Chapter 1: He's my husband

Eloise inhaled the sharp sting of antiseptic, bleach barely masking the faint metallic tang in the air. But this time, the hospital scent carried more than chemicals; it carried fear. Helplessness. Guilt. She sat on the waiting bench with her heart racing, white-knuckled fingers clenched around the strap of her worn-out bag. Nurses hurried past, their faces tense, their voices hushed. None looked at her.

Eloise's heart raced every time her mind replayed the image of her baby girl, Alisha. It had started like any other day, cleaning the house, feeding her daughter, doing the chores. Then, out of nowhere, Alisha began vomiting, her cries became intense, and her fever soared. Eloise had tried everything she knew, but when the symptoms only worsened, she had no choice but to rush her to the hospital.

Tears blurred her vision as she pulled out her phone from her old bag sitting on her lap and dialed her husband again.

No answer.

With trembling hands, she decided to leave a voice message.

“Hey, honey,” she sniffled, her voice cracking. “I'm at the hospital. Alisha got really sick—vomiting, crying, high fever. The doctors are checking her, but they’re not saying anything,” tears streamed down her cheeks. “I'm scared, Mason. Please call me when you get this.”

She hung up, biting back a sob as she clasped her trembling hands on her lap.

“Eloise?”

The call of her name from a familiar voice snapped her out of the spiral. She looked up to see Laera rushing toward her, her face drawn tight with worry.

“Oh my God, Elly, are you okay?” Laera asked as she sat beside her and grasped her hands.

Eloise's heart sank upon seeing her; she tried to nod, tried to force a smile, but it collapsed.

“ No, you're not.” Laera pulled her into a tight hug, patted her back, and pulled back. “What happened? Where's Alisha?”

“ She's inside,” Eloise replied, pointing towards the ward.

“ Have the doctors said anything?”

“ No, nothing yet.”

Laera glanced around, looking for a nurse to question, but everyone seemed too busy. She turned back and squeezed Eloise's hand.

"Don’t worry, Elly. She’ll be fine. I’m sure they’re doing everything they can.”

Feeling a little comforted, Eloise nodded weakly.

Laera’s heart ached as she took in Eloise’s appearance, barely recognizing the woman she once knew. This was a 27-year-old lady sitting right by her side, yet she looked thirties, with her messy bun hair, hollow eyes, pale skin, and the cream gown that hung loosely on her thinner frame.

‘Is this the result of childbearing?’ she asked in her mind, remembering the Eloise she once knew, vibrant, fiercely competitive, impeccably beautiful, a fashionista, and outgoing, but right now, she's just the shadow of herself.

“ Where's Mason?” Laera asked, her eyes scanning the room, but he was nowhere in sight.

Eloise lowered her gaze. “He’s not here.”

“ Did you call him?”

Eloise nodded, “I called, but he’s not picking up. Probably busy.”

Laera's brow furrowed. "Busy?" She snorted. "He should be here with you,” she gritted her teeth,” you know, I still don't get what you see in that man that makes you so fixated on him, did he perhaps have something on you?"

Eloise could feel her voice laced with anger, and she knew she had every right to be furious, especially after what her husband had done to her.

Laera had once been her colleague and business partner—until Mason took over the company and had Laera fired because he didn't like her. And Eloise had let it happen. That guilt hadn't left her. Laera has been out of reach since then until that morning when she called to check up on her, only to hear her voice panicking over the phone about her sick baby.

“I’m sorry,” Eloise said, her voice nearly inaudible,” I know you're upset, and you have every right to be…”

“Don’t say sorry to me,” Laera said gently. “I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at what’s happening to you. Look at you, Elly, you’re fading.”

“ What are you talking about?”

“ Can't you see what that man is doing to you? He's draining the life out of you, and your family warned you, everyone did.”

“ Laera, please, not now,” she pleaded wearily.

Truth that nearly everyone around her was against her relationship with Mason, especially her parents, but her love for him was beyond any warning.

Mason was the managing director of her company, where she was the CEO. He was a young, intelligent, and hardworking man who hooked her attention at first glance, challenging her personality, capturing her heart most beautifully, and then an inextinguishable love bloomed between them, deafening her ears against every warning.

“I know you love him. But love shouldn’t make you a ghost.”

“I’m not a ghost, and stop talking about Mason like that. He’s an amazing husband and a good father.”

“ Elly, we're talking about the same man who proposed to you the week you were grieving your parents,”

“ He was assuring me,”

“ Of what?”

“ That he'd never leave me,” her lips quivered, tears welled up in her eyes, “ I lost my family in a day, Laera, my parents and my brother, he was there for me when no one was, he was right by my side, stood by me through the nights and days,”

“ We were all there!” Laera snapped, “ I was there, your best friend was there, your employees, we were all there.”

“ He said he’d never leave, and he was just trying to reassure me,” she whispered, her voice cracking.

“ And so you gave him everything? Your shares? Your company?”

Eloise gulped down bile, looking away; her eyes were red and puffy.

"You’re not alone, Elly. You never were, you don’t have to live like this. I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy," she said too quickly.

Laera looked deep into her emerald eyes, and her face dropped. The spark she used to see in her eyes was gone. No fire, no fight, just exhaustion.

"Mrs. Cormac?”

The sudden call from the doctor broke the tension like a whip, causing Eloise to jump to her feet. Her breath quivered as she turned to the doctor.

The doctor approached, her face unreadable, but her eyes were heavy with unspoken words. Eloise's heart rate picked up as she read the silence in them.