Home / A Love I No Longer Speak Of / Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

All Chapters of A Love I No Longer Speak Of: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

Hannah's POVWithout a word, I pulled the sleeping pills I always kept in my purse and began pushing them into my mouth one by one.Claire didn't notice. She just kept talking."Do you know why Yates is so terrified you'll kill yourself? It's because he's afraid Winnie will do the same thing after you. How could he not panic?"And do you really think Yates could take care of the baby all by himself? Custody was transferred to Winnie a long time ago. The first person your baby ever called 'Mommy' was her."I listened numbly as the bitter pills caught in my throat.Suddenly, I remembered the things people around me used to say."Mr. Zane has to play both mom and dad. Hannah had one baby and somehow ended up depressed, like giving birth was some huge deal.""Thank God her best friend stepped in. Otherwise, she'd have driven Mr. Zane insane sooner or later."...So Winnie had replaced me as my child's mother long ago."Hannah Cole!"The next second, Yates spotted me from the stage. He bolt

Chapter 2

The bitter pills burned their way down, and scenes from the past began flashing before my eyes.Three years ago, I had gone through round after round of IVF just to have Leo. The sheer number of needles had left me feeling like a pincushion.By some miracle, I finally carried Leo to term.Yates had knelt outside the delivery room, praying over and over for both the baby and me to make it through safely.But instead of becoming the happy family I had pictured, everything fell apart.I couldn't stand the sound of my own baby crying. My hands shook even when I tried to feed him. I felt like a failure as a mother.Again and again, Yates held me and whispered, "It's okay. It's okay. You still have me..."It wasn't until later that I realized he'd started smoking again after quitting years ago. He'd sit alone on the balcony and smoke in secret in the middle of the night.After I got home from the wedding, I was lying on the cold floor when I happened upon a post Winnie had forgotten to hide

Chapter 3

I stood frozen, my vision darkening in waves.So the marriage certificate I'd treasured and carried with me all these years had been fake.I could still remember the day Yates proposed. He had been so excited he looked almost boyish as he dropped to one knee in front of me.And yet the three things that mattered most in his life, his child, his wedding, and his marriage, had all gone to Winnie.The people on the sidewalk blurred and twisted before my eyes. My legs finally gave out, and everything went black. When I came to again, cheerful music was drifting up from downstairs.Still groggy, I forced myself out of bed.The house below was packed with guests celebrating Leo's third birthday.Yates and Winnie held him between them, posing for pictures like a real family of three.The moment I appeared with my hair a mess and looking barely presentable, whispers spread through the room."She hasn't acted like Leo's mother for a single day, and she still has the nerve to show up at his bir

Chapter 4

By the time I finally managed to force my way out of the room, Yates was in the master bedroom tending to an unconscious Winnie.His eyes landed on my face, and the corner of his mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.He seemed convinced I'd finally realized I was wrong, that I regretted saying we were over.He was going to be disappointed.I walked straight past him and went to Winnie."Where's Leo?" Even my voice was shaking.Guilt flickered through her eyes."Why are you asking me? He's asleep with Nora."Yates immediately stepped in front of her, his face guarded and impatient."You already upset Winnie so badly she fainted. What else are you trying to do?"Can you stop pretending? Since when have you ever cared this much about Leo?"I stared at him, stupefied, unable to believe those words had actually come out of his mouth.But I didn't have time for this. The alarm on my smartwatch wouldn't stop going off, and every instinct I had was screaming that Leo was in danger.My heart pound

Chapter 5

Third-Person POVHannah lay deathly pale on the bed, the blood at the corner of her mouth already dried."Hannah!"Yates lunged toward her, his hands shaking uncontrollably."How did this happen...?"He barely had time to process what he was seeing. He had just pulled out his phone to call 911 when Claire walked in."How much longer are you going to keep falling for this?"She's crazy, Yates. She has you running in circles. Have you ever stopped to think about Winnie? She's the one who's been put through hell!"Yates's hand froze over his phone. He looked back at the woman on the bed."She's faking it?""What else would it be?" Claire yanked the covers off Hannah and shoved her hard. "Get up. Can you stop putting on an act?"Haven't you already made Yates and Winnie miserable enough? For once in your life, can't you just be reasonable?"The next second, Yates shoved her away."Why the hell are you saying this to her?!"Then he stepped closer to Claire, his voice dropping into a warning

Chapter 6

"What?!" Yates's eyes widened in horror.He all but crawled home, barely able to stay on his feet. By the time he stumbled into the backyard, Leo was already lying lifeless beside the pool.Nora was sobbing so hard she could barely get the words out."After Ms. Blake took Leo away, I never saw him again. I was going to take him out to play, so I searched the whole house. Then I came out here and found him..."Yates slowly turned toward Winnie, his eyes bloodshot."It was you?"You really did this?"He suddenly remembered Hannah desperately trying to get to the backyard, insisting that she had to find Leo.It turned out she hadn't been crazy.Winnie denied it immediately."I didn't. Maybe he wandered into the pool on his own. I honestly don't know."Yates didn't waste another word on her. He went straight to pull up the security footage.Winnie started after him, but Claire stopped her."Winnie, I can't trust you anymore either."The moment the footage appeared on the screen, Yates went

Chapter 7

Hannah's POVI lay motionless in the hospital bed as the world slowly came back to me. Yates was beside me, clutching my hand so tightly that his own hands trembled."Hanny, please wake up. Please."His voice was raw from crying. "Leo's gone. I can't lose you too..."A tear slipped from the corner of my eye at the sound of our son's name.I had watched him stop struggling. Watched him sink beneath the water and take his last breath, while all I could do was lie there and watch.And Yates, Leo's own father, bore part of the blame for his death.He wiped his face and kept talking, as if there were still something he could say that would matter."I never knew Winnie would be capable of something like this. I did have feelings for her five years ago, but that was a long time ago. I know now that you're the one I love. I never thought you were a burden..."I didn't want to hear any of it anymore. His voice blurred together as exhaustion pulled me back under.When I became aware of the room

Chapter 8

After moving to the recovery center, I gradually began to feel more at ease.I spent my days doing crafts with the other patients, and at night we sat around bonfires, singing and dancing together. Little by little, I began to understand that suicide was never the only way out. Sometimes, all it took was finding another path, even if that meant leaving the place that had been destroying you.When Yates found me again, he showed up carrying an armful of gift bags."Hanny, I don't mind you staying here. Just... don't send me away. Let me stay with you for a while."He hesitated before adding, "Every night, I hear Leo crying from the pool. I can't take it anymore."That was when I noticed the dark circles beneath his eyes. There were antidepressants tucked into his pocket too.Yet I couldn't feel sorry for him anymore."You brought that upon yourself."Yates fell silent. After a moment, he picked up one of the origami cranes beside me."I used to fold these with you. That was one of the

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