Chapter 3

I answered Alfie's call. Immediately, he asked, "Where did you go?"

I leaned against the wall and laughed. "I went to meet their daughter!"

Silence settled on the other end of the line.

I continued, "Why, Alfie? Why did you lie to me?"

It took him a long while before he finally spoke. "Come home. We'll talk."

"Home?" I laughed, but the tears kept falling. "What home? Do I even have one?"

"Where are you?" he asked. "I'll come get you."

"Don't. You think I'm a fool, too, don't you?" My fingers trembled around the phone. "Every time you saw me crying over Cameron's picture, did you think I was pathetic? Someone easy to fool?"

"I never thought that."

"Then did you ever, even once, try to tell me the truth?"

The moment I asked that, I was met with silence. I waited and waited until my heart sank to my stomach.

In the end, he only said my name softly. "Gigi."

It was the same old tactic—no explanation, no admission, and no denial—as if all he had to do was soften his voice and I'd come running back.

"It's the baby's hundredth-day celebration tomorrow. Come home, and I'll explain everything. Okay?"

The last bit of warmth in my heart finally subsided. Crying, I ended the call, pulled the SIM card from my phone, and threw it into the storm drain downstairs.

I would never go back there. If I did, they would pull me right back into their lies again.

I took a cab to a hotel. The moment I stepped into the room, a sudden wave of nausea twisted through my stomach. The next second, a sharp pain pierced through me.

Cold sweat broke out across my forehead. I braced myself against the wall, barely able to stand. My hand instinctively went to my lower abdomen.

By the time I remembered the positive pregnancy test I had thrown into the trash, a dark red stain had slowly spread across the hem of my dress.

My mind went blank. Using the last of my strength, I clung to the wall and forced myself toward the door.

The young receptionist paled when she saw me. She rushed over to support me. "Ma'am, what's wrong?"

I grabbed her hand, my voice shaking uncontrollably. "Please… Call an ambulance."

She nodded frantically as she made the call. I sat beside the front desk, clutching my stomach as tears streamed down my face.

The baby had come into my life so unexpectedly. If I couldn't even keep it, I truly didn't know what I would have left.

When the paramedics put me on the stretcher, they kept asking me how far along I was and whether they could contact anyone for me.

I answered in broken sentences, belatedly realizing that I didn't have a single person I could call.

Before taking me into the emergency room, the nurse asked again, "Where's the baby's father? Someone has to sign the consent forms."

My lips were trembling from the pain, but I still gave her the number I knew by heart.

I thought Alfie would come, at the very least. I thought that after five years, even if everything had been a lie, there had to be a little truth in what he felt for me.

When the call connected, the nurse briefly explained the situation. I didn't hear anything until a few seconds later.

"That's impossible," Alfie said.

The nurse froze. "Sir, the patient is in critical condition and requires immediate surgery. Please—"

"She can't be pregnant. Are you sure you have the right person?"

I lay on the stretcher, blood already soaking through the sheets.

The nurse held the phone to my ear, but before I could say anything, the call was abruptly disconnected.

"Alf…"

I closed my eyes as tears silently rolled down my face. He wouldn't even believe me.