Chapter 2: The Reality

I stood alone in complete darkness.

Somewhere far away, someone was calling my name.

“Mrs. Bennett...”

Who was that?

A woman’s voice.

“Evelyn...”

The voice came closer, right beside my ear.

My eyes fluttered open.

A woman in white stood over me.

“You’re awake?”

She smiled gently. A nurse.

I looked around.

A hospital room.

The sharp scent of disinfectant. Clean sheets. Bright white walls.

I knew this place all too well.

“Are you feeling nauseous at all?”

Only then did I focus on how my body felt.

“No. I’m okay.”

The nurse gave me a sad smile.

“I see... I’m glad.”

I knew that smile.

Oh.

I moved my hand to my stomach.

Still, I needed to hear it.

“The baby...?”

A tiny, fragile part of me still hoped.

Maybe somehow...

Maybe it hadn’t happened.

My eyes burned. My nose stung.

The nurse’s expression softened with grief.

“I’m sorry. We couldn’t save the baby.”

Tears spilled down my cheeks.

Even though I had known, I still didn’t want to accept it.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I was so happy. Love had poured out of me before I could even understand it.

I had wanted to protect that baby more than anything in the world.

I had been careful every day. I had done everything right.

And as a doctor, I knew early miscarriages usually weren’t the mother’s fault.

Unless there were exceptional circumstances.

My heart began to pound.

That couldn’t be right.

My checkup only a few days ago had been fine. My results were normal. I’d felt fine.

Everything had been fine.

I pushed myself upright.

“Mrs. Bennett, no! You need to stay in bed!”

The nurse rushed to stop me.

“I’m okay...”

I wiped at my tears and swung my legs over the side of the bed.

My body swayed the moment I stood. The anesthesia still hadn’t fully worn off.

They were here.

I was certain of it.

This was St. Catherine International Medical Center, the largest hospital in the area.

And Nathan worked here.

If Nathan Bennett was with Sophie Dawson, this was the only place they could be.

I had to know.

I had to get the truth.

Why had he said those things to me?

And why was he with Sophie?

I had to find out.

With unsteady steps, I made my way down the halls of St. Catherine.

I knew these corridors well.

I used to work here.

Back then, whenever an emergency case came in, I would race through these halls in my white coat, calling out orders to the nurses as I ran.

Some of the nurses I passed recognized me.

The moment they saw me, their faces changed.

Then they quickly looked away.

But I could feel their curiosity.

They wanted to know why I was wandering the halls like this, pale and shaking.

At last, I stopped in front of an office.

The nameplate on the door read:

‘Nathan Bennett’

My husband.

I reached for the handle.

Then I froze.

A familiar voice drifted through the door.

“...She has no right to carry my child.”

The voice was muffled, but there was no way I could mistake it.

It was Nathan.

My breath caught.

What was he going to say next?

“This child was meant to honor Ryan. And it was meant to punish her, too.”

The words echoed through my mind, growing louder and louder.

Punish her?

Honor Ryan?

A tremor ran through my body and spread to my hands.

I stood there shaking, repeating his words in my head.

It felt as though someone had shoved me into deep, freezing water.

I understood now.

After three years of marriage, every bit of love I had given Nathan, every effort I had made, had been meaningless.

Because he had never loved me.

He hated me.

And everything I had lost...

It had all been nothing more than penance for Ryan Parker.

A tribute to the man who had passed away..