Chapter 9

"You…you will pay for what you did!" Meredith cried out. "If there's really karma, it should be you, the cold-hearted and ignorant Miss Leighton who deserves to be punished! "All these years, my mom and I have been walking on eggshells around you. Now it's time for you to get a taste of how it feels like," Ysabelle seethed and continued, "If it isn't because of Josiah who needs to use your blood to save Yena, I wouldn't even have kept you alive!" Ysabelle then removed her high heel from Meredith's hand. She then walked out of the room and said to the two working staff standing guard at the door, "You've heard what Director Josiah had said earlier, right? Do everything you can to tame her, but keep her alive." "Yes, Miss Ysabelle," answered the staff as they glanced at Meredith with looks of disdain on their face. Almost everyone was criticizing Meredith. After all, she was the first person who dared to cheat on Josiah, and even carried an illegitimate child. Meredith wanted to defend herself but realized that it was pointless to explain herself anymore. Josiah chose not to believe her, tortured her, and even killed her child. There was no reason for her to be longing for a cold-hearted man anymore. There was also nothing left for her to fight for anymore. The door was closed tightly behind her. Meredith curled up her body that was covered in bruises and scars and finally burst out crying. In her mind, a shout was replaying over and over again, ‘I hate you, Josiah Shelby.’ Aside from a bed, there was nothing else in the room. Meredith had been curled up in her bed for three days. Apart from one of the working staff who brought her some cold bread, she did not see anyone else. One who had lost faith would not be bothered about feelings like hunger. Meredith did not even have the appetite to eat the piece of cold bread that was delivered to her only once a day. Looking at the bread on the floor, the staff scolded, "What's wrong? Are you disgusted by food like this just because you're used to eating good food?" Pretending as if she did not hear the staff, Meredith remained curled up on the bed with her back facing the staff. The other staff said, "Director Josiah had us make sure that she doesn't die. We need her alive to donate blood for Miss Yena." He was keeping her alive to save Yena…Meredith smiled as tears ran down her face. Meredith did not expect her life to turn out into such misery. "Since she's not eating on her own, let's force her." The staff walked toward the bed and dragged Meredith to sit up. The abrupt jolting movement caused the already weak Meredith to feel dizzy. She felt a churning in her stomach. She started throwing up next to her bed. "You disgusting little b*tch!" The staff who got soiled by Meredith cursed out loud and threw Meredith off her bed onto the floor. The staff then cleaned up herself and continued cursing as she walked out of the room. "Forget it if you don't want to! Let's see how long you can stand it!" The other staff left the room too. Meredith lay still on the floor. She was too weak and was feeling extremely uncomfortable. Meredith could not even be bothered to try to get herself off the floor. Meredith did not know how long she was lying on the floor when she heard light footsteps coming her way. "Miss, wake up." Meredith felt someone nudging her arms and at the same time, she heard the gentle voice again, "Hurry up, wake up." The voice was unfamiliar. But it was the most gentle and soft voice that she had heard in such a long time. Meredith struggled to open her eyes. Perhaps the light was too bright, Meredith could not make out the girl's face. She could see that it was someone young, thin, and gaunt, but her eyes were filled with feelings of concern. The girl had a bowl in her hand and Meredith smelled a delicious smell. "Miss, you must eat when you're pregnant. If not, the baby will get hungry," the girl said as she placed a mouthful of pasta near Meredith's mouth and continued, "eat well so that the baby wouldn't get hungry." Her baby… Meredith unconsciously placed her hand on her lower belly. She had lost her baby, and it was all because of Josiah. Tears started rolling down her face as she sobbed silently, "I've lost my baby, it's gone…" The girl nodded her head and said, "You still have your baby. I saw you throwing up just now. I remembered throwing up like you did when I was pregnant." The girl's eyes suddenly reddened as she said, "My baby is dead because I didn't eat…my poor baby…it's all because of me." Meredith's eyes were now wide open. She felt her lower belly with her hands and a thought flashed across her mind, 'Could there be a possibility that my baby is still alive?' 'My baby is still alive and that was why I threw up earlier?' Meredith wondered to herself. This was her first pregnancy and she had not went through a miscarriage before so she did not know what was the truth. Everything had happened in a day, from the moment she knew that she was pregnant until the moment she was forced to drink the liquid to kill the baby. Right after she was forced to drink the liquid by Josiah, she felt a churning pain in her lower belly and had even bled a little. Hence, Meredith had assumed that she had lost her child. At the thought that her baby might still be alive, Meredith was overjoyed and relieved. She had suddenly found the urge and hope to stay alive. Grabbing the bowl from the girl's hand, Meredith started stuffing her mouth with the food. For her child, she had to eat well and stay alive.