Chapter 5
844words
The moment he walked into Cardiology, he felt it—something was off. His colleagues' gazes held a strange mix of pity, contempt, and things left unsaid.
He frowned but brushed it off, striding toward his office.
The hospital director intercepted him, holding out an envelope with a grim expression. "Ethan, this is Dr. Spencer's resignation. We received it a month ago. She didn't mention this to you?"
Ethan's blood ran cold. "Sophia resigned? But she—"
The director sighed, waving away the awkwardness. "Not my business to get involved in your marriage. Just hate losing a surgeon of her caliber."
Panic clawed at Ethan's chest. He raced home and found what he dreaded most—an envelope from a law firm waiting in his mailbox.
He ripped it open, his face darkening as the words "DIVORCE AGREEMENT" burned into his retinas like a brand.
So she was serious—all because of Vivian and the baby.
Ethan yanked at his tie, irritated. She was overreacting. Being completely unreasonable.
He punched in her number. Nothing.
Texts bounced back. She'd blocked him completely.
The unease morphed into dread. Back at the hospital, he cornered several nurses, his famous composure nowhere to be seen. "What happened? Why did she resign? Where the hell did she go?"
The nurses exchanged glances, avoiding his eyes. Just as his patience snapped, a veteran head nurse stepped forward, her eyes red-rimmed with anger.
"Are you serious right now?" she demanded. "A month ago, Dr. Spencer was hit by a car right outside this hospital. She came in critical—and we called you. Again and again. Nothing."
"She was pregnant, Dr. Kosters. The baby didn't make it. She nearly bled out on the table. Where were you? Do you have any idea how many days she fought for her life in that ICU bed—alone?"
The world stopped.
Ethan felt his soul shatter like glass.
Car accident. Pregnancy. Baby lost. Couldn't reach him.
Each word stabbed deeper than the last.
A memory surfaced—missed calls from the hospital a month ago. He'd been with Vivian, comforting her grief. Distracted, he'd silenced his phone.
So this was what he'd missed...
This was what he'd lost...
Another child. His and Sophia's baby.
Horror crashed over him like a tidal wave.
He stumbled into the empty stairwell, collapsed against the wall, and slid to the floor.
His hands covered his face as his shoulders began to shake. Suppressed sobs turned to raw, guttural howls.
He'd been wrong. So catastrophically wrong.
He'd lost another child.
Ethan fled the hospital like a man possessed, the nurse's accusations echoing in his skull.
A detail he'd ignored suddenly blazed in his memory.
That day, his phone had lit up with hospital calls. Vivian had been wrapped around him, and she'd grabbed his phone, glanced at it, then said offhandedly: "Just more hospital spam. I'll silence it for you."
Then she'd nestled against him, pouring out her grief and hatred for Sophia, leaving him blind to everything else...
Could it be?
His blood froze. He spun around and raced toward Vivian's apartment.
"Was it you?!" He seized Vivian's arm, his grip crushing, his eyes wild with a fury she'd never seen.
"Those calls from the hospital—did you know? Did you know Sophia was dying?"
Vivian twisted in his grip. "You're hurting me! What's wrong with you?"
"Answer me," he growled, his voice barely human.
Seeing him so destroyed over another woman, something in Vivian finally broke.
She shoved him away, her voice rising to a shriek. "So what if I saw it? I'd do it again! She deserved it! She killed my baby! Why should she get to be happy? I wanted her dead—her and your bastard child both!"
"You—" Ethan's hand rose, hovering above her face contorted with jealousy and hate. But the blow never fell. His arm dropped limply to his side.
Shock and remorse crashed through him, drowning him in their wake.
Vivian stared at his broken expression and burst into wild laughter that dissolved into sobs. "Tell me, Ethan... you've fallen in love with her, haven't you? You love Sophia Spencer! ANSWER ME!"
*Have you fallen in love with her?*
The question hit him like lightning, burning away the fog that had clouded his heart.
His irritation at Sophia's coldness. His displeasure when she grew indifferent. His panic when she mentioned divorce. The restless anxiety since she'd disappeared...
It wasn't habit. Wasn't possession. Wasn't pride.
It was love.
Somehow, without noticing, he'd fallen completely for the strong, brilliant woman who once looked at him like he hung the moon.
And he'd destroyed it all with his own hands, betraying her when she needed him most.
"Yes," he whispered, the words both an answer to Vivian and a verdict on himself. "I love her."
Without another glance at Vivian crumpled on the floor, he stumbled from the apartment.
Behind him, Vivian's screams echoed down the hallway: "ETHAN! COME BACK!"
He didn't hear. One thought consumed him: Find Sophia. Now. Before it was too late.
