His Betrayal, Her Unborn Child

e phone screen burning into my memory. It was real. I was back. The sterile smell of the institution, the

nadulterated terror. I had died. I knew it with a certainty that settled deep i

ass of orange juice and a single, perfect rose in a small vase. His f

s voice a warm caress. "I thought yo

through me. This was the man who had called our child a "thing." This was the

k pale," he said, his brow fu

play along. I had to understand why. The secret was in that genetic report, t

nd, a claim of ownership over my body and the life inside it, a life he was already planning to extinguish. I wante

ollowed, standing silently in the doorway. He was at his computer, his back to me. I saw his shoulders tense. The email had arriv

steadier this time. "The

same cold mask. The same disgust in his

om. "You have to tell me what's in that report, Li

cutting. "Not with that. The appointmen

ell me why. What is so horrible that you would

grabbing my phone. I had to try a different way. This time, I would ca

e part of the hysterical, betrayed wife. "It's Liam! The test results came back, and he's

d, her voice dripping with indignation. "Don't you worry, darling

it was false. It was a step in a dead

a righteous cavalry. My mother embraced me. My father put a

iam?" my brother, Daniel, demanded.

ale but resolute. He gestured toward his offi

till around me, look

their faces as they huddled around the computer screen. My father's face went slack with shock. My mother' s lips

not to Liam

blazing with a hatred so profou

k, but my mother's grip on my ar

fusion streaming down my face. "For God's sake, j

are better left unknown, Chloe," she whispered, and her voice was

burst of energy. This time, the end came faster. In the car, a sharp elbow from my brother connected with my side during the struggle. The same searing pain, the sa

red into a gray, hopeless smear. But this time, something was different. The confusion was gone, replaced by a cold, hard

I was filled with a singular, burning desire. I didn't just want to live. I wanted the t

e the darkness took m