LOGINAVA POV The taxi came to a gentle stop outside Green Boots Women’s Hospital much more faster than I expected. And for a few seconds, I remained seated. My fingers stayed wrapped tightly around my handbag while my eyes remained fixed on the large glass building ahead of me. It looked exactly the same as yesterday. With that same pavement I wailed my lungs out on, the entrance and revolving doors that never seized to move. The same people walking in and out as though today was just another ordinary morning. Maybe it was. Just not for me. “Miss?” The driver’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “We’re here.” I blinked before hurriedly nodding. “Right… sorry.” I paid him and thanked him quietly and then stepped out onto the pavement. The cool morning breeze brushed against my face, carrying with it the
AVA POV I tried closing my eyes over and over gain but sleep never really came. I only drifted in and out of it, waking every few minutes to the steady sound of Matthew’s breathing beside me. Every now and then, I’d feel his arm tighten around my waist as though he was afraid I’d disappear if he let go. If only he knew. Before I knew it, morning arrived far too quickly and I watched as golden rays slipped through the curtains, warming the bedroom. Even yet, nothing about me felt warm. Everything just felt, heavy. Like my body knew today carried the weight of a decision my heart still refused to make. I slowly sat up, careful not to wake Matthew but my movement was enough to push him away. I watched and almost cried when his eyes fluttered open almost immediately. The moment they landed on me, he smiled. A real smile. The ki
AVA POV. I couldn’t answer him. Not because I didn’t want to. But because I couldn’t. Matthew stood a few feet away from me, still clutching the pregnancy test in his trembling hand as though it were the most precious thing he’d ever held. His eyes quickly searched mine and I could see something dangerous shimmering inside them. Hope. Fragile, beautiful hope. But before I could even gather my thoughts to say something, he quickly closed the distance between us. His arms wrapped tightly around me, pulling me against his chest with a relieved laugh that quickly turned into tears. “Ava…”His voice cracked. “We’re having a baby.” I froze. I couldn’t to return the embrace as everything in me just went still. My arms hung limply at my sides while my mind screamed at me to move. To hug him back and say something. Anything. But my mouth just remained shut, the numbness from earlier seemingly still present. After what felt like several long seconds had pas
AVA POV. Numbness. That’s all I felt, that’s all there was for me to have, to grab onto and hold. That’s all there was left for me to feel as everything around me suddenly vanished. I remained stiff and seated exactly where I was. I didn’t to move or even cry. I don’t think I still had it in me at this point. All I just did was stare at the empty chair across from me, wondering how a single sentence could make my whole life feel so unbearably hollow. I didn’t know how long it toke for me to draw back into the restaurant as I remained hazed out after Serge walked away. Maybe ten minutes. Maybe twenty. Maybe longer because time had somehow become strangely meaningless in this moment. My untouched ginger cup across from me had long gone cold, and yet, I couldn’t bring myself to leave. How could I? How cou
AVA POV “You’re a married woman, and to me, you’re a mistress.” His words echoed through my mind like a pendulum bob even though it felt so long after he’d said them. Each one settled somewhere deep inside my chest, creating a thick crust and refusing to leave and leaving me feeling numb and empty. I should have expected that answer because he was right. He was right. And that was the cruelest part. He didn’t lie to me because at the beginning of all this, he never once promised to love me, he never promised me a future. He didn’t promise me anything beyond the contract that I had willingly signed. So why.. why did it still hurt this much? I lowered my gaze to my clump palms, rubbing them together in some sort of way to self comfort myself. It really wasn’t his fault. It was mine. Mine for hoping. Mine for wondering if maybe, somewhere along the way. we’d become something more than two people trapped inside a terrible arrangement. A shaky breath esca
AVA POV The restaurant across from the hospital was almost empty but judging from how the tables were lavishly set and only a few expensive cars parked outside, it explained the emptiness. Only a few tables were occupied, the quiet clinking of cutlery and low conversations blending with the soft music playing overhead. It seemed peaceful and it should’ve felt peaceful, but to me, it just felt even more suffocating. And having Serge seated across the table, watching every single movement I was making didn’t help a bit. He had already filled up by cup of ginger tea more than twice even when I kept asking him not to. The waiter from earlier came back with a pen and a note book, ready to take out orders as he carefully placed the menu between us. Neither of us had reached for it. Serge just sat comfortably, his one hand resting lazily against the arm of his chair while the other slowly turned the untouched coffee cup. “Not yet.” He said calmly, quickly dismissing
If someone ever told me that I would be seated around three men, one being my husband, another being my husbands’ childhood friend. And the other being the brother to my husbands’ friend. Who also happened to be a man I just had sex with less than three hours ago, I would have laughed in their fa
My ride back home felt almost unbearable. I watched the city pass in a blur through the taxi window as tried to hold back my tears. I couldn’t seem to rub this feeling of disgust off of me How could I? Why could I? I was a cheater. I had silently betrayed our marriage a few months before w
A sharp spike of heat shot through my entire body like lightning. It was a terrifying sensation. Breaking apart from the breathless kiss, he didn't give me a single second to collect my scattered thoughts, he bent over, gripped me firmly around the waist, and flipped me effortlessly over his
Ava Miller. I needed to get home before this storm broke. Standing inside the elevator, I impatiently tapped my foot against the cold metal floor, watching the red digital numbers slowly descend. 33... 32... 31... It was nearly midnight. My cleaning shift had gone on much longer







