“My poor Aria,” she cried, her voice shaking. “You’ve been through so much.”
My hand instinctively went to my flat abdomen, panic rising as I looked up at her. “Where’s the baby?”
She cradled the tiny bundle in her arms, and the sight of my daughter, peaceful and angelic, brought a soft relief to my heart. “You two are lucky,” Mom murmured, brushing my hair back with gentle fingers. “Heaven was watching over you.”
She carefully placed the baby next to me, but her voice grew serious. “The doctor said you lost a lot of blood. You need to rest, take care of yourself. Don’t overexert yourself. You’ve been through enough.”
She purposely avoided saying anything about Gabriel. Mom had always been sharp, she knew exactly what was going on without needing me to say a word. The silence spoke volumes. Here I was, recovering from the edge of death, and the man who should’ve been by my side was nowhere to be found.
I pressed my lips to my daughter’s tiny fingers, feeling a swell of love I hadn’t known I was capable of. Then, meeting my mom’s gaze, I spoke with unexpected calm. “I’m going to divorce Gabriel.”
Her eyes softened, full of understanding. “Don’t say another word, Aria. I know everything.” She squeezed my hand, tears falling freely now. “After your surgery, I kept calling that bastard, even when his phone died. No one answered. I thought he was busy with work.”
Her voice grew bitter. “When I was handling your admission and waiting for you and the baby to come out of surgery, I saw Gabriel. He was with another woman, at the hospital, getting a check-up.”
The fury in her words was unmistakable. “If you hadn’t needed me, I would’ve gone straight to that hospital and dealt with that pair of cheaters myself.”
I squeezed her hand, letting the comfort of her presence fill me. Mom had raised me on her own, fragile on the outside but unbreakable inside. No matter how old I was, I’d always be her little girl, and she’d always protect me.
“Aria,” she said, her voice steady, “I raised you alone, and I’ll help raise your daughter, too. Do what you need to do. You don’t owe me any explanations.”
And in that moment, I realized: even without Gabriel, I had my mom, someone who loved me unconditionally. My world wasn’t falling apart. After all, he was just a man.
Later that evening, Gabriel finally showed up. He stormed into the room, worry etched across his face.
“Aria, how are you feeling?” His voice was tight with panic. He knelt beside my bed and slapped himself hard across the face. “I’m a bastard. I wasn’t there when you gave birth! You can hit me, scream at me, whatever you want. There was an emergency at the company, and my phone died.”
I could barely muster the energy to care, but I cut him off coldly. “I want a divorce, Gabriel.”
His eyes widened in shock. “Divorced? Why? Aria, please, listen. There really was an issue at the company. That’s why, ”
I wasn’t interested in his excuses. I went straight to the point. “Lily Parker. 29 years old. Lives in Parkview Apartments, three months pregnant. You went with her for a check-up last night.”
“Gabriel, you cheated. I’m disgusted.”
His face drained of color as his mouth hung open in horror. He grabbed my hand frantically, pleading. “Aria, it was a moment of weakness. I never wanted this. When she told me she was pregnant, I had no choice. It’s a life, Aria. You have to believe me, you’re the one I’ve always loved.”
At that moment, my mom walked in, carrying the baby after a blood test. Gabriel’s eyes practically lit up, relief flooding his face. He quickly turned to her. “Aria, we have a child now. For the sake of our daughter, forgive me. Please.”
But Mom was having none of it. She gently placed the baby beside me and, without a word, picked up a nearby chair. With a swift motion, she swung it toward Gabriel’s head.
He jumped back, narrowly dodging it, but the chair hit him square on the shoulder. Before he could react, Mom lifted the chair again. Gabriel bolted out of the room, covering his head, as the chair crashed into the door with a deafening sound.
I couldn’t help but smile, the noise of the flying chair echoing through the room. Gabriel’s exit was all I needed to confirm, this was the end.
