A Mother's Oath

"That slap was for Grandpa Arthur!"

The sharp smack echoed off the hospital walls. Nora did not stop. Holding Daphne tight by the scalp, she swung her hand again. Her voice tore through her throat, raw and broken. She struck Daphne repeatedly, a furious blur of righteous vengeance.

The ward descended into chaos. The heavy door slammed open, rebounding off the wall. Julian rushed into the room. Seeing Daphne under attack, his face contorted into pure fury.

"What are you doing, Nora?!" he roared.

He crossed the floor in two strides, ruthlessly grabbing Nora by her thin arm. With immense force, he threw her backward. Nora flew across the room and crashed hard into the heavy bedside cabinet. Her frail body crumpled to the cold floor tiles. Warm liquid trailed down her temple. The impact had split her forehead open, leaving her bleeding terribly.

Daphne stumbled back, cradling her swollen red cheek. Tears spilled over her lashes. She immediately weaponized her crying, feigning deep, victimized sympathy. "Jules," she sobbed weakly, leaning toward him. "Her kids died in prison. The grief must have driven her mad. I can understand why she is acting like this."

"Liar!" Nora spat. She pushed herself up on shaking arms, her gaze defiant. "My kids are not dead! They are alive. Stop cursing them!"

Julian stared down at Nora. His gaze held a chilling, absolute resentment. He looked at her as if she were poison. "Enough." His voice was a low, cruel warning. "Nora, you will only see your children after the surgery is complete. But hear this. If you dare to play any more tricks before then, you will never lay eyes on them again."

As Julian spoke the warning, Nora caught a fleeting movement. Over Julian's broad shoulder, Daphne’s tearful expression vanished. A look of pure, sympathetic mockery crossed Daphne's features.

A terrifying, paralyzing thought struck Nora's mind. The blood froze in her veins. What if they were both lying? What if the children really were dead, and this entire elaborate charade was just a sickening ruse to keep her compliant? A trick to harvest her bone marrow for Leo?

Pushed to the absolute edge of her sanity and desperation, Nora took drastic action. The moment Julian momentarily turned his back, Nora lunged. She snatched a water glass from the bedside table and shattered it against the floor. Glass sprayed across the tiles. She scooped up a jagged, sharp shard and surged forward.

Her fingers tangled fiercely in Daphne’s hair.

"Ah!" Daphne shrieked in sudden panic.

Moving with adrenaline-fueled speed, Nora yanked Daphne backward and pressed the lethal shard tightly against her pale throat. A single tear rolled down Nora's cheek. Her hands visibly trembled from physical weakness, but her reddened, bloodshot eyes locked onto Julian with absolute resolution.

"Jules!" Daphne gasped, terrified by the sharp edge pressing into her skin.

"I do not trust you," Nora told Julian hoarsely. "I refuse to believe my kids are alive unless you prove it to me right this second."

Julian's eyes flashed with dark killing intent. He mocked her desperate hostage situation, his voice dripping with disdain. "Do you honestly believe you have the right to negotiate with me?"

"You are the one without negotiating power!" Nora countered.

She dragged the terrified, whimpering Daphne backward. Step by step, she pulled her toward the edge of the open balcony, threatening a murder-suicide. The night wind whipped Nora's hair across her bleeding forehead.

"You have two choices," Nora yelled over the breeze. "Prove the kids are alive, or I die taking Daphne with me! Ten. Nine. Eight..."

Faced with Nora's ruthless, unyielding determination and Daphne's imminent peril, Julian gritted his teeth. He barked an order to his assistant standing by the door. "Owen! Hand me the picture."

Owen scrambled forward, passing a photograph to Julian. Pinching the glossy paper between his fingers, Julian glared at the balcony. His tone was icy and threatening. "If anything happens to my son Leo because of this delay, your children will be buried alongside him."

He held up the photo.

Nora strained her eyes. In the image were twin girls. Hazel and Stella. They wore matching floral dresses, their sweet faces looking back at the camera. Their big, bright eyes were unmistakably hers. The heavy, crushing weight in her chest suddenly lifted. She finally believed they were truly alive.

Capitalizing on her vulnerable relief, Julian stepped forward. His expression remained stern. "Sign these two contracts before you get the picture."

Blinded by maternal desperation, Nora shoved the hostage away in sheer disgust. Daphne stumbled forward, falling into Julian's protective arms and gasping for breath.

Owen placed a pen and the documents on the bed. Divorce papers. A binding agreement to completely surrender her newly inherited shares. Nora did not bother to glance at the legal contents. Without a single second of hesitation, she rapidly signed her name on both pages. She was willing to sacrifice everything.

"Give it to me," she demanded.

Julian required one final assurance before relinquishing the prize. "Swear it."

Nora pressed three trembling fingers to her own temple. She stared Julian dead in the eye and swore a binding oath. "If I do not give Leo my bone marrow, I will never see my kids again."

Satisfied, Julian threw the precious photo onto the hospital floor like trash. He wrapped an arm around the shaken Daphne and swiftly escorted her out of the ward. "Watch her around the clock without fail," he barked at the guards stationed outside.

Nora scrambled frantically across the floor tiles. She scooped up the photo and fiercely clutched it to her chest. Staring intently at the image, she took in the sweet, dimpled faces of the short-haired twin girls. Her heart clenched agonizingly in her chest.

Through heavy, emotional tears, she kissed the glossy paper. "Mommy is here," she whispered to the babies. "We will meet very soon. My babies."

She wept over the image of her daughters. The adrenaline crashed, leaving her body weak and hollow. She cried until sheer physical and emotional exhaustion finally claimed her, pulling her into a deep sleep.

As Nora slept soundly, her hands still fiercely clutching the only connection she had to her daughters, the heavy door to her hospital room slowly and silently opened. A small, cute head cautiously emerged into the room.