Chapter three.

“Are you sure you want to go through with the procedure, Mrs Windsor?” the doctor asked.

Elysia sat stiffly in the chair, fingers locked tightly in her lap to keep them from shaking. Jade sat beside her, watching her with growing concern.

“Elysia… are you sick?” Jade asked softly, unable to hold it in any longer.

Elysia didn’t look at her.

From where Jade sat, it still didn’t make sense. Elysia had called her the night before without explanation—only asking her to come to the hospital. Even on the way here, she had barely spoken. Just silence. Just this.

The doctor waited.

Elysia lowered her gaze, fingers trembling against her stomach as tears burned behind her eyes.

“Yes, doctor,” she whispered shakily.

“Alright… but we’ll need your husband’s consent.”

She looked up at him sharply. Husband’s consent? Was that really necessary?

“Consent for what?” Jade asked, her voice cutting in immediately. She didn’t like sitting there in silence while everything was being said around her without explanation.

“Do I really need that?” Elysia asked quietly.

“Yes, Mrs Windsor,” the doctor replied. “We need your partner’s consent. It ensures this is a mutual decision.”

Husband.

Declan would never agree to this.

Not because he wanted the baby, but because of his parents. Because he wanted to please them.

Elysia didn’t want to bring a child into a marriage this loveless. She didn’t want her child growing up around the same loneliness and heartbreak she had endured for the last five years.

And if his parents found out, things would only become more complicated.

Declan’s parents loved her like their own daughter. Five years ago, when they made her sign the marriage contract, they had truly believed Declan would eventually come around. That one day he would forget Victoria and finally see the woman already beside him.

But he never had.

And they had always wanted grandchildren.

Now that she was pregnant with Declan’s child, they would never allow her to get rid of it.

Elysia nodded slowly.

“Okay. Is there a form he needs to sign, or does he have to be here in person?” she asked.

“Oh no, he doesn’t need to come in,” the doctor replied. “We just need his signature on this.”

He picked up a sheet of paper from the stack on his desk and handed it to her.

Elysia took it from him and rose from the chair in a daze.

This was going to be another problem.

How was she supposed to get Declan to sign it?

He wasn’t stupid. If anything, around her, he always seemed cautious—almost suspicious of everything she did.

Jade stood up beside her.

“Are you going to explain what’s going on now?” she asked quietly. “Stop keeping me in the dark, Ely.”

Elysia handed her the form without a word as they walked out of the doctor’s office.

“Abortion?!” Jade’s voice shot up almost instantly.

For a moment, it felt like the entire hallway had gone silent as a few people turned to look in their direction.

Jade glanced around before lowering her voice sharply.

“You’re pregnant?” she asked in disbelief. “And why the hell would you want an abortion, Ely?”

“He doesn’t want the baby.” Elysia simply shrugged.

Jade stared at her as they turned the corner toward the elevator. She was acting differently—too calm, too detached. Not like the emotional Elysia she knew.

Because the Elysia Jade knew would have been happy to keep this baby.

“Who? Declan?”

The question felt stupid the moment it left her mouth.

Who else could it possibly be?

Other than the man her best friend had spent years loving, chasing, and quietly destroying herself over.

She opened her mouth to say something, but Elysia suddenly stopped walking.

Jade frowned slightly before following her gaze.

Declan stood in front of the elevator, his tall figure impossible to miss as his arms rested carefully around the woman beside him.

Victoria.

He leaned down to say something to her, and Victoria laughed softly.

“That’s Declan Windsor? He’s even more handsome in person.”

“Yes, and he’s going to make the perfect father. He already makes the perfect husband.”

“I wish it was me. His wife is so lucky.”

“Don’t even think about it. He’s completely out of your league.”

Two nurses whispered to each other as they walked past.

Declan was smiling.

Elysia couldn’t remember the last time she had seen him smile like that. So openly. So affectionately.

He looked completely taken with her.

A doctor suddenly hurried toward them, looking like he had forgotten to mention something.

“Mr Windsor,” he called, handing over a paper. “Your wife needs to take it easy since she’s still in the early stages. Don’t let her strain herself or do any vigorous work.”

Oh.

Right.

Victoria was pregnant.

For a moment, Elysia had forgotten.

Declan nodded, taking the paper from the doctor.

Then, almost instinctively, his eyes shifted as though searching the area.

Elysia immediately grabbed Jade’s arm and pulled her back around the corner.

She didn’t want him to see her.

If he did, he would probably accuse her of following him or trying to cause trouble.

And more than anything, she didn’t want him finding out why she had come to the hospital today.

She could lie and say she hadn’t been feeling well, that she only came for a checkup.

But he had already summoned the family doctor for her.

The elevator dinged softly, and Declan guided Victoria inside with a careful hand resting against the small of her back.

Only after the elevator doors closed did Elysia finally exhale the breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding.

She tried to steady her breathing. Tried to stay calm. Tried, as always, to swallow the pain the way she had taught herself to over the last five years—quietly pretending she could bear it.

This… this was the price of her own foolishness.

Some naïve part of her had truly believed enduring a little more would eventually make him love her.

She stepped out from the corner in a daze and walked toward the elevator.

The soft ding pulled her out of her thoughts.

Jade understood now.

She finally understood why Elysia wanted the abortion.

She looked exhausted. Like someone who had finally let go of the last bit of hope she had been holding onto.

The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside.

Jade didn’t say anything. She simply slipped her fingers through Elysia’s hand and held on quietly.

Right now, silence was all Elysia needed.

When she got home, Declan’s car was already parked outside.

“Do you want me to come in with you?” Jade asked softly.

Elysia shook her head.

They sat in silence for a moment inside Jade’s car.

“Thank you for today,” Elysia finally said.

Jade leaned over and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tightly for a few seconds before pulling away.

Elysia stepped out of the car and headed for the front door just as Jade finally drove off.

“Where have you been?” Declan asked casually.

It was the first thing he said when she walked into the house.

He sat on the sofa while Victoria rested her head comfortably on his lap.

Elysia looked at them, expecting the familiar ache in her chest. But it never came.

Maybe, just maybe, her heart had finally grown tired of this entire charade.

Without saying a word, she turned and started up the stairs.

Declan’s voice stopped her halfway up the stairs.

“Elysia.”

She paused but didn’t turn around.

“Where were you today?”

His tone was casual, but she knew him well enough to hear the suspicion underneath it.

Slowly, she looked back at him.

Victoria still lay comfortably against his lap while his fingers moved absentmindedly through her hair.

For a moment, Elysia wondered if he had already figured it out.

If the family doctor had arrived earlier and discovered she was gone.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the strap of her bag where the folded consent form still rested inside.

“I went out,” she answered quietly.

Declan frowned.

Elysia had never ignored him like this before. Never.

Why did she feel so different today? Was it because of last night at the dining table? He would admit he had been too harsh with her. He shouldn’t have spoken to her that way. But it was necessary. For them both.

He didn’t hate her. He didn’t love her either. The woman he loved was right beside him. So why did something still feel off?

Why did his chest tighten when she didn’t respond?

“Elysia.”

His voice called her name, stopping her halfway up the stairs.

She paused but didn’t turn around.

“Where were you today?” he asked.

His tone was casual, at least he tried for it to be.

Slowly, she looked back at him.

Victoria still lay comfortably against his lap while his fingers moved absentmindedly through her hair.

For a moment, Elysia felt different to him. Not something he could explain. Just… different.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the strap of her bag.

“I went out,” she answered quietly.

His eyes stayed on her for a few seconds too long.

Elysia shifted slightly on the stairs. Her grip tightened on her bag again.

She took a step, and a piece of paper suddenly fell out of the bag and rolled three steps down the stairs.

Declan’s eyes followed it.