CHAPTER 3

His words hit me like a punch to the gut, but I stood my ground. I refused to cry in front of him, refused to let him see just how deeply his words wounded me. I didn’t say another word. I turned on my heel and walked out of the hospital, my heart pounding, my vision blurred not from tears, but from something deeper. The weight of everything, my crumbling marriage, the child he didn’t even know about, the betrayal pressed heavily on my chest. But for the first time in a long time… I felt free.

The air outside was cold and biting, but I welcomed it. It reminded me I was still alive, still breathing despite everything. As I stepped into the parking lot, my body swayed. The world tilted slightly, and a wave of dizziness rolled over me. My fingers trembled as I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts, passing name after name I couldn’t trust. Then I stopped on one,  Luca . Ethan’s stepbrother. The only person in his entire world who had ever treated me like I mattered. He had always been quiet, observant, and kind. He never judged, but listened. Right now. I need that now.

The phone rang twice.“Sophia?” His voice was alert, warm. “Are you okay?”

“Luca…..” I breathe . “I’m at Central Hospital. I—I’m not feeling well. And I don't think I can go home by myself.”

“You don’t need to say another word,” he cut in gently. “I’ll be on my way now. Ten minutes, tops. Don’t move.”

Relief washed over me, and I let my back rest against a nearby car as I closed my eyes, willing the dizziness to pass.

True to his word, ten minutes later a sleek black car pulled up. Luca  stepped out, his brow furrowed in concern. He didn’t say anything at first, he just rushed over, reaching out like he was afraid I might collapse.

“Sophia, what happened? You don’t look okay.”

I tried to steady my breathing, forcing a smile that trembled at the edges. “It’s nothing serious,” I murmured, waving a hand as if that could erase the truth. “Just came in for a routine checkup. I’ve been having some dizzy spells and headaches. The doctor said it’s  stress .”

Luca’s brows drew together in a deep frown. “Sophia, you don’t look fine. When you called, you sounded like you were about to faint. Are you sure that’s all it is?”

I nodded a bit too quickly. “Yeah, I’m just… tired. I didn't want to risk going home by myself feeling this way.” I avoided his eyes, hoping he wouldn’t press further.

He stared at me for a long second, as if trying to read between the lines. But thankfully, he didn’t ask more. “Alright,” he said finally, though his voice carried concern. “But you know you can call me, day or night. You don’t have to handle everything alone.”

“I know,” I whispered. “Thank you for coming, Luca .”

He gave a small, reassuring smile as he unlocked the passenger door. “Come on. Let’s get you home. You need rest.”

I slid into the seat, leaning back as exhaustion swept over me again. Grateful as I was for the ride, my thoughts were far from calm. My heart pounded not just from the aftermath of Ethan’s slap or Sarian’s lies but from the secret I carried inside me. The truth I hadn’t told anyone.Not Luca . Not even Ethan. Not anyone. 

***

When I got home after Luca dropped me off, the silence of the house swallowed me whole. I stood by the door for a moment, my body still, but my mind racing. The confrontation at the hospital, the way Ethan dismissed me, and the words I had spoken, all of it felt like a blur. A divorce. I had said it, I had demanded it, but now, standing in the dimly lit hallway, the weight of my decision settled heavily in my chest. 

Did I really want this? Could I handle it? A divorce could mean raising this child on my own. Could I do that? Could I be enough for my baby when I felt so lost, so abandoned? The thought of being alone, with nowhere to go, with no one to rely on, sent a shiver down my spine. Ethan had been cruel, heartless even, but the idea of living with nothing, of facing an uncertain future with a child, terrified me.

I placed my hand on my stomach, a gesture of instinct more than thought. The baby. Our baby. I hadn't even told Ethan yet. Would he care? Would he even fight for me, or would he brush it off like everything else that wasn't Sarian? 

As I stood there, lost in my thoughts, the front door creaked open. I startled, my heart racing in my chest. His voice came from the hallway, sharp and cold, like it always was these days.

“Sophia.”

Ethan stood in the middle of the living room, leaning against the armrest of the couch like he hadn't just shattered what was left of our marriage hours ago. Like he hadn’t raised his hand against me. Like everything was still normal.

“You asked for a divorce, right?” His voice carried a mocking chill, like the very idea of me walking away was laughable. He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, pulled out a thick file of papers, and tossed them onto the coffee table between us. The loud slap of the folder landing echoed in the silence, louder than it should’ve been.

“There,” he said coldly. “Legal. Simple. You wanted out, now you’ve got it.”

I stared at the papers, my eyes burning. I could feel my heart cracking again, not because I wanted to stay, but because after everything this was how he let me go.

He wasn’t done.

He pulled out a black card and flung it beside the folder.

“That’s for you,” he said with a sneer. “Use it to… take care of yourself. You know, since you’ll be out there in the big scary world alone now.”

I didn’t move. I didn’t speak. I couldn’t.

Then he reached into his wallet again and slapped down a second card.

“And that,” he said, smiling bitterly, “is for the blood you gave Sarian. Let’s call it compensation. Don’t say I never gave you anything.”

I blinked, stunned by the coldness in his voice. Before I could speak, Ethan turned and walked out, the front door slamming behind him like punctuation to a sentence I didn’t want to hear.

He was going back to her.

To Sarian.

The woman who had always come first.

I sank into the nearest chair, my legs too weak to hold me. The divorce papers lay on the table, his signature already there. No hesitation. No second thoughts. I was just an obligation he’d finally wiped clean.

I reached for the pen, my hand trembling. The tears stung, but I didn’t let them fall. Not yet.

All I could think about was everything I’d given my time, my dignity, my blood, the endless ways I had tried to be the wife he wanted, the woman he needed, and now… This.

I signed the papers, my hand shaking as I scrawled my name across the bottom. It felt like the final act of something I had been avoiding for far too long, the end of the chapter that had been filled with nothing but heartache.

The moment the pen left the page, a strange sense of relief washed over me. It is done. There's no going back now.

I stood, feeling the weight of my decision settle over me like a heavy blanket. I walked to the closest, grabbed my coat, and paused. I didn't need anything else. Not the clothes, not the memories, not the pieces of a life that had been broken beyond repair.

I slipped the coat on, the fabric feeling strange and unfamiliar against my skin, like I was wearing something that no longer fit the person I had become.

With one last glance around the house which had once been my home, I walked out the door, leaving everything behind,  everything except for the life growing inside me.

As I stepped out into the night, the cold rain greeted me like a slap, stinging my skin and soaking through my coat in seconds. The sky wept for me, or maybe it wept with me. I couldn't tell the difference anymore. I didn’t run. I didn’t hide from the storm. I just kept walking.

Each step away from that house, his house felt heavier than the last, but also… freeing. I didn’t know where I was going. I had no map, no plan, just the unbearable ache in my chest and the quiet throb of life inside me.

I wrapped my arms around myself as the rain poured harder, blurring the city lights into trembling shadows. I had left everything behind the comfort, security, and even the illusion of love. But I had myself. And I had this child. That had to be enough now.

The tears came slowly, mixing with the rain on my cheeks. I didn’t try to stop them. I just wiped at them blindly, my breath catching in my throat. I didn’t want to fall apart on the street like this… but it was already happening.

Then, suddenly my phone buzzed.

Startled, I dug into my pocket with wet fingers, half-expecting Ethan's name to flash on the screen, another cruel remark waiting. But it wasn’t him.

It was Luca . 

I hesitated, my thumb hovering over the green button. Then I answered.

“Hello,” I whispered, barely audible over the downpour.

“Sophia, how do you feel now?” Luca’s voice was soft, laced with concern.

I opened my mouth to speak but then, pain. A sharp, searing stab tore through my chest, and I staggered, gasping. My free hand clutched at my side as my vision tilted, the world spinning beneath my feet.

“Sophia ?” I heard him say again, alarmed.

But I couldn’t answer. The phone slipped from my grasp and crashed onto the wet pavement. I collapsed beside it, the rain pounding harder, soaking through everything, drowning out the world. Darkness crept in at the edges of my vision, and I lay there helpless, the echo of Luca’s  voice fading into the storm.