The housekeeper said that my baby and I
might have died.
Chad couldn’t see that I was lying on the
floor.
Chad yelled my name and only heard Ashley.
Chad was scared and yelled.
“Open the window and turn on the light.”
The housekeeper started to shake.
He turned on the lights and was scared.
I was lying on the ground, filled with blood.
There was a blue baby underneath me.
There was no one alive.
Chad widened his eyes and trembled.
Ashley dropped on the ground.
Chapter 2
Chad stood there frozen, for what felt like
forever, muttering to himself.
“Hazel, come on, you made your point. Let’s
go home, stop with the acting, it’s not funny
anymore.”
I gave a bitter laugh, even now, he thought I
was putting on a show.
Just as Chad seemed to finally find the
く
courage to come closer to me, a stranger’s
voice cut through the silence from outside.
“Is Hazel Hayes here? Your order for the
‘realistic mannequin‘ has been delivered to
the designated location, please come sign for
it.”
Hearing the words “realistic mannequin,”
Chad burst out laughing, relieved.
“Hazel, I knew it! You’re such a liar, trying to
scare me with a dummy.”
Ashley, still hurting from being dropped,
tugged at Chad’s pants leg.
“Honey, what’s so funny? Tell me so I can
laugh with you.”
Chad, all concern now, helped Ashley up.
“Nothing, just got spooked by a mannequin
Hazel set up, that’s why I dropped you on the
ground. You okay?”
Ashley shook her head, but her face was full
of resentment.
“Too bad I can’t see it, can’t share the fun
with you.”
Chad’s eyebrows shot up. He grabbed a
baseball bat from the corner.
“Since Ashley can’t see, I’ll let her hear
something.”
He grabbed Ashley’s hand and started leading
her, step by step. toward my and the baby’s
く
bodies.
When he saw my skin, all stiff and lifeless, his
face twisted with disgust.
“This mannequin’s pretty damn good, but
Hazel had to make it so gross.”
“Let’s beat it up together, pretend we’re
hitting Hazel, just to make you feel better.”
Chad gripped Ashley’s hand tight and started
hitting my body hard with the bat.
The nanny outside was pale as a ghost, not
daring to make a sound.
The “thwack, thwack” sound was music to
Ashley’s ears.
く
She started squealing. “More, Chad, more!”
Hearing Ashley’s happy voice, Chad put even
more force into hitting my back.
Bloody welts started rising on my body, but
Chad just kept marveling at how realistic the
mannequin was.
After fifteen minutes Chad was still mad.
He kicked my baby’s body away from me.
The tiny corpse flew across the basement and
slammed into the opposite wall.
“No!!” I screamed, a soundless cry, wanting
to grab my baby, but I was dead, just a ghost.
<
The baby’s small body passed right through
me as it hit the wall.
Chad spat on the baby’s body.
“Hazel’s so messed up, she bought a fake
baby just for this stunt. Bad luck.”
“A kid that ugly could never be mine.”
I knelt in front of my child, sobbing, a
soundless wail.
I couldn’t give him any warmth when he was
born, now I couldn’t even hold him in my
arms.
I punched and kicked Chad’s body, but he
didn’t feel a thing.
I crawled over to the baby, wanting to pick
him up, just to get him closer to my body, but
I could only watch as he drifted further and
further away.
Ashley heard Chad mention the baby,
frowned, then smiled.
“If I had a kid, I’d never let anyone bully him,
let alone curse him.”
I didn’t curse my baby, and I didn’t want
anyone bullying him.
I wanted to be a good mother, but I was blind,
gave my kid such a cruel father..
Back then, Chad was in the hospital with
kidney failure.
く
The way he fought the disease, still
optimistic, really touched me.
He’d been on dialysis for two years, from just
saying hello at first to giving me little gifts
later.
We became good friends.
Then one day, Chad was standing on the roof
of the hospital, about to jump.
I rushed up there to talk him down.
Chad told me, crying, that his girlfriend of ten
years, Ashley, had left him.
To give him the will to live, I comforted him,
even told him I could be his girlfriend.
Hearing that, Chad’s eyes lit up.
He came down from the roof, hugging me,
grateful.
“Hazel, you’re an angel sent from heaven,
healing my body and my heart.”
From then on, Chad treated me like a
boyfriend, showering me with attention.
I slowly fell for his charm.
We hadn’t been together long when Chad’s
condition got worse.
I knew I was his only hope, so I secretly
donated my kidney to him without telling him.
I regretted it. beating my chest.
<
I gave my love and my kidney to a man who
didn’t deserve either.
Chad and Ashley finally stopped.
My body was covered in bruises.
Chad, hugging a pale Ashley, told the
housekeeper.
“Burn those mannequins. They’re all bloody,
make me sick.”
The housekeeper was sitting on the floor,
scared to say anything.
