Chapter 4

The pain was a relentless wave.

I managed to call Jess.

"Sarah? What' s wrong? You sound terrible."

"Jess... the condo... Ethan... they pushed me..."

I could barely speak.

"I' m coming. Stay there."

Jess found me slumped against my car, tears streaming down my face, blood starting to seep through my jeans.

She didn' t ask questions. She helped me into her car and sped towards the county hospital.

The emergency room was a blur of bright lights and urgent voices.

The pain intensified, tearing through me.

I knew. I knew what was happening.

A doctor with kind eyes confirmed it.

"I' m so sorry, Mrs. Caldwell. You' re miscarrying."

The words were a death sentence for the tiny life inside me.

Again.

Because of Ethan.

They had to do a D&C. Dilation and curettage.

The name itself sounded brutal. Scraping away the remnants of my baby, my hope.

Jess stayed with me, holding my hand while I sobbed.

After the procedure, lying in the recovery room, hollowed out and numb, Jess tried to call Ethan.

He answered on the third try.

His voice was distant, annoyed. He was clearly still with Bree.

"What is it, Jess? I' m busy."

"Ethan, it' s Sarah. She' s at County General. She lost the baby."

Silence. Then, his voice, cold and dismissive.

"She' s always dramatic. Tell her to stop faking. She' s probably just trying to get attention."

Jess gasped. "Faking? Ethan, she had a miscarriage! They just did a D&C!"

"Look, I can' t deal with this right now. Bree isn' t feeling well. I have to take care of her."

He hung up.

Jess stared at the phone, her face pale with rage.

I had heard it all.

Every callous word.

He didn' t believe me. He thought I was faking.

While he was comforting the woman he got pregnant, he accused me of faking the loss of his child.

The child he claimed to want so desperately for his legacy.

A chilling numbness spread through me.

There was nothing left inside.

No love. No hope.

Just a vast, empty coldness.