Chapter 3

3

Three days after being discharged, I was still stuck in bed, recovering.

Hudson's attitude had softened significantly, but he refused to mention the divorce.

Every day, he brought our baby to my side, trying to use the child to bridge the gap between us.

"Stella, look. He looks just like you."

He held the baby, a desperate, pleading smile on his face.

I looked at the tiny infant in silence.

He was very quiet, sleeping most of the time. When he did open his eyes, they were like dark pearls.

Yet, I felt a strange, unexplainable sense of distance from him.

I told myself it was just postpartum hormones or the fever messing with my brain.

But the feeling was like a tiny thorn stuck in my heart. I couldn't pull it out, and I couldn't ignore it.

"Stella, let's stop fighting, okay?"

Hudson saw my silence and placed the baby in my arms. "For the sake of our son, let's go back to how things were."

I held the child. He was small and soft, but I felt no biological connection to him.

My heart sank even deeper.

"Hudson," I finally said, "the divorce papers. When are you going to…"

Before I could finish, his face darkened instantly. The warmth vanished.

"Are you still thinking about that!"

He snatched the baby back, his expression turning monstrous.

"Stella, are you trying to drive me insane?"

He turned and bolted toward the balcony, sliding the glass door open.

Outside, a torrential rain was falling. The cold wind whipped into the room.

"If you don't care about me, do you even care about your son?"

He roared, holding the screaming infant halfway over the balcony railing.

The icy rain lashed against the baby's delicate face. The child's cries became weak and high-pitched.

My heart stopped beating for a second.

"No!"

I rolled off the bed, the pain from my incision making my vision go black.

"Hudson! You're crazy! Bring him back inside!"

"Then promise me you'll never mention divorce again!" his eyes were bloodshot and wild.

"I promise! I promise!"

I nodded frantically, sobbing as I crawled across the cold floor.

"I'll do whatever you want! Please, just bring him in. He's going to get sick!"

Hudson finally pulled the baby back and stepped away from the ledge.

Sylvia appeared at the door at that moment, soaked to the bone and holding a thermos.

"Hudson! What are you doing? Give me the baby!"

She took the child from his arms and expertly wrapped him in a dry towel.

"How could you let a newborn out in the rain like this…" she scolded softly.

Hudson looked down at me as I lay pathetic and broken on the floor.

"Do you see, Stella? Sometimes, Sylvia acts more like a mother than you do."

I stayed on the floor, watching Sylvia comfort the baby. I saw the look of admiration in Hudson's eyes.

And all I felt in my arms was the cold lingering from the rain.