CH003: This Time, I Surrender

~LORETTE~

“Hospital?” Lucas’s voice immediately fills with heavy worry. “What happened? Are you okay, Lori?”

“I got into an accident,” I reply quietly, not having the energy to explain more. We’re not close enough for that.

“Oh God, Lori…” The panic in his voice grows. “Were you badly injured? Please, tell me you’re fine.”

“Not really.” I whisper.

“Hold on. I’m coming right now. Just stay right there.”

He ends the call immediately.

I drop the phone on the bedside table and sigh, staring blankly at the white ceiling.

Lucas is my biological brother.

I only found out I had a real family two months ago when he’d suddenly appeared with DNA results claiming I’m his long-lost younger sister.

He said I have other brothers and that they’ve been searching for me for years.

“We lost you when you were only three months old,” he had told me, eyes filled with emotions he couldn’t hide. “Come home with me, Lori. Let me introduce you to our brothers. We can finally be a family again.”

But hearing him say all that only made me angry and hurt.

“All my life, I’ve struggled as an orphan,” I had told him with tear-filled, angry eyes. “I suffered greatly. I was kicked around like a dog, humiliated, and called ‘a pathetic maid’s daughter’ like I’m worth nothing. And all this while, my real family was out there and never bothered to find me?”

“Christ, no. We tried to find you, Lori, but—” He tried to reach for me, but I pulled away sharply.

“Please stay away from me and never reach out again,” I had said coldly. “I do not have a family. The only family I recognize is my adoptive mother, Stephanie Owens, who is currently fighting for her life in a coma. So I’ll appreciate it if you stay away.”

With that, I stormed off.

But Lucas never gave up. He called and texted me every single day. I ignored all of them.

How can I just forgive them after everything I’ve been through?

And yet… right now, he is the only person I can turn to.

“You know, I apologize for prying…” A voice suddenly speaks beside me.

I turn my head and see a nurse arranging some medical equipment in the corner. I didn’t even notice when she entered.

She looks at me with pity in her eyes.

“…But I managed to overhear your phone call with your husband.” She sighs dramatically. “What sort of man doesn’t care about his wife who has just miscarried? I’m telling you for free: that man is a loser.”

She points her syringe toward the door.

“That young woman who was brought in before you? She was in an accident too, but she only sustained a few minor scratches. She didn’t even bleed. But her husband was frantic with worry. He called in every specialist in this hospital for her. That’s how a real man is supposed to behave.”

Her eyes dances in awe.

“Plus, he’s insanely handsome. Ouuu. All hot and big muscled. All the women were literally drooling over him. He looks like a movie star, you know?”

Just as she finishes speaking, loud whining and commotion come from the hallway.

The meddlesome nurse continues.

“That’s the woman I was talking about. She’s terribly afraid of injections and blood draws. Her husband is out there soothing her. He handles her like she’s an egg. Honestly, everyone in the hospital is swooned. I’ll give anything to have a man like that.”

An ugly, sour feeling of jealousy blooms in my chest.

Why does she get all that care and attention while I get nothing? What am I doing wrong?

Filled with curiosity, I decide to take a peek at them.

Even though my body screams in pain, I slowly begin to drag myself out of the bed, ignoring the burning protest from my bandaged arm and leg.

“Ma’am!” The nurse rushes to my side, shocked. “You’re not strong enough!”

“I just want to see the lovely couple,” I say, my voice weak but pleading. “That’s all.”

Her eyes soften with sympathy. She exhales deeply.

“Fine,” she finally says. “But please be careful.”

With her support, I slowly rise from the bed. Then I limp out of the room and down the hallway on my own, pain shooting through my body with every step.

I notice a small crowd gathered a short distance away and quickly hide myself behind a large pillar so I can watch without being seen.

Doctors and nurses are surrounding a young couple, trying to convince the woman to allow them to draw her blood.

Her husband is right there soothing her, while other people stand in small groups, whispering in awe and admiration.

My heart twists painfully as I watch from afar, the familiar faces of the couples burning through me like a hot rod.

Nate and Ava.

Of all the couples in the world, it had to be them.

The same husband the nurse just called a loser for not caring about his wife is the same man everyone is praising right now. They have no idea he’s the same heartless man who left his pregnant wife bleeding in a wrecked car.

What kind of sick, twisted joke is the universe playing on me?

“Be good, my love,” Nate says softly, kissing Ava’s forehead as she whimpers, her head resting comfortably on his broad chest. “It’s just a little blood draw. It won’t hurt. It’s for you and the baby.”

Baby?

The word hits me like a thunderbolt.

My eyes widen in shock. For a moment, I forget how to breathe.

Ava is pregnant with Nate’s child? That’s why he’s moving her into the house?

A dry, broken, humorless laugh escapes my throat as hot tears burn my eyes. My chest feels like it’s being ripped apart.

My own baby is dead because he abandoned me in that car, and now the woman he truly loves is carrying his child?

My heart bleeds so much that I can almost taste blood.

So while I lose everything, those two get to build their perfect little family?

How much more humiliation does the universe want to throw at me? What did I ever do to deserve this kind of pain?

“Loretta?” A deep, familiar voice calls from behind me.

I whip my head around.

Lucas is standing there, his tall frame towering over me. The moment he sees the tears streaming down my face, deep concern fills his eyes.

“Oh my God, Lori…” He gently pulls me into a tight, protective hug. “What happened to you?”

My lips tremble as I try to hold back a sob.

“I had an accident… and I miscarried.”

Lucas pulls back slightly, his eyes full of sorrow. “I’m so sorry, Lori. You don’t deserve any of this.”

He glances around, his brows pulling together in confusion. “Don’t tell me you’re here alone. Where is your husband?”

I shake my head slowly, biting my lip hard to stop more tears from falling.

He has no idea that if he looks closely, the man everyone is admiring, the one holding Ava so tenderly just a few meters away, is my husband.

I look up at Lucas, my voice weak but determined with a decision I’ve now taken. One that could bring me even a bit closer to peace and farther from this battle that I can never win.

“Lucas…” I meet his eyes, my own blurry with tears. “Can you help me prepare a divorce agreement?”