4#04

4

I desperately wanted to reach through the window and grab it back.

"Hand it over!" I snarled, my hands balled into fists so tight that my fingernails bit into my skin.

William finally realized something was amiss. "Lilah, quit fooling around."

Lilah feigned disappointment, but a moment later, her grip loosened and the pendant fell.

Without thinking, I lunged forward, my hands wrapping around that woman's neck. Her cry echoed through the cabin as she fought against me. The ruckus caused the compartment to groan and rock, the noise reverberating in the air.

Her complexion shifted from red to purple.

"That's enough!" William pried my hands away and restrained me in his arms. My strength was no match for his, so I yelled and thrashed, sinking my teeth into his arm.

He grunted, his veins protruding from the pain, but he maintained his grip.

Lilah coughed, massaging her throat. "I didn't... mean to!" she complained faintly.

But her intentions were irrelevant now. I had already been defeated.

I had lost my husband's affection. I had lost my child. And now, I had lost my mother's pendant.

I knew Lilah wanted me to collapse in tears. But I refused to give her that pleasure.

I clenched my jaw and endured it all, and somehow, my fear of heights vanished.

The instant the Ferris wheel halted, I dashed out, stumbling as I hurried toward the area where the pendant might have landed.

The grass was lush and moist. Finding anything would require someone to bend down and search thoroughly.

But I couldn't bend with my swollen belly. So I dropped to the ground, my hands combing through the grass.

William lifted me up and carried me a short distance away. "Stop searching."

I couldn't help but shout at him. "That pendant was my Mom's! It's all I have left of her!"

He paused, quiet for a moment, then exhaled. "I'll find it for you."

Rolling up his sleeves, he knelt on the damp ground and began looking. His trousers quickly became soaked, stained with mud and clinging grass blades.

I sat nearby, the dampness seeping into my clothes.

Lilah approached, smirking cruelly as she stood over me. "How does it feel to lose something you cherish?"

Her tone sharpened. "You killed my brother. I'll ensure you lose everything you hold dear!"

I avoided her gaze.

"I'm sorry about your brother," I said softly, "but I didn't kill him."

Lilah opened her mouth to reply, but fell silent when she saw William approaching.

He was disheveled—covered in grass, sweat streaking his face. In his hand, he held the emerald pendant.

I stared, amazed. Despite falling from such a height, it hadn't shattered.

He handed it to me, and I traced its familiar contours before quickly placing it back around my neck.

But then, a scream pierced the air.

I looked up.

The Ferris wheel cabin above us was hurtling straight down. It loomed larger and larger in my vision.

From the corner of my eye, I saw William grab Lilah, pulling her to safety.

Everything happened so rapidly that I had no time to react.

With a thunderous crash, the cabin smashed into the ground beside me.

I... nearly... died.

I was paralyzed.

When I finally regained my senses, my hand flew to my chest. The pendant had broken.

William rushed over and embraced me. "Emberly! I'm so sorry! I didn't— I didn't protect you!"

My shaking fingers reached for the emerald fragments scattered on the ground. I gathered each piece, desperately trying to reassemble them. But it was beyond repair.

Mom hadn't lied to me. The pendant truly protected me.

Emerald pendant, Emerald pendant… how could you be so heartless?

Are you abandoning me to join my mom too?

Why didn't you take me? If I could switch places, I wouldn't mind dying instead.

But if you leave, who will care for me?

The fury in my chest suddenly vanished, and tears flowed uncontrollably down my face.

William wiped my tears. "Emberly, don't cry. I'll have it fixed. I promise. I'll find someone who can repair it."

I gazed at him through my tears, his image blurry and distant. His eyes were red, too.

William was a paradox—someone who could forsake me so easily, yet moments ago had knelt in the mud to search for a broken piece of my past.

He even carried me to a nearby bench and sat me down.

"Your clothes are wet. I'll buy you something new. Wait here for me," William said.

He glanced at Lilah. "Please watch over her until I return."

Lilah should have been elated by everything that had transpired, but she wasn't smiling. Her eyes blazed with anger as she glared at me.

"I... I just can't fathom why you're still alive. Why won't you just perish?!" she hissed. "Your parents are dead—why didn't you join them?"

I remained silent, staring at the broken pendant in my palm.

Lilah noticed and suddenly let out a scornful laugh.

I struggled to stand, my legs still weak, but she grabbed my arm, pulling me back as her gaze followed William's retreating figure.

"Want to play a game with me?" she sneered. "Let's see which one of us matters more to him."

A sense of dread washed over me. Before I could react, Lilah pushed me—hard. My lower back struck the sharp edge of the bench's armrest, and pain exploded through me. I crumpled to the ground.

She let out a dramatic scream and fell down beside me, feigning injury.

William came running back, his face filled with alarm. Before he could reach me, Lilah's voice cut through the air.

"William! Someone knocked me down—my ankle hurts terribly!"

I was in too much pain to speak, and I felt myself losing consciousness. In a daze, I felt someone's hands carrying me to a car.

The next thing I heard was the wailing of sirens, then the murmur of voices as paramedics surrounded me.

William tried to follow, but Lilah clung to him, and in that moment of hesitation, I was already being wheeled away.

In the ambulance, I murmured to the doctor, "I scheduled an abortion… I want to proceed."

It was the same doctor from that night I scheduled it. "We'll prepare the procedure. Sign here," he said.

I picked up the pen just as William burst through the hospital doors.

"Emberly! What are you signing?"

I looked up at him weakly. "I'm having an abortion."