When Love Became A Transaction

sound in the quiet of my office.

belly where our son was growing. Six months. After years of heartbreak, faile

hair. "Everything okay? Did you pick out a col

le

I expected, but a heavy,

sitting up straigh

ghost. "Ethan... can you come

e hospital? What' s w

fall. A complication. Pre-term labor. I was already grabbin

e whispered, and t

the automatic doors of St. Jude' s, my eyes scanning for her. I found her not in the mat

lastic chair, her face

er be

as g

just... gone. She was wearing a loose-fitting sweatshirt, but there was no

tching in my throat. "What happen

her, but she

id, her voice fl

ss the words. "What' s done? Olivia, talk to

was immense, but the tr

d her eyes were cold, distan

For a moment, I was sure I had misheard

did yo

said, her voice gaining a s

in the waiting room stared. I didn't care. "Why? Why

e said simply, as if

k? What are you talking about? That' s

He was in a car accident. A terrible one. It happened right after we

at got away" who had lingered like a ghos

ith our baby?" I demanded, m

c. "The baby... he was too perfect. All our good luck went to him. And it ca

f I had ever known. This wasn't a woman in mourning. T

like poison. "You killed our son... for him? F

r eyes flashing with anger for the first time. "He nee

r child, Olivia. Our miracle baby. We spent eve

, her voice dropping back to tha

round her empty frame. She looked right throug

love in my heart curdled into something black and heavy. It wasn't just that our son was gone

ur ago-first steps, scraped knees, bedtime stories-had been wiped away by an act of madness I c

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