Chapter 2

Soren said he was leaving, yet somehow his feet never moved an inch.

I was already barely holding myself together after losing my baby, and his little performance was the last thing I needed.

"What, you can't even afford a baby outfit?" I snapped. "You're so broke that you have to beg other people for one?"

Elara immediately stepped in front of him. "That's enough, Callum! Soren is sick. Why are you picking a fight with him? He saved my life once. Of course I'm going to help him. If it weren't for Soren, I wouldn't even be alive today."

I almost laughed.

Saved her life?

All Soren had done was pull her back when she'd been staring at her phone while crossing the street and nearly walked straight into a cyclist.

Apparently, that made him her savior.

But me? I'd given her my blood. I'd even donated a kidney to her. Somehow, none of that counted for anything.

To Elara, those were simply things I was supposed to do. Even our baby had been disposable.

It was almost laughable how obvious the difference was between loving someone and merely tolerating them.

And somehow, I'd spent all this time pretending I couldn't see it.

I didn't answer. I just stared at Elara, any warmth I'd once had for her long gone.

Soren, of course, couldn't resist making things worse.

"Callum, I'm dying anyway. I won't be around much longer to get in the way of your life with Elara. Please don't fight because of me..."

Right on cue, Elara turned on me. "Do you really have to upset him like this, Callum? My patience has limits. Keep this up, and I won't be so nice about it next time. Well? Apologize to Soren."

The whole thing suddenly felt exhausting.

I muttered a halfhearted apology, wanting nothing more than to get it over with.

Soren looked positively smug.

Elara's expression softened as well, apparently satisfied that I'd finally fallen in line.

"See? Was that so hard?" she said. "This is a win for everyone. Soren gets to live on through the babies, and you get a child without having to do anything. You should be happy."

I gave her a cold smile.

Happy?

She still had no idea only one baby was growing inside her. Ours had died during the embryo transfer.

Mistaking my smile for a sign that I'd finally come around, Elara reached over and gave my hand a reassuring pat. Her voice softened. "Alright. I know I haven't exactly been fair to you this time. But I'll make it up to you once the baby is born.

"I still owe you a birthday present, and we never took that honeymoon. We'll do both. I'll make sure you're happy. How does that sound?"

She spoke as though we still had a future together.

We didn't.

The moment she'd gone into that operating room, I'd filed my immigration papers. And just minutes ago, I'd received the approval.

In ten days, I'd be leaving the country for good.

I'd cut every remaining tie I had here, disappear from Elara's life, and make sure we never saw each other again.

With that thought, I started packing faster.

Before I left, I wanted to take my baby's things somewhere quiet and say a proper goodbye. It was the only funeral I could give the child I'd never gotten to meet.

When I kept my head down and ignored her, irritation flickered across Elara's face. Still, she managed to keep her temper in check.

"Callum, I'm hungry. Make some pasta for Soren and me. We've been so busy with the embryo transfer these past few days that we've barely eaten. We're exhausted."

I knew exactly what she was doing. This was Elara's idea of extending an olive branch.

She'd always been too proud to apologize properly. Even when she offered me a way out of an argument, she somehow managed to make it sound like an order.

In the past, I would have taken whatever peace offering she gave me without hesitation. I would've gone straight to the kitchen and made her whatever she wanted.

But not anymore. I didn't move. I simply kept packing away my baby's things as though she hadn't spoken at all.

Elara's patience finally snapped.

With one furious sweep of her arm, she knocked the box from my hands, sending everything I'd carefully packed scattering across the floor.

"Are you done with this little tantrum yet? You've been sulking since the moment we walked in. I've tried being nice, I've tried talking to you, and you're still acting like this. Enough is enough!"

Anger surged through me as I stared at my baby's belongings strewn across the floor.

"What, do you not have arms?" I shot back. "If you want pasta that badly, make it yourself."

I crouched down and started gathering everything up. But before I could, Soren stepped forward and started trampling all over them.

Dirty footprints covered the picture books, and toys cracked beneath his shoes. Then his foot came down on the small guardian angel charm I'd bought to watch over my baby.

It shattered beneath his heel.