Falling for My Ex-husband Again

NEAH'S POV

Rain hammered against the windows as I stared blankly at my phone screen. My hands trembled while I clutched my stomach, the pain inside me growing sharper, as though something was slowly tearing me apart from within.

"Please..." I whispered shakily, dialing Dave's number again.

For the seventh time tonight.

My stomach had been hurting for hours, but now I could barely breathe. Something was wrong. This wasn't normal. This wasn't ordinary pain.

"Please answer... please..."

Tears slipped down my cheeks when his call went straight to voicemail again.

I didn't know which hurt more-the pain consuming my body or the realization that his work might once again matter more than me.

Suddenly, I doubled over as a warm liquid ran down between my thighs.

My eyes widened in horror. Slowly, I lowered my gaze to the floor and saw blood dripping steadily from my legs.

"D-Dave..."

Frantically wiping my tears away, I dialed my husband again with trembling fingers. My vision was beginning to blur from the pain, but I forced myself to stay conscious.

Please answer me.

After several agonizing seconds, the call finally connected.

A sob escaped my lips instantly.

"Dave..." I gasped, gripping the edge of the sofa for support. "P-please... it hurts... I'm scared..."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds. I could hear faint voices, the muted sound of a projector in the background.

Another meeting.

"Neah," he said in a low, serious voice. "I'm in a meeting right now."

Something tightened painfully in my chest. Was he choosing work over us again?

"Please..." I begged through tears. "I can't do this... something's wrong with our baby..."

I closed my eyes, desperately waiting for his response. Even just a little concern. Even just the reassurance that he was on his way.

But what he said next shattered me completely.

"Let's talk later, okay? I'll call you after this."

Then the line went dead.

I froze.

Slowly, my trembling hand lowered the phone as tears streamed endlessly down my face.

I didn't know how long I sat there, writhing in pain. Alone. While my husband... had chosen work over us once again.

A sharp wave of agony suddenly tore through my stomach, stronger than before. I cried out as more blood poured down my legs.

"Help..."

My voice was barely audible.

"Someone help me..."

Moments later, I faintly heard hurried footsteps and the panicked voices of neighbors before my vision finally went black.

The last thing I remembered...

Was clutching my stomach tightly while silently praying over and over again.

Please...

Save my baby.

---

Cold.

That was the first thing I felt when I opened my eyes.

My eyelids felt unbearably heavy as I slowly looked around at the white ceiling above me. The sharp scent of antiseptic filled the air, accompanied by the soft, rhythmic beeping of a monitor.

I was in a hospital.

Panic hit me instantly, and I reached for my stomach.

Then I felt it.

That horrifying emptiness.

The baby bump was gone.

My eyes widened as I forced myself upright despite the weakness in my body.

"My baby..." I whispered shakily, glancing around the room. "Where's my baby?"

A nurse quickly rushed to my side. "Ma'am, please calm down-"

"Where is my child?!" I screamed, tears crashing down my face. "Please... please tell me my baby is okay..."

The nurse looked away.

And in that moment, my heart sank.

It felt as though my entire world had stopped turning when the hospital room door slowly opened.

Dave walked in.

He looked breathless, like he had rushed there as soon as he could. His suit was wrinkled, and in his hand was a bouquet of white roses.

My vision blurred even more. A hollow laugh almost escaped me.

While I was suffering... while I was trying to save our baby... he had been busy chasing his ambitions.

"Neah..." he called softly as he stepped closer to my bed. "I came as soon as I-"

"Don't."

He froze immediately.

With trembling hands, I wiped my tears away and gathered what little strength I had left.

"Don't come near me."

"Neah-"

"Our baby is gone."

My voice shook violently as I said the words. I covered my face with both hands, broken sobs escaping through my fingers.

I couldn't accept it.

How was I supposed to survive this?

Dave lowered his head, as though the reality of everything had only just hit him.

I lifted my gaze and looked at him while my heart shattered right in front of him.

He wasn't there.

He didn't choose us.

And no matter how badly I wanted to hate him... it hurt even more realizing how exhausted I was from hoping he would.

"I called you," I whispered, trembling. "I begged you..."

Dave shut his eyes tightly, his breathing growing heavier.

"I'm sorry."

Two simple words.

I let out a bitter smile.

Sorry?

Could his apology bring our child back?

It was too late for everything.

"Do you know what I was thinking while I was losing consciousness?" I asked through tears. "I kept thinking you'd come. Because you're my husband."

My voice cracked with every word.

Even though I was exhausted, even though everything still hurt, he stayed silent.

And somehow, that silence wounded me even more.

I didn't know if he was grieving the loss of our child... or if his dreams still mattered more to him.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I slowly shook my head.

"But you chose your meeting."

Something inside his expression broke.

"Neah, please... listen to me-"

"No."

I shook my head again. I didn't want to hear anything anymore. Only then did I realize something painful. It wasn't enough for someone to love you. They had to choose you too. And on the most important night of our lives...

Dave Montenegro didn't choose me.

Silence swallowed the entire room after my words. Only the faint beeping of the heart monitor filled the space between us. Dave stood motionless beside my bed, still holding the bouquet of white roses he could no longer give me.

As though he was finally understanding that there were things money, apologies, and flowers could never fix. Slowly, I looked away from him because I couldn't bear to see his face anymore.

It hurt.

God, it hurt so much.

And the cruelest part of all...

I still loved him.

I heard him let out a heavy breath before gently placing the flowers on the table.

"Neah..." His voice cracked. "I know I failed you."

I closed my eyes.

Failed me?

Not just me.

He failed our child too.

"Please," he said quietly, stepping closer again. "Give me a chance to fix this."

A soft laugh escaped me, but there was no amusement in it.

Only exhaustion.

"How?" I asked, slowly turning to face him. "How are you going to fix a child who's already gone?"

He fell silent immediately. His eyes were red now, but it still wasn't enough to erase the pain he had left inside me.

Slowly, I wrapped my arms around myself, trying desperately to stop myself from breaking down again.

"Do you know how terrified I was?" I whispered shakily. "I thought I was going to die alone."

Dave squeezed his eyes shut.

"I'm sorry..."

Again.

Over and over.

But the words no longer meant anything.

It felt like even if he apologized a million times, it still wouldn't lessen the pain crushing me now. Tears slipped endlessly down my face as I stared at the man who once meant everything to me. I never realized we had reached the point where we felt like strangers to each other.

A knock suddenly came from the door before a doctor stepped inside.

"Mrs. Montenegro," the doctor called carefully. "We need to discuss your condition."

I immediately looked toward him. I noticed the brief hesitation in his eyes when he glanced at Dave before turning back to me.

"There were complications during the miscarriage," he explained gently. "Your body became very weak due to the blood loss."

My entire body went cold.

"W-What do you mean...?"

The doctor took a slow breath.

"We're not saying it's impossible," he said carefully, "but there's a possibility that getting pregnant again in the future may become difficult."

It felt like something slammed violently into my chest. I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe. It was as though I had gone deaf from the shock of what I'd just heard. I had already lost my baby.

And now I might lose the chance to ever have another one.

Beside me, all the color drained from Dave's face.

"No..." he whispered hoarsely. "No, there has to be another way-"

But I could barely hear them anymore.

Because it felt like alongside our child...

A part of me had died that night too.

NEAH'S POV

Three days after we lost our child, I sat silently in front of a tiny white coffin. It was so small. Far too small to hold the reality that a life had once existed there. I clutched the ultrasound photo tightly in my hands while tears streamed endlessly down my face. I no longer knew how many hours I had been sitting there.

I couldn't leave.

It felt as though the moment I stood up and walked away... I would truly be leaving our baby behind. Behind me, I could hear the hushed murmurs of people. Friends. Relatives. People who pitied us. But none of them came near me. Because they all knew there was only one person I was waiting for.

Dave.

I squeezed my eyes shut when my gaze drifted toward the wall clock.

Two hours late.

I didn't know why a part of me still hoped he would come. That maybe this time.

He would choose us.

Suddenly, a woman approached me and gently rested a hand on my shoulder.

Dave's mother.

She looked as elegant as ever, but her eyes remained cold as she stared at the tiny coffin before us. I couldn't tell whether she truly felt sorry for me or if she simply didn't care about what I was going through. I knew her. She had always been just as hungry for Dave's success.

"Has Dave still not arrived?" she asked quietly. I slowly shook my head. She fell silent for a moment before letting out a soft sigh.

"He said there was an emergency board meeting."

Something in my chest tightened again. A board meeting.

Again.

A bitter smile formed on my lips as I lowered my gaze to the ultrasound photo in my hands.

Of course.

What else could it be?

"Neah," she called gently once more. "You should rest. This isn't good for your health."

I didn't answer. Because if I spoke... I was afraid I would completely fall apart.

A few moments later, my phone suddenly rang. My heart lurched the second I saw the screen.

Dave is calling.

I answered immediately.

"Dave..." I whispered softly.

"Neah." His voice sounded heavy on the other end. "I'm sorry. The meeting still isn't over-"

Something inside me finally snapped. Another meeting. At our child's funeral. Quietly, I closed my eyes and forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat.

"Okay," I said weakly.

"Neah, please understand. This deal is important-"

"More important than our child?"

Silence.

And in that moment, I heard the most painful silence of my entire life. Tears slid down my cheeks as I stared at the small coffin in front of me.

"You didn't even come to say goodbye to him." My voice was completely broken now.

"I buried our child alone, Dave."

"Neah-"

I ended the call. And for the first time. I didn't wait for him to call back.

---

After the funeral, I didn't go home immediately. I wandered silently through the cemetery, hugging my coat tightly against the cold night wind. It felt like... I no longer had a home to return to. Our house no longer felt like home.

It was just a place filled with memories of a family that never even had the chance to truly exist.

By the time I reached the parking lot, I realized it had started raining again.

At first, it was only a drizzle. Then slowly, the rain began pouring down until I was completely soaked. But I didn't move. I couldn't feel anything anymore. A moment later, hurried footsteps echoed behind me.

"Neah!" I closed my eyes.

Late.

He was always late.

Dave stopped in front of me, breathing heavily. His suit was drenched too, as though he had genuinely rushed to get there.

But just like always.

He was too late.

"Neah, I'm sorry." He immediately grabbed my arm. "The meeting took longer than expected-"

I gently pulled my arm away. He froze. Without looking at him, I spoke softly.

"Did you make it in time?" He swallowed hard.

"What?"

"Did you see our child before he was buried?" Rain fell heavily between us as silence consumed him. And immediately, I knew the answer.

No.

A bitter smile curved across my lips as I slowly nodded.

"Of course."

"Neah, please..." His voice cracked. "I tried to come earlier."

"But you didn't."

He fell silent again. Maybe this was the first time he realized that "sorry" would never be enough anymore. Slowly, I finally looked at him. His eyes were bloodshot. He looked exhausted.

But for the first time, I couldn't bring myself to pity him.

"Do you know what hurts the most?" I asked quietly. He said nothing, only staring at me.

"I kept defending you."

His brows furrowed slightly.

"To everyone." My voice trembled again. "To my parents. To my friends. To myself."

His hands tightened into fists as he listened.

"I always told them you were just tired. That you were doing all this for our future." A soft, humorless laugh escaped me as tears rolled down my cheeks. "But while I was protecting you..."

Slowly, I shook my head.

"I was the one falling apart."

It looked like the air had been knocked out of him.

"Neah..."

"Do you know what I realized while I was in the hospital?"

Slowly, I looked directly into his eyes.

"When I have to choose..."

I paused.

"I always choose you. But you?" My voice broke. "You could never choose me. Every single time."

He stepped toward me immediately.

"That's not true."

"Really?" I asked calmly. "Then why was I alone?"

He had no answer. And that was the cruelest part. Because even he knew...

I was right.

A taxi passed by us moments later. Quietly, I wiped away my tears and started walking away from him. But before getting inside the taxi, I spoke softly without turning around.

"I'm tired, Dave."

I felt his silence behind me.

"And I don't know if I can keep waiting for you anymore."

---

I didn't return to our house that night. Instead, I went straight to my parents' old home. The moment I saw my mother waiting for me, I broke down even harder. I threw my arms around her as tears poured uncontrollably from my eyes. I was already a mother once... But I was still someone's daughter who needed her own mother too.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated.

Dave Calling

I slowly pulled away from my mother's embrace and stared at the screen as it lit up repeatedly. I didn't answer. I no longer had the strength to face him or talk to him.

A few seconds later, another notification appeared.

[I'm outside.]

I closed my eyes.

"Talk to him," my mother said gently. But I shook my head. I didn't want to. A few moments later, I heard a soft knock on the door.

"Neah..." His voice. I could hear the exhaustion in it. The weakness. And Fear. I didn't move.

"Please open the door."

Tears slipped down my cheeks as I wrapped my arms tightly around myself.

Back then, no matter how badly he hurt me, one phone call from him was enough for me to run back without hesitation. But now... I was so, so tired.

"Neah," he called again. "Please... let me explain."

Explain?

How could he explain losing our child? How could he explain every night I cried alone while waiting for him to come home? How could he explain that every single time I needed him. He was never there?

Slowly, I stood up and walked toward the door. I stopped in front of it, staring at the doorknob. Silence lingered on the other side, as though he was waiting to see whether I would open it or not.

My hand slowly drifted to my stomach. Gone. Our baby was gone. It felt like a part of my love for Dave had disappeared too. Gently, I rested my forehead against the door and closed my eyes.

"Go home, Dave."

Silence answered me from the other side.

Then-

"Not until you talk to me." I bit my lip hard to stop myself from crying again. This was how he used to be. Whenever he wanted something, he refused to leave until he got it. But when I was the one who needed him. Why couldn't he stay?

"Please..." he whispered weakly. "I can't lose you too."

Too.

The word pierced through my heart like a knife. Because only now did he realize he was about to lose something- After I had already lost everything. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly.

Then finally, I spoke in a quiet voice.

"You already did." And after that... I slowly stepped away from the door as tears silently fell down my face.

On the other side-

Dave never spoke again.

NEAH'S POV

Three weeks had passed, yet every single day, Dave still came to my parents' house to win me back. Ever since we buried our child, I had never returned to the home we once shared. I wanted to heal. Somehow, the thought of stepping back into that house terrified me because all I would remember were the days when I was still pregnant... when our baby was still with me.

I looked at Dave and the flowers and food he carried in his hands, as though any of those things could undo what had happened to us. To our family. To our child. To our marriage. A bitter smile tugged at my lips when I noticed the white roses he brought again. Every time I saw them, I was reminded of the night I lost my baby. The day I buried our child alone.

Quietly, I stood up and walked out of the living room.

"Neah," he called after me, but I didn't look back.

I went straight to my mother's garden and sat on the old swing.

Even now, everything still felt painfully fresh in my mind. Losing my child still hurt so much. I still blamed myself for not being able to protect our baby.

Until now, it still felt as though my heart was being ripped apart over and over again.

"I know it won't be easy for you to forgive me," Dave said softly from behind me.

I ignored him. I heard a faint rustling sound, as though he had placed the things he brought onto the small garden table nearby.

"I don't even know if I still have the right to ask for your forgiveness every day," he continued, his voice lower now. "But I also can't stop myself from trying." I bit my lip hard to stop my voice from trembling.

"Neah..." He stepped a little closer, though he still didn't sit beside me on the swing. It was almost as if he knew that if he did, I would run away from him again. "I'm not asking you to forgive me immediately."

I remained silent. Then I heard it. A quiet sob. My throat tightened instantly, and it felt like something pierced straight through my chest.

Ever since our child died, this was the first time I had heard Dave cry.

"Please, let's fix this," he begged tearfully. "Come back to me. I'll make it up to you. I know I can't bring our child back, but please... come home. The house feels so empty since you left. I love you so much, and I can't lose you too. I'm begging you... let's fix this."

My hands trembled as I wiped my tears away. I was still angry at him. But I hated myself for the fact that despite everything he had done to me... despite what happened to our child...

I still loved him. I still wanted to be with him. The truth was, over the past three weeks, I had missed him terribly. I missed his hugs. His kisses. His voice. Everything about him.

Slowly, he dropped to his knees in front of me, crying with his head bowed low. I could clearly see his shoulders shaking from the force of his sobs.

"Please come back to me," he pleaded again. "Let's fix this. I'll make it up to you."

I let out a deep breath because deep down, I already knew I was beginning to give in again. My love and pity for him were overpowering my anger once more. Just imagining him alone in our house hurt me too.

Slowly, I stood from the swing and knelt slightly in front of him, placing my hands gently on both of his shoulders. I helped him stand and met his tear-filled eyes. Carefully, I wiped the tears from his cheeks.

"I can't live without you, love. Please come back to me." I gave him a small smile.

All the determination I had built over the past three weeks not to return to him suddenly crumbled apart. I still couldn't fully forgive him. But there was still a part of my heart that wanted to go back. A part of me that still wanted to save us. I wrapped my arms around him, and that was when he completely broke down. His tears poured endlessly now, as though he had been holding them back for far too long. He buried his face against my shoulder, crying softly.

"I'm really sorry," he whispered brokenly. "I'm sorry if I failed you, love. I'm sorry I wasn't there during the moments you needed me the most. Believe me, I tried to make it in time... but I never could."

I simply listened.

Slowly, I rubbed his back, trying to comfort him.

"Losing our child hurts me too," he continued through tears. "I didn't want to cry in front of you because I didn't want you to lose even more strength. If you were already falling apart and I became weak too... where would you get your strength from? I'm sorry, love..."

He continued crying softly, and I let him. Because it felt like he had been carrying an unbearable weight inside him all this time.

A few minutes later, we were both sitting quietly on the swing, staring blankly into the distance. I couldn't stop wondering whether fixing our relationship was still worth it. Dave had become too consumed with chasing his dream of becoming the CEO of the company he worked for. He wasn't like this before. Back then, he always put me first. He never missed important occasions.

I had supported him and his dreams wholeheartedly, never realizing those same dreams would slowly destroy our marriage. Late nights. Endless meetings. Business trips. Projects after projects.

I would fall asleep waiting for him at night, only for him to come home when the sun was already rising.

"Let's go home, love," he said softly. "I promise I'll make it up to you. We've just been overwhelmed with projects these past few months, that's why I couldn't come home on time. Please... let me make it up to you now."

I stayed quiet. I didn't know if I should still believe him. What if he hurt me again? What if I started hoping again, only to be disappointed again? What if this was only temporary? What if work consumed him all over again?

Would I end up waiting for him forever?

"If I give you another chance..." I asked softly, "can you really promise me you'll make it up to me?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw him looking at me.

"I promise," he answered immediately. "Let's start over."

A faint smile appeared on my lips as I slowly nodded. No matter how deep my anger toward him was.

I still loved him. I still wanted to stand beside him. And I still wanted us to survive everything together. I took a deep breath before finally turning to him with a small smile. He immediately pulled me into his arms. I rested my head against his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. I just hoped... That this time, he would truly change.

That the man I used to know would come back to me.

And that somehow.

We could still begin again.