Chapter 2
Sloane's POV
My trembling legs had barely carried me back to 602, and the key was still in the lock, when a thunderous crash exploded against my door.
The banging carried a manic force, threatening to tear Linden Court apart. I held my breath and pressed my eye to the peephole. My narrow line of sight was instantly filled by Marlena's face, twisted with venom.
Wearing that faded maternity dress, she pounded on the metal door with both hands like a rabid animal.
"Open the door! Sloane! You cheap whore!" Marlena's eyes bulged, bloodshot with madness. "How dare you use a megaphone to curse my baby to die! My child is perfectly fine! If a single hair falls off my baby, I swear I'll slit your throat and kill your whole goddamn family!"
Within thirty seconds, neighbors roused by the commotion had gathered outside.
"Jesus, Sloane, what the hell is wrong with you?" Mrs. Martha from 601 across the hall pointed at my door in disgust. "Hiding inside? How brave! How could you say something so malicious to a pregnant woman about to give birth? Do you have no fear of Hell, you godless creature?"
Eric, the freelance photographer from down the hall, was right behind her. He held his phone high, recording everything, the cold light of the screen hitting the doorframe. His tone reeked of moral superiority. "Unbelievable. And I thought you were a quiet, single girl! Triggering a fragile, forty-week pregnant woman? You're rotten to the core. A psycho like you will get what's coming to her!"
"I'll kill you! You murderer! I'll kill your whole family—!"
Marlena's hysterical shrieks locked onto me.
The thick stench of blood from my past life flooded my nose—the dull ache of rusty shears piercing flesh, Marlena's manic laughter as she stepped on my windpipe. They strangled me like toxic fumes from hell.
My body shivered violently, a residual trauma from being brutally murdered. But that terror lasted only a second before a towering, bone-melting rage burned it entirely to ash.
I unlocked the deadbolt and yanked the door wide open!
Marlena's fists were still raised mid-air. Using the momentum from opening the door, I twisted my waist, drew back my right arm, and swung a vicious slap right across her innocent, spiteful face!
The sharp crack instantly silenced all the noise in the hallway. The sheer force snapped Marlena's head back, and she stumbled hard.
In that split second she lost her balance, my eyes swept over her swollen belly. My hand paused for a fraction of a second—her baby was still there.
But the foul air trapped in my chest finally expelled. I sneered, "If you crazy bitch actually cared about the lump of flesh in there, maybe check if it's still breathing! Screaming in the halls like a rabid dog all day—the only one cursing it to die is you, treating harassment like a goddamn hobby!"
Stunned by the slap, Marlena stood frozen for three full seconds. Then, letting out a monstrous shriek, she lunged at my face with her long fingernails bared!
This time, I was absolutely not letting her pin me to the floor.
Eyes locked on her movements, I stepped back precisely and dodged. As she brushed past me, I grabbed a fistful of her dry, yellow hair!
Gritting my teeth, I used my body weight to violently yank her hair sideways!
"Ah—! Let me go!" Stripped of her center of gravity, Marlena was forced to throw her head back, screaming like a dying fish on a chopping block. "Call the cops! She's trying to murder me! Help—!"
"Jesus! Stop!"
Eric panicked, rushing forward to yank my arm off like a pair of pliers. Hands reached out from all directions, frantically prying us apart. The building manager, Hollis, arrived panting, his face pale, and stood between me and Marlena.
I was shoved back against the doorframe. Straightening my torn collar, I gasped for air. My knuckles were white and trembling from exertion. I glared at Marlena, who had retreated to the corner.
However, breaking us apart didn't bring peace to the hallway.
"You are an absolute monster!" Eric pointed at my nose, his face flushed red. "She’s a forty-week pregnant woman! How low do you have to be to hit a pregnant woman? How did Linden Court let a toxic bitch like you move in!"
"Don't try reasoning with a psycho," Martha's eyes were full of skin-crawling disgust. "Let's just call 911. Let her explain assaulting a high-risk pregnant woman to the cops!"
