Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning, I opened my phone and the first thing I saw was a hotel check-in notification.

I couldn't help but laugh. I guess Jolene's place really had “lost power.” The two of them had gone to a hotel to “work.”

At the hospital, I lay down on the table. The pain in my belly matched the pain in my chest exactly.

When we first got married, Gavin and I both dreamed of welcoming a baby.

But five years passed, and I never got pregnant.

Then, right when I went back to work and finally earned a spot in a study-abroad program, this little life quietly came to me.

By the time I found out, I was already more than two months along.

Holding that pregnancy test result, my hands shook with excitement.

Full of joy, I planned to surprise Gavin with the news on our fifth anniversary.

But I waited all day, and all I saw was the post of him giving Jolene the blue diamond.

Years of hope crashed at once. Over and over, Gavin had dropped me without a second thought for Jolene.

At first he would explain it away as work. Later, he just looked like I was the one bothering him.

The photo of him having a candlelit dinner with Jolene on our anniversary was the last straw.

Heartbroken, I made one more cruel decision.

My eyes stayed wet with tears even after the procedure was over.

The little life I had waited so long for was gone. Every heartbeat came with a bone-deep ache.