Chapter 1

I received a message that read, "You mean it?"

A happy emoji followed the text, but I locked my phone. For now, I had no plans to reply to the sender.

The laughter in the living room did not stop. "If Elena aborts the baby, you can drive my new car for three months!"

"Only three? I say a whole year!"

"You're on!"

The voices rose to a clamor, and everyone in the living room began to cheer on the bet.

I returned to the room and frantically packed my stuff, taking everything I saw and shoving it into the suitcase. It wasn't until my calf bumped into the corner of the table that a sob escaped me.

Hayden Baxter fell for Lola Dunbar, a woman seven years his junior. He bought her a house and a car, and took her on fabulous holidays around the world.

However, Lola refused to even let him hold her hand. She brandished her talent for waterworks and whined, "You're married. I can't do this to Elena!"

Hayden's heart had cracked at her tantrum, and he immediately returned home to divorce me. He'd hoped to use the divorce certificate to appease Lola.

I'd put up a fight, refusing to accept such absurd grounds for a divorce. But he'd pulled me into his arms and reassured me, "It's only for show. We'll get remarried soon. How about it?"

However, only a few days had passed before Lola showed up before me. She wept so hard that she collapsed in Hayden's arms. "I love Hayden too much. Can't you let me have him?"

Hayden's friends told me to be more generous instead of picking fights with a young lady like Lola. Hayden was silent throughout the exchange, his apparent reluctance to give in to Lola a mere cover for the text he secretly sent me. "Just say yes. You don't have to mean it. Just humor Lola for a bit."

Once again, I compromised.

Another text popped up on my phone. "Do you really, truly mean it, Elena? You're not lying to me, are you?"

My face heated as I replied almost instantly, "Yes, I mean it. I'm not lying to you."

Hayden took me to the hospital not long after I'd packed my suitcase. He was in a good mood throughout the drive and even tried discussing how we should celebrate my birthday this year. It would be the fifth birthday he celebrated with me this year, marking our fifth anniversary as well.

"I saw a few islands that were simply gorgeous, honey. Which one would you like?" he asked, then pecked my cheek. "Silly me. I forgot you had a special love for Merilea. Let's get an island there!"

It was only when we got out of the car that Hayden noticed the streaks of tears under my eyes. He reached to brush them away, but I smacked his hand away and said nothing. He did not try to console me until he'd led me to the obstetrics and gynecology department.

"Don't be angry, honey. We can always get pregnant again. You know how hard young women like Lola can be when they get worked up," Hayden said.

The doctor didn't seem affronted by Hayden's remark and only asked me a few questions before sending me to the waiting room to await the operation. Hayden sat beside me and waited with me, but I caught him texting Lola.

Hayden: "Okay, be good now. These surgeries take time. I'll be back as soon as her surgery's over. You said you'd let me kiss you today, so no backtracking, okay?"

Alas, Lola wouldn't stop whining for attention.

Seeing how obliging and well-behaved I was, Hayden shot to his feet and made to leave. "I need to get going, honey. When you're done with the surgery, just hail a cab and head to the new place I arranged for you."

He left in a hurry, his instructions delivered with increasing urgency, and disappeared before I could respond.

I lay on the operating table and felt my womb getting hollowed out, the life I'd once carried replaced by a strange silence.

An image popped up on my phone after I'd just left the operating theater. It was a screenshot of a flight ticket from Andenova to Cranwell, captioned with a brief: "Wait for me."