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723words
My best friend returned with my test results, excitedly hugging me.
"Anna, you're going to be a mom!"
Lying weak in the hospital bed, my dull eyes lit up.
I touched my stomach, disbelief washing over me. "I... have a baby?"
The shock was overwhelming, terrifying.
"What if... Michael doesn't want it? Should I even tell him?"
She held my hand, comforting me.
"Whether he wants it or not, this baby is yours."
"Even without him, you'll be a wonderful mother. Anna, congratulations!"
She looked down, a flicker of sadness in her eyes.
I remembered her infertility, and grabbed her hand.
I said earnestly, "Nora, when my baby's born, you'll be their godmother!"
My best friend smiled brightly, hugging me tightly.
"Thanks, Anna."
Because the pregnancy was unstable, I stayed in the hospital for a few days.
My best friend took me home the day I was discharged.
That evening, I cooked all my husband's favorite dishes.
I wanted to tell him the good news when he got home. I waited until midnight.
When he finally came home, reeking of alcohol.
The smell of perfume clung to his clothes—maybe because I was pregnant, it made me nauseous. I rushed to the bathroom and threw up.
Later, emotionally shattered, I confronted him.
But he just glared, his voice sharp. “You don't deserve to even say her name. She's kind—she'd cry over a dead flower. But you… you got someone killed who truly cared about you. I will never forgive you."
He couldn't stand being near me for another second, turning to leave.
Thinking of my unborn baby then,
I found myself pleading. "Michael... I'm pregnant. Please don't leave me alone."
My husband paused halfway to the door.
He looked at me with intense disgust, convinced I was lying.
"First it was feeling sick, now it's a pregnancy excuse? You'll do anything to get me back."
"I should've seen what you were like before."
I kept insisting I wasn't lying, but he only grew more impatient.
He smashed our framed wedding photo onto the floor.
"I regret ever marrying someone like you!"
"Don't bother me again!"
Watching his retreating back, my heart felt shredded.
Finally, I touched my stomach, wiped my tears.
"Baby... Mommy won't give up on you."
After that, my husband never came home again.
For the baby's sake,
I found the strength to go on.
I even started buying little things for the nursery.
Until one day, my best friend went with me for a prenatal checkup.
It was dark on the way back, and we were being followed.
My best friend tried to buy me time to run.
The attacker hit her with a bat, knocking her out.
Cornered in an alley, I instinctively called my husband.
Sobbing, I told him, "Michael, someone's chasing us! Nora's been knocked out! Please come help us!"
But my husband thought I was lying, yelled at me.
"Enough of your ridiculous games, for God's sake! Chloe's cat is missing near her apartment building, God knows if it's hurt. I don't have time for your little dramas right now."
Then he hung up.
The next moment, something heavy struck my head, and everything went black.
I woke up in a half-built skyscraper.
My best friend lay unconscious in a corner, her forehead covered in blood.
Out of journalistic habit, I woke up and threw my wristwatch camera into a corner.
The killer didn't notice.
Then he tied me to a table.
To torture me, he deliberately crushed my bones.
Poured acid down my throat.
Then sealed my mouth shut with super glue.
He stabbed me twenty-eight times.
I felt blood pooling in my abdomen, my baby's life fading away.
Despairing tears fell. I couldn't scream for help, couldn't scream in pain.
Like a lamb led to slaughter.
My best friend woke up midway, witnessed the killer's actions.
She went insane. Before I died, she broke free, lunging at the killer to avenge us, but died by his hand.
Before death, the killer gouged out my eyes with a steel rod.
A guitar string tightened around my neck, and I bled out.
After death, my spirit drifted to my husband.
He and his brother had spent the whole night with Chloe, looking for her cat...
