"Baby, Mommy's so sorry."
She lowered her head, a bitter smile twisting her lips. "But maybe it's for the best. A child who isn't loved shouldn't come into this world anyway."
At some point, rain began to fall.
The downpour blurred the horizon into a single gray line, dragging Clarissa back to another rainy day six months ago.
She'd just found out she was pregnant.
She'd rushed to Ethan's studio, bursting to tell him the news.
But when she pushed open the door, his face was flushed—flustered, even. She'd been too excited to notice.
There'd been a woman's coat draped over the sofa. Ethan said Henry had left it behind.
Only now did she remember—Henry never wore colors that bright.
Nina had been in that room the whole time.
While Clarissa clung to Ethan, gushing about their future as a family of three, Nina must have been hiding somewhere, laughing at her.
Laughter echoed through the cemetery, snapping her back to the present.
Clarissa looked up and froze.
"Auntie, look who I brought!" Nina's voice rang out, saccharine-sweet. "It's your son Ethan! He's forgiven you." She smiled shyly and flashed the massive ring at the headstone. "We got married today!"
"Ethan." Nina tugged at his sleeve. "Call her Mom. She'll be so happy to hear it."
"Mom…"
The word left his lips like it cost him something.
Nina practically bounced with joy.
"Auntie—no, wait." She blushed. "I should call you Mom now too. I'll take care of Ethan from now on. You can rest easy."
In the silent cemetery, their laughter drove into Clarissa's chest like needles.
For years, Margaret Vance's name had been Ethan's absolute taboo. No one dared mention her—not even Clarissa.
Yet Nina had gotten him here. Made him say that word.
All those years of pain so sharp it drove Clarissa to hurt herself. All those sleepless nights.
As if they'd never happened.
She brushed the dust from her clothes and took one last look at the headstone.
She was about to leave when—
"Clarissa! Why are you here?"
Nina clung to Ethan's arm, eyes wide with fake surprise, smugness barely concealed beneath. "Were you following us?"
Ethan's voice cut through the rain, ice-cold.
Clarissa should have felt angry. Hurt. But she felt nothing.
She wasn't in the mood to tangle with this newlywed couple. Her scene at the wedding had accomplished nothing—Ethan only had eyes for Nina now.
She didn't bother looking up.
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm visiting an old acquaintance."
"What old acquaintance? Since we're all here, why don't we pay our respects together—for the baby's sake…"
Nina trailed off at the perfect moment, gazing sweetly up at Ethan.
The numbness in Clarissa's chest shattered.
She was mourning their child. And they already had a new one.
She fought to keep her voice steady.
"No. You're not worthy."
Nina's smile froze. Her eyes reddened on cue.
"Ungrateful!" Ethan snapped. "I still haven't dealt with you for bullying Nina at the wedding. She's being gracious, offering to pay respects together—and you're deliberately attacking her?"
