Whispers Turn to Whimpers: Could He Ever Change?

"Ah! Please help me! It hurts so much!"

Amidst the agonizing cries for help, a crowd gathered, swelling in number.

Sherilyn Gomez stood frozen at the top of the staircase on the second floor, her gaze shifting from the tumbling figure of Caroline Bennett below to her hands, utterly bewildered.

"How did this happen?" she murmured.

Why did Caroline suddenly fall?

"What's going on here?" someone asked.

It was the Johnson family's annual feast, attended by numerous guests. The arriving crowd encircled Caroline, who lay at the bottom of the stairs.

"What happened? How did she fall?"

"She, she..." Despite her pain, Caroline looked up toward the top of the stairs. It suddenly dawned on everyone.

"Sherilyn pushed her!"

"Oh my God! Sherilyn, no matter how much you dislike Caroline, you can't go this far! She's pregnant, for heaven's sake!"

"Exactly! That's too much."

"No, no..." Faced with the accusations, Sherilyn went pale as she shook her head vigorously.

She wanted to explain that she hadn't pushed Caroline. But no one was willing to listen.

"Move aside!" A deep, authoritative voice sliced through the crowd, arriving a bit late.

It was Gilbert Johnson, Sherilyn's husband of barely two months.

"Gilbert..." Sherilyn brightened up, hoping for his support.

However, Gilbert looked up sharply, his gaze as piercing as a knife, landing squarely on her. "What have you done?"

"No!" Sherilyn flinched, shaking her head. "It wasn't me..."

"If not you, then who?" Gilbert didn't buy it, and his good-looking face scrunched up in disgust and hate. "You think Caroline jumped by herself, huh? Do you think nobody knows you've been picking on her all this time? Do I need to list them all out for you?"

Gilbert's harsh and unloving tone left Sherilyn speechless, unable to speak.

"Ah..." In agony, Caroline clutched her stomach, leaning into Gilbert's embrace, her voice barely a whisper, "Gilbert, it hurts. It hurts so much!"

"Caroline, what's wrong?" Then, Sylvia Johnson, the family’s matriarch, also arrived. "What happened here?"

"Ah! There's blood!" Suddenly, someone screamed. "She's bleeding."

Beneath Caroline, a pool of red began to spread, growing larger and larger.

"Gilbert!" Caroline, terrified, clung to Gilbert, sobbing, "My baby, my baby..."

"Don't be afraid." Even as he said it, Gilbert's face was ashen, panic setting in. "We must head to the hospital now!"

He lifted Caroline in his arms, and with a fierce glare at Sherilyn, he warned, “You’d better pray the child is okay. Otherwise, I...”

Without finishing his words, Gilbert turned and left.

The most important thing then was Caroline and her baby.

Sylvia glanced at Sherilyn, frowning and shaking her head, words failing her, "Sherilyn, you... you..."

"Sylvia..." Sherilyn barely opened her mouth when Sylvia turned away and left.

Suddenly, the guests dispersed. No one cared about Sherilyn.

Sherilyn wandered back to her room in a daze, waiting for Gilbert to return. She hadn't pushed Caroline, and she needed to make him understand.

Time ticked away, and the night deepened, but Gilbert never returned.

Just before dawn, there was a noise downstairs.

"Gilbert!" Sherilyn leaped from the couch and rushed out of her room. But she stopped dead at the top of the stairs.

"Grandma, I want a divorce." Gilbert's voice was icy, cold, and determined.

"Come back here!" Sylvia grabbed Gilbert, her voice low and stern.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I promised Sherilyn's grandmother I'd look after her. You've only been married a short while. And now, you want a divorce? She's barely twenty. Do you want to kill her?"

"Me, kill her? Huh, funny!" Gilbert gave a bitter laugh, his eyes flashing coldly.

"Grandma, Caroline lost the baby. That was Fran's child! And yet, Sherilyn is all good! Who is killing whom now?"