Lost Love, Bitter Victory

st motes dancing in the air. It was my sanctuary, the one place where the world and its demands faded

city behind her. She was a renowned architect, a woman who built skyscrapers, y

re, my love?" she a

ands on a rag. I wrapped my arms around her waist

was a love I felt I didn't deserve, not after the accident. Years ago, a car crash. My fault. It left her with scars, both visible

ered against my neck. "The appo

rile rooms, the clinical language, the way it reduced our love to a medical procedure. But Olivia was relentless. She wanted a

I said.

e rang. She glanced at the screen, and h

Yes, this is

pound in my chest. I saw a tear trace a path down her cheek, but then, h

d into the phone. "Oh my

as she laughed through her tears. We were pregnant. After all the pain, all the waiting, it was finally happeni

with her mother, sharing the news. I was in the kitchen, trying to figure out what to make

"He doesn't need to know anything. Just make sure Leo is okay. I

tomach. It was probably a work thing. A client's kid. I told my

of unease had

lat package addressed to me. It had no retur

a single

of maternal glow I' d never seen before. Kneeling in front of her was a small boy, maybe three years o

at my eyes were seeing. It couldn't be. There had to be

undeniable. He was a m

the photo over. Scrawled on the back

r

ife I thought I had, the future I was celebrating just yesterday, shattered into a mi

rom the day before curdled into something monstrous and suffocating. She had a son. A three-year-ol

porcelain of the toilet, a single, des

t out. I ha