His Deception, Her True Freedom

e, his face etched with concern. He had celebrated my miracle

ently. "You've been through so much to get he

ice a dead thing. "There'

he man who had supposedly avenged me, was having a baby with the

s and didn't push. He just nodded

my mind drifted. I fell into a night

ways dreamed of. Ethan was holding my hand, whispering promises. But in my dream, his phone lit up on the nightstand. A

nful physical therapy, learning to walk again. Ethan wou

he'd say, kissing my foreh

s town. Willow was there, waiting for him with a smile, her arms

procedures, endless appointments with Dr. Chen. Each negative test felt like a small death. I would

ter I'd fallen into an exhausted, grief-strick

Willow's voi

a tenderness he reserved only for her. "But the

had hired, a plan they had set in motion years ago. While I was injecting myself

uxury. Designer clothes, expensive dinners, exotic vacations. He had given her everything. Her online novel was a sanitized

shame. His barr

tears. The procedure was over. The emptiness inside me was

, her expressio

honey. You c

I stammered, my thr

confused. "

he cold, clinical term. "I want them preserve

is eyes full of a deep, sorrowful understanding. He

ivi

gged. "It's mi

lowly. "We

s a jar. A tiny, heartbreaking monument to a love that

Our house. The smart home that was suppo

d untagged myself from every loving post, every photo of us smiling. I went into the smart home's system and res

new photo on her Instagram. It was her and Ethan, his hand on her belly, their faces alight with joy. The captio

celebrating th

nal toll of the day crashed down at once. My legs gave out,

y fingers too weak to dial 911. I dialed th

g once

s voice answe

ith smugness. "Ethan's a little busy ri

ed with the sound

I passed out was her mocking tone. In that moment o

s. I will survive. And