Chapter 2 In Her Darkest Hour

In Her Darkest Hour

A few months after...

Zoe's Point of View

The pouring rain was unrelenting as I made my way through the street. It was a stormy night, and I had become heavier than I used to be. Now, in my third trimester with my due date around the corner, I was desperate.

Desperate enough to seek help from the man who had so callously rejected and betrayed me. But my sister had not woken from the coma she had slipped into after the fire. And neither my mother nor my younger brother were to be found. It was almost as though they had vanished.

I tried not to think too much about the fact that my mother had left me to fend for myself and took only my brother. It hurt to delve too deep into the implications. I was alone, heavily pregnant with a dying sister.

I had no choice. I had to speak to Louis again.

Maybe if he saw me, drenched to the skin in the rain and with a bulging stomach, it would soften his heart even a little bit. This was the man who had promised to make my life hell and had delivered on his promise.

In the nine months that had passed, Louis had used his family's influence and power over the city to his advantage.

The hospital had thrown us out, and not a single homeless shelter would take us in. No one wanted to help the Carters, the children of the woman who destroyed the marriage of the beloved Jackie Rodriguez. The woman who caused the suicide attempt that almost killed her.

We were effectively ostracized in the city. Everyone looked down on us with the utmost disdain. No one would employ me, even for the worst jobs. If not for all my life savings, we would have been utterly stranded.

As if that wasn't enough, Louis ensured that my diploma was revoked. A diploma I had worked through scholarships to earn was unfairly taken away. There was no hope, no other option except to go back to him and beg like the desolate woman he had turned me into.

I reached the imposing and opulent Rodriguez mansion and made my way to their doorstep. I knocked on the door with all my might. It took what felt like an eternity, but it finally opened. It was neither Jenny nor Louis who answered the door; it was Jackie Rodriguez herself, Louis's mother.

Despite the news of her almost dying, the woman was the picture of sophistication and intimidation. Jackie cast cold green eyes on me, her lips forming a sneer.

"Please, can I speak to Louis?" I asked, my voice trembling from the cold.

The woman raised a groomed blond eyebrow. "My son?" Suddenly she burst out laughing. "The homewrecker's daughter wants to see my son."

I recoiled at her tone but looked up expectantly.

It came in a flash. Jackie's palm connected with my face, hard. I promptly lost my balance and fell on my back. Pain shot up through my body. I groaned in agony and found that I could not get up. My nerves had awakened, all resounding with the same agony.

"Please..." I begged, raising my hand toward Jackie, but she only returned a cruel smile.

"You think you can trap my beloved son with the bastard in your stomach?" she yelled. "You are mistaken. You will never see him again. He has finally put you in your place. He has left with my daughter-in-law on their honeymoon." She dropped the bombshell with the utmost glee. "So get lost!" With that, Jackie slammed the door on me, leaving me to tend to my injury.

Despite the pain, I began to drag myself away as the rain beat down on me. I felt something begin to slide down my legs and when I turned to investigate, I noticed the dark substance oozing from beneath my gown. Blood. The realization dawned on me just as a contraction hit me like a bull.

Then another and another, each one more agonizing than the last. When I could no longer take it, I let out a gut-wrenching scream. Yet, the rain drowned it out.

I was going into labor with no one to help me.

My heart pounded in my chest as waves of excruciating pain consumed me. With each contraction, I felt as though my body was being torn apart from the inside out. The rain continued to pour down mercilessly, mixing with the tears streaming down my face.

Desperation clawed at my soul as I lay there, alone and vulnerable on the cold, unforgiving pavement. I had never felt so utterly helpless, so completely abandoned by the world. But amidst the agony and despair, a primal instinct took hold-a fierce determination to survive, to bring my child into this world, no matter the cost.

Summoning every ounce of strength I had left, I pushed myself up from the ground, gritting my teeth against the searing pain. With trembling hands, I clutched at my swollen belly, willing my body to endure just a little longer. I would have this child.

Through the haze of agony, my mind raced, searching for a glimmer of hope amidst the darkness. I knew I couldn't do this alone, couldn't bring my child into the world on the cold, rain-soaked streets. I thought of Louis through my haze. His blue eyes resembled the morning sky, nothing like the dark sky above me as I writhed in pain. His love, his hate, his betrayal. And at that moment, my love for him hollowed out, and all I could feel was a dark, endless void in place of what used to be undying love for the man who had abandoned me.

With a guttural cry, I forced myself to crawl forward, my movements slow and agonizing. Each inch felt like a mile as I struggled to make my way to safety, to find help in my darkest hour.

But the blood gushed out of me, and weakness took over. The edges of my vision began to darken as I looked around, distraught. If I lost consciousness there, the baby would not survive, and I would die of blood loss.

Just then, the headlights of a car flashed at me before it screeched to a stop. A person stepped out, but I was too out of it to know if it was a man or a woman.

I gripped my stomach. "Please, I beg you. Help me and my baby," I pleaded through my contractions. I reached out my hand. "Please, help..." but those were all the words I could muster before the darkness pulled me into its ominous embrace.