The Price of Loving Him

"Gideon, please. You have to believe me. I swear I didn't push her."

The relentless downpour thrashed against the expansive grounds of the Drexel estate. Heavy sheets of rain slammed into Tess Dalton without mercy. She knelt in the unforgiving mud. Her white dress was soaked through, the thin fabric clinging to her trembling frame and offering zero protection from the biting cold. She tilted her pale, tear-stained face upward, blinking against the stinging water. She desperately pleaded with the towering figure looming above her.

Gideon Drexel stood like a marble statue in the storm. The driving rain seemed to bounce off his broad, tailored shoulders. He gazed down at the woman shivering at his feet. His dark eyes held zero warmth. They were consumed by an icy, piercing hatred that cut deeper than the freezing weather. His jaw clenched tight.

"You didn't push her?" Gideon mocked, his voice slicing straight through the deafening roar of the downpour. "Then tell me, Tess, how did Valerie end up at the bottom of those stairs? Are you expecting me to believe she threw herself down?"

Tess choked on a harsh sob. The reality of his accusation crushed her chest like a heavy stone. "Yes! That is exactly what happened!" she cried out. Hot tears mixed with the freezing rain streaming down her cheeks.

She scrambled to explain, her words spilling out in a frantic, desperate rush. "She was walking in front of me in the hallway. Then, for no reason at all, she stopped. She turned around to look at me, Gideon. She looked right into my eyes, and she just leaned back. I saw her tipping toward the edge of the staircase. I lunged forward. I reached out to grab her arm, to catch her, but she pulled away from me. She wanted to fall!"

Gideon’s upper lip curled into a vicious sneer. He let out a harsh, scornful laugh that sent a fresh wave of terror down her spine. "I always thought you were just a naive, simple girl. I never imagined jealousy could twist you into something so hideous and disgusting."

"No!" Tess scrambled forward in the slick mud. "This is her scheme! You have to see the truth. Ever since Conrad died in that car accident, Valerie changed. She never intended to keep his baby. Carrying that child was nothing but a calculated ploy to tear us apart, to make you hate me—"

A harsh slap struck her cheek.

The raw force of the blow snapped Tess’s head to the side, abruptly cutting off her frantic defense. A sharp ringing pierced her ears, instantly drowning out the sound of the storm. The metallic, sweet taste of fresh blood flooded her mouth, pooling under her tongue.

Before her mind could even process the shock of the strike, Gideon’s large, unyielding hand clamped brutally around her slender neck. He hauled her upward, forcing her to look into his dark, murderous eyes.

"Conrad is dead," Gideon snarled, his grip tightening like an iron vice. "The child in Valerie’s womb was his only remaining bloodline in this world. And you dare to weaponize that unborn child as a pathetic excuse? You are heartless. You are cunning and evil."

Tess struggled desperately for air. Her hands flew up, clawing weakly at the thick fingers crushing her windpipe. Her lungs burned for oxygen. Her vision began to blur at the edges. She stared into the stern, ruthless face of her husband, silently begging him to stop. Her only crime in this life had been loving him unconditionally.

Then, an excruciating agony suddenly surged through her lower abdomen.

The pain was sharp, sudden, and blinding. It felt as though a serrated blade was ripping through her insides. Her facial features twisted in raw torment. Her resistance against his chokehold grew frantic. She kicked her legs, gasping and choking out a fractured plea.

"The baby... Gideon... please... our baby."

At the mention of the child, Gideon froze. The lethal pressure around her throat halted. His dark, stormy eyes dropped from her pale face down to her waist.

Tess wore a flowing white dress today. The torrential downpour plastered the garment against her skin, clearly outlining the curve of her four-month pregnant belly. But right now, the pure white fabric was ruined. A vivid, horrifying stain of crimson blood spread rapidly across her lap. It seeped through the soaked material, dropping into the cold rainwater beneath her to create a sickening puddle in the mud.

The jarring sight struck Gideon. He instinctively released his grip on her neck, stepping back as if burned by the sight of the scarlet fluid.

Tess collapsed back into the freezing dirt. She coughed raggedly, gasping for precious oxygen. Her trembling hands flew down to clutch her agonizing stomach. Pure panic seized her heart. The stabbing pain in her womb intensified with every passing second. She reached out with one shaking hand and seized the wet hem of Gideon's dark trousers.

"Gideon, my stomach," she rasped, her voice breaking into a whimper. "It hurts so much. The baby is in trouble. Please, you have to take me to the hospital."

Gideon looked down. He cast a detached, frosty glance at the thick red blood pooling in the mud beneath her thighs. He remained standing there, stock-still.

"Please," Tess begged, clutching his pant leg tighter, her knuckles turning white. "Gideon, I am begging you. Take me to the hospital."

She looked up into his face. She searched for a shred of panic, a hint of care, any sign of the man she had loved for a decade. But there was nothing. His eyes were devoid of mercy.

In that shattering moment, Tess understood. Valerie’s catastrophic fall and subsequent miscarriage had branded Tess as the ultimate sinner of the Drexel family. Conrad's only heir was gone, and Gideon had already sentenced his own wife for the crime. He was not going to help her.

Tess slowly uncurled her fingers, letting go of his wet trousers. She pressed both arms tight against her stomach. If Gideon would not save their child, she had to do it herself. Driven by a primal, desperate need to protect the life growing inside her, she planted her palms in the mud and painstakingly attempted to stand.

"Hang on," she whispered to her womb, the rain washing away her hot tears. "Mommy is going to get us to a doctor."

She managed to lift her knees from the ground. She took one agonizing step toward the towering iron gates of the estate.

"Make sure she stays on the ground."

Gideon's unforgiving, authoritative voice pierced the heavy rain. The command struck her back like a physical blow.

Instantly, heavy footsteps splashed through the puddles. Several servants rushed out from the grand villa. Their faces were etched with deep resentment and blind loyalty to their master. Before Tess could even crawl another foot toward the exit, harsh hands grabbed her upper arms.

They seized her soaked clothes and roughly dragged her backward through the abrasive mud.

"No! Let me go!" Tess shrieked, kicking her legs.

A heavy, ruthless kick slammed into the back of her knees. Her legs buckled instantly. Tess crashed face-first back into the freezing dirt with a sickening thud. The servants dragged her upright and shoved her down into a kneeling position, pinning her arms hard behind her back.

She knelt there in the freezing mud, held down like a condemned prisoner awaiting execution. The agony in her abdomen flared to an unbearable degree. She felt the terrifying rush of thick fluid. More blood flowed uncontrollably down her bare legs, mixing with the relentless rain. The life was draining right out of her body.

Pale, shivering, and trapped, Tess looked up at Gideon. She looked at the man she had loved unconditionally for ten long years.

"Gideon, I swear I didn't push her!" she sobbed, her voice tearing at the seams. "Please, take me to a doctor! The baby... the baby can kick now. He is our child! I will do anything you want, I will accept any punishment, but please just save our baby!"

Gideon stood resolute. He did not flinch at her tears. His lips parted, and he delivered a stream of freezing, merciless words.

"Tess, since Valerie's child is gone, your child must serve as the compensation."

A crushing wave of disbelief washed over her. The sheer horror of his statement stopped her heart in her chest. She stared at the man she loved. He wanted their baby to die. He was demanding a life for a life.

Humiliated, helpless, and forcefully pinned to the dirt by the merciless servants, Tess looked down. She watched the crimson blood flowing from her own body. It formed a dark, sickening stream that washed away into the stormy drains. Her baby was dying on the cold ground, and the father was orchestrating it.

A sudden, piercing scream erupted from the very depths of her chest.

It was a mournful, agonizing, and endlessly desperate cry. It tore through the stormy night sky like a wounded, caged beast. The raw terror and visceral pain embedded in that sound were inhuman. It shattered the ambient noise of the heavy rainfall. The sound was so deeply unsettling, so full of raw anguish, that the two servants holding her arms flinched.

The terror in her voice spooked them. They abruptly released her shoulders.

Tess pitched forward into the mud just as a thick mouthful of fresh blood spilled from her trembling lips. It splattered against the wet stones, vivid and horrifying.

Gideon’s brow furrowed deeply. A flicker of something complicated flashed in his dark eyes. He shifted his weight, and he moved to take a step forward toward her collapsed form.

Before his expensive leather shoe could touch the mud, the heavy front doors of the villa slammed open.

A panicked servant rushed out onto the porch, waving his arms frantically.

"Mr. Drexel! Mr. Drexel!" the servant shouted over the thunder. "It is Mrs. Valerie! She is in severe distress! She locked herself in the bathroom and is attempting to kill herself!"

Gideon’s expression instantly morphed into sheer panic. The cold indifference vanished, replaced by an urgent, frantic terror for his sister-in-law.

He immediately turned on his heel. Without a single backward glance, without a moment of hesitation for his bleeding wife writhing on the ground, he strode rapidly toward the garage.

Tess lay in the freezing mud, her hands still clutching her empty, aching womb. She watched his broad figure walk away into the storm, abandoning her to lose their child alone. The rain beat down on her back. The physical pain was nothing compared to the profound, soul-shattering betrayal carving out her chest.

She gathered the last fraction of oxygen in her failing lungs. A cold, hollow, and almost unfamiliar voice drifted weakly from her lips, echoing out behind him into the downpour.

"I shouldn't fallen for you, Gideon."

As Tess's words lingered in the air, she slowly slumped to the ground.