THREE

“I’m sorry, but you had a miscarriage.”

Everything stopped.

My friends disappeared from my sight. All I could see was the doctor and the genuine concern on his face.

“Wh… what?” I stuttered.

“I’m sorry—”

“No. No.” I let out a chuckle, finding the whole thing ridiculous. This couldn’t be happening. How? Why? “Why are you sorry?” I laughed again, glancing at everyone around me. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“Mrs. Daisy, miscarriages happen for many reasons—”

“I was at the hospital three days ago!” I cut him off, my voice sharp with desperation. “There was nothing wrong. The blood must have been from a cut on my skin. Check again. My baby is still there. Aaron’s baby is still inside me.”

The doctor exchanged a glance with my friends before shaking his head.

“I’m sorry. The baby is gone.”

A sob tore from my throat, and I collapsed against the pillows.

How? Why?

Everything had been fine. Three days ago, the gynecologist Aaron had personally hired to care for me had assured me that my baby was healthy.

So how could it be gone?

“Sometimes these things happen. Stress or panic can sometimes contribute to—”

“Stress?” I choked out, a tear sliding down my cheek. “I wasn’t stressed!”

My voice rose, almost breathless.

“I was fine. I was fine!”

My voice broke on the last word.

“I was fine,” I whispered again, as if repeating it enough times could somehow undo what he had just told me.

Selene stepped closer, tears gathering in her eyes.

“Daisy… I’m so sorry.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Mia wipe her face. She was crying, too. Ilya stood frozen, looking as though she couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

But I didn’t want their sympathy. I didn’t want their pity.

I wanted my baby.

My poor baby.

“You can try again once you’re ready,” the doctor said gently. “Give yourself time to recover, and then—”

“I don’t want to try again.”

The words came out before I could stop them.

It had taken Aaron and me five years to conceive this baby. Five years of hoping, praying, and waiting.

I didn’t want another baby.

I wanted this one.

My mind suddenly caught on Aaron’s name, and I looked up at Selene.

“Where’s Aaron? Does he know? Have you told him?”

Before anyone could answer, the door swung open, and my husband rushed inside.

He froze in the doorway when our eyes met.

“Aaron…”

My lips trembled.

He knew. I could see it on his face.

“Daisy… oh, my poor girl.”

He hurried to my bedside and pulled me into his arms, rubbing my back as I broke down against his chest.

“Don’t worry, baby. It’s okay. It’s not your fault. We can try again.”

“But it’s my fault,” I sobbed. “If I hadn’t gone out, if I hadn’t left the house and let—”

“Shhh.” He tightened his arms around me. “I wanted to surprise you. It’s okay.”

I clutched his suit as though it were the only thing keeping me upright.

“It’s gone,” I whispered. “Our baby… it’s gone.”

“No.” His voice grew firm. “Don’t say that. Do you hear me? This isn’t your fault.”

I pulled back enough to look at him. His face remained composed, but his eyes were filled with pain.

For a moment, I wondered how he was holding himself together when I could barely breathe.

I cried until I had nothing left, and Aaron stayed beside me, comforting me through it all.

This was why I loved him. Even after five years of trying for a baby, even after losing the one thing we’d wanted so desperately, he never blamed me. He put me first.

Eventually, he brushed the tears from my cheeks and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“I’m sorry I came so late.”

“It’s fine,” I murmured. “You’re here now.”

“Alpha King,” the doctor interjected, bowing his head slightly, “the Luna should eat something to regain her strength.”

“Yes. Yes, get her—”

Aaron’s phone rang.

He pulled it out, and the moment he answered, his expression changed. A frown creased his forehead, followed by something I had never seen in his eyes before.

Fear.

Or something close to it.

He ended the call abruptly and rose from the bed.

“I have to go, Daisy. Something urgent has come up at the office.”

I stared at him.

“Right now?”

I hadn’t meant to say it aloud, but the words escaped before I could stop them.

Before Aaron could answer, Ilya spoke.

“What’s wrong, Aaron? Is it—”

“Yes. I have to leave.”

“Then we’ll come with you,” Selene said quickly.

All three of them stood, moving toward the door as though they’d already decided what to do.

I waited for Aaron to turn back. To tell me he’d return soon. To kiss my forehead again, or at least give me one last reassuring smile.

He did none of those things.

He walked out without looking at me.

Not once.

And my three best friends followed him.

They left me sitting in a hospital bed, having just lost my baby, as though I were nothing more than a stranger they’d happened to encounter.

My throat tightened with humiliation as I met the doctor’s eyes. He must have noticed how wrong it was, too, because he quickly looked away.

What could possibly be more important than your wife?

“I’ll… I’ll get you something to eat,” he muttered before leaving the room.

I sat in silence, replaying everything that had just happened.

Ilya calling Aaron by name. The look they had exchanged. The way she’d started to ask him something before stopping herself.

They had looked familiar with one another. Too familiar.

But that made no sense. I hadn’t seen my friends in ages, and Aaron barely knew them.

Then again, he’d contacted them to arrange the surprise.

My thoughts drifted back to the message I’d received before everything went wrong.

They’re lying to you.

Why would Abby send me something like that? Especially after the surprise was supposedly over.

A cold unease settled in my stomach.

Unless Abby hadn’t sent it at all.

But who else could it have been?

I instinctively reached for my phone, only to remember dropping it on the bathroom floor. Everyone had left, and there was no one around to help me retrieve it.

I’d have to wait until Aaron returned.

My gaze drifted to the clock.

7:02 p.m.

He would be back soon. He had to be.

I lay back against the pillows and closed my eyes, waiting for him.

Somewhere along the way, I fell asleep.

When I woke again, the first thing I saw was the clock.

10:30 p.m.

Aaron still wasn’t back.

My stomach twisted painfully with hunger. I pushed myself upright, wincing as I swung my legs over the side of the bed.

“Nurse?” I called weakly.

No answer.

After waiting a moment, I decided to find someone myself. I couldn’t stay there all night.

The hallway was strangely empty when I stepped outside. Not a nurse, doctor, or patient in sight.

It was almost as though the entire floor had been cleared.

Then I smiled faintly.

Aaron must have arranged it for me. Even now, he was making sure I had peace and quiet to recover.

What a sweet man.

I made my way toward the elevator, intending to find someone downstairs, when I noticed a man standing outside one of the rooms.

My steps slowed.

He looked exactly like Aaron.

I frowned, confusion giving way to unease.

What was my husband doing back at the hospital without coming to see me?

“Aaron?” I called.

He turned.

Surprise flickered across his eyes, and for a moment, neither of us moved.

Then a little boy ran out of the room and wrapped his arms around Aaron’s leg.

“Daddy, please don’t leave us here.”

The hunger in my stomach vanished.

For a second, I couldn’t breathe.

Daddy?

My gaze shifted from the boy to Aaron, then back again, desperately searching for an explanation.

Aaron stared at me. Then at the child.

And suddenly, he wrenched his leg away so forcefully that the boy stumbled and fell to the floor.

“Aaron!” I screamed, my eyes widening.