Love is Sweet as Poison

Someone pushes me off a cliff when I'm eight months pregnant before taking their life on the spot. Meanwhile, blood pools underneath me as I'm rushed to the hospital.

As despair washes over me, I hear Jacob Langley's voice come from outside my hospital ward.

"Are you sure it'll work this time?"

"Yes, Mr. Langley. Mrs. Langley has taken good care of herself during her pregnancy, but the branch pierced her belly. There's no chance of the baby surviving this, and she won't ever be able to conceive again."

"Good. Make sure the culprit's family has been sent away. I won't let anything go wrong before the Adkins agree to adopt Clara."

"Yes, sir. Still… why did you need to push Mrs. Langley off a cliff if you wanted to adopt Ms. Jennings' daughter? Mrs. Langley is kind; I'm sure she would've treated the child well."

Jacob snorts. "What do you know? Why would Selene agree to adopt Clara if she had her own child? She'll only treat Clara as her own once she can't have children and leave everything she has to Clara. I couldn't marry Kaia back then; this is all I can do to make it up to her."

The voices slowly fade away, but they reverberate loud and clear in my mind.

I've spent six years by Jacob's side, yet all I've gotten in return are lies and betrayal. His so-called love for me is nothing but a trick to steal my inheritance for someone else.

Since this is what he wants, I'll make his wish come true.

"It's been so long. Why isn't she awake yet?" Jacob Langley's impatient voice rang out.

"Maybe because Ms. Adkins is overwhelmed by the grief of losing her child, she's unwilling to wake up…" the doctor replied tentatively as he glanced at Jacob's sullen expression.

"Do anything you can to wake her up. Kaia's already urging me to make her sign the papers as soon as possible."

"But Mr. Langley, Ms. Adkins has just suffered a miscarriage. I'm afraid it's quite inappropriate to have her sign the adoption papers right away. Should we delay this for—"

"Enough! I know what Selene is like. Besides, she's best friends with Kaia, so she'll never reject her. Just do as I say!"

Jacob pulled my hand out from under the covers and held it gently. His hand felt as warm and safe as ever, yet a chill ran down my spine.

"Mr. Langley, as your secretary, I don't have the right to judge you. But I've been holding it back for quite some time now.

"Back when you first graduated and joined the company, Ms. Adkin's father didn't look down on your background and instead trained you to be where you are now. He even married his own daughter to you. We thought he had done more than enough for you.

"But now, you're hurting Ms. Adkins for Ms. Jennings' sake. If she finds out about this in the future—"

"Shut up!" Jacob snapped. "Mind your own business."

As I recalled his words earlier, tears trickled down my face and soaked into the pillow.

Even the people around him could tell how well Dad treated him. But he hardly had any gratitude for Dad and even caused me so much pain.

I once thought I was the happiest person in the world—until today. It turned out that I was the biggest fool of all.

The agony I felt made it harder for me to breathe. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out.

"The patient's pulse is weak. Prepare for resuscitation!"

As the surgical light shone down on my face, I felt a cold needle pushing into my arm. My hands, clasped in Jacob's tight grip, slowly fell to the hospital bed.

Just before I lost consciousness completely, I heard him bellow, "You must save her!"

Of course, he didn't want me to die now. I hadn't signed the adoption papers yet, after all.

…

When I woke up again, Jacob's sleeping face was the first thing I saw. He looked exhausted.

For a moment, I thought we had returned to the time when we first graduated from university. I had been hospitalized for acute appendicitis, and the same sight also greeted me the moment I woke up from surgery.

"Selene, you're awake."

Sensing my lingering gaze on him, Jacob blinked his bloodshot eyes open.

"How do you feel? Does it hurt anywhere?" he asked, the concern in his voice genuine. Yet, the warmth in his eyes was long gone. I knew I shouldn't have expected anything from him.

"Jacob, where's our baby?"

Pain crossed his face. "Selene, our baby… is gone. And from now on, you won't be able to have children again."

"I don't believe it," I choked out. "The baby was so healthy. Just the other day, I could still feel the kicks…"

Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. I threw my arms around myself, weeping bitterly.

"Selene, don't be sad," Jacob crooned. "Even if you can't have children anymore, we can always adopt. I'll treat the child as my own."

If I hadn't heard his cruel words earlier, I might have been deceived by his convincing act.

I shook my head defiantly. "It's different…"

After I eventually calmed down, he brought over a food container and said, "Selene, have some. I made this soup myself. You used to love it."

Staring blankly into the distance, I numbly swallowed the soup he fed me.

Just then, his phone chimed with a notification, and he picked it up without hesitation.