THE WIFE WHO FORGOT

CHAPTER 1: WHEN FOUR BECAME THREE - PART 2

Her blood ran cold. She ran into the car, her heart hammering the entire ride to the hospital, every minute stretching into an hour. when the car stopped outside the hospital entrance she grabbed her bag, and didn’t stop — she ran straight into the hospital, breathless, terrified, already thatbshe was not going to make it in time there is no way she was not going to be their for the birth. she kept brushing this nagging feeling that something was wrong.

"Come on Rose snap out of it! katies a fighter and she will be fine, think positive!" she said out loud to herself as she arounded the corner to the waiting room — and stopped.

It wasn’t the room of quiet anticipation she’d expected and wanted. It was silent, thick like a fog, Heavy and Suffocating. Broken.

“Hey guys — I made it.” Her voice was bright, shaky, trying to smile. “Um — wait. Is she here? Has she had the baby? Oh God — I’m so sorry I’m late — Liam? is Katie mad at me oh god is she? I'm in for it now” She walked toward him, confused. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen death —” She tried a weak, nervous laugh. “It wasn’t that bad, was it? Can I see her? Can I see the baby?”

Liam stood by the far wall. He looked like he’d been shattered. Pale, shaking, eyes red and swollen — like he’d been crying since the moment the doctor spoke. He held himself like he was barely holding together at all. He didn’t look up. He couldn’t.

Rose’s smile faded. “Liam?”

Jason sat on the edge of a chair, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. The leader. The strong one. The one who always had the answer. And now — he was broken. When he lifted his head, his eyes were hollow. Empty. Like something vital had been ripped right out of him. He’d lost his twin. His other half. The person who had known him before he knew himself. Rose had never seen him so undone.

Thomas — their father — stood near the window. He looked smaller than Rose had ever seen him. Shoulders slumped, face ashen, hands trembling at his sides. He’d lost his daughter. His little girl. He looked frozen in place, like his legs had given up on him and he hadn’t noticed yet.

David stood leaning against the wall, holding their mother as she wept into his shoulder. The bright, laughing one — now quiet, pale, shattered. He looked up the moment he saw her, and his face crumbled — the grief raw and open.

Eliza pulled back, tears streaming down her face — quiet, endless, heartbroken tears. Katie wasn’t her blood — but she’d loved her like a daughter. And now her heart was breaking just the same. Robert sat beside her, holding her hand, his own face wet with tears.

Rose’s throat went dry. Her heart began to hammer in a way that had nothing to do with running.

“No…” She stepped forward, barely a whisper. “Where is she? Why — why is everyone —”

Eliza walked over, unsteady on her feet, and crossed the room to her. She wrapped her arms around Rose, and Rose felt her mother trembling.

“Rose, love… I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Sorry? for what?" Rose shook her head, panic rising. “No — she’s okay, right? Katie’s okay? The baby —”

“Rose,” David said — his voice rough, broken, nothing like the brother she knew. He he walked over stood beside their mother. “There were complications. It all happened so fast. They tried — God, they tried everything — but she… Katie didn’t make it.”

The air left Rose’s lungs. The room swayed.

“No.” It came out as a breath. A denial. “No. I was on my way — she waited for me, she said —”

“The baby’s here,” David said, his voice cracking. “She’s here. She’s perfect. Healthy. But Katie —” He stopped, swallowed, wiped a hand over his face. “Katie’s gone, Rose, shes gone!”

Rose felt her knees give way. She sank onto the nearest chair, hands over her face, and a sob tore out of her — raw, violent, agonising. Not Katie. Not her Katie. Not now.

The days blurred into one. The funeral was quiet, heavy with a grief too big for words. The funeral reception went on endless, it felt like the whole world was giving their condolences And afterward - back at the house, where the air felt like it had stopped moving - everyone had retreated into silence.

Eliza was upstairs with the baby, both settled and asleep. Rose had checked on Liam too - he was in the guest room next door, asleep finally, exhausted and broken, in no state to care for his daughter just yet. Rose was ready to head back to her room, to pack, to leave - when she heard voices coming from the study.

She paused in the hallway. The study door opened.

A woman walked out - sharp, elegant, cold - and Rose froze. She hadn't seen Jason and Katie's mother in years. Not since she'd left. Not since the divorce. She brushed past Rose without a word, her face tight, and walked away.

Rose stood there, stunned. She hadn't even known she was coming. She hadn't known she'd been at the funeral.

Slowly, she pushed open the study door.

The room was dim. The lamp flickered. And there - on the floor, sitting with his back against the desk - was Jason.

He wasn't crying. He wasn't moving. He was just staring at something in his hands - a photograph. A family photograph. Him. Katie. Thomas. And her. The woman who had just walked out the door.

Rose stepped inside softly. "The baby's settled. Your mum and the baby are both asleep... and Liam's resting too." She paused, her voice quiet. "I didn't realise your mum was here. In fact, I didn't even realise she'd come to the funeral. Are you okay, Jason?"

He didn't look up. He just turned the photograph in his hands, his fingers tight around the frame.

"I don't know why Dad has this picture on his desk," he said, his voice flat, hollow. "Funny thing - it's the only one we have of. Us. As a family. Before she left us." His grip tightened. "Katie had the same copy in her room. I began to hate it. Wouldn't look at it. Constant reminder - reminder that she left us. Chose that man, that life, over her own children."

He paused, and something in his voice cracked.

"She came with that bloody man to Katie funeral! how could she?and now She wants to play Mum now. She wants to come back - after years of silence - and say she wants to build a relationship. Now. At Katie's funeral." He gave a bitter, broken laugh. "Apparently Katie was in contact with her. After she got pregnant. She'd been ringing. Talking to her. How - how could she keep that from me? How could she forgive her for leaving us?"

Suddenly, Jason slammed the photograph down on the desk - hard - and then banded his head against the desk, his head then falling into his hands. The frame wobbled but didn't fall.

Rose rushed to him, sinking down beside him. "Jason -"

"That's the woman who walked out on us, Rose. And now she acts like nothing happened. Like she's been here all along." He looked up at her then - and his eyes finally broke. All the strength, all the control, all the walls - they crumbled. "Katie's gone. And she has the nerve to show up with that man and talk about family."

That was when he broke. Really broke. For the first time all day - all week - he let go. He leaned forward and buried his face in Rose's shoulder, and he cried - deep, heaving, agonising sobs - holding onto her like she was the only thing keeping him from drowning.

Rose wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight, letting him cry, whispering I'm here, I've got you, I'm so sorry - and for a little while, there was nothing but the quiet of the room and the sound of his grief.

Minutes passed. Slowly, the sobs faded. He pulled back, his face wet, his eyes red - and that was when his phone buzzed on the floor beside him.

Rose glanced down. A name lit up the screen. Clare.

His girlfriend.

She pulled back gently, creating space between them - the moment broken, the reality rushing back in.

"Jason -" She stood up, brushing her dress, her voice steady but quiet. "You need rest. You need to sleep. It's been such a long day. And your girlfriend - she keeps calling. She must be worried about you. You should... you should call her back." She took a breath, steadying herself. "And I - I should go. It's late. I have an early flight back to New York tomorrow."

Jason stood up slowly, unsteady on his feet. His face fell - disappointment clear, raw, impossible to miss. "You're going back so soon? I thought... I thought you'd stay longer."

"I can't." She looked away, her heart aching. "I have work. Sam and I - our business. I've been gone too long already. Everything's piling up. And besides - you have everyone here. You have your family. You have... Clare." She leaned in, pressed a soft, gentle kiss to his cheek - one last time - and whispered, "Goodbye, Jason."

She turned and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind her.

She had always loved him. It was him who never saw her - not really. Only two people had ever known the truth - Katie, her best friend who was gone, and Sam, her partner back in New York.

And now - he was with someone else. And she refused to be the person he turned to only in his grief. She refused to be the second choice. The comfort prize.

So she left. Early the next morning, before the sun had properly risen, before anyone was awake - she was gone.

She didn't know it would be five years before she sees him again