"What ails her?" Quinn asked as he observed the doctor's troubled expression while he tended to Belle.
He hadn't intended to raise his voice at her, but her questioning had stirred his anger. If she was this weak, why bother seeking his audience only to make him furious?
"Your Grace…" The doctor knelt before him, closing his eyes and pressing his fists to his thighs. The doctor's palms had turned sweaty and he feared losing his life.
"I just asked what is wrong," Quinn demanded, growing impatient with the doctor's peculiar behavior. Why was everyone keen on frustrating him tonight?
"The Duchess has… suffered a miscarriage. I could not save the child. I am deeply sorry, Your Grace," the doctor confessed, bowing in remorse.
"She was with child?" Quinn's gaze drifted to Belle, who was lying unconscious on the bed. Different thoughts spiraled in his mind but he knew it was useless to utter any of them and decided to just leave. How come she never told him about the child until now? Was her hatred for him so ambiguous that she never wrote him a letter about her being pregnant?
"Did she not inform you?" The doctor asked, surprised. Since the first time he confirmed her pregnancy, he advised her to inform the Duke so the mistress of the mansion would stop mistreating her.
"See to her well-being," was all Quinn said before leaving the room, his face devoid of any hint of concern. Since she never wanted him to know about their child, then he would remain indifferent till the end.
Once he had gone, Mia rushed to Belle's side, her face lined with worry.
"What shall we do?" Mia asked, already aware of the tragic news from overhearing the conversation.
"Do your utmost to keep her from stress over the coming week. She is very fragile, and we must avoid further complications," the doctor advised, gathering his belongings to depart.
"Is it true? Has she truly lost the child?" Mia asked, her voice trembling with hope that it might be a mistake. This child was the only hope for Belle, she didn't want to imagine how broken Belle would be once she found out she lost her baby.
"I am afraid so," the doctor sighed before he left.
---
The following morning, Belle's eyes fluttered open, and she let out a soft groan, drawing Mia's attention.
"My lady, you are awake," Mia said, moving to the bed and helping her sit up.
"What happened?" Belle asked, struggling to recall how she had ended up there. She remembered conversing with Quinn in this room and her falling to the ground in pain.
"My lady…" Mia's voice wavered, and she began to sob, pulling Belle into an embrace as she whispered, "The baby… we have lost the baby." Belle froze, the words leaving her stunned.
"What are you saying? Whose baby?" She pushed Mia back slightly, searching her eyes, hoping it was some cruel jest. Was Mia also involved in this prank, what sort of news was that? She had taken several precautions like the doctor said, even going as far as taking a bitter smoothie every morning, and he assured her that she would deliver her baby safely. So why would she lose a baby from just a mere pain?
"The baby is gone… and the Duke showed no remorse," Mia disclosed, a look of sorrow filling her face as Belle's hands dropped to her sides.
"No… My baby is still here. I can feel it," Belle insisted, rubbing her belly and smiling faintly, her mind refusing to accept the truth.
"Get the doctor, he shall confirm the truth." Smiling, she instructed but Mia could not withstand seeing her in a state of denial and sighed. If she didn't take a bold step, Belle might lose her sanity and she wouldn't want that, not when a lot of people want to see her break down.
"No! My lady, listen to me. The baby is gone!" Mia held her shoulders, trying to bring her back to reality, her tears falling freely.
"No! No! No! Leave me be!" Belle shoved Mia away, staggering from the bed and clutching at her hair in despair. She was not mad, she could feel her baby, Mia was only joking.
"If you wish to lose yourself to madness, then do it before the heartless beast who killed his child!" Mia cried, pointing toward the door. Belle turned to her, sorrow etched across her face. If what she was saying was right, then Quinn was responsible for this.
"Quinn…" she whispered, then stormed out of the room, fury propelling her steps as she marched toward Quinn's quarters, her mind envisioning a dozen ways to make him pay.
"My lady…" they called, but before anyone could restrain her, she summoned the last of her strength to push the guards aside and threw open the door.
"Quinn Brooks!" She cried, storming into the room. There he was, lying naked in bed with his new lover.
"Oh, how fitting. Already creating a new baby after you made me lose ours." She laughed bitterly, stepping closer to the bed, her heart heavy with grief and betrayal. Whenever she remembered how she fought to make their marriage work, she hated herself for not leaving sooner.
"That child was ours, Quinn. I fought so hard to keep it, hoping it might amend the differences between us. And yet here you are, entwined with another woman just after our child was lost. What wrong have I done to deserve such hatred from you?" She spoke in a torrent, striking her chest as though to release the unbearable sorrow within. The emotions were killing her inwardly, and releasing them was the only way to regain her strength.
"You need rest. Leave now, and we can discuss this later." He rose from the bed, entirely unashamed and still unclothed, dismissing her as if her anguish were trivial. Belle burst into laughter, hollow and despairing. After all, she had said, this was his only reply.
"Ho…how can you despise me so much that you would even kill our child?" She asked, her voice breaking.
"A child that no longer exists?" He replied, raising an indifferent brow. Belle fell silent, struck by his cruelty, unable to find words.
"Don't paint me as the villain. I knew nothing of this child. You never told me. How could I have known?" he asked without a hint of shame, and Belle's strength gave way as she sank to her knees. It was not like he was wrong, she was the villain between them both, hiding their child from him like he had no part in the existence of the child.
"Your mother never lets me forget that my proposal was a humiliation to you, a stain. But you know what sustained me in all the long nights of your absence? Our child." She looked down, speaking as if confessing a truth she had never intended to share. There was no night his mother didn't abuse her both physically and mentally, and yet she survived, all because of their child. Even when she was poisoned, she never gave up and fought to stay alive.
"I even had names prepared," she whispered, a bitter smile touching her lips as she thought of the names.
Without another word, she slowly rose, holding herself together with the last fragments of her dignity, and made her way toward the door.
Quinn clenched his fist once she was gone and returned to bed, anger clouding his mind. What right did she have to accuse him when she hid the pregnancy from him? He waited day and night for a single letter but it never came. He sent a private letter to her but it was never reciprocated, yet he was the bad one.
He knew she was only jealous and wanted to ruin his new relationship but he wouldn't allow that.
Once outside, a dark resolve filled her heart. Better to end her suffering than continue to endure this cruel punishment. She knew not what fate she had offended to deserve this life, but today it would all come to an end. If there was no line of happiness in her fate, there was no need to keep on living such a sad life.
Determined, she climbed to the rooftop, ignoring the whispered comments of the servants she passed. She was resolute. Her mother would never have allowed such mistreatment had she still lived. Though she came from humble origins, her mother would have shielded her from this agony.
Reaching the edge of the rooftop, she looked up to the sky, smiling faintly as she imagined reuniting with her child and mother in whatever lay beyond.
"I am sorry, Mother," she whispered, a single tear falling as she took her final step forward.
"Hey!" A voice called out, the last sound she heard as she closed her eyes and let herself fall.