Chapter 2

Whitney stared at the divorce papers, feeling as though an unseen force was squeezing her heart mercilessly.

Janice had actually gone through with it.

Fine. They could play happy family, but from that day forward, Whitney would live for herself alone.

"What's the gift you wanted most, Whitney?" Colton suddenly asked, a crease of confusion on his forehead.

"Why didn't I know about it?"

He reached for the papers, but she snatched them away in the nick of time.

He raised an eyebrow. "Keeping secrets from me now?"

Whitney forced a smile. "Like you keeping the secret of someone else being three months pregnant until I stumbled upon it?"

His face went pale, and he shot a glance at Janice, his voice dropping to a whisper, "Didn't we agree to never speak of this again? I told you why we decided to keep the baby..."

He hesitated, then his voice softened. "I kept it from you because I was scared you'd leave me."

'Scared I'd leave?' Whitney was brimming with skepticism.

However, she thought that the thing Colton had been most afraid of losing was usually the first thing he lost.

Janice's eyes welled up with tears. "This is all my fault... I shouldn't have gotten involved with Mr. Jones that night, and I definitely shouldn't have let his grandmother find out I was pregnant... I never meant to tear you two apart. It wasn't intentional..."

Janice's voice trembled, tears teetering on the edge, as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

Colton spun around, his voice soft and soothing. "Don't speak like that. How could any of this be your fault?"

Whitney could not bear to watch the scene unfold and turned to leave.

That was when he noticed her leaving and hurried after her.

"Whitney, where are you going?"

"Just doing some errands."

He scowled at the thought of her going out in the storm. "It's pouring outside. I'll take you."

Before he left, he could not help but fuss over Janice.

"Make sure Janice stays warm, so crank up the heat. She's been off her food, so keep dinner light. Stick to the doctor's orders for her vitamins, no improvising."

He rattled off instructions for what felt like an eternity, leaving nothing to chance for the expectant mother.

Whitney watched him from the doorway, a silent observer.

At last, he finished his litany of orders and got into the car.

Watching him, Whitney let out a small, knowing smile. "Colton, you're going to make a great dad someday."

Colton paused, caught off guard by her words.

He reached for Whitney's wrist, his voice laced with a pain he tried to hide. "Whitney, I'll only ever accept a child that's yours. You know I'm trapped in this situation. Can you not say things like that?"

His hand was as warm as it had always been, but to her, it felt like it had lost all its heat.

Without a word, Whitney gazed out the window, leaving the car in a heavy silence.

The car eased onto the road, and in the thick of an awkward silence, Colton tried to break the ice.

"Whitney, with the rain coming down like this, what's taking you to Regent Road?"

Before she could answer, his phone rang.

Janice's voice, laced with tears, came through the speaker. "Mr. Jones... I'm in so much pain..."

Colton's expression shifted in an instant. "Don't worry, I'm on my way back!"

He ended the call and turned to her in a panic. "Whitney, we're close to Regent Road. Can you manage a cab from here?"

"Sure," she replied steadily as she opened the door and stepped out into the rain.

The downpour drenched her in seconds. She stood by the road, watching his car speed away with a wry smile.

'You almost found out what I was up to, Colton,' she mused.

The storm was relentless, and no cabs were in sight. Whitney trudged through the rain, her umbrella useless against the wind, tears indistinguishable from the rain on her face.

When she finally arrived at the county clerk's office, she was a mess.

"Hello. I need to file for divorce."

She handed over the divorce papers, miraculously dry.

The clerk gave her a once-over, then the papers.

"After a one-month cooling-off period, you can come back for the divorce certificate."

Outside, the rain had stopped. Whitney looked up at the clearing sky, feeling a bit of the heaviness lift from her heart.

Maybe, just like that day, brighter days awaited her post-divorce.

…

Back at the villa, the hall was deserted.

From upstairs, Colton's gentle voice floated down. "The Little Prince met a fox..."

He was spinning tales for Janice's unborn child.

Whitney's mind was a foggy mess as she dove under the covers, desperate for sleep. She had no idea how long she had been out when her throat scorched with dryness.

"Water..."

She croaked more than once, but the only response was the drone of a story being told in the room next door.

"Mr. Jones, I just wish our kid turns out like you, so handsome and smart..."

Janice's voice was dripping with sweetness.

Colton's voice came through with a light laugh. "Don't sell yourself short. You're pretty great yourself, kind, gentle, and innocent..."

Whitney did not need to see them to picture Janice blushing. They sounded like the perfect couple, dreaming up a perfect future for their perfect unborn baby.

She tried to sit up to grab the glass of water, but her limbs were like lead, and she ended up knocking it over.

The glass shattered on the floor, and as she bent to pick up the pieces, the world went black, and she crumpled to the ground.

Her palm was a mess of cuts and blood. Gritting her teeth, she cleaned the wounds as best she could, then fumbled for some fever medicine and forced it down.

All the while, the laughter from next door did not miss a beat.

Back in bed, Whitney's mind wandered to a feverish night in college when Colton had stayed at her dorm to watch over her for three endless nights.

His eyes had been red when he said, "Whitney, your pain hurts me more."

'What about now, Colton? Do you remember saying that?' she wondered.

Her tears were silent as they soaked into her pillow. She shut her eyes, surrendering to the engulfing darkness.