Chapter 4
758words
"Without Dr. Kosters, our chances aren't great. We'll do what we can."
For hours, I lay unconscious on the table, teetering between worlds, with no one outside to sign my consent forms.
They saved my life. Barely.
But the tiny life growing inside me—one I hadn't even known about, hadn't had time to celebrate or mourn—slipped away forever, lost to trauma and a father's deliberate absence.
Ethan had now lost two children in a single day.
I fought for my life in the ICU for a month before the doctors finally upgraded me from "critical."
When I finally woke and heard the news—first that I'd been pregnant, then in the same breath that the baby was gone—a darkness swallowed me whole. For one terrible moment, I wondered if living was worth the effort.
The nurse approached my bed cautiously. "We haven't been able to reach Dr. Kosters," she said softly. "And we need someone to handle your paperwork and bills."
I closed my eyes. I couldn't even muster a bitter laugh.
Throughout my entire hospital stay, not one call. Not one text. He hadn't even noticed I was gone—as if I'd never existed in his life at all.
Good. This made my decision final.
Too weak to stand, I signed form after form from my hospital bed, paid every bill, handled everything alone.
The moment I could walk again, I submitted my resignation. No notice, no goodbyes.
I never went back to what I'd once called home. The very thought of that place made bile rise in my throat.
I hired a lawyer, signed divorce papers with crystal-clear property divisions, and had them couriered directly to Ethan's door.
I blocked his number, his email, his social media. Bought a one-way ticket out of this city that held all my love and pain, my triumphs and humiliations.
The day before my flight, Vivian Woods showed up at my hotel room door.
She wore designer clothes and flawless makeup, but couldn't hide the exhaustion and wild edge in her eyes. Nothing like the fragile new mother I'd seen in the hospital.
"Dr. Spencer—oh wait, just Sophia now." She leaned against my doorframe, her voice dripping with contempt. "Running away already? Like some stray dog with its tail tucked?"
I met her gaze coolly, blocking the doorway. "What do you want?"
"Just checking how pathetic you look," she sneered. "Making sure you're not planning to beg Ethan to take you back."
"You should know Ethan has always loved me. You were just convenient—the right background, the right connections. A calculated choice."
"Even when he was with you, he was thinking of me. If you'd seen how tender he was at my prenatal visits, how his eyes lit up touching my belly... You never had his heart. At least by leaving, you'll save what little dignity you have left."
I watched her pour salt in my wounds, yet felt nothing. My heart was already a frozen wasteland.
"Are you done?" I asked quietly.
"Vivian, you're pathetic. Lost in some fantasy romance you've created in your head."
Her smug expression faltered. "What are you talking about?"
"While you were nesting in that hospital bed, Ethan was busy making out with a nursing intern in the supply closet." I watched her confidence crack.
"If Ethan truly loved you, why was Rachel in the picture? Why didn't he divorce me the minute you lost the baby, when you needed legitimacy most? Instead, he keeps you hidden away—his dirty little secret—forcing you to scheme and lie just to hold onto him."
I stepped closer, my eyes boring into hers.
"You played your games so carefully, gambling with your own child's safety. And what did you win? Did you win on the nights he came home to me? Or when he ignored your calls, when I lost my baby, when his guilt tied him closer to you?"
The blood drained from Vivian's face, her lips quivering. "You're—you're talking crazy!"
"We both know the truth, Vivian."
I gave her a cold smile. "That man you fought so hard to steal? To me, he's nothing but trash. Now get out. You're contaminating my air."
I slammed the door in her face.
Outside, she screamed and pounded the door, her voice rising to a manic pitch. But inside me was only calm—a final, quiet goodbye to everything I was leaving behind.
