Set Free After Death

I sat slumped in a pool of my own blood, my entire body in excruciating pain. But the pain was incomparable to what I felt in my stomach, the place that had once carried a new life.

A coppery taste filled my mouth as tears blurred my vision.

I stared at Harvey, who was coldly standing some distance away, and tightened my grip around Mom's urn. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get up.

I reached out a trembling hand toward my stomach before hacking out a mouthful of blood all of a sudden. Frightened, Nelly grabbed Harvey's arm tightly, her face pale in terror.

"Stop pretending, Maddison! I barely touched you. So, stop acting like you're about to die!" Harvey stood arrogantly, his face dark as he irritably pulled out some tissue to wipe his shoes.

Nelly teared up and looked innocently at me. "Do you think she might be pregnant, Harv? Look! So much blood is trickling from her legs—how disgusting!"

She covered her mouth and bent down, as if she was about to retch.

Despite her obvious pretense, Harvey still got anxious and gently patted her shoulders. "Don't look if you find her disgusting, then."

He turned to me with a look of clear disgust. "How could she be pregnant? If she truly was, she would've made it known to the public, just so she could use this as leverage for a better life!"

Harvey sneered, making known of his contempt for me. "She's truly a calculative person!"

A sharp cramp seized my abdomen just as he was done speaking. It was a pain that went deep down, as if every nerve in my body was being squeezed tightly by two small hands. The baby inside me was expressing its rage by twisting my intestines painfully.

I coughed violently before breaking into a bloody laugh. "Look at what this is, Harvey!"

With trembling hands, I reached into my pockets and pulled out the pregnancy test report, staining it with blood as I handed it to Harvey. "I'll leave right after you finish reading it! I wish you both eternal happiness!"

My hand trembled as I held the pregnancy test report up. I wanted him to know that his earlier kick was what ended the bloodline of the Fishers.

"I have no time for your games, Maddison!" Harvey snatched the pregnancy test over but did not take a look at it. Instead, he crumpled into a ball angrily before throwing it into the pool of blood.

"Do you not understand words? I said that I'm losing my patience!" He grabbed my long hair and forced me to look straight into his eyes. "I asked you to give me the urn and apologize to Nelly! You're still Mrs. Fisher to me! Do you get it?"

A sharp pain spread across my scalp, and blood seeped out from my lips with how hard I was biting down. I managed to keep myself silent as I stared right at Harvey.

He eyed the urn in my arms and grew more furious. "Why are you still hugging it? She's already dead! How much longer do you want to use her against me? Give it to me!"

We both let out a guttural scream when Harvey managed to snatch the urn from me—one from extreme anger and another in complete anguish.

When I scratched him by the hand, he shot me a cold glare. "Fine! I'll give it to you!"

Harvey gave a loud yell before prying open the lid to the urn, hurling it toward the ceiling right in front of me.

"Mom!" I screamed, lunging forward to try and collect the scattered ashes. However, he forcefully pressed my head down, grinding it hard against the floor.

I cried, "Let go of me! I can't let Mom—"

Harvey threw me a harsh slap on the cheeks and yelled, "Shut up! Stop pretending! Aren't you just trying to garner more of my pity using your mother's death? Fine. I'll give you what you want!"

He yanked my head back and grabbed a handful of Mom's ashes before shoving them forcefully into my mouth. "Don't you love that old woman very much? Then, let her rest inside you! Open your mouth! Why aren't you opening your mouth?"

Grabbing my head, Harvey then slammed it down on the floor. "How dare you say you love her when you refuse to even open your mouth? Open up! Let me see how good of a daughter you are! Otherwise, don't think of becoming Mrs. Fisher anymore!"