Chapter 4: Gift-Wrapped Goodbye
836 Words
Chapter 4: Gift-Wrapped Goodbye
Hospitals always smelled the same and quiet as the world was holding its breath around the broken people.
I came here not to visit but to collect.
The hospital was empty the next morning Leaving the nurse at the reception and the tray basket somewhere down the hall.
My Fingers curled around the envelope in my coat. The one with ultrasound photos.
The one I planned to give to Zoe as a gift on the day she celebrated her " love."
I hope this gift chokes her.
I walked the corridor slowly. On the way to the surgical ward. I passed through Noah's room, room 512. I wasn't here to look. I told myself I wouldn't look.
But I did that, I saw it in the room.
Inside, he saw sitting up now. Bandaged but better than last night. His hand was on Zoe's thigh as she cried into his chest. He murmured something.
She looked at Noah with his glassy eyes.
“You will never drive again,” he whispered.
His jaw tightened. “Then I won’t.”
He let out a sigh and held her tighter as if she were dead again.
I turned away, my chest hollowed out.
The man who used to sing me lullabies in his unimportant voice… now sang them for her.
The man who once swore to be my future. Now buried our past like it never mattered to him.
He didn't know about our twin children.
I arrived at the nurse's station outside the surgical ward. The woman behind the desk looked up. “Miss Romano?”
“No. Rivers,” I said. “Lily Rivers.”
She smiled at me and handed me a sealed box. " You asked to pick this up yourself instead of delivery?"
I nodded my head in Yes.
There were remains of my aborted children, frozen in time and tissue, in the box. Except they were not aborted. Because I couldn't do it.
I had to sit there at the table and wait for the doctor. My legs were shaking and the doctor came in and said to me," Miss Rivers. It's twins. A boy and a girl," something inside me opened.
I ran out of the clinic crying before he could lay a hand on me.
But I still asked them to prepare a decoy for me. An empty package. The illusion of finality.
Because Zoe wanted a show. I was going to give her the performance of her life. Something that could make her shake.
***
Two days later, the Romano villa shone like a palace. Red carpets were spread beneath golden arches. Laughter echoed like music in the air.
Their anniversary.
Of course, Zoe planned something fit for their royalty.
Guests came from every corner of the world. Politicians, judges,
high-ranking officers, businessmen, foreign diplomats, and underground allies. The whole mafia world gathered to enjoy the party of their perfect love.
I arrived in a simple black dress.
No jewelry, no diamonds. Revenge was woven into every thread.
As I passed through the gates heads turned toward me. Whispers followed me like shadows.
“She came?”
“Didn’t she disappear after Noah’s accident?”
“I heard she had a breakdown…”
I smiled at none of them.
Inside, the ballroom was sparkling with chandeliers and furnished with violins.
Zoe stood near the grand table, wearing a silver dress. A vision of delicate grace and manufactured innocence.
She spotted me instantly and walked toward me with a glass of wine.
“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she said sweetly.
“I almost didn’t,” I replied.
“You look very different.” She looked at me. “Skinny.”
I raised a brow. “ I guess Giref burns calories.”
He chuckled lightly, then leaned in and whispered, “I hope you’re not here to ruin the mood.”
I smiled back, just as softly. “ It's Depends on my mood.”
And then, I gave her the gift.
A black velvet box, tied with a crimson ribbon.
Her brows lifted. “You brought a present for us?”
I said nothing.
She unwrapped it slowly, the way a hunter plays with its prey. But when she opened the box, her hands froze.
Inside the box was ultrasound photos. Two perfect little blurs marked Baby A and Baby B. A document with them stating “Voluntary Termination, confirmed.”
I leaned closer. “Those were Noah’s children.”
The color drained from her face.
“You don’t need to worry,” I whispered. “They’re gone now. Just like everything else he ever gave me.”
She opened her mouth, but no sound came.
And that's when I turned and walked away—through the crowd, past the surprised faces, into the night where the air was finally clear.
I didn’t look back.
Because I knew that silence would echo louder than any scream. And I knew… the war had only just begun.
- Writer
