I'm Just A Substitute Wife For Your First Love?

to bel

yself it was for him. For his friend who had miracul

was steadier than I felt. "Take care o

it felt like another betrayal. "Thank you, Liv

more like pushing me away than comforting me. He didn' t kiss me goodbye. He jus

ent, once a sanctuary, felt like a prison. Liam c

she?"

stronger," he' d reply.

e you com

just need a little mor

tasting, the meeting with the florist. "We can do it all next

o be supportive. I told myself this over and over,

it and wait anymore. I needed to do something.

c CDs, a mix I thought would be soothing. I put them in a tasteful gift basket and drove to the hospital.

s if he were a guard. His happy, relieved expression from our phone call

ng here again?" he demand

to see Chloe. I brought her some thi

front of the door to block my way.

ad idea? Liam, I' m trying to be

nyone," he said, his jaw ti

een suppressing began to bubble up, hot and acidic. "L

filled with a desperate, cornered kind of f

elt impossibly heavy. I al

clarified, as if that made it any better.

ft my lung

e last thing she remembers is being seventeen years old, and... and things were different then. The doctor said we ha

' ve been together for three years. We live together. We' re ge

oice softening. "I just need you to give m

that shattered what lit

st for a little while... can you pre

fingers, hitting the floor with

? You want me to stand next to you and pretend that this ring on

It' s just... a tem

of me, raw and painful. "Do you want everyone to know that I'

, I love you. You know I do. I swear, as soon as Chloe is a little stron

t I knew they weren' t enough. Still, I was

n my face, I nodded numb

t. "Here," I mumbled, trying to hand

basket as if it were contaminated. "

"I have to get back to her

room, closing the door firmly behind him. Leaving m

ove. Finally, I turned and walked toward t

lying

an Scott leaning against the wall, his arms crosse

ng here?" I asked

n the hall. His expression was grim. "I couldn' t help but overh

ything about it," I

ldhood friend' ," Ethan said, his voice even.

hed over me. "W

sk him, Olivia. Ask him who Chloe' s parents were. And then a