Raellyn stood before the tall mirror in her bedroom, gazing at the reflection of a woman who had just risen from the embrace of sleep. Her dark, curling hair tumbled loosely over her shoulders, framing a face that glowed with quiet contentment. A soft smile curved her lips as her eyes traced the lines of her body. Fuller now, softer in places, touched with a sensuality she had never truly noticed before.She reached out, her fingers brushing the hem of the oversized T-shirt she wore. That is Arnav’s shirt from the night before, its familiar scent still clinging to her skin. Slowly, delicately, she lifted the fabric to reveal the gentle curve of her growing belly. Her palm pressed to the warm skin, moving in tender circles. A sigh escaped her lips, and her voice came out soft, almost like a lullaby whispered to a dream.“Good morning, sweetheart,” she murmured to the little life nestled within her.Her eyes glimmered as a rush of warmth swelled in her chest. Each morning felt like a qu
Everyone fell silent, stunned into disbelief by Arsene’s words. It was as if the corridor itself had been robbed of air.Then, as if the weight of it all had finally broken through his armor, Arsene’s body slumped. He sank into the nearest chair, his hands covering his face. His shoulders trembled, and the silent sobs he had been holding back finally claimed him. Hot tears spilled through his fingers, unstoppable, betraying the strength he had tried so hard to maintain. He wept without a sound, as if even his grief was too heavy for his voice to carry.“Arsene,” his mother-in-law said sharply, her tone firm enough to slice through the oppressive quiet, “do not say something so reckless.” Her words were laced with warning, with fear, because she knew the weight that kind of statement carried.“Sylvia?” Her name slipped from Mrs. Chyntia’s lips, breaking the suffocating tension in the corridor. All heads turned toward the hospital room door.She was there.Sylvia stood in the doorway, p
“What do you mean by that? Are you saying… the child Raellyn carries is mine?”Arsene stared at his wife, disbelief crashing over him like a tidal wave. Of all the accusations she had hurled at him, this one was the most absurd, the most vicious and yet it cut the deepest.He had gone to Arnav’s house with only one intention: to lay the past to rest. He wanted the doors of their old sins to finally close, to give them both a chance to move forward into a life untainted by shadows. He knew he had sinned against her once, in a way no apology could ever mend. He had betrayed her trust, had been unfaithful. And yet, the only reason he had clawed his way back to her side was because of her pregnancy, because of the fragile hope that life had given them a second chance.And now… this.The words she had spoken were a poison that left him reeling. His chest burned with the ache of injustice, of grief at how far she had been driven by her pain.“How,” he rasped, his voice low, trembling with r
“What do you mean by that? Are you saying… the child Raellyn carries is mine?”Arsene stared at his wife, disbelief crashing over him like a tidal wave. Of all the accusations she had hurled at him, this one was the most absurd, the most vicious and yet it cut the deepest.He had gone to Arnav’s house with only one intention: to lay the past to rest. He wanted the doors of their old sins to finally close, to give them both a chance to move forward into a life untainted by shadows. He knew he had sinned against her once, in a way no apology could ever mend. He had betrayed her trust, had been unfaithful. And yet, the only reason he had clawed his way back to her side was because of her pregnancy, because of the fragile hope that life had given them a second chance.And now… this.The words she had spoken were a poison that left him reeling. His chest burned with the ache of injustice, of grief at how far she had been driven by her pain.“How,” he rasped, his voice low, trembling with r
The room smelled faintly of antiseptic and loss, of metal and despair. Outside the window, the night pressed against the glass, heavy and indifferent to the devastation unfolding inside. Arsene lowered his head, letting his forehead rest against the back of Sylvia’s hand. His silent tears seeped into her skin, mixing with hers, two rivers of grief flowing together in the dim light.“Forgive me…” he whispered, a confession too soft for anyone but the walls and God to hear. “I should have protected you. I should have protected… both of you.”Sylvia did not answer. Her sobs had quieted into soft, uneven breaths, but her gaze was distant, staring at nothing, as if a part of her had followed the child they had lost into the silent place where dreams go when they die. Arsene’s chest ached at the sight, but he tightened his hold, as if clinging to the fragments of their love could keep them both from falling apart.He had already cried and screamed his anguish on the hospital rooftop, lettin
Raellyn flinched when the door opened. Her head snapped toward the sound, and there he was. Her husband, framed in the doorway. She released a long, weary breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.“I knew you’d be waiting here,” Arnav said, his voice low and calm, though a hint of fatigue lingered in it. He leaned against the doorframe for a moment, studying her. “I told you to go home with Jhon.”Raellyn shook her head slowly, strands of hair brushing against her cheek. “I couldn’t. He… he looks completely shattered.”Her words faltered at the edges. She wasn’t even sure what else to say. Sympathy swelled in her chest, heavy and aching. The image of Arsene’s hollow eyes clung to her, eyes that had lost more than just a child tonight. “I’ve seen him sad before,” she murmured, her voice almost breaking. “But never like this. Not this… broken.”A flicker of conscience stirred within him when the man was struck across the face by his own mother-in-law, right there, in front of everyo