EMERALD....
"I am sorry, Emerald. You're not quite in a condition to be a mother," Doctor Sharon said.
"What?" I stared at her in disbelief, feeling lost.
"Yes, Emerald." She nodded and slowly opened my report. "I'm afraid you have severely weak eggs to carry a child in your womb. Honestly, your condition is similar to women twenty-five or thirty years senior to you. I'm a little surprised at this. With rarely having any physical defects, how did you end up here?"
"C-could it be that you're mistaken? I mean, it's possible, right?" There was still a slight hope within me.
However, her next words crushed that tiniest possibility, pushing me toward an end.
"I'm not mistaken, Emerald. This is why I've taken longer to give you your reports than I usually do. I've made sure to confirm this with a few more of the best gynecologists in my knowledge... I'm sorry, you can't conceive."
My heart swelled with immense pain. I'm only 30, trying to get pregnant ever since my marriage to Nathan. I wished for nothing more than to be a mother, but now, 7 years later, I have been informed that I can't even conceive.
Life suddenly feels like a cruel joke to me.
I feel a soft touch on my hand. Swallowing hard, I look up at my gynecologist. Her eyes are full of pity. "It's not the end, Emerald. In this era, there are lots of options to have a baby. Options like surrogacy are common nowadays. Why don't you talk to your husband about it?"
Although my own pregnancy has turned into a myth, her words gave me some hope. It turns out there's still some hope left. This time, I'll become a mother. I have to. This is all I have wanted in this life.
With no time to waste, I left the hospital and made haste to Lestrenge Industries in record time. I was in a rush and needed to discuss this with my husband. I believe I can convince him about the surrogacy option.
Rushing out of the lift, I bumped into his assistant, who was also my cousin sister, Olivia. "Is he in his office?" I asked urgently.
She was surprised, perhaps not expecting me here all of a sudden. Well, I do not normally make an appearance in the company, but today is different. I can't wait for the conversation.
"Y-yeah, he is..."
Immediately, I hurried toward his room. Olivia's voice sounded behind me, but I was too disoriented to understand and entered his room, only to pause.
Where is Nathan? I looked around. However, as I turned to the extra restroom in his office, my ears perked up at the questionable groans and thump, thump, thump.
My heart churned. What was that sound? Approaching the door, I slowly pushed it open... And I wish I had not.
The scene of my husband and my adopted sister on the bed, wrapped in the same bedsheets that I had prepared for him with love... Instantly, it broke something within me.
Hold on, the worst is yet to come...
"Mmm, Emerald can never give me the pleasure I get right here," Nathan groaned. "She is so dumb! Her obesity makes me sick every time I have to have sex with her, let alone have a child with her!"
"Yeah?" she giggled. "The way you fuck her every day, it doesn't seem that way. Thanks to those morning pills, she's not pregnant again. Or it would've been another trouble to get rid of it."
"Baby, I have to do that to keep her in control. You're too pretty to be compared with her! In fact, I imagine you while f*cking that fat junk!" he moaned.
They were too involved in the moment to notice my presence. Their words continued, sending chills down my spine...
"We have to get rid of her as soon as possible, the way we did to that old man." Violet's tone was full of distaste.
"Soon, love. We've successfully sent Vernon Lestrange to the hospital; he was our biggest barrier. Soon, his beloved daughter will follow. She won't be a trouble."
Both giggled, launching thousands of slaps on my face.
Suddenly, it all made sense why I was unable to get pregnant. How did I end up with such weak eggs? All thanks to those people I trusted so blindly.
And I thought I was superior in love. What a pathetic joke!
And Dad? What was his fault? He just wanted her to give a prosperous life like his own child. He saved her from her abusive mother, who was also my maternal aunt. He brought her home and loved her equally; Then why?
What demons had we allowed under our roof!
Unable to take it anymore, I kicked the door, and it swung open, banging against the wall. "How dare you!?" I screamed at them.
A wave of shock rushed through the offenders. They rolled off the bed, attempting to cover themselves, making me laugh in disbelief.
"You will cover your naked bodies with clothes, but how will you coat your shamelessness?" Tears of shame and anger slipped from my eyes. "We trusted you, and you..."
My stomach twisted in disgust, and I harshly wiped my tears away. "But not anymore. I won't let you win anymore!"
I rushed out of the room, ignoring Nathan's panicked urge for my return. I, however, did not bother any longer.
I need to go to the hospital, to Dad. He needs me the most.
I drove to the hospital in record time, breaking 1-2 signals on the way, perhaps. I pushed everyone out of my way and ran to my father's ward on the third floor.
However, as soon as I reached in front of his ward, I witnessed a little gathering from a distance: a group of nurses pushing out a stretcher from the ward with a covered body.
"What are you doing?" I murmured, stepping forward suspiciously. I looked inside the ward. The bed was empty. "Where is my father?" I asked, avoiding a glance at the covered body in front of me. It couldn't be him.
"I'm sorry, Miss Lestrenge. Your father is no more," the doctor said.
"Shut up!" I grabbed him by the collar. With red eyes fiercely darting at him, I growled at the man. "Don't f*cking dare lie to me! Where is my father!? Or are you with them? Tell me!"
"Miss Lestrenge, I am sorry for your loss," the doctor said again as a nurse pulled me back from him.
He slowly revealed Dad's pale face. "His heart failed fifteen minutes earlier."
"No!" I fell back, hitting the wall behind me.
"Dad... No..." I panted and fell onto the cold, hard floor of the hospital. Slowly, the reality started consuming me.
"DAD!... YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS!" My desperate wail echoed throughout the corridor.
It felt like decades as I watched the hospital staff take his body to the morgue. I could feel nothing but coldness at this point.
Swallowing the hard lump, I dragged myself to the stretcher. Raising my hand, I slowly caressed his gray hair one last time. "I'm sorry, Dad. I failed to protect you. I failed as your daughter," I murmured, tears defecting my vision.
"I swear to bring you justice. I won't let them get away with this," I vowed, and looked up at the doctor in charge. "Doctor, I want you to investigate the cause of his death," I said, trying to keep myself composed at that moment.
"Miss Lestrenge, it was a heart attack."
I turned to him with bloodshot eyes. "Please, doctor, do it. I want a proper investigation. I'm sure his death is not natural." My tone trembled at the last part.
But before he could speak, a voice interrupted, "Certainly, Miss Lestrenge."
My eyes snapped to the man as I saw two police officers enter the morgue.
I frowned. I did not recall informing the police before coming here; somehow, it completely slipped my mind.
"Yes, officers? How can I help you?" the doctor asked.
"Thanks, Doctor. But we won't take much of your time. We have information that Mr. Lestrenge's death wasn't natural. He was poisoned..."
"What!?" I stared at those officers speechlessly. "How did you... Agh!" My words were replaced with a gasp and sharp anguish once the lady officer pulled my arm and twisted it behind my back.
"Emerald Lestrenge, you're under arrest on the charge of poisoning and murdering your father and the former Director of Lestrenge Industries, Vernon Lestrenge."
.....