouth.
"Open your mouth."
Soren jerked his head away and knocked her hand aside.
The vial nearly fell.
Her face twisted in rage. "You dare."
She lunged at him and grabbed a handful of his hair, yanking his head backward.
Pain shot through his scalp. Soren gritted his teeth. He refused to back down.
"Let go," he yelled.
"Shut up."
She slapped him across the face. Another slap landed, then another. She kept hitting him until his cheeks were numb from pain.
Her anger in her eyes only intensified.
"You should have married me and given me everything. But you kept mourning Elowen."
Soren glared at her.
"I hated her. I hated that she had your heart even after she was dead."
Tahlia pinched his nose, forcing him to open his mouth.
Soren struggled desperately and turned his head from side to side, but his weakened body couldn’t fight her strength.
Tahlia managed to pour the remaining liquid into his mouth.
Soren immediately tried to spit it out, but Tahlia clamped her hand over his mouth.
"Swallow it," she growled through her clenched teeth.
The bitter liquid burned down his throat. He coughed and choked, trying hard to force it back out. But the drug had already gone inside his stomach.
Soren collapsed. His chest tightened. Then his heart began pounding, hard and fast.
Tahlia straightened and looked at her reddened palm.
"Damn it. My fingers are aching." She flexed her hand.
On the ground, Soren struggled to pull himself up. Every movement shot pain through his body. But he ignored it and slithered along the walkway toward the house.
He hoped the servants would see him and help him get to the hospital.
But Tahlia had no intention of letting him go. She grabbed his leg and pulled him backward.
Soren’s body scraped against the hard concrete. His shirt tore, leaving red scratches across his chest.
"Ugh," he groaned in pain.
"You really thought I’d let you call for help." Tahlia pinched his chin and forced him to look up at her. "If you had not made things difficult for me, I wouldn’t have had to do all this."
Soren glared at her. Every cell of his body wanted to retaliate.
"I regret letting you get close to me," he muttered. "Because of you, I ended my marriage with Elowen. I hurt her. My biggest mistake was putting my faith in you."
Hearing that, her face twisted with violent rage.
"Don’t blame me," she spat. "You never loved Elowen. You hated being trapped in that marriage. That’s why you ended things with her. I didn’t force you to divorce her."
Soren fell silent.
She was right.
No one had forced him to divorce Elowen. It had been his decision.
Elowen had left him with their daughter. Then that accident had taken their lives away.
And now he was in this state, dying.
He laughed, his eyes turning red with unshed tears.
"Yes, it’s me. I pushed her away. I hurt her. But you..." Hatred burned in his eyes. "You are not innocent either. Even if I die tonight, I’ll drag you to hell with me."
He reached for her throat, intending to strangle her.
Tahlia shoved him away hard.
Soren’s body rolled to the side. He started coughing violently. Blood spilled out of his mouth, staining her dress.
"Ew..." She instantly jumped back. Disgust twisted her face. "So pathetic."
Then something on the ground caught her attention.
The photograph of Elowen with her daughter.
It had slipped out of Soren’s pocket during the struggle.
Tahlia bent down and picked it up.
"Give it back," Soren yelled, stretching his hand toward her.
Tahlia pulled the photograph away and smirked. "Oh, Elowen’s photo. You finally fell in love with her?"
Her mocking words stung his heart.
’If only I had realized sooner, I would have never broken up with her. I would have never allowed a venomous woman like you into my life.’
"Give that photo to me." Soren’s voice shook. "Don’t touch it with your filthy hands."
"Okay." She held up the photograph and tore it in half.
"No..." Soren yelled.
The two pieces fluttered to the ground.
He froze.
That photograph was the only thing he had left of Elowen and Seraphina. And now it was gone too.
It felt as though fate itself was taking everything connected to them away from him.
Tears fell from his eyes.
"Suddenly feeling sorry for her?" she taunted. "When she was with you, you never cherished her. You are always cruel, Soren. Heartless."
She crouched down again. "You did the same thing to me. You were good to me at first. But you grew cold when I became your fiancée. I waited three years for you to marry me. Three years."
Her voice thickened. "But you kept your distance from me because you were too busy grieving the woman you never cared about. You don’t deserve to be loved."
Soren coughed again, his chest twisting painfully. Blood trickled from the corner of his lips. Yet he managed a smile.
’Yes. I was cruel and foolish.’ Bitterness rose to his throat. ’I hurt the only woman who truly loved me. I don’t deserve her.’
"She knew it too," Tahlia continued. "She knew you could never love anyone. That’s why she left you. Heartbroken, devastated."
She snorted. "But she was unlucky. She died in that horrible accident."
He lifted his eyes at her. A dangerous look crossed his face as his temper snapped.
"I wish I had killed you."
She laughed, enjoying his helplessness. She moved in closer and leaned down. Her voice dropped to a murmur.
"Let me tell you a secret. She was eight weeks pregnant when she died."
The world stopped.
"What?" Soren felt as though his brain had exploded. "She was pregnant?"
Tahlia smiled at his reaction. "Yes," she confirmed.
Soren’s face turned ghostly pale. He couldn’t breathe. His mind refused to accept it.
Three years had passed since her death. But he had never known.
’How could I not know? Why wasn’t it mentioned in the autopsy report?’
He looked at Tahlia, desperately searching for an explanation.
Just then, she dropped another bomb.
"I was afraid she would use the unborn baby to tie you to her. So I arranged that accident."