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Chapter 2

Author: Katerina
Luca finished his message and went into the bedroom.

I stayed beside the table until the door closed, my phone in my hand.

I'd saved an attorney's number at the hospital. Now I called it.

“I'd like to speak to someone about a divorce.”

My voice shook on the last word. I gave the receptionist my name and arranged a consultation.

The next morning, my attorney, Claire Bennett, called.

“I want to get the process started as quickly as possible,” I told her.

“Understood. I'll draft a proposed settlement based on what we discussed.”

After we hung up, I went back to the hospital for a checkup.

The doctor reviewed my results.

“You're still a little anemic. Try not to overdo things. Rest as much as you can.”

I nodded.

She glanced toward the door.

“Is your husband here? It would help to go over the postoperative instructions with whoever's supporting you at home.”

“He's busy.”

She hesitated, then handed me the report without asking anything else.

“Take your medication as directed. If anything worries you, call us.”

Outside her office, a pregnant woman was walking slowly along the corridor. Her husband carried her paperwork in one hand and kept the other hovering near her lower back.

He was quietly repeating the instructions the doctor had just given them, making sure he remembered everything.

My phone vibrated.

Dinner at my parents' tonight. Be there before six.

Luca hadn't asked whether I was still in pain. He hadn't mentioned the hospital again.

At five-thirty, I arrived at the Moretti estate.

His mother frowned as soon as she saw me.

“You've lost weight. And you're so pale.”

She studied my face, then sighed.

“I keep telling you to look after yourself. Three years married and still no baby. You can't keep running yourself down.”

I lowered my eyes. My hand drifted toward my abdomen before I stopped it.

She didn't know.

A few days ago, there had been a baby.

Six weeks. That was all the time we'd had.

By the time I learned the baby existed, I was already losing it.

“My appetite hasn't been great,” I said, dropping my hand.

Luca's mother moved on without noticing.

“I invited Bianca too. Luca said she had a tooth out. I made something soft she could manage.”

Bianca arrived a few minutes later, her cheek still slightly swollen.

“Mrs. Moretti, you really didn't have to go to all this trouble.”

She smiled as she took off her coat.

“I only sent Luca a quick message the other night. I never expected him to drop everything and come.”

His mother ushered her to a chair.

“You were in pain and all alone. Of course someone needed to look after you. The least we can do is feed you.”

I looked down into my soup.

So being in pain and alone did mean someone ought to come.

Halfway through dinner, his mother turned back to me.

“You two really should start thinking seriously about a baby. You're still young. Get your strength up and give yourselves the best chance.”

My fork stopped.

After a few seconds, I looked at Luca.

“What if I already had been pregnant?”

The table fell silent.

Luca's head came up sharply.

Bianca laughed before he could say anything.

“Elena, don't tease her about that. She'll get her hopes up.”

His mother frowned.

“That isn't something to joke about.”

I wasn't smiling.

Luca stared at me, and then his face hardened.

“Enough, Elena.”

“I've explained what happened the other night. Don't say something like that just to get a reaction.”

I put down my fork.

“Please don't ask me about having a baby again.”

Luca frowned. “Elena—”

“I came for dinner, not to be told I'm failing at something you know nothing about.”

His mother stared at me.

My hands were trembling beneath the table. I picked up my bag before anyone could start explaining what I should or shouldn't feel.

“Thank you for dinner. I'll wait outside.”

I took my coat from the hall and walked out.

The drive home was silent until the estate was far behind us.

“Don't joke about being pregnant again,” Luca said.

I looked out the window.

“And I've explained about Bianca. She's my assistant. We've known each other since we were kids. Looking after her isn't a crime.”

“Mm.”

He glanced at me, unsettled by how little I had to say.

Streetlights slid across the glass.

I had no desire to keep talking about it.

What he thought, what he believed—it no longer changed what I needed to do.
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  • She Needed Him. I Needed a Divorce   Chapter 10

    Six months later, the studio launched its new collection.On the day the first production run sold out, I didn't sit down until ten at night.Dozens of messages waited on my phone—from clients, coworkers, and friends I hadn't heard from in ages.I answered them one by one.Only near the end did I see Luca's name.Congratulations.Thank you, I replied.His answer arrived almost immediately.You're welcome.I didn't open the conversation again.The next day, Nora returned from lunch with two coffees and set one on my desk.She studied me for a moment.“You finally look like yourself again.”I smiled.“Was it that bad?”“When you first moved out? You looked like a strong breeze might take you down.”Her gaze dropped to my hand.I followed it.The pale ring mark had disappeared. I hadn't even noticed when.Nora took the pen out of my fingers.“Come on. Food.”“I haven't finished the revisions.”“Then finish them tomorrow.”She raised an eyebrow.“You spent years making him the center of yo

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  • She Needed Him. I Needed a Divorce   Chapter 8

    After that, Luca stopped turning up at the studio without warning.The messages continued.Breakfast reminders. Questions about whether I'd rested. A check-in to see if I was home.Sometimes I read them. I rarely replied.I wasn't punishing him.There simply wasn't much I wanted to say.Once, after three messages in a row, he added, Please answer when you see this.I stared at the words.I'd typed almost the same thing so many times. Back then, he'd never understood what waiting could do to a person.Learning now was too late.I used to read a reply from him over and over, even if it had taken half a day to arrive.Now he answered almost instantly, and I barely wanted to open the conversation.A week later, I went to Moretti Holdings to collect material from an old project the studio had done with the company.The elevator opened on the twenty-sixth floor, and I heard raised voices.Bianca stood outside Luca's office, her eyes red.“You're moving me out of your office because Elena wan

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    I moved into a small apartment near the studio.One bedroom, one living room. Not enough space for a proper dining table. Plain cream curtains.But when I put my own mug in the cabinet, I felt something I hadn't felt in years.I was starting a life that belonged to me.That first night, I lay in bed and felt unexpectedly light.No lamp to leave on.No guessing when someone else would come home.No message worth staring at a screen for hours.The next morning, I went back to the studio.The familiar smell of materials greeted me as I opened the door.After the wedding, I'd put most of my energy into our home. I'd kept a handful of design jobs and a few long-term clients, leaving my business partner, Nora, to carry more than her share.She stared when she saw me.“Look who finally remembered she owns half this place.”I smiled.“Get used to seeing me.”She didn't ask what had happened. She pushed a stack of samples across the table instead.“Good. The new collection needs a lead designer

  • She Needed Him. I Needed a Divorce   Chapter 6

    Luca looked as though someone had hit him.He couldn't seem to move. The discharge report creased beneath his fingers.“Why didn't you tell me?”I stopped folding the last few things.“I tried.”I met his eyes.“You didn't let me finish.”He went completely still.I could almost hear the half-spoken sentence returning to him.Luca, I'm at the hospital. The doctor just told me—“I didn't know,” he whispered.“No. You didn't.”I nodded once.“Because you never thought anything happening to me was worth hearing to the end.”I'd believed remembering that night couldn't hurt me any more than it already had. I was wrong.“I couldn't stand up. When I collapsed in the living room, the neighbor heard me. She called the ambulance.”Luca's face had gone gray.“No one came with me into the ER. No one was waiting while I was in surgery. When I woke up, the doctor told me the baby was gone.”“Elena, if I'd known you were pregnant, I would have come.”My throat tightened.“So I needed to be pregnant

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