Chapter 2

Hospitals have a way of making time stand still.

The white walls. The antiseptic smell. The endless beeping of heart monitors.

Everything felt frozen.

Everything except my world.

Mine had shattered only hours earlier.

I sat outside the Intensive Care Unit, still wearing my wedding gown. The satin that had looked so beautiful that morning was now wrinkled and stained. My veil hung loosely around my shoulders, and mascara streaked my cheeks.

Only one thing mattered now.

"Dad..." I whispered, staring at the closed ICU doors.

The red light above them remained on.

No visitors.

No updates.

Just waiting.

The doctor had explained everything after rushing my father into emergency care.

"It was a mild heart attack triggered by severe emotional stress."

Recoverable.

Treatable.

Yet all I heard was the reason.

Emotional stress.

Because of Adrian.

Because the man I loved had humiliated me before hundreds of people.

I buried my face in my hands.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Adrian kneeling before Vanessa.

Every time I opened them, I saw my father collapsing onto the cathedral floor.

My phone vibrated again.

Unknown Number.

I ignored it.

Then another call came.

And another.

Finally, I answered one.

"Miss Hart, this is Daily News Network. We'd like to hear your side of the story—"

I hung up.

The next caller asked if I knew about Vanessa.

Another wanted to know how it felt to be left at the altar.

I ended every call before switching my phone off completely.

To them, my heartbreak was entertainment.

The silence that followed was almost comforting.

I leaned back and closed my eyes.

For a moment, I remembered the Adrian I thought I knew.

The man who surprised me with flowers.

Who insisted on making breakfast every Sunday, even though he always burned the pancakes.

Who held me close at night as though he never wanted to let me go.

Had any of it been real?

Or had I simply been convenient until someone better came along?

"Evelyn?"

I opened my eyes.

Chloe hurried toward me carrying two cups of coffee. The moment she saw me, she set them aside and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

The words shattered the last of my composure.

"My whole life was planned around today," I sobbed.

"I know."

"He proposed."

"I know."

"He chose the venue... the flowers... everything."

"I know."

"He looked me in the eyes last night and said he couldn't wait to call me his wife."

My voice broke.

"So why?"

Chloe had no answer.

She simply held me until my tears finally stopped.

Hours passed.

Every time the ICU doors opened, hope rose inside me.

Every time they closed, disappointment followed.

Nearly six hours later, a doctor approached.

"Miss Hart?"

I stood immediately.

"How is he?"

The doctor smiled.

"He's stable."

Relief hit me so hard my knees almost gave way.

"You can see him for a few minutes."

Inside the recovery room, my father looked older than he had that morning. Machines beeped steadily around him.

When he saw me, he smiled weakly.

"My little girl."

Fresh tears filled my eyes.

"I'm sorry."

He frowned.

"For what?"

"If I hadn't loved Adrian..."

"No."

His voice was quiet but firm.

"None of this is your fault."

I held his hand.

"I should have seen the signs."

"There were no signs."

"I loved him."

"And that's never something to be ashamed of."

He looked at me carefully.

"Promise me something."

"Anything."

"Don't go back to him."

The words settled heavily between us.

"If a man can humiliate you once, he'll do it again."

I nodded.

"I promise."

By the time I left the hospital, it was past midnight.

The city moved on as though nothing had happened.

Mine hadn't.

When I unlocked my apartment door, silence greeted me.

The air still carried Adrian's cedarwood cologne.

His hoodie rested over the sofa.

Wedding magazines covered the coffee table.

A framed photo from Santorini smiled back at me.

The honeymoon brochure for the Maldives still lay on the dining table.

Everywhere I looked...

There was him.

Something inside me snapped.

"No!"

I swept everything off the table.

Glass shattered across the floor.

Picture frames broke.

The engagement photo hit the wall.

I threw his hoodie after it.

"I hate you!"

The words echoed through the apartment.

Then a wave of nausea crashed over me.

I barely reached the bathroom before vomiting.

When it finally passed, I splashed water on my face and looked into the mirror.

"It's just stress," I whispered.

Then my eyes landed on the calendar.

I counted the dates once.

Then again.

My period...

It was more than three weeks late.

My stomach tightened.

Stress could delay a cycle.

So could heartbreak.

That had to be it.

I repeated those words until exhaustion finally pulled me into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning, the nausea returned before I even got out of bed.

Against every instinct, I found myself standing inside a pharmacy.

Minutes later, I returned home carrying a small white box.

A pregnancy test.

I placed it on the bathroom counter.

Then simply stared at it.

Five minutes.

Ten.

Thirty.

If I never opened it...

I would never know.

But deep down, fear had already become certainty.

With trembling hands, I opened the package.

I read the instructions three times before finally taking the test.

Then I placed it on the sink.

Three minutes.

Three impossibly long minutes.

I paced the bathroom.

Checked the timer.

Paced again.

Please...

Please let it be negative.

The timer beeped.

I slowly turned.

Two unmistakable pink lines.

Positive.

The air vanished from my lungs.

I grabbed the sink to keep myself standing.

"No..."

A broken laugh escaped before tears followed.

"I'm pregnant."

The words didn't feel real.

Almost without thinking, I rested a hand over my stomach.

There was nothing to feel.

No bump.

No movement.

Just a tiny life growing inside me.

A child.

Our child.

Adrian's child.

The child of the man who had abandoned me before the entire world.

How could fate be so cruel?

I slid to the bathroom floor, crying until my chest ached.

I didn't know if I was grieving the future I'd lost...

Or terrified of the one that had just begun.

Then—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Someone pounded on my apartment door.

I froze.

Another series of knocks shook the walls.

"Ms. Evelyn Hart!"

A man's voice echoed through the hallway.

"We know you're inside!"

Then another.

"The media would like a statement regarding Adrian Thorn!"

Camera shutters clicked outside my door.

Before I could move, another voice rose above the commotion.

"Ms. Hart."

A brief pause.

"I'm Adrian Thorn's lawyer."

My blood turned to ice.

My gaze drifted back to the pregnancy test still resting on the sink.

What could Adrian possibly want from me now?

And how much worse was my life about to become?