“She’s gone.”
He froze, as if Emma’s words didn’t register. “Gone? What do you mean, gone? Where?”
“I don’t know. She said she was going away for a few days.”
His expression darkened. “She’s running off when her prenatal checkup is tomorrow? That’s so childish! I thought she wasn’t
mad at me anymore.”
1/3
Chapter 8
Without waiting for a response, he stormed upstairs, showered, and went to bed.
+20 Bonus
By morning, he looked rough–like sleep had been a distant dream. The first thing out of his mouth was, “Is Claire back yet?”
She’d be
She’d been on his mind all night, her absence clawing at him.
“No, Mr. Lloyd,” Emma said, handing him a small metal box. “Before she left, Mrs. Lloyd asked me to give this to you.”
“What is it?” Finley opened the box impatiently. “She knows today’s the prenatal checkup. She acts like it doesn’t even matter. When I couldn’t go before, she was mad, and now that I’m free, she’s just being dramatic-”
Inside the box was an ultrasound image.
Their baby. Small, barely formed, but undeniably real.
He flipped through the contents: prenatal records, ultrasound images, and then–a medical report.
His eyes skimmed the word “miscarriage.”
His face drained of color. His hands shook. “Miscarriage?” he muttered. “No. No, that’s… that’s not possible.”
He flipped frantically through the pages. The date stopped him cold.
Their third anniversary,
His mind flashed back to that day–Renee taking a phone call as he walked away.
It hit him like a punch. It was real. Their baby was gone..
“Why? Why isn’t the baby here anymore?”
He grabbed Emma’s arm, desperate. “Did you know? Did you know Claire lost the baby?”
Her eyes widened. “What? No wonder she didn’t come home for three days. No wonder she made us take down the pictures. I
didn’t realize it was because of this.”
“Three days? She wasn’t home for three days and no one told me?”
“You were at the hospital. We couldn’t reach you. Mrs. Lloyd was there too. Didn’t you see her?”
His pupils shrank. “L… I did.”
The memory slammed into him–Claire, pale and hollow–eyed, walking toward him at the hospital. He’d thought she was there to start trouble with Renee.
But it wasn’t about Renee. It was about the baby.
Three days. She’d spent three days in the hospital. Alone.
How did she survive it?
2/3
Chapter
+20 Bonus
Emma hesitated. “I know it’s not my place, but… you’ve been so cold to her. She was pregnant. She deserved better. She deserved.
to be cherished. But you kept leaving her for Miss Slutsky. Honestly, it’s cruel.”
