While my husband was busy throwing a lavish birthday party for the child of the woman he once loved, our own son was dying in a hospital bed.
I called him over and over from the ward. My voice cracked as I begged him to look for the best specialist for Milo, to at least make a call, to do something. He lost his temper and cut me off mid-sentence.
“Stop ruining this,” he said sharply. “Therese, if you let that ugly jealousy take over again, don’t be surprised when I finally divorce you.”
So I stayed with our child… alone.
I cradled Milo’s small hand as the warmth slipped from it. I hummed broken lullabies while the beeping machines slowed, then went quiet. I kissed his forehead, watching closely until his chest no longer rose. I refused to let go until the nurses gently eased him from my arms.
That was the first time I lost a child.
The crematory smelled of scorched air and rusted steel. Sunlight streamed through dusty windows, the particles floating lazily—soft, cruel, indifferent. I kept thinking that some of that dust might already belong to another child who had been reduced to ash.
Soon, my son would be nothing but that too.
I stood there in a loose black dress that hung off my frame. I hadn’t eaten in days. Hunger no longer registered. There was only emptiness.
My eyes were swollen and raw from endless crying, yet in that moment, I felt eerily calm.
Too calm.
I slipped my fingers beneath the edge of the white covering and touched his tiny, stiff hand. Cold. Lifeless. I placed two small blue paper stars into his palm—origami I had folded late last night with trembling hands, because I didn’t know what else a mother could give at a moment like this.
“Milo…”
The staff exchanged glances and moved closer, their movements careful, as if I were made of glass. But I had already shattered.
One of them slowly pulled the cloth back. There he was—my boy. Seven years old, though his frail body looked much younger. Too fragile. Too small to have endured what he did.
His lips were cracked. His chest had sunk in. Fresh bruises from IV lines still marked his skin. There was nothing peaceful about the way he had died—only suffering stretched out over time, while the man meant to protect him smiled beside another child’s birthday cake.
I couldn’t scream anymore. The tears were gone. I had sworn I would keep him safe.
And I failed.
God… I failed him.
Someone beside me murmured softly, “I’m so sorry, ma’am. Your son fought bravely. The infection spread too fast for us to stop it.”
I didn’t respond.
I simply brushed a strand of hair away from Milo’s forehead. He always complained when it fell into his eyes.
Then I said quietly, “You can start. Let him go to heaven. He doesn’t belong in this place.”
There was hesitation. Pity, maybe. Or maybe none at all. His little body was guided into the chamber of fire.
And I felt nothing.
Nothing at all.
Milo was free now. He didn’t have to endure pain. He didn’t have to ask the questions that carved holes in my heart.
“Mom… why doesn’t Daddy like me?”
“Mom… why does he only play with Noah?”
“Mom… did I make Daddy stop loving you?”
His voice replayed endlessly in my head. Every time he had asked, I swallowed my sorrow and lied because the truth would have destroyed him.
But in the end, he was destroyed anyway.
Adrian killed him.
He had promised Milo a day at the amusement park. Promised to win him the biggest stuffed bear he could find.
Instead, he left town to attend Leo’s party with Elise.
Adrian didn’t even believe me when I called to say Milo was burning with fever and struggling to breathe.
He accused me of exaggerating.
Then he ended the call.
By the time I got Milo admitted, the infection had already poisoned his blood. His lungs failed. His tiny heart simply couldn’t hold on.
I gathered him in my arms, shaking so badly I thought I might collapse. I didn’t cry—I was afraid my sobbing would frighten him.
I whispered again and again, “Mommy’s here. Mommy’s right here.”
But I was already too late.
Ever since Elise returned with her son and her fake tears, Adrian treated me like his enemy. He called me unstable. He locked me inside the house. Cut off my access to money. Told everyone I was jealous, irrational, dangerous.
“You harmed Elise and her child,” he once accused. “And I’ll make you pay for it twice over.”
And he kept his word.
Now I stood outside the cremation center with a small blue urn in my arms.
Blue—Milo’s favorite color.
I clutched it tighter than I had ever held anything before.
“We’re going home, sweetheart.”
The breeze tugged at my dress. The sunlight was warm against my skin, yet I had never felt colder.
Never felt emptier.
Never felt more alone.
—
When I returned home holding my son’s ashes, I walked straight into the sight of Elise Arthur kissing Adrian on the cheek. Her fingers lingered lovingly on his shoulder.
“Thank you again for making Noah’s birthday so special, Adrian,” she said sweetly. “But… how is Milo? Therese called earlier and she sounded strange—”
This time, Adrian didn’t move away. He rested his hand on Elise’s waist and smiled like a man who hadn’t just lost his child. Like he hadn’t abandoned his wife and son in a hospital room.
“She only said that to lure me back,” he scoffed. “She thrives on drama. Always playing the victim. Honestly, I regret ever having Milo. He turned out spoiled anyway.”
The urn slipped tighter against my chest as I stood frozen in the hallway. Tears spilled before I could stop them. I had thought I had none left.
If they wanted each other so badly, I would step aside.
Adrian finally noticed me. He pulled his hand back quickly. His face twitched—whether from guilt or irritation, I couldn’t tell.
“You should have told me you were coming home,” he muttered. “I was planning to send someone for you.”
He had forgotten the night I arrived alone at the docks near his private estate. I had begged him to pick me up. He said he was busy. I asked if he could at least send one of his men.
“My people aren’t your personal drivers,” he snapped. “Stop acting like royalty or I’ll sign those divorce papers myself.”
That same night, I was nearly taken by strangers on my walk back. When I called him in terror, all he said was, “You were stupid to walk alone. What did you expect?”
Yet when Elise needed transportation, Adrian dropped everything. Sent cars. Sent men. No excuses.
I met his eyes now and said evenly, “It’s fine.”
He studied me longer than usual. Something unreadable passed through his gaze.
“Did Milo recover?” he asked quietly.
