He Asked Me to Pick a Bridesmaid Dress for Their Wedding Chapter 03

He Asked Me to Pick a Bridesmaid Dress for Their Wedding Chapter 03

Ethan went rigid and shoved Sierra’s face into his chest. Then he smacked my phone out of my hand. “Holly, what the hell is wrong with you?” I didn’t move. My eyes locked on his wrist.

A fresh tattoo snaked over his veins. A string of ugly letters. The room spun and I saw him again. That man laughing. Same tattoo. That wrist had pinned my throat and dragged over every inch of my skin.

My teeth chattered. “Ethan. What is that?” He glanced at his arm and smirked. “Sierra said you have a thing for guys with wrist tattoos.” I looked up and Sierra’s eyes were waiting, daring me. Something inside me snapped.

I grabbed a paring knife off the coffee table and pressed it to her throat. My hand shook and a sob caught in my chest. “You did this on purpose.” She made Ethan get the same tattoo as her stepbrother to remind me.

Sierra’s face flickered but she lifted her chin. “It’s just a tattoo. What’s the big deal?” I was breaking apart and my hands pushed harder without thinking. Blood welled. Sierra smiled.

A force ripped me backward and a slap cracked across my face. “Holly! Have you lost your mind?”

Through tears, I saw Ethan raging. “Yeah! I’ve lost it!” I laughed, bitter and hunched over. “Do you know why Sierra made you get that tattoo?”

I opened my mouth but Sierra screamed. Blood soaked through her clothes. Ethan’s face drained. He didn’t hear me anymore. He scooped Sierra up and slammed his elbow into my chest to move me.

His glare was ice. “If anything happens to this baby, I will end you.” He walked out and didn’t look back. I crumpled to the floor and my heart split in two. But I was out of tears.

I dragged myself out of there. The second I stepped outside, everything went dark. I woke up in a hospital bed. The nurse told me I’d miscarried. She’d called my emergency contacts and no one answered.

“Who’s going to take care of you?” I stared at the ceiling. My pillow was soaked. My parents lived three hundred miles away. In this city, Ethan and Sierra were the only family I had. Neither of them showed.

Sierra sent photos. Her and Ethan hugging, kissing, posed and perfect. I scrolled through them like I wanted to bleed. Jealousy and hatred seared through my veins. How dare they be happy on top of my pain?

I sent Ethan the pregnancy test I’d saved. The one I never got to show him. He didn’t respond. Near evening, he pushed open my door. His gaze dropped to my stomach. “When did you find out?”

I smiled, sharp. “The day Sierra tried on wedding dresses. I was going to tell you.” He didn’t speak. Just smoked one cigarette after another. Smoke clouded his face and I couldn’t see the war inside him.

Then he spoke, flat and clinical. “Get rid of it. My child will only be born into a clean body. Sierra and I talked. Our baby will call you Mom.”

My blood turned to ice and I stared at him. He sat beside me and squeezed my hand. “Isn’t this better? We both still love you.”

My stomach heaved. I shoved him away and threw up over the side of the bed. He frowned and his voice dropped. “I already scheduled the procedure.” The door opened and doctors came in. They grabbed my arms.

I couldn’t fight. Tears slid down my face and hit the floor. “Ethan. I’m asking you one last time. You really don’t want this baby?”

Something flickered in his eyes and then he shut it down. “Holly. Don’t make this harder.”

I laughed. A wild, broken sound. I tore free and, before anyone could stop me, threw myself out the window.