All Chapters of Sharing a Car, Losing a Child: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The anesthesia kicked in and my eyelids grew impossibly heavy. Through the haze, my mind drifted back to a rainy night five years ago.Adrian Lockwood had shown up at my apartment door, eyes red-rimmed, and kissed me. It was the first time I'd ever seen him lose his composure.I found out later that Sloane Hartley had broken up with him and accepted someone else's proposal. He'd been drinking all night and crossed half the city to find me.He knew I'd been in love with him for years. He'd always known.After we got together, Adrian was good to me. He remembered my habits, gave me all the romantic gestures you'd expect from a boyfriend, and stayed up all night when I had a fever. I thought he genuinely wanted a fresh start.Then, three months ago, Sloane came back, freshly divorced. Her return hit every crack between Adrian and me.The first time I saw her was the day she arrived. Adrian picked me up from work with a bouquet of chamomile sitting in the passenger seat, and my heart

I was just the replacement who happened to be there when Adrian was at his lowest, someone who would never truly matter to him.I stood up to head back to the bedroom, but he stopped me."Iris."I paused without turning around."That project you've been running for the past six months. Hand it over to Sloane." His tone was flat, almost casual."Take it easy for a while. You shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard."I stood frozen. That project had been mine from the very beginning, from the initial pitch to the negotiations, from the proposal drafts to the execution plan. Every single step had gone through my hands.He knew how many late nights I'd pulled, how many revisions I'd pushed through. Handing the project to Sloane meant handing her everything I'd built.He knew exactly what he was asking, and he'd rather hurt me than tell her no.I turned to look at him. After a long pause, I managed a dry laugh. "Fine."I turned and went upstairs without saying another word. I was le

Adrian's breath caught in his throat. Over the phone, he asked, "What did you say?"His voice came out low and raw, barely forced out. I didn't repeat myself. The light turned green and the car behind me honked.I glanced in the rearview mirror at the city I'd spent five years in, hit the gas, and headed toward the airport."Iris, talk to me!" His voice shot up, edged with a panic I'd never heard from him before."What the hell do you mean the baby's gone?""Exactly what it sounds like. I had the procedure yesterday. The confirmation form is right here. Do you want to see it?"Something crashed on his end, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps."Where are you?""It doesn't matter anymore.""I asked you where you are!" He was practically shouting now.I let out a quiet laugh, so faint that it didn't even sound like me. "Adrian, you didn't even know how far along I was this morning. What's the point of asking where I am now?"He went quiet. All I could hear through the ph

Adrian stood in the hallway for a long time. I could hear the front desk staff come out to ask him to leave. His footsteps faded down the hallway, only to stop, turn around, and return. It happened over and over, until the hallway finally went quiet for good.I unlocked my phone and saw one last message from that same unknown number."Iris, I'll wait for you. However long it takes."I deleted it and blocked the number.I stayed in Clearwater Beach for five days. During the day, I walked along the water. At night, I read at the hotel. It was quiet, uneventful living.On the second day, my lawyer, Thomas Keane, called."Ms. Whitmore, there's something you should know." His voice had an odd edge to it. "It's about Sloane Hartley.""What about her?""She's in serious debt. Credit cards, personal loans, payday lenders. I pulled her credit history and it adds up to around two million dollars. Apparently that's why her ex-husband divorced her."I paused. It was no wonder she'd been s

"Adrian's not here to see me," I said. "He's just visiting."Bernie pursed her lips but didn't push it.The rest of Sloane's story came to me in pieces over the following weeks. After Adrian filed the police report, the investigation revealed that she'd embezzled over 800 thousand dollars during her time at the company.Combined with her previous debts, the total came to nearly three million dollars. She was ultimately arrested and held in custody. Thomas said she was likely facing at least three years in prison.Her house, her car, and everything else she owned were seized, while her parents were left buried under the crushing debt from co-signing her loans. She had nothing left. Everything she'd schemed so hard to get was gone.I was watering the bougainvillea tree in the yard when I heard the news. Magenta petals covered the ground like silent rain. I set down the watering can and stood there for a while.That night, I had a dream. I was standing in a room so dark that I could