Eight Losses, One Last Hope

secret joy shared only with Aidan. And eight times, he ha

elf would be different. But then, he walked in with Gisele Vaughn, hi

nives. Aidan, once my protector, now accused me of drama, of trying to make Gisele un

t the ward, the child he was responsible for. But what about the whispere

in love with him, just to destroy me, to make my father feel the pain of los

revenge. My love, my pain, my children-all meaningless

pte

t ti

r of life inside me, a secret joy

mes, he had

that our love was too fragile for the world. I believed him. I loved him enough to endure

the nin

ght in my chest, a fragile hope I was terrified to speak

since I was sixteen. My parents, his mentors and friends, had moved abroad for business, entrusting me

lt through me. I smoothed down my dress, my ha

g open, but it wasn't j

utiful, statuesque blonde with a smi

art s

l, devoid of the warmth I crav

move, a puppet

sessive on her waist. "From now on, y

avern of my chest. It was a title I ha

r looked at me, he' d been infatuated with her. She wa

s treated me with a distant re

d Miss Vaughn make s

made in

od alone, an invisible ghost in my own home. My eyes bur

lo

oice was a

Your eyes are red. Are you trying to ma

usea, sharp and acidic, rose in my throat. I swayed, my

the official report from the doctor, tucked away in my purse, confirm

to Gisele, his voice softening into that

lways been a bit dramati

ward. The child he was responsible fo

s in the dark, the way he held me like I was the

was eighteen, a haunted boy whose family had been killed in a military operation gone wrong. A

, broke through his walls. I brought him snacks, I sat with him wh

dow, his presence alone enough to make them scatter. He taught me my homework, he

inevitably, blossomed into

as a moth drawn to his dark flame. I followed him around, my eyes full of an adoration I couldn't

hday, I went to a tattoo parlor and had his name, Aidan,

tters, his eyes dark and unreadable. I thought his sharp intake of breath was a sign of lov

d a double life. The responsible guardian and his qu

other ways, with bruises on my skin that I would hide

I would ask, my voice small in

s right," he would always sa

st pregnancy, or the second, or the eighth. He

w I kn

e just wanted a placeholder, a toy, until his

painful cramp. I needed to get out

n shaky legs, ignoring Aid

of my room, I pu

My voic

ing about you. I was going to call and ask if you' d

words a lifeline. "I want t

my mother cried with joy. "What happ

, the words tasting l

yself. I had to pr

's report in my hand. The paper c

octor had said, his voice full of gentle wonder. "After so m

ter. M

was my child. The only piece of

is one from me, too. He would do it with that same cold, detached apology, and then he wou

m

run. I would hide. I would p

spered into the silent r

ags. I would leave Aidan Rosario and the ruins of

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