Chapter 7

Eloise Pov 

The sun was setting outside my window when I finally asked about Julian.

A nurse came in to check my vitals. She was young with kind eyes and she moved quietly around the room.

"Has my husband been here?" The words tasted bitter in my mouth.

She glanced at me then back at the monitor.

"I don't think so. Let me check the visitor log."

She pulled out her tablet and scrolled through it. Her face stayed neutral but I saw something flicker in her expression.

"No Mrs Vale. No visitors have been logged for you."

"Can you call him? His number should be in my file."

"Of course." She pulled up the contact information. "I'll try right now."

She dialed and put the phone on speaker. It rang four times then went to voicemail.

"Hi you've reached Julian Vale. Leave a message."

The nurse ended the call.

"Would you like me to try again?"

"No." My chest felt tight. "Thank you."

She hesitated before leaving.

"Mrs Vale I probably shouldn't say this but someone important did ask us to make sure you were safe. They requested special monitoring for you."

"Who?"

"I don't know. The order came from administration." She adjusted my IV. "But whoever it is they seem to care about your wellbeing."

She left before I could ask more questions.

I stared at the ceiling and felt something hot building in my chest. Not grief anymore. Something sharper.

My phone sat on the table next to the bed. I'd ignored it since waking up but now I reached for it.

Fifty three missed calls. Most from numbers I didn't recognize. A few from Cara.

And nothing from Julian.

I opened my messages and saw dozens of unread texts. I scrolled past the condolences from acquaintances until I found what I was looking for.

A message from an unknown number sent three hours ago.

It was a photo.

Julian and Rite at a restaurant. She wore a tight red dress and he had his arm around her waist. They were laughing at something. The timestamp showed it was taken today.

Today.

While I was in the hospital mourning our daughter he was out with his mistress.

My hands started shaking but not from weakness. From rage.

I kept scrolling, i saw more photos. Julian and Rite at a bar, in his car. Outside what looked like a hotel.

All taken within the last few hours.

Then I saw the video.

My finger hovered over it. Part of me didn't want to know. But the angry part that was growing stronger pressed play.

Rite's face filled the screen. She was filming herself in a bathroom.

"Hey everyone. Quick update." She smiled at the camera. "Julian and I are celebrating tonight. He's finally free from that dead weight he was married to."

My breath caught.

"I know some of you feel bad for her losing the baby but honestly it's for the best. Can you imagine if that weak little thing had actually survived?

 It would have been a disaster." She laughed and the sound made my stomach turn. "Julian said he's going to file for divorce as soon as she signs the papers. Then we can finally be together officially."

The video ended.

I sat there staring at the black screen. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. The monitor next to my bed started beeping faster.

The nurse rushed back in.

"Mrs Vale your heart rate is elevated. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." She checked the monitor. "Your blood pressure is rising too. What happened?"

I held up my phone.

"I found out my husband knew I was in labor and chose not to come."

Her face softened with understanding.

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." I set the phone down. "I'm done being sorry."

She adjusted something on the IV.

"Try to stay calm. Stress isn't good for your recovery."

After she left I picked up my phone again and called Julian myself.

He answered on the second ring.

"What?" His voice was sharp with irritation.

"Where are you?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Our daughter died."

Silence. Then I heard a woman giggle in the background.

"I know." He sounded bored. "The hospital called."

"And you didn't come."

"What was I supposed to do? She was already gone."

The casual way he said it made something crack inside me.

"She was your daughter."

"She was barely developed. The doctor said she wouldn't have survived anyway." He paused and I heard ice clinking in a glass. "Probably for the best."

"For the best?" My voice rose. "Our child is dead and you think it's for the best?"

"Keep your voice down Eloise. You're being hysterical."

"I'm being hysterical?" I was almost yelling now. "You're out celebrating with your mistress while I'm in the hospital and I'm the problem?"

"Oh you saw that." He didn't even sound sorry. "Rite wanted you to know, said it would help you accept reality faster."

Something in me snapped.

Every bit of grief turned into rage. It burned through my chest and made my hands clench the phone so hard I thought it might break.

"Everything doesn't matter now does it?" He sighed like I was boring him. "Look I have to go. I'll have my lawyer send the divorce papers."

"Julian wait."

"What?"

I wanted to scream at him. To tell him he was a monster. To make him feel even a fraction of the pain I was feeling.

But instead I said something else.

"I hope she was worth it."

"She is. Rite is everything you're not." He paused. "Don't call me again Eloise. We're done."

He hung up.

I sat there holding the phone and breathing hard. The monitor was beeping even faster now.

My chest hurt, not from grief. From anger so strong it felt like it was trying to claw its way out of my body.

If my child was gone then he deserved to lose me too.

The thought came clear and sharp and final.

I wasn't going to beg. Wasn't going to cry. Wasn't going to let him see me broken.

I was going to make him regret every choice he'd made.

The door opened and a different nurse walked in. She looked at the monitor and frowned.

"Mrs Vale we need to get your heart rate down."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine. Your body is still recovering from major trauma." She prepared a syringe. "I'm going to give you something to help you relax."

"I don't want it."

"It's not optional. Doctor's orders." She injected something into my IV line.

Within seconds I felt the fog creeping in. My anger dulled. My thoughts slowed.

"No." I tried to sit up but my body wouldn't cooperate. "I don't want to sleep."

"Rest is what you need right now." Her voice sounded far away.

The room started spinning and I couldn't fight it anymore.

The last thing I thought before the darkness took me was that Julian had no idea what was coming for him.