CH002: A Future Stolen

~LORETTE~

“No.”

I whisper, my voice thick with tears as I search into the faces of the doctors, desperately hoping they are kidding.

But their faces remain full of remorse and pity. They are not joking.

“No, no, no. God, please no!”

I break down completely, sobbing hard. My bandaged arm and leg hurt like hell, but I don’t care. The pain in my heart is a thousand times worse.

My baby… my precious baby is gone.

I had everything perfectly planned out. After the checkup, I was finally going to tell Nate about the pregnancy. I even imagined the look of joy on his face when he found out I was carrying his child.

No matter how much he hated me, I was sure he would be pleased to hear that I’m carrying his child.

What do I do now? How am I supposed to heal from this?

“Take it easy, ma’am,” The doctor says gently, touching my shoulder. “Fortunately, the pregnancy was only two months along. The miscarriage didn’t cause any permanent damage. You’re still young. You can get pregnant again as many times as you want.”

Bullshit.

I want to scream at him. This baby wasn’t just any baby. I stole it.

Since the beginning of our marriage, Nate has hated me. To humiliate me, he even spent our wedding night with strippers while the whole city laughed at me. We never shared a bed, nor were we intimate ever since our marriage. In fact, we had separate rooms at opposite sides of the villa. To Nate, I am just a wife on paper and doesn’t deserve his name.

Until two months ago, when Nate came home drunk and came to my bed.

I didn’t stop him.

That night, he moaned Ava’s name the entire time, shattering my heart into pieces.

But I didn’t regret it, because it gave me my precious baby.

It was my only chance at finding happiness, and securing my family. A miracle I might never get again.

But now, it’s gone.

Five hours ago, I was in this same hospital, smiling and rubbing my belly, full of hope as I conversed with the doctor. Now there’s nothing but a broken, empty vessel inside of me.

Tears pour down my face nonstop.

I can’t stay here anymore. I need to get out of this hospital.

Sitting up from the bed abruptly, I try to stand, but sharp pain shoots through my body. The doctor rushes to my side, eyes wide like I’ve lost my mind.

“Ma’am, what are you doing? You’re not strong enough to move yet!”

“I’ll be fine,” I whisper, swallowing hard as I fight back fresh tears. My face is already a mess of dried and new tears. “Please… just discharge me. I want to go home.”

The doctor looks panicked. “Okay, okay. But you’re still very weak and badly injured. If you really insist on leaving today, we’ll need a family member’s signature.”

“Okay,” I say weakly as he gently helps me lie back down. “Can I have my phone? I’d like to call my husband to come sign.”

Even as I say the words, bitterness fills my chest.

I hate that I still have to rely on Nate. He’s never there when I need him.

“Sure.” The doctor nods. A nurse hands him my cracked phone, and he gives it to me with a thin, comforting smile before leaving the room with the others.

With shaky fingers, I dial Nate’s number. It rings for a long time before he finally picks up.

“Why the hell are you bothering me, Lori?” Nate snaps impatiently the moment he answers.

Harsh as usual.

“I got into an accident on my way home,” I hold my tears back. “I’m at the hospital right now. Can you please come?”

Nate scoffs loudly, full of disgust. “You lying bitch. What do you think I am? Ten?”

My lips part in shock.

He lets out a ridiculous laugh.

“You already found out, didn’t you? That Ava is back in the country and had an accident. That’s why you’re using the same excuse to get my attention, aren’t you?” He scoffs. “You couldn’t even come up with something more creative? Not only do you copy her looks, now you’re copying her unfortunate circumstances too?”

His words feel like a knife straight to my heart. Hot tears roll down my cheeks again.

How can he think so low of me?

“Really, Nate? Am I that despicable in your eyes? Someone with no dignity at all?”

“Dignity?” Nate laughs unbelievably. “You dare talk to me about dignity? Need I remind you how dirty you played to force me into marrying you back then?”

“You know that’s not true, Nate. It was your grandmother’s choice, not mine. Why do you keep blaming me for something I never did?”

“Liar.” He spits. “Only a blind man wouldn’t be able to see what games you’re playing.”

As much as his words stings, I can’t keep trying to prove him otherwise.

Our marriage was never my idea, and I can’t fathom why he’s refusing to see the truth.

As an orphan, I have always been alone. The only person I had was my adoptive mother.

She worked as a maid for the powerful Hawthorne family, and took me in as a baby even though she struggled every single day to raise me.

When she heard that Nate’s grandmother needed a kidney transplant and was offering a huge reward, she offered one of hers immediately, hoping to finally give us a better life.

But things went wrong.

The surgery was successful for the old woman, but my mother fell into a coma. Feeling guilty, Nate’s grandmother decided to repay her by marrying me to Nate.

At first, Nate refused angrily.

“No! I’d rather stay celibate than marry a woman like this. She looks like a total wretch!”

He had said those words with pure disgust while I stood there in their grand family villa, right in the middle of the luxurious living room.

“Well, marrying her is better than your crazy obsession with Ava!” His grandmother had snapped back.

That was the first time I heard Ava’s name.

In the end, Nate couldn’t fight his grandmother who is the matriarch of the Hawthorne family. He had no choice but to marry me.

And that was when my real suffering began.

Even though I knew he didn’t want me, I never expected him to hate me so much.

He accused me of scheming, of forcing my mother to donate her kidney just so I could marry into wealth.

How could he think something like that?

So, I simply exhale deeply in surrender, understanding that I can never win this argument.

Instead of pushing, I opt to tell him about the miscarriage. At least, he should know that.

“Nate, I…” I begin, but then a sweet female voice interrupts from his end.

“Natty, who’s that on the call?”

The moment I hear that voice, my world spins. My chest tightens painfully again.

Ava.

“It’s no one important, my love,” Nate’s voice instantly becomes soft and gentle, the same tone he used with her at the accident scene. “Let me wrap this up and get back to you.”

Then he returns to me, his voice dropping back to cold and hateful.

“Listen and listen good, Lori. Ava will be moving in with us now that she’s back. So instead of sitting there cooking up lies and begging for attention like a desperate child, get your lazy ass up and prepare a rich, nourishing soup for her before we get home. Do you understand?”

What?

I feel like laughing and crying at the same time.

For a second, I consider telling him about the miscarriage. About how I lost our baby. Maybe that would earn his sympathy.

But before I can open my mouth, he hangs up without another word.

I stare blankly at the white wall, my heart completely numb. I can’t even cry anymore. All I want is to disappear from this cruel world.

And now that Nate has refused to come, I don’t know who else to call…

My thoughts screech to a pause as one person flashes in my mind.

And as much as I hate to call, I can’t help forcing myself to dial his number with trembling hands. He’s the only one I can count on right now.

“Hello?” His deep voice comes through the line.

“Hi,” I swallow hard, trying not to break down. “It’s me, Lorette. I’m at St. Agnes Medical Center right now. Can you please come?”