No Second Chance For My Heart

Emily Johnson POV

My third pregnancy, and I gave birth to another stillborn child.

I struggled to get up, wanting to see my baby one last time, but instead I saw my husband James Smith carrying an infant into his adopted sister's hospital room.

I instinctively followed and heard Xanthe Smith's weak voice:

"James, thank you for being willing to give me Emily's child, for giving me a chance to be a mother."

My child?

Wasn't my child born dead?

My mind went blank, and the blood in my body felt like it had instantly frozen into ice.

"This is what we owe you."

James's voice was full of sympathy:

"If Emily hadn't been so petty back then and insisted on marrying you off, you wouldn't have ended up with that terrible man who tortured you until they had to remove your uterus."

"But what about Emily... What if she finds out and tries to take the baby back?"

"She won't find out."

James's voice turned cold:

"The first two children - didn't she believe they were stillborn too? Everyone in Emerald City knows that Emily only gives birth to dead babies. Even if she makes a fuss, who would believe her?"

"Besides, they're just kids. She's still young, she can have more. She won't care..."

I couldn't listen anymore and kicked the door open with force.

James instinctively protected Xanthe, then turned to see me at the door and froze for a moment:

"Emily, what are you doing here?"

I walked forward and demanded angrily:

"James, so my child wasn't stillborn - you gave it to Xanthe!"

He stood up to speak, but I slapped him hard across the face:

"Do you remember? Back then Xanthe liked you and made my life hell. She even exposed my identity as a reporter when I went to the hospital to investigate surrogacy, and I got thrown into a locked room and tortured for a whole week! You were so angry you married her off, and you told me you'd never indulge her again. But behind my back, you gave her my child!"

Xanthe cried as she defended James:

"Emily, I didn't... I just wanted a child so badly... James just felt sorry for me..."

"Felt sorry for you?"

I laughed bitterly, my throat full of the taste of blood:

"What about me! I gave birth three times, lost my babies three times, and lived every day with the pain of losing my children - where was his sympathy then! People cursed me, the Smith family treated me with cold stares - where was his sympathy then!"

"Xanthe, you two bastards should go to hell together!"

"Enough!"

James's face darkened:

"I only see Xanthe as a sister. Emily, let's be reasonable. If you hadn't insisted on making a scene back then, I wouldn't have married Xanthe off, and she wouldn't have suffered so much that she lost the ability to become a mother."

Be reasonable?

It was like hearing the most absurd joke in the world. I laughed until tears came out.

Be reasonable with a woman whose heart has been gouged out, who's lost three children?

Not wanting to waste any more words on them, I rushed forward to take back my own child, but two kids ran through the door and pushed me away hard:

"You bad woman, what do you think you're doing to our mom!"