My Husband Died For His Sins

My husband, Austin Revelstone, frowned when he saw me hand back the check.

“Didn’t you say your mother is running out of time?

“I’ve already taken care of things at the hospital. The moment the payment goes through, they can do the surgery right away.

“Briar, don’t let a momentary grudge turn into a lifelong regret.”

Bitterness rose in my heart.

Ten days earlier, my mother’s condition had deteriorated sharply after Austin’s sugar baby, Tawny Sully, sent her suggestive photos of the two of them.

She was already on her last legs. Austin’s money would not do her any good.

He shoved the check back into my hand, grabbed the car keys, and headed out.

“Babe, she already signed the abortion form.

“Wait for me. I’m on my way. This time, I’m making our agreement last a lifetime.”

Austin dropped his usual aloof and composed self. He sounded like a lovesick teenager.

I suppressed the urge to call him back and bit my tongue.

Before I could stop sobbing, Austin called again.

“Hurry and get the baby aborted now! Tawny is getting impatient.

“Make sure you film the whole process and send it to me.”

The urgency in his voice sounded just like the panic and helplessness he had shown back when I had a miscarriage. He had held me in his arms and screamed for a doctor in the hospital hallway.

I looked up, pushed the bitterness aside, and nodded to the doctor who had been ready and waiting.

“We may begin now.”

Cold instruments churned wildly inside my belly. They finally pulled out a bloody, fully formed fetus.

What they pulled out of me along with it was the twenty years of devoted love Austin and I had built.

Twenty years ago, my mother took in a homeless boy. He turned out to be the heir of the Revelstone family.

His promise to spend his whole life being good to me, no matter what, had long been broken. It happened each time he signed another agreement with Tawny.

I forced my weak body up and stopped the doctor who was about to leave with the dead fetus for his report.

“Let me see my baby.”

The doctor opened a gap in the black plastic bag. Inside lay a tiny, fully formed baby with eyes closed and lying still.

The delicate little facial features looked exactly like my childhood photo that was treasured inside the safe in Austin’s study.

I recalled what Austin said before.

“Briar, wouldn’t it be great if our kid turned out looking like you someday?”

He had personally destroyed the very child that he wanted.

After the surgery, I had not completely recovered from the anesthesia.

I was still in a daze when I saw Austin sitting by my hospital bed, holding my hand.

He said through his tears, “Briar, you’ve been through so much.

“Once you’ve recovered, we can try for another baby.”