CHAPTER 19%
At that moment, I finally realized everything that happened was carefully planned by Alexander just so he could bee alone with me.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Was all this really necessary?”
Lying in the hospital bed with two fractured ribs, Alexander blushed faintly. The white bandages wrapped around his chest made him look vulnerable, nothing like the confident businessman who used to control every room he entered.
“Lauren… I miss you,” he said through a strained, hoarse voice. “I’ve missed you so much I’m going insane.“%
While the doctor stepped in to check his injuries, my eyes landed on the tattoo visible above the bandages–a sun, a moon, and a cluster of stars. It was the exact design I had drawn myself, the day I found out I was pregnant all those years ago. A little symbol of our future family of three
Back then, I had shown it to him full of hope and excitement, my hands trembling as I sketched it on a napkin at breakfast.
And I still remembered his cold, dismissive response: “The moon? You think someone like you deserves to be the moon?“%
The memory stung even now. How I had crumpled up that napkin and thrown it away, feeling foolish for thinking he would understand the meaning behind it.%
“You kept the drawing,” I said quietly, staring at the fresh ink on his skin.”
Alexander’s hand moved instinctively to cover the tattoo. “I kept everything,” he whispered. “Every note you wrote me. Every photo. Every drawing you made when you were happy.“%
“But you threw me away.“%
‘I was an idiot,” he said, his voice breaking. “I threw away the best thing that ever happened to me.“%
The doctor finished his examination and stepped out, leaving us alone in the sterile room. Through the thin walls, I could hear Marcus arguing with a nurse about being discharged early.”
“Marcus is worried about you,” I said, changing the subject.”
‘Marcus doesn’t know you like I do,” Alexander replied, his grip tightening on the bed sheets. “He doesn’t know that you hum when you’re nervous. He doesn’t know you collect vintage postcards. He doesn’t know you cry during old movies but pretend it’s allergies.“% “You never cared about those things when we were married.“/
“I was too stupid to see what was right in front of me.” Alexander tried to sit up but winced from the pain. “Lauren, what we had was real. I know I destroyed it, but it was real.“/
“What we had was convenient for you,” I corrected. “I was the perfect wife who didn’t ask questions.“%
“That’s not true“%
“Then why didn’t you come to the hospital when I lost our baby?” The question came out sharper than I intended. “Why did you choose Prague with Victoria instead?“?
Alexander’s face went white. “How did you…?”
‘Marcus told me everything. About the plane tickets. About the hotel reservations. About how you lied to me.”
For a moment, Alexander looked like he might deny it. Then his shoulders sagged in defeat.
“I was scared,” he admitted. “I didn’t know how to handle losing the baby. I didn’t know how to comfort you. Victoria offered to distract me, and I… I took the easy way out.”
“You took the coward’s way out.”
“Yes,” he said simply. “I did.“”
The honesty in his voice caught me off guard. This wasn’t the Alexander I knew the one who always had an excuse, always had someone else to blame.!
“I’ve replayed that day a thousand times,” he continued. “I’ve imagined what would have happened if I had stayed. If I had held you while you cried. If I had grieved with you instead of running away.“”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. I didn’t.” Tears started rolling down his cheeks. “And I’ve regretted it every single day since.“}
Marcus appeared in the doorway then, his forehead bandaged and his jaw swollen. His eyes immediately went to Alexander’s tear–streaked face, then to me.”
“Everything okay?” he asked, his voice tight with concern.
“We were just talking,” I said, standing up to go to him.
But Alexander seized the moment. While Marcus was temporarily distracted by a nurse calling his name from the hallway, Alexander took my hand and gripped it tightly, refusing to let go.”
“Lauren,” he said, his eyes red and desperate. “I want to apologize to you properly. In person.”
“Alexander…“Z
‘I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he interrupted, using the old pet name that once made my heart flutter. “Everything that happened was my fault. I’ll do whatever it takes to make it right just please, forgive me.”
Before I could respond, his phone rang loudly from the bedside table. The caller ID showed “Victoria.”
Alexander looked at the phone, then at me, clearly torn between answering and continuing our conversation.”
“Answer it,” I said quietly. “She’s carrying your child.”
HAPTER 19
8:27 PM
Alexander ooked at the phone, then at the, cleanly tom between answering anu commumy our conversation.8
“Answer it,” I said quietly. “She’s carrying your child.“}
With reluctance, he picked up the phone and put it on speaker, perhaps hoping to show me that he had nothing to hide anymore. “Alexander! Help me–please, help!” Victoria’s panicked voice filled the small hospital room. “Assistant Thompson just barged into the apartment with a lot of people. They’ve taken me to a hospital! They’re trying to take away our baby and belongings!”
20
