“Once the insurance payout of fifty million hits the account, nobody will ever speak your name again,” Damien Finch told her, before he shoved his pregnant wife over the jagged, icy ledge of the Silver Peak Mountains.
Eloise barely caught a glimpse of her husband’s cruel, twisted smile before the ground vanished beneath her feet.
The freezing mountain wind ripped a terrified scream right from her throat as she tumbled down the slope. Jagged snow pelted her face like icy needles, and the frozen rocks tore at her skin, while her nine-months-pregnant body rolled down the mountain as if she were nothing more than a discarded ragdoll.
Up above, standing on the very edge of the precipice, Damien Finch did not even think about reaching out to help her.
He stood there in his expensive charcoal wool coat, his hands perfectly clean, calmly watching his wife disappear into the thick, swirling white mist.
Beside him stood Wendy, his secret lover, who was currently wrapped in the thick, soft scarf that Eloise had knitted during those long, lonely nights of her third trimester.
“Make sure it looks like a tragic accident, Damien,” Wendy whispered, her voice cold and devoid of any real empathy.
Damien let a faint, satisfied smile touch his lips as he looked down at the abyss.
“A frail, pregnant wife, a reckless hike on a dangerous trail, and a sudden, violent storm, because people just love simple, heartbreaking tragedies,” he replied.
Eloise slammed hard against a protruding rocky outcrop, and blinding pain shot through her face as she felt warm blood trickle down her cheek. The subzero temperatures froze the liquid almost instantly, and she felt her stomach harden in a defensive instinct to protect the child.
The baby moved, kicking with surprising strength, as if from deep within the womb he were whispering to her, “Do not give up, do not die.”
Eloise dug her bloodied fingers into the crusty snow, desperate to find some sort of anchor to stop her descent. Her nails were broken, her lips were turning a frightening shade of blue, and her left leg felt completely unresponsive, yet she forced herself to keep breathing because she was still alive.
High above the ravine, Damien peeked over the edge one last time to ensure the job was done.
“Thank you so much for being such a supportive partner, my love, because without your help, I never would have managed to secure that massive policy,” he shouted into the void with a mocking tone.
He turned his back on the cliff and began his long walk back to the SUV, completely convinced that he had wiped his slate clean.
