Chapter 5

Ellie POV

Consciousness returned in jagged fragments-the stinging smell of antiseptic and the rhythmic, indifferent beep of a machine.

My arm was encased in thick gauze. My chest felt tight, raw, and on fire.

I kept my eyes closed, trying to block out the world, but I heard voices.

"She needs rest," a nurse whispered. "And... sir, about the pregnancy..."

I opened my eyes.

Marcus was standing by the window. He spun around at the sound of the nurse's voice.

"Shh," he hissed at the nurse. He looked at me, panic flaring in his eyes. "Not now."

The nurse looked confused. "But sir, the trauma..."

I sat up. The pain ripped through my chest like a serrated knife.

"I am fine," I rasped.

The nurse looked at my flat stomach. She looked at my chart. Then, finally, she looked at me with pity.

"I lost it, didn't I?" I asked. My voice was devoid of emotion, hollowed out by the shock.

The nurse nodded slowly. "I am so sorry. The stress, the physical shock... it was too much."

I didn't cry. I had no tears left to shed.

Marcus walked over. He looked guilty. Not heartbroken. Guilty. Like a child who had clumsily broken a valuable vase.

"Ellie," he said. "I... I didn't know."

"Didn't know what?" I asked, staring at him. "That boiling soup burns? Or that I was pregnant?"

He looked away, unable to meet my gaze. "Everything happened so fast. I just... instinct took over."

Instinct. His instinct was to save her.

"It doesn't matter," I said.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a checkbook.

"I will pay for everything," he said, his voice rushing to fill the silence. "The best plastic surgeons. Whatever you need. And... maybe a vacation? When you heal?"

He tore off a check. He tried to put it in my hand. The sharp edge of the paper sliced my finger. A tiny drop of blood welled up, bright red against the pale skin.

I looked at the check. It was for fifty thousand dollars.

That was the price of my child. That was the price of my skin.

"Thank you, Marcus," I said.

He let out a breath he had been holding. "Good. Good. Look, I have to go. Chloe is... she is shaken up. She is in the waiting room."

"Go," I said.

He kissed my forehead. It felt like a betrayal, a brand of shame.

"Rest up. I will come back tomorrow."

He left.

I waited five minutes, counting the seconds against the throbbing of my wounds. Then I pulled the IV out of my arm. Blood trickled down my wrist, mixing with the sting of the paper cut.

I ignored the pain. The fire in my arm was nothing compared to the ice spreading through my heart.

I walked to the door. I saw them in the hallway.

Marcus was holding Chloe's hands.

"It is okay," he was saying. "She doesn't know about us. She thinks it was an accident."

Chloe was crying. "But what if she leaves?"

"She won't," Marcus said. He laughed softly, a sound that curdled in my stomach. "She has no one but me. She will forgive me. She always does."

I stepped back into the room.

I grabbed my purse. My passport was inside. I had put it there before the dinner, a premonition I hadn't understood until now.

I walked out the back exit.

It was raining again. The water soaked my bandages. It stung, but it felt clean.

I hailed a taxi.

"JFK Airport," I said.

The driver looked at me in the rearview mirror. "You okay, miss? You look like you've been through a war."

I looked out the window at the city skyline. Somewhere in that concrete jungle, Marcus was holding the woman he loved, thinking he had bought my silence with a check.

I smiled. It was a terrifying, broken smile.

"I have," I whispered. "But I won."

I arrived at the airport. I bought a one-way ticket to Florence.

I sat at the gate and took out my phone.

I deleted my social media accounts. Every photo of us. Every memory.

Then I took out the SIM card. I snapped it in half.

I dropped the pieces into the trash can.

The flight attendant called for boarding.

I stood up. My body screamed in pain, but my soul felt lighter than it had in years.

I walked down the jet bridge. I didn't look back.

As the plane lifted off, piercing the clouds, I pressed my forehead against the cool glass.

"Goodbye, Marcus," I whispered.

I closed my eyes. The darkness wasn't scary anymore. It was peaceful.

This time, I was really gone.