Chapter 61.

Lucy. St. Moore’s Hospital. New York. Sunday, 5th April. Two days later. Night. Voices whisper around me. Hushed voices. Or is it just my hearing? Oh God! Please don’t tell me I’m deaf. I try to pry my eyes open, but they’re too heavy. Flutter. Flutter. Flutter. Peek. The sting of light hits me. I hiss, recoil and try opening my eyes again. Tears leak from the corners. Finally, I can see something. Blurry, yes. But I can see. I shut my eyes again. “Shh… She’s finally waking up.” Mum? That’s Mum’s voice. Finally, I fully open my eyes. “Oh, Honey.” Mum’s crying voice comes, and her arms instantly crush me in a hug. “Ow…” “Careful… She’s still sore from the surgery.” Grandma’s cautioning voice comes. I manage to hold Mum. “Hi, Mum.” I kiss her neck. She presses several kisses to my head and cheeks, tears flooding her eyes. “Mum, you’re smothering me.” I protest playfully, breaking from the crushing embrace. “You see? You’re even smothering the gi

Chapter 62.

Chase. I know what’s in the folded paper. I memorized the words. They are the same words that have rung in my head like a relentless alarm for the past hour since I got the paper. Affection threatens to climb to the surface of the quiet rage and resentment that currently simmer in me. My hands itch to pull Lucy into my arms. To tell her how much I love her. To tell her how relieved I am to see her alive. Memories keep clawing back inside me. When I rushed Lucy into the hospital. When she was wheeled away from me. “Prepare the patient for surgery! She’s losing a lot of blood!” a doctor yelled. I rushed after them. “No, Sir!” One of my men’s hands held me back. “Let me go!” I struggled against his hold. “Sir… Stop! She’s out of our hands now. She needs the doctors. All we can do is pray.” He said firmly in my face. I twisted my gaze to him. His words sank inside me. “What’s in this paper, Chase?” Lucy’s voice penetrates that horrible memory now. I raise my gaze to her. “Wh

Chapter 63.

Lucy.No… NO… No… No…“No, it can’t be…”Our baby. Our baby died.I press my palm to my lips. Tears fall freely. Sobs break out of me.Anguish crawls through me so aggressively that it hurts.“No… Our baby…”My lips tremble as I read the words again and again.'DNA positive match to Mr. Chase Olympus...'Blood rings inside my ears. I look up at him now. Pain lashes through me so hard that it hurts.He looks at me. Pain is in his eyes too. But he doesn’t reach for me. He doesn’t hold me. That hurts so much.And suddenly, I feel empty.“As we’re going to continue this relationship, we will ensure that you do not ever get pregnant again. Whatever the doctor advises, we follow it duly.” Chase speaks offhandedly.His tone is clipped. As if he’s making some business negotiation.I frown.My heart cracks. Everything is happening all at once.I press my hand to my belly. The thought of a baby once living in there. My baby. Our baby. Gone just like that.“Don’t ever get pregnant again. Is that

Chapter 64.

Chase.Monday, 6th April. Next day.Later Noon.The rain pours heavily as I sit here in the cemetery, watching Mum’s tombstone.My eyes blur with the sheets of rain. My body is stained with splashed mud as I sit, my back propped against a tree.My beige trench coat is soaked to the last thread. The entire sky is dark. Grim. Just like the pain in my heart.Lucy’s words from last night come back to haunt me every time I try to find quietness in my heart.“It’s over…”“Ask him to leave!”Those words will never leave me.The hatred I saw in her eyes, I never thought I would see that in her. Not in a million years. And she did last night.After the nurse asked me to leave, I don’t know how I willed my legs out of that room. I don’t know how I got into an elevator and exited the hospital. I don’t know how I got home.All I know is that by the time I got home, I sank in the middle of my living room with such anguish. It tore through me. The weight of the truth crashed through me so hard that

Chapter 65.

Lucy.Springfield University, Springfield, Massachusetts. Friday, 18th December. Months later…Noon.I’m seated outside the lunch hall, in my favourite spot.A beautiful, vine carved wood and stone gazebo, a few feet away from the lunch hall. It’s quiet here. Always quiet.No one ever likes to sit here because of the stories attached to the place.Stories of a girl who took her own life on this same spot. No one ever knew the reason she took her own life. She didn’t leave a note. All they saw in her hand when she was discovered was a medication ampoule meant to stop the heart.I’m eating my sandwich while finishing up my term paper. I have a few more minutes to write this before the lecture.“Make sure you all finish your term papers and submit them on Friday, the 18th.” Professor Walls announced loudly as his classes closed two weeks ago.I had two weeks to do this, and I was slacking. Actually, I had a reason to slack. The case study brought terrible memories.'Legal Battles Concern

Epilogue.

Lucy.Mason & Ted Law Firm, New York. Monday, 19th December, 2033. Seven years later…Morning.Walking briskly into the building, my high heels clicking loudly against the polished marble floors of the Mason & Ted building, I try to send some air into my lungs.Anxiety courses through me as I try to get to my desk in time.My phone rings in my purse for the hundredth time. But I don’t pick it. I don’t need to. I already know who is on the phone. One of my bosses.Mr Mason or his business partner, Mr Ted. I know because neither of them has allowed me a wink of rest all weekend.“Lucy, we got a call… A recommendation, if I must say.” Mr Mason said excitedly over a video call on Saturday.“We got some important work on Monday. And we want you to handle it.” Mr Ted jumped into the conversation.It was a conference video call. I was barely able to hold back my frown.“But, Sir… I already applied for days off from Monday and I am only waiting for an approval message from the department.” I