He Saved Her Child And Left Me In The Fire

Chapter 2

Ben opened his mouth, but I cut him off with a forced smile. "Ben, I want to surprise Adrian. Let me tell him myself, okay?"

He still looked pale, but he nodded.

My phone rang. It was Adrian.

"Baby, did you get your results? What did the doctor say?"

He sounded tired, but his voice was as gentle as ever.

For a moment, I gripped the phone, tempted to tell him everything.

"It's nothing serious. The doctor says I'm preg—"

"Daddy!"

The little voice cut me off. Adrian went quiet. I heard him take a sharp breath.

"Listen, I have to go. This client's being difficult. I'll have Ben drive you home. Get some rest, okay?"

"Okay."

After he hung up, my hand drifted to my stomach. My baby couldn't have come at a worse time.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "Mommy's leaving your daddy."

I put the report away and left the hospital.

At home, I went straight to Adrian's study and switched on his computer. The password was still our wedding anniversary.

The screen lit up, and my breath caught.

He still had our wedding photo as his wallpaper.

He was looking down at me with such tenderness. That picture had made me smile more times than I could count.

Now it felt like a cruel joke.

The night I'd seen the instructor's video, I'd checked Adrian's phone while he slept. There hadn't been a single message between him and Sophie. He must have deleted them after every conversation.

But he hadn't expected me to try his computer.

His messaging app was still open. I clicked on it and began scrolling.

He'd been with Sophie since our second year of marriage.

Every holiday, there'd be some emergency. He'd leave halfway through Christmas dinner, pulling on his jacket, telling me he had to see a client.

Then he'd go and celebrate with Sophie and Lucy.

I'd stay in our empty house, waiting for him to come home.

Farther down, I found another photo.

Lucy was smiling at the camera, a familiar silver locket around her neck.

My grandmother had made that locket for the baby I'd have one day.

Before she died, she'd held my hand and kept saying, "I want your baby to wear it, Nora."

Through all those years of trying to conceive, I'd kept it locked in a cabinet. I hadn't even wanted to touch it.

It had been gone for who knew how long, and I hadn't even noticed.

I stared at the photograph, struggling to draw a full breath.

There had been signs. I'd ignored them.

Adrian had once told me Sophie reminded him of me in college, always smiling, always full of life.

He'd kept her close as if she could be that girl for him. He thought I'd changed, but he never stopped to wonder why. Keeping up appearances for him had worn me out.

I shut down the computer and sat there for a long time.

Then I booked a trial riding lesson for Saturday.

*****

On Saturday morning, I put on comfortable clothes and drove to the riding school.

The adults and children used separate arenas, divided by a low wooden fence. I found myself walking toward the children's side.

And there they were.

Adrian was in a casual white shirt, bending down to straighten Lucy's riding helmet. Sophie clung to his arm, beaming at him.

I stopped, unable to take another step.

He'd always been so gentle. I'd never imagined watching him be that way with another family.

As if he sensed me there, Adrian looked up.

Our eyes met.

His smile froze.